Tag Archives: Samsung

Samsung Just Turned a Theme Park Queue Into a 3D Safari, No Glasses

Posted on by

Waiting in line at a theme park is one of those unavoidable experiences that nobody designs for enthusiastically. The physical infrastructure exists, the rope lines are laid out, and in the best-case scenario, there’s some signage or ambient music to occupy the time. But the queue is fundamentally dead space, a stretch of minutes that happens before the experience begins rather than as part of it. That’s a design problem, and most parks accept it as one that can’t really be solved.

Samsung’s Spatial Signage installation at Everland in South Korea offers a different answer. At the newly renovated Safari World: The Wild attraction in Yongin, the company installed its glasses-free 3D display directly in the queue area, where life-scale tigers and lions appear to surge toward visitors without so much as a pair of 3D glasses required. The wait effectively becomes the opening act.

Designer: Samsung

The technology making that possible is Samsung’s patented 3D Plate system, which uses binocular parallax to deliver separate images to each eye, tricking the brain into perceiving depth the same way it does when looking at real objects at real distances. Unlike the boxy, space-hungry installations that most 3D signage has historically required, the Spatial Signage display slots into the queue corridor in an 85-inch, portrait-oriented panel with a 52 mm profile. There’s nothing protruding into the space, and no hardware for visitors to interact with.

The content for the Everland installation was developed by Klleon, whose team prioritized capturing the natural movement rhythms of the animals rather than exaggerated cinematic effects. The result is a quality of realism that works specifically because of the environment: a queue is typically a narrow, enclosed space where visitors are already looking forward and standing relatively still, which happens to be exactly the viewing geometry where the 3D depth effect lands best.

What that means practically is that the queue line stops being something guests endure and starts being something they talk about. Anticipation for an attraction is one of the least exploited moments in the theme park visit. Visitors heading toward Safari World already have the right frame of mind for a wildlife encounter, and the display capitalizes on that readiness by delivering a preview of that encounter before anyone boards a vehicle or rounds a corner.

The broader implication is about how display technology fits into destination entertainment design. For years, attractions have used projection mapping, animatronics, and theatrical sets to build immersion during rides and shows, but the queue almost always remains a visual afterthought. A display that can occupy a narrow corridor at wall depth, require no headgear, and show content at true-to-life scale without any spatial awkwardness changes what’s possible in that format.

Everland isn’t a retail shelf or a shopping center atrium. The animals aren’t selling anything. They’re there because a flat screen in that corridor would register as background noise, and a three-dimensional tiger at eye level does not. That distinction, between content that is present and content that actually commands attention, is the problem Spatial Signage was built to solve, and the queue turned out to be a rather fitting test.

The post Samsung Just Turned a Theme Park Queue Into a 3D Safari, No Glasses first appeared on Yanko Design.

Your Samsung Galaxy Watch will soon predict sudden fainting before it happens

Posted on by

Fitness trackers and smartwatches are great at monitoring various body parameters, so we can learn from the input and take care of our health and lifestyle. While we are on top of the calorie count, steps walked, and stress levels, we are often negligent about how these smartwatches with heart rate monitoring and SpO2 detection can help with preventive care. Alerting us ahead of time when something is not right with the body.

Amid other interesting features like heart irregularity and fall detection, the Samsung Galaxy Watch is now getting another new feature. The Galaxy Watch is tested to be able to predict fainting caused by vasovagal syncope (VVS). A preventive care option that can help up to 40% of people who “experience vasovagal syncope over their lifetime.”

Designer: Samsung

Samsung in a collaborative clinical study with Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital in South Korea, has developed a technique to monitor vasovagal syncope with high accuracy. The technique is possible using a Galaxy Watch, which, through the obtained bio-signals, can successfully predict impending fainting episodes up to five minutes in advance with 84.6 percent accuracy, Samsung notes in its press brief.

With its ability to predict fainting episodes before they happen, the Galaxy Watch should be able to offer preventive care to people struggling with vasovagal syncope. VVS is a common condition, and not dangerous in itself, but sudden falls and unattended episodes can leave patients with serious injuries, including a concussion.

Professor Junhwan Cho from the Cardiology department of the participating hospital informs that “Up to 40% of people experience vasovagal syncope over their lifetime, with one-third experiencing recurrent episodes.” If patients can receive early warning signs, they can get to a safe place or call for help. This can help reduce injuries and in cases, even prevent them.

