Samsung Galaxy Note 20 event: all the latest rumors, news, and more

Samsung announced its new Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra phones at its Unpacked 2020 online event in early August 2020. At this point, The Verge’s Dieter Bohn has now published his full review of the larger Note 20 Ultra. You can read that here or watch the video component of the review above. I’m just here to tell you where to buy them. Oh, and if you’re curious about when you can preorder the new Galaxy Z Fold 2, that’s coming on September 1st.

Both Note 20 phones have already released, and if you placed a preorder, you can go ahead and redeem free goodies with your purchase. Buying the $1,000 Note 20 earned you a $100 Samsung credit that can be redeemed on its site or through the Shop Samsung app, and it can go toward “curated bundles and select products like Samsung TVs, Galaxy Buds Live, tablets and more.”

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 includes a heart-monitoring electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) app, which has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It’s the second smartwatch in the US with this feature; the Apple Watch received clearance for a similar app in 2018.

“I’m excited to announce that we have just received the US FDA clearance for Samsung’s ECG monitoring app,” said Samsung SVP Federico Casalegno in today’s Unpacked event.

Samsung has opened its online reservation system for the new Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable announced earlier today at its Unpacked event. For those unfamiliar with this approach, Samsung now occasionally uses reservations ahead of preorders for devices it expects to be in immediate high demand but for which there is still limited official information — like how much it might cost, for instance.

Effectively, you reserve a spot now to preorder later, so that you’re guaranteed the chance to put money down and secure a unit once you know how high the price tag will be. The company opened a similar reservation system for the Galaxy Note 20 last month, before it was also announced today but after everyone had a pretty good idea of what the device would look like and pack feature-wise, thanks to plentiful leaks.

Samsung is promising to “support three generations of Android updates” for Galaxy phones, but that won’t apply to all the phones it makes. Samsung says it will happen for phones from the Galaxy S10 and newer, but that some of its lower A-series phones may not be up to it. In a statement to The Verge, Samsung clarifies that the guarantee “applies to S, N and Z Series. A Series will support until hardware allows.”

The original promise flew by near the end of its Unpacked keynote for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (and many other devices). Samsung has made big strides in offering Android updates in recent years, reducing the amount of time Galaxy S owners have needed to wait for OS updates by months. However, because of the way the Android ecosystem is structured, Samsung can’t update its phones as quickly as Google can and obviously lags behind Apple. Generally, however, things are improving across the entire Android ecosystem.

Samsung’s anticipated Unpacked 2020 event is all packed up. The Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra are now real things, as are the Galaxy Tab S7 tablet, the Galaxy Watch 3, and the Galaxy Buds Live (FKA “Beans”). Also, it announced the new Galaxy Z Fold 2. In case you missed out on the presentation or just want to see the main highlights of the show without having to watch through the live stream yourself, we’ve distilled them all into bite-size bits below.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra are loaded with powerful specs, starting at $1,000 for the Note 20 and $1,300 for the Note 20 Ultra. Both models have the Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with 5G support as well as an IP68 rating for waterproofing and support for wireless charging, but they differ in a few major ways.

Android tablets may not be nearly as popular as Apple’s iPad, but that hasn’t stopped Samsung from continuing to dish out new models on a fairly regular basis. Today, the company is announcing its latest high-end Android tablets: the Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7 Plus. Both models will be available in silver, black, or bronze this fall for $649.99 and $849.99, respectively.

Like the Tab S6 from last year, the Tab S7 and S7 Plus are meant to pull double duty as both content consumption devices and productivity machines. As a result, they both have optional keyboard cases available ($199.99 for the S7, $229.99 for the S7 Plus) that allow you to use them like a traditional laptop. Both models also come with Samsung’s S Pen stylus in the box, which magnetically attaches and charges on the back of the tablet.

Samsung is unveiling its new Galaxy Note 20 handset today, and with it, a unique Xbox Game Pass partnership. Microsoft is partnering with Samsung to include a special version of the Xbox Game Pass app in Samsung’s Galaxy Store. This version will allow Xbox players to redeem tokens and make in-app purchases like buying skins or DLC items in the Xbox Store.

The Xbox Game Pass app available on the Google Play Store will not support these types of in-app purchases. It’s clear Microsoft and Samsung have struck a special deal, which likely undercuts the 30 percent Google asks for, to enable them exclusively for the Galaxy Store version. The deal comes just as rumors suggest Google is trying to convince Samsung to promote its own Play Store over Samsung’s alternative.

Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 at its Unpacked event. It’s the successor to last year’s Galaxy Fold, with a new camera system, larger external display, and hole-punch cameras that give the new model a far more elegant and cohesive look than the original.

The new Galaxy Z Fold 2 — renamed to match the Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 5G released earlier this year — marks Samsung’s first major refresh for its flagship foldable phone, and it looks to improve on nearly every shortcoming of the original model.

