Samsung’s new Z Series smartphones are coming on August 11, expect foldables with S Pen support

Samsung has a Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled for August 11. There have been plenty of rumours online that have given us a fair idea about what is coming. And just to put it out there, Samsung has released a statement today that gives us a clearer picture of what to expect on August 11. "We will unleash our latest and greatest Galaxy Z series to reshape the smartphone category and completely reimagine your experiences," said Dr TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business, at Samsung Electronics.

Roh has “hinted” that the company is going to launch two new foldable smartphones on August 11, thus confirming most of the rumours we’ve already reported about. There is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 that, as the company describes it, is going to “combine the best that smartphones and tablets offer”, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 that’s going to be a more refined, stylish offering armed with “more durable, stronger materials”.

Roh also said that we are also going to see the first-ever S Pen designed specifically for foldable devices. In case you were wondering, Samsung’s S Pen support so far has been restricted to its flagship Galaxy Note devices and this is the first time they are bringing it to their foldable range. And this also ties in with the fact that there is not going to be a Galaxy Note announced this year. Samsung had mentioned on the earnings call earlier this year that “it could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year”, and they might skip on making a Note this year, as The Verge points out.

“Instead of unveiling a new Galaxy Note this time around, we will further broaden beloved Note features to more Samsung Galaxy devices,” Roh said adding - “I hope you’ll join us as we debut our next Galaxy Z family and share some foldable surprises — including the first-ever S Pen designed specifically for foldable phones”.

Roh also said Samsung is working with Google to enrich the foldable ecosystems with popular apps and services. "For our third generation of Galaxy Z phones, we have lined up even more partner apps that make the most of the versatile fold-out format. From hands-free optimized video calling with Google Duo and watching videos in Flex mode on YouTube to multitasking in Microsoft Teams, our foldable ecosystem will offer a wealth of seamless and optimised experiences," he said.

He also talked about Samsung’s recent collaboration with Google to develop a new unified wearable platform and said that the One UI Watch user interface is deeply integrated with other Galaxy devices and provides consistent connectivity between the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy smartphone.