In the collaborative clinical study, a total of 132 patients with suspected vasovagal syncope were tested. VVS fainting generally happens when a person’s blood pressure and heart rate abruptly drop. Reasons for this can be different, but the body’s response is often the same: fainting! The Galaxy Watch, with its photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, was used to analyze the heart rate variability (HRV) data with an AI algorithm and it was successfully found to predict impending fainting episodes with great accuracy.

Samsung does not share as to when this feature will be commercially available on its Galaxy Watch series. But we learn via its press release that the Korean tech giant desires to work on “personalized, preventive health solutions,” and enhance the health monitoring capabilities of its wearables (including the smartwatch) through “collaboration with leading medical institutions.”

 

 

 

 

The post Your Samsung Galaxy Watch will soon predict sudden fainting before it happens first appeared on Yanko Design.

moto g stylus 2026 Review: Accessible Pocket Productivity and Creativity

Posted on by

PROS:


  • Stylus with pressure and tilt sensitivity

  • Beautiful, minimalist design

  • Bright and vibrant screen

  • Headphone jack and microSD card slot

CONS:


  • Short software support period

  • Relatively higher price compared to peers

  • Not much hardware upgrades from last-gen

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The moto g stylus - 2026 analog handwriting and digital freedom in a striking minimalist design that you can finally afford.

Despite and in spite of the growing number of screens and disembodied artificial voices around us, there remains a strong culture and argument for handwritten words. But while there might be plenty of benefits to putting ink to paper, there’s no denying that paper doesn’t provide the benefits of digital artifacts such as files, photos, and videos. For years, the stylus has been trying to bridge the best of both worlds, but it has so far been only within the reach of those who can afford it.

Since 2020, Motorola has been working to provide that kind of experience to more people through its Moto G Stylus line, but there have always been compromises. Ironically, most of those revolved around the very feature that gave the product line its name. With the moto g stylus – 2026, however, the brand is making its most daring leap forward yet, aiming for a title held only by the most luxurious of Samsung’s (non-foldable) handsets. So does it fly or does it fall? Read on to find out.

Designer: Motorola

Aesthetics

The moment you pull the moto g stylus – 2026 out of the box, you are immediately struck by how different it is from most phones of this generation. It doesn’t scream for attention with a ridiculously large camera module, nor does it attempt to dazzle your eyes with tricks of color and light. It is, in a nutshell, a minimalist lover’s dream.

The back of the phone, which is always the most expressive side of the design, is covered with a vegan leather-inspired material that gives the phone both visual and tactile texture. Continuing its partnership with PANTONE, those covers are available in subtle Coal Smoke (our review unit) and Lavender Mist colors, with the flat edges matching the hue. Other than the iconic “Batwing” logo and minuscule markings around the LED flash, the design is bare and plain, a refreshing change from the active and noisy rears of most smartphones these days.

The camera bump follows that same pattern, rising from the back plate with a gentle slope. There’s no separate structure caging the lenses, creating a seamless and unbroken surface that almost has a calming effect, especially when your finger starts to glide over the textured surface. There’s almost a sense of Zen, so to speak, which is almost how many pen and paper lovers describe their favorite notebooks.

Of course, the front is the polar opposite, but only because of its bright and vibrant screen. The thin and almost symmetrical bezels and the flat glass, however, serve to provide balance that keeps that liveliness in check. All in all, the moto g stylus – 2026 is both simple and sublime. It doesn’t call attention to itself with some fancy visual or material gimmick, but you can’t help but pay close attention to its minimalism just the same.

The stylus is cut from the same cloth, with a design that might be familiar to those who have held a Samsung “Ultra” flagship. It’s basically a somewhat flat stick, with a spring-loaded rear that easily resembles the (addictive) clicky ends of retractable pens. But unlike the small but stubby nibs of its predecessors, there is now a proper tapered, conical tip. Of course, it’s not just an aesthetic change, as we’ll get to in a bit.

Ergonomics

Another thing you’ll notice the moment you lift the moto g stylus – 2026 out of the box is how light it is. At only 192.3g, even with the 4.7g stylus inside, it’s easily one of the lightest phones in the market today. Given that it has a 6.7-inch screen and a large 5,200mAh battery, that’s even more surprising.

That lightness, however, is a double-edged blade. On the one hand, it might make the phone feel a little flimsy, almost like it could easily fly out of your hand. It almost makes the vibration haptics feel hollow, as if there’s not enough substance in there.

On the other hand, it strains your hand less when holding it for a long time, especially as you might find yourself constantly scribbling or doodling on it. The phone’s textured back and flat edges also help deliver a more confident hold. It just won’t accidentally slip from your hand that easily. A protective case almost feels redundant if grip is your only reason for putting one on.