Samsung just announced the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra, the two latest phones in its stylus-equipped lineup. The specs of Samsung’s Note phones are always top of the line, with big, high-resolution screens, fast processors, and big batteries. So how do they compare to Samsung’s previous flagship phones as well as the best its competitors currently have to offer?

We’ve rounded up the most important specs for both the Galaxy Note 20 and the Note 20 Ultra below and compared them directly against Samsung’s previous flagships (including those from its recent Galaxy S20 series and last year’s Note 10 lineup) as well as competing devices from the likes of Google, OnePlus, and, of course, Apple.

Samsung has just announced the latest model in its long line of smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 3. The Watch 3 succeeds the Galaxy Watch that was first released in 2018 and joins the Galaxy Watch Active and Watch Active 2 in Samsung’s current lineup. It will be available for purchase starting on August 6th for $399.99 and up.

The Galaxy Watch 3 (no, you’re not imagining things: there isn’t a Galaxy Watch 2 — Samsung decided to skip a number to make it appear newer than the Galaxy Watch Active 2 that’s been out since last year) looks similar to the prior model, with a physical rotating dial, two buttons on the side, and a chunkier design compared to the sleeker and simpler Active models. But Samsung says it’s 14 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the Galaxy Watch, which should make it more comfortable to wear, especially for those with smaller wrists. At the same time, the screen size has increased to 1.4 inches on the larger variant.

Samsung has officially announced 2020’s Galaxy Note lineup. There are two models this year: the regular Galaxy Note 20 and the high-end Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Both feature the main thing that differentiates the Note line — an included S Pen stylus — but the new Notes are more different from each other than you might expect.

As it did with the Galaxy S20 earlier this year, Samsung is explicitly trying to make the “Ultra” moniker push the top-tier specs ever higher, which apparently allows the regular model to skimp on a few features. It’s a tale of two Notes.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live, the bean-shaped true wireless earbuds that have leaked extensively over the past couple of months, are now official. Priced at $169.99, they’ll be sold alongside the more traditional $149.99 Galaxy Buds Plus as a step-up option with larger audio drivers and the addition of active noise cancellation. They’ll be available starting August 6th in black, bronze (which looks more rose gold in certain light), and white.

But with the unconventional design of the Galaxy Buds Live and their lack of in-ear tips or an actual seal, Samsung’s noise canceling works a bit differently here compared to what you’d experience from the AirPods Pro or Sony 1000XM3 earbuds. The company says that the Galaxy Buds Live are designed to cut down on very low, constant frequencies like the sound of an airplane cabin or the rumble of a train. But they’ll let the bulk of most sounds through — and that’s intentional.

Samsung is holding an online-only “Unpacked” event to announce its latest products. We’re expecting the Note 20, Note 20 Ultra, Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Watch 3, Tab S7 and S7 Plus tablets, and maybe even a new Galaxy Z Fold foldable. It’s going to be a lot.

Samsung has a history of throwing supremely ostentatious live events, but going for an overwhelming media experience isn’t really going to work when everybody’s just watching a live stream at home. We don’t yet know how Samsung will handle it because the last actual in-person event many people in the consumer tech world got to go to was Samsung’s Galaxy S20 reveal.

Samsung’s entire rumored device lineup for today’s upcoming Unpacked event has been spoiled by a series of videos from leaker Evan Blass. Most interesting is the hands-on footage of Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable (most previous leaks have only been press renders), but the videos also include footage of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the Galaxy Tab S7 tablet, the Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds, and the Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch.

The sheer quantity of leaks that have preceeded today’s event mean we already had a good idea of what to expect from the five devices, but in some cases this is the first time we’ve seen them outside of perfectly composed press renders. For the Galaxy Z Fold 2 that means seeing how its two displays look with their hole-punch notches, as well as its outer display which appears significantly bigger than the original Fold’s.

As with most recent product introductions, Samsung’s latest product launch is going to be entirely virtual this year, but it still promises to be a really big show. The event will start at 10AM ET / 7AM PT on Wednesday, August 5th.

While the spotlight is certainly going to be on Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 20 phone, the company is promising to present us with five new products at this event. The latest rumors are that, besides the Note 20, the new devices include a tablet, smartwatch, true wireless earbuds, and (you guessed it) a foldable smartphone.

Samsung’s Unpacked event tomorrow will be the official showcase for the heavily rumored and much-leaked Galaxy Note 20. For those who wanted yet another look at the phone in full before it’s unveiling, an AT&T promotional video pretty much shows off every inch of the device and even details its most important specs and new features.

The video, which popped up on Twitter courtesy of South American tech blogger Karlos Peru, appears to have been prepped as a piece of marketing material to promote the new phone and its larger Ultra variant. It doesn’t tell us anything groundbreaking that we didn’t already know or suspect about Samsung’s upcoming extra-large phones, but it is pretty staggering that a video with this much information and detail is popping up ahead of an official announcement.

