Samsung’s mid-summer Unpacked press conference usually introduces the brand new Galaxy smartphone flagships. The event is usually a “boring” affair for Samsung fans who keep tabs on all the recent Galaxy rumors. The same thing can be said of this year’s summer. However, Samsung did make a massive change to its upcoming August presser in 2021. There’s no Galaxy Note 21 this year. Instead, Samsung is preparing for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 launch event that will debut its next-gen foldable handset.
Samsung hasn’t yet announced official details for the next Unpacked press conference. But a new report from Korea from a solid source gives us the purported event date.
In recent weeks, a few reports said that the Fold 3, Flip 3, and Galaxy S21 FE will all be launched in early August. We learned that August 3rd might be the day when Samsung streams the press conference online, with preorders set to kick off after the event. The new foldables would then hit stores by the end of August. That all makes perfect sense to anyone familiar with Samsung’s plans in recent years. It’s the same playbook, applied to different devices.
Then the story changed. Rumors indicated that the Galaxy S21 FE would be canceled or delayed. Separately, Fold 3 and Flip 3 launch rumors said the 2021 foldable handsets might be unveiled in mid-August, a few days later than initial plans.
Fold 3 launch event date isn’t a surprise
South Korean DigitalDailyNews has reportedly confirmed with Samsung that the Unpacked press conference will occur on August 11th. The date sounds familiar because a different story from Korea offered the same purported Unpacked launch event date.
DigitalDailyNews says that Samsung will unveil five devices at the online-only event. The list includes two foldables (Fold 3 and Flip 3), two smartwatches (Watch 4 and Watch Active 4), and a pair of wireless earphones (Galaxy Buds 2). The Korea Herald said the other day that Samsung will unveil a third foldable handset during the event, a more affordable Flip 3 device.
Regardless of how many new devices Samsung announces at the next Unpacked press conference, the Fold 3 remains the most exciting of the bunch. The new foldable flagship is the obvious Note successor, and it will be cheaper and more formidable than before. The handset should have a better build quality and novel features unseen on other foldable handsets or other Galaxy devices.
The Fold 3 should support the S Pen stylus and feature a stronger type of bendable glass. The handset will reportedly also feature a dust and water resistance rating. These are all firsts for Samsung foldables. The under-display camera would be a first for Samsung’s entire mobile division if it happens.
The report says the Fold 3 launch event will stream online at 10:00 AM EST in the US on August 11th. Samsung should tease the announcement event in the coming weeks as we get closer to it. It’s worth noting that the day can always change, given that we’re talking about a virtual press conference.