One thing to note about the camera module is that although it is thin and subtle, it still lifts a single corner of the phone when you put it on a flat surface. That means it will wobble, which can be pretty annoying when you’re writing with a stylus. Funnily enough, that might actually be a more pressing reason to put a case on, just to create a balance. Unfortunately, you do lose out on feeling the phone’s textured surface.

Performance

The Specs

The moto g stylus – 2026 makes no qualms about its specs, clearly marking it for the mid-range smartphone market. There’s only 8GB of RAM, which can be expanded up to 24GB with RAM Boost, which basically eats up some of the already modest 128GB or 256GB of storage. Thankfully, you can also expand that storage with a microSD card of up to 1TB capacity, definitely a rare sight these days, even among phones on the same tier.

The biggest disappointment is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor, which is a holdover from last year’s moto g stylus. In fact, if you look closer, you’ll see plenty of similarities between the 2025 and 2026 models, from processor to cameras. It’s not always a bad thing, but given the price hike, you’d be forgiven for expecting a bit more.

Make no mistake, though, the moto g stylus – 2026 is plenty capable. It won’t win trophies on benchmarks, but it does get the job done without breaking too much of a sweat. It’s even surprising how it can handle a game like Warframe on high settings. It doesn’t get too warm, either, and the vegan leather material probably helps make it feel a little less warm as well.

And that’s perfect because the moto g stylus – 2026 has such a gorgeous screen to play and watch on. The 6.7-inch 2712 x 1220 AMOLED display boasts a peak brightness of 5000 nits, definitely one of the brightest in the market, making it easily usable under sunlight. The rounded corners are also less curved, so UI elements are not obstructed, especially in games. Plus, the 3.5mm headphone jack, another rare sighting, can perfectly complement the visuals with hi-def wired audio.

The moto g stylus – 2026 runs the latest Android 16, and given Motorola’s history, the skin is pretty minimal and non-invasive. It’s probably the closest you can get to a Pixel experience outside of Google Pixel phones, which is light, fast, and probably barebones if you’re coming from other brands like Samsung and Xiaomi. There’s almost no bloatware, unless you count the dozen or so pre-installed Google apps, which would be the same situation on a Google Pixel phone anyway.

The Pen

There’s no beating around the bush: the only reason you’d even give the moto g stylus – 2026 is because of its stylus. For the first time, that stylus is no longer just a very thin stub standing in for your finger tip. For the first time, it is supporting pressure and tilt sensitivity, features that only Samsung offers at nearly three times the price.

The older stylus designs were practical and usable, but this new pen opens the door to even more possibilities, especially when it comes to creative activities like drawing, designing, and editing photos. It gives you much better control and precision, while also offering more styles in terms of pen width, brushes, and the like.

The stylus is also crucial in some productivity workflows, like when dragging images to a note in split-screen mode, highlighting and copying text to a note, or for sketching a crude representation of a cat and using AI to turn it into a photorealistic masterpiece. Part of this upgraded experience is made possible with the Moto Notes app, which supports drawing on an infinite canvas that can then be embedded into notes.

The new stylus also has a button that can be mapped to some actions depending on whether you press or long-press it, though the actions are not that varied. The pen now also has to be charged, which is how it’s able to pull off that pressure sensitivity stunt, and you can only charge it when it’s inside its silo.

The Cameras

The moto g stylus – 2026’s camera story is rather underwhelming. On the hardware side, it doesn’t exactly differ from last year’s cameras, which include a 50MP Sony LYTIA 700C sensor and a 13MP Ultra-wide shooter that doubles as the Macro camera. In a nutshell, these are serviceable and decent, but they wouldn’t be something you’d want to rely on if you were planning on being a professional shutter bug.

The main shooter does a pretty good job of capturing detail, but its dynamic range seems to be on the narrower side, making subjects look a little flat. The AI-enhanced Signature Style can try to compensate, but it also oversaturates the output.

Normal

Signature Style

Normal

Night Vision

Nighttime photography is what you’d expect, as there wouldn’t be enough light information to work with. Night Vision Mode definitely kicks things up a notch, brightening things up enough to make out the details. This is one of those moments where the difference is, pardon the pun, night and day.

Ultrawide (0.5x)

Wide (1x)

Zoom (2x)

Given the hardware, ultra-wide shots are naturally less impressive but still get the job done for a quick panoramic picture. There’s no dedicated telephoto lens, so it does double duty as the macro camera. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make much of a difference. Portrait shots are pleasant and accurate, though, and you can select from 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm focal lengths.