Samsung’s next big product launch is right around the corner, taking place on August 5th at 10AM ET, though it’ll be a virtual event as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The main product reveal is almost certainly going to be the next phone in Samsung’s Galaxy Note series, its top-of-the-range smartphone lineup that pairs some of the most powerful phone hardware around with a big, beautiful screen and its signature S Pen stylus.

But Samsung hasn’t been shy about teasing additional product reveals. The company said in a blog post that it plans to unveil five devices at the event, and more recently, it used a teaser trailer to show off five silhouettes. To our eyes, they look like silhouettes for a new tablet, smartwatch, true wireless earbuds, a foldable smartphone, and, of course, the Note 20.

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 2 has just gotten its biggest leak yet, showing off the revamped design for the company’s flagship foldable successor, which it’s expected to announce at the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event on August 5th alongside the Galaxy Note 20, via MySmartPrice.

The new renders show off a vastly improved design, with a hole-punch camera replacing the large corner notch for the internal camera and a new, full-size display on the outside of the phone (instead of the tiny screen on the original). Earlier rumors put those displays at 7.7 inches for the internal, foldable display and 6.23 inches for the outside panel (compared to 7.3-inch and 4.6-inch displays on the original). Visible on the back of the phone is a new triple camera system that matches the design on the leaked Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Samsung’s next big hardware event, Galaxy Unpacked, is confirmed for August 5th, and a new trailer from the phone maker suggests we can expect to see five hardware devices unveiled on the day.

The silhouettes of all five are shown at the beginning and end of the trailer below. And judging by the shapes and the leaks we’ve seen so far, this is what we’re expecting to see: the new Galaxy Note 20 (regular and Ultra versions); the foldable Galaxy Fold 2; the Galaxy Watch 3; the bean-shaped Galaxy Buds Plus; and the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7 Plus tablets.

Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 3, appears to have just leaked again, this time in an extensive hands-on video from YouTuber TechTalkTV, which we spotted via SamMobile. We already know a lot about the unannounced wearable thanks to a series of leaks over the past few months, but the video gives us our best look yet at the 41mm version of the watch.

In line with previous rumors, including a series of photos TechTalkTV posted themselves last month, the Galaxy Watch 3 is shown with a physical rotating bezel (a popular feature that was missing from the Active models) and two buttons on the right of the watch face. As well as the 41mm version shown in the video which has a 1.2-inch display, there’s reportedly also going to be a 45mm model with a 1.4-inch screen.

Specs for Samsung’s unannounced Tab S7 and Tab S7 Plus have leaked online, giving us an almost complete impression of what to expect from the company’s upcoming tablets. 

WinFuture reports that the big difference between the Tab S7 and the Tab S7 Plus are the screens. The S7 Plus will reportedly have a 12.4-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2800 x 1752 and an in-display fingerprint sensor. The S7, meanwhile, is said to have a smaller 11-inch 2560 x 1600 LCD display and will have a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Both screens will reportedly have a high refresh rate of 120Hz.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 app has arrived in the Play Store, and a look at its features shows new gestures to silence alarms, take a picture, or answer an incoming call, 9to5Google reported (via XDA Developers)

Rotating your wrist while wearing the watch will allow you to mute alarms as well as incoming calls, and clenching and unclenching your fist will answer a call. To take a photo or video with the Camera Controller app, make a fist, then open your hand.

We’ve seen plenty of pictures of Samsung’s new bean-shaped earbuds, but an early update to Samsung’s Galaxy Buds companion app has confirmed nearly all the details about the upcoming headphones, including the official Galaxy Buds Live name and support for active noise cancellation.

The app also shows a brief guide on how to wear the uniquely shaped earbuds and shows that the earbuds will have touch controls (set to toggle active noise cancellation by default), which can also be disabled if you don’t like touch controls. The app shows off a Find My Earbuds setting and equalizer options — standard features for headphones like this.

Samsung’s virtual Unpacked event is scheduled for August 5th, and we expect to see the Galaxy Note 20 announced, along with a few other devices. If you’re sold on the Note 20 after seeing rumors, the extremely brief official teaser above, and seeing the phone’s design leak extensively on Samsung’s Russian site, you can place a reservation for “the next Galaxy” over at Samsung’s site. Doing this won’t cost anything — it’ll just put you in line for preorders once those open up, which will likely happen at the conclusion of its Unpacked event.

I’d recommend reserving one even if you’re still deciding whether to follow through with a preorder. If you reserve before August 4th, then place a preorder once it becomes available to do so, you’ll get a $50 voucher valid to use on “wearables, tablets, PCs and select accessories” available at Samsung’s online store (that voucher expires on Black Friday, so you could rack up some good deals if you keep it until then). It won’t make buying the Note 20 any cheaper, but it’s a nice incentive given that it won’t cost you anything extra. Reserving requires your name, email address, zip code, and selecting whether you want an unlocked device or one tied to your preferred carrier.