Welcome to the latest installment of the Smartphone Guessing Game, with the official announcement that Samsung will be holding its next “Unpacked” product launch on August 5.
Actually, barring surprises it probably won't be too hard to guess, with Samsung almost certainly sticking to the usual playbook.
That means the South Korean tech giant will showcase the freshest phones in its Galaxy Note series, likely called the Galaxy Note 20 this time around. Samsung usually starts selling the Notes during the Dog Days of August, which are notable as productivity-oriented Android handsets with large displays, souped-up S Pen Bluetooth styluses, and, yes, lofty prices.
Samsung's other premium handsets, the "S" series devices, typically come out in the spring.
Samsung has long indicated that its Note customers are its most loyal; they stuck with the device even after Note 7 batteries repeatedly caught fire in 2016.
The launch timing of the latest Notes comes roughly a month or so ahead of rival Apple's expected iPhone announcements in September.
But the company isn’t likely to stop there. It is also extremely likely that we’ll see the Galaxy Fold 2, perhaps a somewhat cheaper version of Samsung’s near $2000 foldable phone, which in 2019 faced a delayed launch of several months, after reviewers reported broken screens and other damage issues on the device prior to its scheduled release. (Samsung ended up doing a do-over.) How much cheaper remains to be seen; might the devices be at least half as expensive?
Product leaks also suggest Samsung will introduce a Galaxy Watch 3, the latest in its wearable line.
Of course, the global pandemic means this next Unpacked event will be a virtual launch, with the streaming set to commence at Samsung.com at 10AM ET.
What features would you like to see on Samsung’s newest phones?