Macro

Macro

The Battery

One of the few upgrades this year is the moto g stylus – 2026’s larger 5200mAh battery. It still supports 68W wire Turbo Charging and 15W wireless charging, the latter with no magnetic tricks. With the right power brick, you’re promised a full charge in just 44 minutes, but even a 65W charger managed to top the phone off in just a little over an hour.

That charging won’t happen frequently though, as the phone can last more than a day with normal use, including browsing the web, social media, and even watching videos on that bright, large screen. With less frequent use, it can actually extend to two days, though you’ll want to be on Wi-Fi rather than cellular to pull that off. Needless to say, it’s a reliable daily partner that won’t have you scrambling for a charger before you head home.

Sustainability

Motorola has been pretty vocal about its sustainability efforts, but the moto g stylus – 2026 is a bit of a hit and a little miss. The compact, plastic-free packaging is superb in that regard, ditching the redundant charging brick as well. Motorola also boasts about longevity, given the IP68, IP69, and MIL-STD-810H certifications.

Where the story takes a sad turn, however, is in the software upgrades. Only two years of Android upgrades and three years of security updates, figures that would have sounded generous almost a decade ago. This lags way behind the likes of Xiaomi, notorious for its short software support cycles, and is quite disappointing for an Android user experience that is almost as pure and unencumbered as the Google Pixel.

Value

There’s no going around the fact that the moto g stylus – 2026 has a price tag that’s a little difficult to swallow. It’s more than a $100 jump from last year’s model, and at $500 or $600, for 128GB and 256GB storage, respectively, other brands might give you better specs for the same price. Granted, Motorola often throws in bundles and discounts to sweeten the deal, but the initial price shock is unavoidable.

That said, that price could be a bit justifiable, especially if you factor in how electronics prices are going up these days anyway. For that amount, you get a solid, reliable, and beautiful phone that is almost literally a digital Field Notes notebook in your pocket. Considering that the closest competition is actually a $1,300 Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, then there’s almost no contest. Sure, it doesn’t have the glamorous bells and whistles, but neither would a trusty notebook.

Verdict

More than any mainstream smartphone in the market today, the moto g stylus – 2026 is clearly aimed at a particular audience: people who don’t want their productivity and creativity to be hampered by not having their notebook or their computer around. They say the best tool is the one that you have with you, and almost everyone has their smartphone in their pocket. And what better way to capture fleeting inspiration or sketch inspiring vistas than by whipping out your phone and pulling out the stylus?

By no means is the moto g stylus – 2026 perfect. In fact, you might even call it dated if you judged it by its specs alone. But with a talented stylus, a gorgeous screen, a reliable battery, and a beautiful minimalist design, it is definitely worth every penny. There is no perfect productivity tool or notebook, but the moto g stylus – 2026 comes pretty darn close.

The post moto g stylus 2026 Review: Accessible Pocket Productivity and Creativity first appeared on Yanko Design.

5 Reasons the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide Could Win and 1 Reason It Might Not

Posted on by

Foldable phones have been around long enough that the novelty has worn off. Samsung pioneered the book-style fold, and the hardware has genuinely matured. Foldables today are thinner, lighter, and far more durable than the early prototypes that worried everyone. But one nagging issue hasn’t gone away after seven years of refinement. The proportions still feel like a compromise, and most buyers can still sense it.

That’s exactly what the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide seems designed to address. Rather than continuing the tall, narrow approach that has defined the Fold lineup since the beginning, the Wide version reportedly takes a shorter, broader form factor, with the inner display pushing toward a 4:3 aspect ratio. It’s a subtle-sounding change, but one that could shift how the device feels in every single moment you actually use it.

Designer: Samsung (renders by Steve Hemmerstoffer/OnLeaks via AndroidHeadlines)

It Could Make the Closed Phone Feel Normal Again

Anyone who has used a Galaxy Z Fold for a while knows the friction of the cover screen. It’s tall, narrow, and requires more thumb effort than you’d expect from a daily driver. Reaching the notification shade with one hand usually means repositioning your grip, and typing on that narrow layout takes some getting used to. It works, but it always feels like a device asking you to meet it halfway.

Galaxy Z Fold7

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide reportedly carries a 5.4-inch cover display that is wider and shorter than what the Fold 7 offered. That brings it closer to the feel of an ordinary compact phone, one that sits comfortably in your hand without requiring thumb acrobatics. It sounds like a small win, but if you’ve ever owned a phone from before screens started growing taller every year, you know exactly how much that sense of balance matters.

