Samsung unveils Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Flip8, Watch Ultra2, and AI eyewear at Galaxy Unpacked

Samsung used its Galaxy Unpacked event in London on Tuesday to launch six products at once, its broadest hardware refresh in years. The lineup includes the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, the first time Samsung has brought its Ultra designation to a foldable, alongside a reimagined Z Fold8 with new display proportions, a slimmer Z Flip8, upgraded Galaxy Watch Ultra2 and Watch9 wearables, and a pair of intelligent eyewear built with fashion brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

The Z Fold8 Ultra is the centrepiece. It opens to an eight-inch main display while measuring just over four millimeters thick when unfolded, making it the thinnest Galaxy Z Fold Samsung has ever shipped. It weighs 215 grams and carries a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 5,000mAh battery, all powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor.

Samsung introduced a new display technology called Flex Titanium across the foldable lineup, combining a titanium-alloy film with an enhanced titanium plate to reduce crease visibility and improve durability. The hinge mechanism has also been reworked, with refinements to folding magnets, display tension, and edge design that Samsung says make unfolding feel lighter and more natural. The Z Fold8 Ultra starts at $2,099 in the US for the 256GB model, with a one-terabyte option available at a higher price.

The standard Z Fold8 has been completely redesigned with new aspect ratios built around content consumption. Its cover screen uses a 10:16 ratio suited to scrolling and short-form video, while the main display unfolds to a 4:3 format designed for gaming and movies. Rotating the device switches to a 3:4 layout optimized for reading, giving the Fold8 three distinct viewing modes from a single screen.

At 201 grams, the Z Fold8 is the lightest Galaxy Z Fold to date, and its 4,800mAh battery supports more than 26 hours of video playback according to Samsung. New software features include My FanCam, which uses Galaxy AI to track a selected subject in a video and automatically reframe the footage, and agentic AI capabilities that let Gemini complete multi-step tasks like booking a hotel from a photo while the user continues using other apps.

The Z Flip8 is Samsung’s thinnest and lightest flip phone yet, measuring just over six millimeters when unfolded and weighing 180 grams. Its biggest change is an expanded FlexWindow that now functions as a full app interface, letting users browse photos, reply to messages, and check AI-generated daily briefings through Now Brief without opening the device. The Flip8 is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 processor rather than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip, a choice Samsung has made for the flip line in several recent generations.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 targets athletes and outdoor enthusiasts with the brightest display ever put on a smartwatch, reaching 5,000 nits of brightness. Its 800mAh battery offers 35 percent more capacity than its predecessor, and it is the first Galaxy Watch powered by the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform. A new Trail Run feature provides real-time elevation data, climbing progress, and hydration guidance based on estimated sweat loss, while EN13319 certification and 10ATM water resistance make it Samsung’s first watch rated for diving, with advanced underwater features coming later this year through a partnership with diving brand Mares.

The Galaxy Watch9 is built for everyday health monitoring rather than extreme sports. It features an upgraded Sleep Apnea detection backed by a new FDA clearance, an AI algorithm that categorizes breathing disruptions into three severity levels. Samsung Health has been reorganized around five pillars, covering activity, mindfulness, nutrition, sleep, and vitals, and a new Heart Health Score combines multiple biometric signals into a single cardiovascular wellness number.

Both watches ship with Wear OS 7 and One UI 9 built on Android 17, and both use the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform, a first for the Galaxy Watch lineup. Despite a significantly larger battery, the Watch Ultra2 is 12 percent thinner than its predecessor thanks to an internal redesign, and its bands have been made 26 percent lighter with a new air pocket structure.

The most unexpected announcement was Samsung’s intelligent eyewear, developed in partnership with Google, Gentle Monster, and Warby Parker. Built on the Android XR platform with a Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 processor, the glasses feature a built-in camera, speakers, and microphone, and offer up to nine hours of battery life on a single charge. Gemini provides hands-free AI assistance including live translation, message summaries, and context-aware guidance based on what the wearer is looking at.

Two frame designs were shown at Unpacked, a black Gentle Monster edition with a straight upper rim and rounded lower edges, and a brown Warby Parker style with an upswept brow line. Samsung said additional styles and a Display Edition with an in-lens heads-up display would follow, though pricing and exact availability for the eyewear have not been announced.

The timing of the launch is significant. Apple’s first foldable iPhone is expected in September at a starting price of around $2,000, meaning Samsung now has an eighth-generation foldable on the market before its biggest rival ships its first. Samsung also added cross-platform features to its new devices, including Quick Share compatibility with Apple’s AirDrop and a new Smart Switch tool that lets iPhone users transfer data by scanning a QR code without downloading an app.

All phones and watches are available for pre-order starting today, with general availability on August 7. The Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, and Z Flip8 come in Graphite and Cream with exclusive colours through Samsung’s website, while the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 ships in two titanium finishes and the Watch9 comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes. New buyers also receive a six-month free trial of Google AI Pro, which includes five terabytes of cloud storage.