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

Samsung’s Note 20 Ultra, which is expected to launch on August 5th at the next Samsung Unpacked event, may be highly optimized to stream Xbox games over xCloud, according to a new report from WinFuture.

While that might come as a surprise, Samsung and Microsoft have actually gotten pretty cozy over the past year. Last August, at the last Galaxy Note launch event, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared onstage to recognize an increased partnership between the two companies, and the two companies announced that Samsung would preinstall Microsoft’s Your Phone app, Office apps, LinkedIn, and OneDrive on the Galaxy Note 10.

A leaked and extremely blurry photo of what appears to be Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 2 has appeared online. Phone leaker Ice Universe has published two photos of the device, revealing that the successor to the Galaxy Fold will likely arrive in a gold model and with some camera upgrades. It’s not clear exactly what the camera array consists of at the rear, but rumors have suggested the Galaxy Fold 2 will adopt the same camera as the Galaxy S20 Plus — which includes a 64-megapixel telephoto camera.

The leaked image also shows the cover display on the front of the Galaxy Fold 2, but it doesn’t provide any clues as to whether this has been upgraded. Samsung’s original Fold had a 4.6-inch front display, with comically large bezels. The Fold’s main 7.3-inch display folded out, and there are persistent rumors this could be increased to 7.7 inches or 8 inches on the Galaxy Fold 2.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20, the step-down model from the top-of-the-line Note 20 Ultra, has leaked in a new 360-degree render thanks to tipster Evan Blass. The render shows off a handset with a much flatter screen than what we’re expecting from the Ultra, and the rear camera module also appears to lack the Ultra’s fourth sensor, which is speculated to be either a 3D ToF sensor or a laser autofocus.

Although we’ve heard a lot about the Note 20 Ultra thanks to numerous leaks, including one from Samsung’s own website as well as an early video of the handset itself, relatively little had been revealed about the standard Note 20. We’ve seen still images and a diagram of its camera layout from leaker Ice Universe, but this render from Blass gives us a much better idea of its overall design. 

All indications point to Samsung introducing its next set of true wireless earbuds at the company’s Unpacked event next month. We’ve already seen them, and they’ll reportedly be branded as the Galaxy Buds Live. (It’s truly foolish of Samsung to not just own the design and call them the Galaxy Beans, but I digress.) Now, new images and a video posted by Twitter user h0x0d give us an even closer look at the Buds Live — and how they’ll look when worn.

In the below marketing video, you’ll see a tag line that suggests the Galaxy Buds Live might feature active noise cancellation. “Keep the noise out. Let the sound in.” The buds don’t have silicone tips or an in-ear seal, so I’m curious as to how Samsung achieved ANC if it turns out to be there.

Samsung’s upcoming bean-shaped earbuds have leaked again in a series of new images that also include its charging case for the first time. The images were initially leaked by Evan Blass, before being republished by 9to5Google. As well as giving us our best look yet at the earbuds’ charging case and bronze color scheme, Blass also suggests that the earbuds will be called the Galaxy Buds Live, rather than the “Galaxy Beans.”

Although these are set to be Samsung’s second pair of true wireless earbuds this year, they’re a significant departure from the Galaxy Buds Plus. What’s notable about the design of the Galaxy Buds Live is that they don’t appear to have a silicon ear tip that sits in your ear canal while you wear them. Instead, there’s just a bean-shaped earbud that you wear in the outer part of your ear. 

As is usually the case with leaked gadgets, first there were photos... and now there’s a video. One day after Samsung officially announced the August 5th Unpacked event where it’s expected to launch the Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 Ultra, and Galaxy Fold successor, the flagship Note has been given the hands-on treatment on YouTube.

The video from Jimmy Is Promo — the same source of the photos earlier this week — is under 90 seconds in length, so we don’t get to see a ton in the way of details or new information. Sadly, there’s no direct confirmation on whether the Note 20 Ultra will have a 120Hz display.

The last big tech event I attended in person was Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S20 line of smartphones. Now Samsung will join everybody else in tech by trying to capture some semblance of that experience and hype in a purely online event with the upcoming Unpacked event scheduled for August 5th.

We are, of course, expecting to see the Galaxy Note 20 lineup announced that day. Though the rumors initially waffled a bit on what exactly that lineup would entail, more recent leaks point to a Note 20, a Note 20 Plus (which will be bigger), and a Note 20 Ultra (which will be... “Ultra,” whatever that means).

Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on Wednesday, August 5th, at 10AM ET. The company is expected to reveal its new lineup of Galaxy Note 20 devices, along with a successor to its first foldable, the Galaxy Fold.

Samsung’s teaser is pretty cryptic, even by the standards of tech invitations, although the copper color splash does match the leaked images of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — the rumored flagship of the lineup — that were accidentally posted on Samsung’s Russian website at the beginning of July.

Photos allegedly showing Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have been shared by YouTuber Jimmy Is Promo. The pictures could be the first real-life glimpse we’ve seen of the new Note series. Samsung tends to announce new Galaxy Note phones in August each year.

Although we can’t verify the images, they show a very similar device to one that was leaked earlier this month on Samsung’s own website. They also include a view of the front of the phone for the first time, showing a centered hole-punch notch at the top of the display.

Samsung may have just leaked its next flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, with renders of an unreleased Galaxy Note device appearing on the company’s official Russian website, via Ishan Agarwal on Twitter.

While it’s not confirmed yet that the images of the copper-colored phone are actually of Samsung’s new flagship, they definitely do depict an unreleased Galaxy Note phone, with a camera array that features a folded zoom lens and a very similar design to the Galaxy S20 Ultra released earlier this year.

Several software features from Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Watch 3 have leaked, after the smartwatch’s firmware was downloaded early by XDA-Developers’ Max Weinbach. According to Weinbach’s sleuthing, Samsung’s unannounced smartwatch could include more customizable watchfaces, alongside updates to its music, email, and calendar apps.

Watchfaces are seeing some of the biggest software changes. Weinbach says there are new designs to choose from, and some of these will include a feature called “informative digital edge,” where custom details like your heart rate or current steps can be shown around the edges of the watchface.

Less than a week after getting a glimpse at Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3, more photos of the wearable have apparently leaked from TechTalkTV. This time the smart watch’s screen is turned on, showing us a familiar looking interface that strongly suggests we’re looking at another Tizen-powered smartwatch from Samsung.

Otherwise, there’s not too much more we can learn from the images. SamMobile notes that the Calendar and Galaxy Store app icons appear to have a slightly different design and color than their existing versions, which makes sense given we’re probably looking at an updated version of Tizen OS.

Images of Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Watch 3 have leaked online, giving us our first look at the company’s upcoming wearable. The images appeared on South Korea’s NRRA certification website, where they were spotted by MySmartPrice. In them, you can see what appears to be a physical rotating bezel (a feature missing from last year’s Galaxy Watch Active 2), and two buttons on the right of the device.

The Galaxy Watch 3 is slated to be Samsung’s follow-up to last year’s Galaxy Watch Active 2, the best smartwatch to buy if you’ve got an Android phone.