It Gives Media Room to Breathe

There’s a quiet awkwardness to watching a video on current book-style foldables. The cover screen’s narrow shape forces letterboxing on most content, and even the inner display’s near-square proportions aren’t ideal for widescreen formats. Games feel slightly cramped, and browsing feeds in landscape doesn’t quite deliver the comfortable experience you’d expect from a screen that size. For a device this premium, that’s a surprisingly persistent design limitation.

A 4:3 inner display changes that dynamic considerably. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide’s 7.6-inch screen reportedly lands in proportions that suit media consumption far better, making landscape video less of a letterboxed compromise and gaming more spatially generous. Rotating to portrait for reading or scrolling also starts to feel intentional, like the device was built to handle those orientations rather than merely tolerating them. That’s a meaningful difference in day-to-day comfort.

It Finally Starts Acting Like a Real Tablet

Foldables have always carried a bit of an identity crisis. They’re marketed as phone-tablet hybrids, but the tablet side of that pitch has always been shakier than the phone side. Apps designed for tablet layouts don’t always know what to do with a nearly square display, and the result is often stretched content, oversized sidebars, or awkward layouts that remind you this device is still figuring out what it wants to be.

Google Pixel Fold (2023)

The 4:3 ratio is a well-understood canvas. It’s the same one the iPad has used for years, and developers have been designing for it far longer than they’ve been designing for foldable proportions. Not every app on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide will look perfect, but the number that feel genuinely at home on that inner screen stands to increase considerably. It’s a format the software world already knows how to fill.

It Could Become the Notebook You Actually Carry

There’s a certain appeal to a device that opens up to something resembling a pocket notebook. Not a productivity gimmick, but an actual blank-page-sized surface where you can think out loud. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide, when unfolded, reportedly sits at dimensions close to a small memo book’s proportions. That makes it a surprisingly natural surface for quick thoughts, rough sketches, and anything else worth capturing before it slips away.

OPPO Find N2

The device is also reportedly thicker than the standard Fold 7, measuring around 9.8mm when folded, which gives Samsung more internal room to work with. It’s hard not to wonder whether some of that space is being reserved for S Pen support, which Samsung hasn’t confirmed yet. A stylus-compatible screen at these proportions would make the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide feel genuinely notebook-like, less like a big phone you write on and more like something actually worth reaching for.

Apple’s Shadow Could Actually Help It

Foldables still carry a reputational burden. The people who haven’t bought one yet aren’t always hesitating because of price or specs. Often, it’s the lingering sense that this is still experimental hardware, a category that hasn’t quite committed to a definitive form. Even Samsung’s most polished efforts can feel like stepping into an ongoing experiment, and that feeling keeps a large group of potential buyers watching from a distance.

iPhone Fold (Renders)

Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone is expected to sport dimensions strikingly similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide, with a wider, shorter profile that closely mirrors what Samsung is building. When Apple commits to a hardware direction, cautious buyers tend to pay attention. It doesn’t guarantee anyone will rush out to buy a Samsung instead, but Apple’s presence in the same design space lends the wider foldable format a credibility that Samsung alone hasn’t quite managed to manufacture on its own.

But Samsung Has a Commitment Problem

Here’s the part that’s harder to shake. Samsung has a demonstrated pattern of building genuinely interesting experimental devices and then quietly stepping back when the numbers don’t perform. The Galaxy Z TriFold is the most recent example, a compelling piece of hardware whose long-term future already feels uncertain. Buying into the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide means betting that Samsung will stay committed long enough to make the second and third generations worth waiting for.

That concern is more meaningful here than it is for a standard phone. Accessories take time to mature. Software optimization accumulates across generations. And the design refinements that make a device feel truly polished rarely arrive on the first attempt. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide might be a genuinely thoughtful piece of hardware, but Samsung’s track record with experimental form factors hasn’t yet inspired the long-term trust that a device like this quietly depends on.

The post 5 Reasons the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide Could Win and 1 Reason It Might Not first appeared on Yanko Design.

Samsung’s $400 Tab Keyboard Costs More Than Apple’s: Worth It?

Posted on by

The tablet-as-laptop pitch has been a hard sell for years, and a lot of the blame lands on the accessories. Keyboard covers for Android tablets have historically been thin on features and even thinner on build quality, which makes the whole productivity argument feel shakier than it should. Samsung’s $1,200 Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is serious hardware, and for a while, its keyboard options weren’t keeping up.

The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra Pro Keyboard is Samsung’s answer to that. Available in Gray and Silver for $399.99, it connects via pogo pins at the rear of the tablet, with no Bluetooth pairing or cables required. Opening the lid wakes the device, and closing it puts everything to sleep, so the whole thing behaves less like an accessory and more like a laptop right from the start.

