Samsung held the August Unpacked event yesterday. The fair, as it has become the norm, was held online because of the ongoing pandemic.
We have also come to expect the Note series this time of the year, but that did not happen, and we have somehow made peace with that.
Samsung, however, has its eye on foldables. You know, it has been said many times before that bending phones are the future, and earlier attempts to make this a reality are still in their infancy, which is another phrase for ‘not good.’
But somehow, Samsung thinks or knows, that this path will bear fruits in the long run. And trust Samsung to do that.
Announced at the show were four devices:
- Galaxy Z Fold3
- Galaxy Z Flip3
- Watch 4 Series
- Galaxy Buds 2
The Buds2 are everything about what mid-tier wireless earbuds should be. They are tinier weighing at 5g apiece, have active noise cancellation and above-average battery life.
They will be available locally from September 2021.
Price: KES 22000
The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will also be available in the same month. This time around, Samsung worked with Google to bundle WearOS (WearOS powered by Samsung). The wearable has a host of health and fitness features, eSIM support, takes the round design language, and is on the whole a looker.
Cost: KES 32000
As said, Samsung has been releasing foldables for a while now.
Now, the new Galaxy Z Fold3 is a marked departure from its two earlier siblings. It is slowly and surely becoming mature and introduces three new features that mark its seriousness in the foldable space.
The package is now water-resistant, an engineering feat owing to the phone’s many moving parts.
It also now supports the S-Pen, and Samsung has a separate, newer S-Pen just for the phone. However, there is no silo for it, unless you purchase a separate case for it.
The front camera is hidden under the display, so it makes the screen use uninterrupted after years of enduring notches.
And have we mentioned that we are only getting S888 versions in Kenya, finally? We do not know what happened because the EMEA market has always been graced by Exynos variants.
Here are the rest of the Z Fold3’s specs and pricing in Kenya when the phone arrives on our shores in September:
| Z Fold3 | Specs |
|---|---|
| 5G | Yes |
| Weight | 271g |
| Protection | IPX8 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) |
| Screen | Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1200 nits (peak) 7.6" 1768 x 2208 pixels Cover display Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 6.2 inches, 832 x 2268 pixels |
| Software | Android 11, One UI 3.5 |
| Chips | Snapdragon 888 5G Adreno 660 |
| Memory | 12/256 GB 12/512 GB No SD card slot |
| Cameras | Main (triple) 12 MP wide, OIS 12 MP, telephoto, OIS 12 MP, ultrawide Front 16 MP Cover camera 10 MP |
| Fingerprint reader | Side-mounted |
| Sound | Stereo speakers No headphone socket |
| Battery | 4400 mAh 25W charging 11W wireless charging 4.5W reverse charging |
| Colours | Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Phantom Green |
| Price | 12/512 GB - KES 221000 12/256 GB - KES 210000 |
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 was announced alongside the Z Fold3, and other interesting wearables.
It is basically the smaller sibling of the Z Fold3, and as its name suggest, it flips (or folds), just like the original Z Flip and the Z Flip2.
It has a tiny footprint too but has done some improvements over its earlier siblings. For instance, it has a larger cover display, and the main screen refreshes faster at 120 Hz.
Like the Z Fold3, it is IPX8 certified, meaning it can survive water of up to 1.5m for 30 mins.
The phone will be coming to Kenya in September too, and here are its additional specifications:
| Z Flip 3 | Specs |
|---|---|
| 5G | Yes |
| Weight | 183g |
| Protection | IPX8 |
| Screens | Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+ 6.7" 1080 x 2640 pixels Cover Display Super AMOLED, 1.9 inches, 260 x 512 pixels |
| Software | Android 11 One UI 3.5 |
| Chips | Snapdragon 888 Adreno 660 |
| Memory | 8/128 GB 8/256 GB No microSD card slot |
| Cameras | Main, dual 12 MP, OIS 12 MP, ultrawide Front 10 MP in a centred notch |
| Battery | 3300 mAh 25W charging 11W wireless charging 4.5W reverse wireless charging |
| Fingerprint reader | Side-mounted |
| Colours | Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, Cream, White, Pink, Gray |
| Price | KES 123000 |
Lastly, the preorders start from September 6, with freebies in tow. Arrival of the devices start from 22nd of the same month.
