Korean media is reporting that Samsung won’t unveil any foldable device at its next Unpacked event. Instead, we will have to be content with only a teaser.
The Galaxy S21 series will be the limelight of Samsung’s next Unpacked event. Scheduled for mid-January next year, or early February, the event will see the arrival of the next-gen Galaxy flagships – the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Although there haven’t been many rumors about a foldable sharing the stage, it was expected that Samsung would unveil the second-gen Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S21. After all, the Galaxy Z Flip arrived at the same Unpacked event as the Galaxy S20 in February this year. The foldable even went on sale ahead of the Galaxy S20 lineup.
However, Samsung is shaking up its usual flagship launch schedule next year. And as a part of this shakeup, the company has seemingly removed a foldable from the agenda for its next Galaxy Unpacked. According to a report coming from Korea, we will only see a teaser for a foldable device at the event.
Perhaps this a thoughtful change in strategy from Samsung to put some distance between its high-end phones. The Galaxy S21 series will launch early in the year, followed by the Galaxy Z Flip 2, Galaxy Note 21 (if the Note series continues to exist in 2021), and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 at regular intervals.
The report doesn’t detail whether we’ll see a teaser for the Galaxy Z Flip 2, or some other foldable. Samsung has patented several foldable smartphone designs over the past few years. As the foldable market grows, some of those designs should end up in real products as well.
No foldable, but new Galaxy Buds are coming
While a foldable may not be on the agenda, Samsung will reportedly launch a new pair of TWS earbuds at its next Unpacked event. It’s unclear whether we’ll see a successor to the Galaxy Buds Plus that launched alongside the Galaxy S20 in February, or a successor to the Galaxy Buds Live that launched alongside the Galaxy Note 20 in August.
Going by a recent trademark application from the company, the new pair of buds could be called Galaxy Buds Beyond. However, it’s not clear if this change in nomenclature will mean yet another change in the design as well.
As explained by Samsung itself, the Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Live are two completely different types of products. They are essentially aimed at two different groups of audience. So there’s not much room for the company to experiment with the design for its next TWS buds. That’s unless it opts for the AirPods-like stemmed design.
The report adds that the Galaxy S21 series will come in violet, pink, and black colors, at least. Previous rumors had suggested gray, silver, and white color variants as well. We should get a clearer picture in the coming weeks, as we inch towards the launch early next year.