Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra will be the very first smartwatches to receive access to Wear OS 5, Google’s latest operating system for wearables. This was unveiled at today’s Unpacked event, alongside a slew of major product announcements. These product announcements also happened to include the aforementioned smartwatches.

That means that Samsung’s recently-announced gadgets are the very first smartwatches to get Wear OS 5, even before Google’s own products. This will change later in the year when the Pixel Watch 3 is likely to drop. Interestingly, this is exactly how it went down with Wear OS 4. The operating system first came to the Galaxy Watch 6 before being included with the Pixel Watch 2.

Google officially revealed Wear OS 5 two months ago at I/O 2024 and the new software is filled with useful updates. The UI is mostly the same as Wear OS 4, but the software has been optimized to improve battery life by up to 30 percent. There are some new health monitoring features, including analysis of stride length when walking or running.

The operating system includes some efficiency upgrades, with Google saying that, for instance, running a marathon will consume 20 percent less power on Wear OS 5 when compared to OS 4. There’s a new grid-based app launcher and additional options for watch faces. This software update doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but that extra efficiency is sure to be a boon for many consumers.

Incidentally, there’s no information as to when the operating system will be ported to Samsung’s older smartwatches. We’ll just have to wait and find out. For now, you have to plunk down $300 for the Galaxy Watch 7 or $650 for the Ultra to access the OS. 

Catch up on all the news from Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2024 here!

Samsung just announced the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at its most recent Galaxy Unpacked event. The company’s latest high-end foldable is filled with both hardware and software upgrades. As usual with modern tech, AI is the name of the game here.

It’s getting pretty much all of the fancypants AI features first included with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. These include the interpreter mode for in-person conversations in another language and the live translation feature for calls. There’s chat assist to check spelling, grammar and tone of messages, complete with a glut of emoji options.

These AI tools extend to the Notes app, which allow for automatic summaries, formatting, spell checks and translations. The foldable is also getting a circle to search feature for images and an instant overlay that translates language. Finally, there’s AI-assisted photo editing.

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As for construction, there’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back, so this thing should take a licking and keep on ticking. The dual-rail hinge features a refined folding edge with enhanced resistance to pressure and sharp objects. Samsung says the aluminum used in the Z Fold 6 is ten percent stronger than the previous iteration.

There’s a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and 12GB of RAM. The main screen is a 7.6-inch AMOLED with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, while the cover screen is a 6.3-inch AMOLED. The 50MP main camera is similar to last year’s model, though there’s a new 12MP ultra-wide sensor. The Z Fold 6 can still handle 3x optical zoom. It’s also the brightest device in its category, with a maximum of 2,600 nits.

The Z Fold 6 is available for preorder right now in a wide variety of colors, including pink, navy and silver. There are two colors exclusive to Samsung.com, which are white and crafted black. The foldable starts at a jaw-dropping $1,900.

Catch up on all the news from Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2024 here!

CMF, a budget-friendly sub-brand Nothing announced last August, has officially unveiled a trio of new products. There’s a smartphone, a watch and earbuds, all of which seem to be modest in both price and features.

Let’s start with the smartphone. Nothing made a splash with its original smartphone, the Nothing Phone 1, and the appropriately-named CMF Phone 1 hopes to follow suit. It wouldn’t be a Nothing-adjacent product without some quirky design elements, and the CMF Phone 1 certainly has its share.

CMF by Nothing

The back cover is interchangeable, so users can swap out to different colors and designs on the fly. The company says this design element makes it easy to access the internal components of the phone for repairs and maintenance tasks. There’s also something called an accessory point on this back cover. When unscrewed, this input point can attach to accessories like fold-out stands, card holders and lanyards.

As for specs, there’s a newly-designed 8-core MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G processor, a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and a ‘flagship-grade” 50MP main camera sensor developed by Sony. There’s also a 5,000mAh battery and 8GB of RAM. These are mid-grade specs, but still decent. Perhaps the biggest feature here is the price. The CMF Phone 1 costs just $200 and is available right now. The various back covers and accessories will be available later in the month.

CMF by Nothing

The CMF Watch Pro 2 is a follow-up to last year’s timepiece. The design here is completely different, with a rounded shape rather than the squarish look of last year’s model. There’s an auto-brightness adjustment algorithm, improved sleep tracking and customizable widgets. The watch ships with a 1.32-inch always-on AMOLED display, built-in GPS, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor and a trio of health-tracking sensors. The company promises 11 days of use per charge, though that metric shrinks to nine days with “heavy use.”

Just like the CMF Phone 1, there are some unique customization options here. There are multiple bands to choose from, of course, but users can also swap out the bezel to “switch fluidly between styles to suit any occasion.” These additional bezels are just begging to get lost underneath a couch cushion somewhere, but we appreciate the thought. One thing hasn’t changed with this refresh. It’s still just $69. The Watch Pro 2 will be available on July 11.

CMF by Nothing

Finally, there’s a follow-up to CMF’s original earbuds. The Buds Pro 2 offers active noise cancellation and algorithmic spatial audio. The charging case features a control dial that can be customized to adjust nearly every aspect of playback. The battery life seems decent enough, though gets a major hit when using ANC.

These earbuds did get a slight price increase. Last year’s version was $49 and these are $59. The Buds Pro 2 will also be available on July 11.