Designer: Samsung

The build quality reflects the price in most of the right ways. The body is aluminum alloy, the hinge is reinforced metal, and a secondary kickstand at the rear props the whole assembly into a stable, laptop-like posture at whatever angle you prefer. The result looks noticeably more considered than Samsung’s Book Cover Keyboard Slim, which never really felt like it belonged on a $1,200 device.

The 80-key layout goes beyond a standard QWERTY arrangement. A dedicated DeX key switches the Tab S11 Ultra into Samsung’s desktop mode, where apps run in freely movable windows, closer in feel to Windows than Android. A Galaxy AI key gives you one-press access to AI tools without switching apps, and three customizable function keys can each be mapped to open whatever you need most.

For long stretches of writing or working across multiple documents, those shortcuts matter more than they might look on a spec sheet. The pogo pin connection also eliminates the Bluetooth pairing and dropout issues that plague most wireless keyboard accessories. And since the Pro Keyboard draws power directly from the tablet, there’s no separate battery to charge, and nothing to run out at an inconvenient moment.

The trackpad is 14.6% larger than the one on Samsung’s previous keyboard accessory, a small percentage that translates to real estate you’ll actually notice in DeX mode. The extra surface area gives you more room for precise gestures and window management, and that significantly reduces the number of times you’re forced to reach up and touch the screen during long work sessions.

At $399.99, the Pro Keyboard is nearly twice the price of Samsung’s own Book Cover Keyboard Slim and $50 more than Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the 13-inch iPad Pro. Adding it to the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra’s $1,200 starting price puts the total at around $1,600, which puts you in comfortable MacBook Air territory, minus the dedicated operating system and the convenience of a unified device.

There are also some obvious gaps at this price. The Pro Keyboard has no backlighting, a noticeable oversight for anyone who regularly works late or in dim spaces. It also doesn’t protect the back of the tablet, which is a curious omission for a $400 accessory. And since it’s designed exclusively for the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, there’s no using it with anything else in Samsung’s lineup.

The post Samsung’s $400 Tab Keyboard Costs More Than Apple’s: Worth It? first appeared on Yanko Design.

Galaxy Z Fold8 Wide Leaks Show a Foldable With iPad-Like Proportions

Posted on by

Book-style foldables have had a proportions problem since the beginning. The tall, narrow inner displays most of them unfold to have always felt more like stretched phones than proper mini-tablets, making tasks like reading or taking notes feel a little off. Years of refinement have addressed crease visibility and hinge durability, but the shape of the inner screen has largely stayed the same.

That might be changing, at least according to leaked CAD-based renders spreading on the Web like wildfire. The renders point to a device called the Galaxy Z Fold8 Wide, a book-style foldable that reportedly trades the Fold lineup’s tall proportions for a shorter, wider form factor. Samsung hasn’t confirmed any of this, and the final design could change.

Designer: Steve Hemmerstoffer/OnLeaks (Renders) via AndroidHeadlines

The leaked dimensions put the Galaxy Z Fold8 Wide at 123.9mm x 161.4mm x 4.9mm when unfolded and 123.9mm x 82.2mm x 9.8mm when folded, with the camera bump reaching 14.6mm at its thickest point. Those numbers describe a device that’s noticeably shorter and wider than the standard Galaxy Z Fold8, which reportedly unfolds to a taller 158.4mm x 143.2mm footprint.

The inner screen is reportedly a 7.6-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, far closer to a classic tablet format than anything in Samsung’s current foldable lineup. Unfold it, and instead of a tall phone stretched sideways, you’d have something that feels at home for reading, video calls, or running two apps side by side. That ratio changes how you’d actually use it.

Google Pixel Fold (2023)

Google explored something similar with the first Pixel Fold in 2023, which had a 7.6-inch inner display with a 6:5 aspect ratio and unfolded to 139.7mm x 158.7mm. The Galaxy Z Fold8 Wide’s rumored 4:3 ratio would push the open screen more into landscape territory, and at a reported 9.8mm when folded, it would still be considerably thinner than the Pixel Fold’s 12.1mm.

