Galaxy Unpacked July 2026: Z Fold8 Ultra, Watch Ultra 2, and Intelligent Eyewear Unveiled

Samsung’s eighth-generation foldables took center stage at the July 22, 2026 Galaxy Unpacked in London, but the real story was a fundamental shift in the company's hardware strategy. By introducing a super-premium "Ultra" tier to its foldables, partnering with fashion brands for Android XR smart glasses, and moving its wearables off in-house silicon, Samsung is building a high-performance foundation for its ambitious agentic AI plans.

With pre-orders already live following the July 22 event and devices shipping on August 7, 2026 (eyewear is slated for later this fall), the specs and pricing reveal a lot about where the foldable market is headed. Here is what you need to know about the new hardware.

1. The Foldables: Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, and Z Flip8

Samsung restructured its folding smartphone lineup to establish a distinct ultra-premium tier while refining the ergonomics of its standard models.

Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra

The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra represents Samsung's first "Ultra" model in the foldable segment. It features a thin chassis measuring just 4.1 mm when unfolded. Part of that comes from a new display structure Samsung is rolling out across the entire eighth-gen Galaxy Z series, not just the Ultra: "Flex Titanium," which combines a titanium-alloy film with an enhanced titanium plate and, in Samsung's words, is designed to help make foldables thinner while maintaining durability, absorbing impact and reducing crease visibility over time.

Displays: An 8-inch main display and a 6.5-inch cover display. Samsung lists the main display at a peak brightness of 3,000 nits.
Internal Hardware: Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, a 5,000mAh battery, and a 200MP main camera sensor.
Pricing: Starts at $2,099.99.

Galaxy Z Fold8

The standard Galaxy Z Fold8 moves away from the narrow form factor of its predecessors. It features a wider design with a 7.6-inch main display operating at a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 5.5-inch cover screen. Samsung pitches the wider cover screen around everyday use like messaging, social apps, browsing, and short-form video, while keeping the phone lighter than the Ultra model. The standard Fold8 starts at $1,899.99.

Galaxy Z Flip8

The clamshell Galaxy Z Flip8 focuses on self-expression and compact portability, weighing 180 grams. The primary upgrade is the FlexWindow cover display, which now runs an "AI-native" interface. Users can access widgets, manage notifications, and interact with Google Gemini AI without unfolding the device. Under the hood, Samsung's spec sheet lists the Flip8 with its own Exynos 2600, and some reports point to a Snapdragon variant in select markets, making it the one 2026 foldable that stays largely on in-house silicon. The Galaxy Z Flip8 starts at $1,199.99.

2. Samsung Intelligent Eyewear: Entering the Android XR Era

Samsung's new intelligent eyewear marks a major bid for a hardware platform that goes beyond the smartphone screen. Designed in partnership with premium fashion brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, the glasses feature a lightweight profile designed to resemble traditional eyewear frames.

Specifications and Software

The glasses run on Android XR and are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chipset. This first-generation model has no display at all. Samsung is deliberately starting with what it calls a non-display design, so the glasses lean on audio output, camera-based visual input, and hands-free AI assistance rather than any on-lens screen. The integrated battery delivers up to nine hours of runtime, with the included charging case providing up to seven additional charges.

AI Capabilities

Through deep integration with Google Gemini AI, the eyewear provides context-aware assistance. A built-in camera lets users capture what they are looking at, such as a whiteboard or a meeting discussion, and organize the key information into structured notes to review, share, or follow up on later. Other features include real-time translation, summarized audio notifications, and navigation prompts. Samsung has set a fall 2026 release window for the glasses, with pricing details to be announced.

3. Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Watch 9: The Snapdragon Wear Elite Transition

Samsung's wearable lineup received a fundamental architecture shift. Both the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and the Galaxy Watch 9 transition away from in-house Exynos processors, adopting the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite (SDW6100) platform. Built on a 3nm process, this penta-core chipset is designed to improve power efficiency and system responsiveness. Both models run Wear OS 7 with the One UI 9 Watch interface, and both share Samsung's new health suite: a Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Vitals, Fitness Index, Hearing, and a Sleep Apnea update (FDA-cleared in the US and rolling out in select markets).

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2

Designed for rugged outdoor and sports use, the Watch Ultra 2 features a 47mm titanium case, IP69K liquid protection, 10ATM water resistance, MIL-STD-810H certification, and EN13319 dive certification. That dive rating, plus the jump from 5ATM to 10ATM, is the real durability gap over the Watch 9, which shares the same MIL-STD-810H rating.

Display & Battery: A 1.52-inch Super AMOLED screen reaching a peak brightness of 5,000 nits, powered by an 800mAh battery, a 35% jump over the original Galaxy Watch Ultra. The chassis is 12% thinner than the previous model.
Software Features: Includes a specialized "Trail Run" mode for detailed terrain and elevation tracking, along with advanced diving telemetry. A dedicated diving app developed in partnership with Mares is scheduled to launch later this year.
Pricing: Starts at $699.99. The Ultra 2 ships LTE-only, with no Bluetooth-only model, which is part of why it lands at that price.

Galaxy Watch 9

Available in 40mm and 44mm sizes, the Galaxy Watch 9 focuses on everyday health tracking. It features a Super AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits peak brightness, IP68 water resistance, 5ATM durability, and the same MIL-STD-810H certification as the Ultra 2, and it carries the same new health suite as its bigger sibling. The 40mm Bluetooth model starts at $379.99, while the LTE version starts at $429.99.

4. One UI 9: The Push for Proactive Automation

All of the newly announced devices run on Samsung's latest software, One UI 9 (based on Android 17). The update marks a transition from passive digital assistants to agentic automation. The operating system utilizes local and cloud-based Gemini models to identify context across different applications. This enables the software to execute complex, multi-step tasks. Samsung's own demos included sharing a photo of a landmark with Gemini and asking it to book a nearby hotel while you keep using other apps, and a Now Nudge that, as plans take shape in a conversation, surfaces the next step like checking your schedule or saving a location, then opens that app beside the chat in a split-window view.

By expanding its hardware ecosystem into smart glasses and transitioning its wearables to high-performance Qualcomm silicon, Samsung is establishing a unified hardware foundation to support its agentic AI software ambitions.