The cover display follows the same logic. At 5.4 inches on an 82.2mm-wide body, it would carry a more usable, phone-like aspect ratio than the narrow cover panels on existing Z Fold devices. The trade-off, per the leak, is a dual-camera rear setup rather than the triple-lens arrangement on the standard Galaxy Z Fold8, which is worth noting for photography-focused buyers.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7

The timing of these leaks adds context. Samsung is reportedly planning to launch the Galaxy Z Fold8 Wide this summer alongside the standard Fold8 and Flip8, positioning the wider device as a direct answer to Apple’s anticipated iPhone Fold. The rumored internals include a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, a 5,000 mAh battery, and 45W wired charging.

Until Samsung makes an official announcement, none of this is confirmed, and CAD-based renders drawn from supply chain data don’t always reflect what ships. What these leaks do suggest, though, is that Samsung is seriously exploring a foldable form factor that puts the open screen first, with proportions that actually match what a device meant to be used open should look like.

The post Galaxy Z Fold8 Wide Leaks Show a Foldable With iPad-Like Proportions first appeared on Yanko Design.

Samsung’s Galaxy A Phones Now Get IP68 and 6-Year Updates From $449

Posted on by

Mid-range smartphones have been getting very good, very quickly. Most now check the boxes for performance, camera quality, and even design, but the compromises tend to show up later. Software support runs out too soon, water resistance gets downgraded to save costs, or the storage fills up faster than expected. It’s a category where the spec sheet looks promising right up until the parts that actually matter start falling short.

Samsung’s Galaxy A57 5G and Galaxy A37 5G tackle those exact issues. Rather than simply refreshing the hardware, these two phones address the pain points that tend to sour long-term ownership, from shorter software cycles to inadequate protection from the elements. Samsung describes both as the most capable Galaxy A devices yet, and for once, that kind of claim holds up when you look at what’s actually new.

Designer: Samsung

The Galaxy A57 5G leads with a noticeably slimmer build, now at just 6.9mm and 179 grams. A 13% larger vapor chamber helps keep the new Exynos 1680 processor running cool through long gaming sessions or extended recordings. The display also gets slimmer bezels and a bright Super AMOLED+ panel with Vision Booster, so the screen stays readable whether you’re inside at your desk or standing in direct sunlight.

Storage is where the A57 5G makes history for the Galaxy A line. It’s the first A-series phone to offer a 512 GB option, a welcome change for anyone managing a large photo library or shooting high-resolution video regularly. The triple-camera setup, led by a 50 MP main sensor with a 12 MP ultrawide and a 5 MP macro, handles everything from wide-angle landscapes to fine close-up detail.

The Galaxy A37 5G takes a different route to earn its upgrade. Its primary camera now uses a larger 50 MP sensor with support for 10-bit HDR video recording, improving low-light performance and color depth over its predecessor. More significantly, the durability rating jumped from IP67 to IP68, and it now ships with Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both the front and back, which is a notable step up at this price.

Both phones run One UI 8.5 with a broader set of Awesome Intelligence (get it? “AI”?) features. The camera uses AI-based subject and scene recognition to balance skin tones and create cleaner background separation automatically. Circle to Search has also been updated with multi-object recognition, so you can search an outfit, its accessories, and the surrounding backdrop all at once, rather than hunting for each element separately or toggling between searches.

What gives both phones long-term value is Samsung’s commitment to six generations of Android OS updates and six years of security support. Add to that 5,000 mAh batteries and IP68-rated protection across both models, and these are phones clearly meant to outlast the typical mid-range upgrade cycle. The Galaxy A57 5G starts at $549.99 and the Galaxy A37 5G at $449.99 in the US, with availability beginning April 9, 2026.

The post Samsung’s Galaxy A Phones Now Get IP68 and 6-Year Updates From $449 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Renders: Same Look, Bigger Battery, and S Pen Is Back

Posted on by

Foldable phones have reached a point where the form factor itself is no longer the talking point it once was. The big, dramatic “look how it folds” moment has settled into a quieter rhythm of iterative refinement, with each generation tweaking dimensions and chasing thinner profiles. Most buyers know what a modern book-style foldable looks like, and the language of change has shifted from shape to substance.

That’s the situation shaping the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 conversation right now. Leaked CAD-based renders show a design that’s nearly indistinguishable from the Z Fold 7 pictured above: same flat sides, same sharp corners, same camera layout. The cover screen sits at 6.5 inches and the inner display at 8 inches, both unchanged. If you handed someone these renders without context, they’d probably just guess it was another angle of last year’s model.

Designer: Steve Hemmerstoffer/OnLeaks (Renders) via AndroidHeadlines

There’s one notable external difference, though, and it actually goes in the wrong direction. The leaked dimensions put the Z Fold 8 at 4.5mm thick when open and 9mm folded, compared to the Fold 7’s 4.2mm and 8.9mm. That’s a slight regression for a phone that went to considerable lengths to slim down the year prior. It’s not dramatic, but for a device that made a point of its thinness, it’s worth flagging. That said, the 4.5mm figure includes the protruding bezels around the display; it’s actually just 3.9mm thin.

The likely reason for that extra thickness is one of the better leaks so far: the possible return of S Pen support. Samsung dropped the stylus from the Fold 7, and that’s been a consistent complaint from the people who actually used it for note-taking or sketching on that wide inner canvas. If the S Pen does come back, a fraction of a millimeter is a fair trade for most of those users.

The battery theory, however, is probably more probable. A jump from 4,400 mAh to a rumored 5,000 mAh would mark the first capacity upgrade since the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and pairing that with 45W wired charging, up from 25W, addresses one of the more persistent frustrations with this lineup. Spending less time near an outlet matters more on a device you’re likely using across more tasks throughout the day.

The camera is also in line for a significant upgrade, according to the same leak. The main sensor is rumored to still be 200MP, and the ultrawide jumps from 12MP to 50MP. That ultrawide improvement in particular has been a long time coming. The gap between the Fold’s main and ultrawide cameras has been noticeable enough that it’s affected how people use the phone outdoors.

All of this is still leak territory, of course, pulled from CAD renders and a specs tipster ahead of what’s expected to be a July 2026 Unpacked announcement. Samsung hasn’t confirmed any of it, and final specs frequently shift between early renders and launch day. The Z Fold 8 is shaping up to be a phone that looks familiar and updates what actually needs updating, but none of that is official yet.

Galaxy Z Fold7

The post Galaxy Z Fold 8 Renders: Same Look, Bigger Battery, and S Pen Is Back first appeared on Yanko Design.

Samsung and DOMINNICO made a leather bag that doubles as a Galaxy gadget case

Posted on by

Fashion accessories and tech gadgets have always occupied separate drawers, figuratively and literally. The phone goes in a pocket, the earbuds get buried somewhere in the bag, and the bag itself has nothing to do with either of them. It is a small daily inconvenience that nobody really complains about, mostly because nobody has ever offered a better alternative. Samsung and Spanish fashion brand DOMINNICO have decided that the arrangement is worth rethinking.

The collaboration produced a handcrafted leather bag that treats the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy Buds4 Pro as design references rather than just contents. It follows a baguette silhouette in off-white leather, produced in limited quantities under a slow fashion approach. The construction stays deliberately restrained: a zip closure bearing the brand logo, an interior pocket, and silver accents distributed carefully across the piece without overcrowding it.

Designer: DOMINNICO x Samsung

The most direct hardware reference runs along the handles. Silver eyelets line them in a pattern that mirrors the camera module rings on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, pulling one of the phone’s most recognizable physical details into a fashion context. It is the kind of detail that reads as decorative until you recognize where it came from, at which point it becomes something more like a private joke between the bag and the phone sitting inside it.

The exterior front pocket is sized specifically for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, secured with three buckles that make it a visual centerpiece rather than a plain utility slot. The design concept ties back to the phone’s built-in Privacy Display feature: the pocket keeps the device accessible while screening it from view when not needed. Whether that connection feels meaningful or just convenient as a marketing angle is a fair question, though the pocket itself is a genuinely practical addition.

Galaxy Buds4 Pro owners get their own dedicated carry solution through three keyrings attached to the bag. Two are extendable, each fitted with a small mirror that doubles as a functional charm. The third holds a soft pouch sized for the Galaxy Buds4 or Galaxy Buds4 Pro case. A fixed keyring with the DOMINNICO logo in silver completes the set. All three hang visibly from the bag rather than disappearing inside it, which keeps the tech ecosystem part of the aesthetic rather than hidden from it.

The bag was unveiled at CUPRA City Garage in Madrid as part of the Madrid es Moda program, a setting that positioned it squarely within fashion week territory rather than a product launch event. That framing matters because it signals who Samsung is trying to reach here: not the Galaxy power user looking for a rugged carry solution, but the fashion-conscious Galaxy owner who wants their accessories to cohere visually.

Available for preorder through DOMINNICO’s website at €420, the bag sits closer to a fashion collectible than a mass-market accessory. The limited production run and handcrafted construction support that positioning. What remains genuinely open is whether a piece this specific, built around two particular Samsung devices, holds its appeal once the Galaxy S26 Ultra is no longer the current flagship and the collaboration’s novelty has worn off.

The post Samsung and DOMINNICO made a leather bag that doubles as a Galaxy gadget case first appeared on Yanko Design.