Samsung Gadgets to Expect in 2024: Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Z Flip 6 and More
Samsung has already launched the Galaxy S24, but it could have way more in store for the rest of the year.
Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus.
This year is already shaping up to be a big one for Samsung. The tech giant launched the Galaxy S24 series in January, providing a first glimpse into its vision for how generative AI could be used on smartphones. And in February, it gave us a closer look at the highly anticipated Galaxy Ring, coming later this year.
But Samsung's Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra are just three several major new mobile products we're expecting to see from the company in 2024, all of which are likely to embrace AI in one way or another.
Generative artificial intelligence, or AI that can create new content in response to prompts after being trained on data, took the tech industry by storm in 2023. Samsung is no exception; in November, it announced its own generative AI model. And in January, it launched the Galaxy S24 lineup — the first phones to come with the company's Galaxy AI suite of features.
Read more: Best Samsung Phone of 2024
Samsung makes a lot more than just phones and wearables; its product lineup spans TVs, monitors, laptops and home appliances. But Samsung holds significant influence in the mobile market as one of the two dominant players that makes up the majority of worldwide smartphone shipments. Its Galaxy S launch is usually the first major smartphone launch of the year, and it sets the tone for what to expect throughout 2024.
Like many tech companies, Samsung tends to release new smartphones and smartwatches on an annual basis. While only Samsung knows precisely which new Galaxy products will be launching and when, it's possible to make educated guesses based on the company's launch patterns in years past.
For example, Samsung usually starts the product year sometime in the first quarter by releasing new versions of its flagship Galaxy S phones, while its new foldable phones typically arrive in the late summer.
Now that the Galaxy S24 has arrived, these are the other new mobile products we're expecting to see from Samsung based on the company's typical product launch cycle, reports and leaks.
Read more: Best Phone to Buy for 2024
Galaxy Ring
Samsung's Galaxy Ring
Samsung has been selling smartwatches and wireless earbuds for years, but the tech giant is expanding into a new genre: smart rings. The company teased its first smart ring, known as the Galaxy Ring, during its January Unpacked event and then showcased it at Mobile World Congress in February. While it didn't say much about the ring other than confirming its existence, health tracking will be the major focus. It's a plausible use case for such a device.
The Oura ring, for example, has two big advantages over smartwatches: It's more discrete and compact, making it easier to wear overnight. And it offers significantly longer battery life than a smartwatch since it doesn't have a screen. Both of those characteristics seem to align with Samsung's reasoning behind launching a health tracking ring of its own, according to my conversation with Hon Pak, vice president and head of the digital health team for the mobile experience business at Samsung Electronics.
"Some people want a more simple form factor, and [the] ring represents that," said Pak, adding that the ring can passively measure health metrics without requiring the level of engagement that a watch would. "And then it's got to be stylish, it's got to be comfortable, it's got to have long battery life. And those are the characteristics that we're working on."
I also got to try on a prototype of the ring and saw the three colors it may come in: silver, dark gray and gold. My colleague Katie Collins also got to see the Galaxy Ring and learned that the battery size may vary according to the size of the ring. So far, it seems similar to the Oura ring, but we'll have to wait to learn more.
Galaxy Z Flip 6
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5 pictured half-open.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5 was a significant step up from the Galaxy Z Flip 4, thanks largely to its bigger cover screen, gapless design and improved camera. The rumored Galaxy Z Flip 6 will likely build on the Z Flip 5 with typical upgrades like a fresh processor and perhaps more software features that take advantage of its foldable design. A report from the blog Galaxy Club indicates that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 could have a 50-megapixel main camera sensor, which would represent a notable step up from the Galaxy Z Flip 5's 12-megapixel camera.
See also: I Visited Samsung's Home Turf to See if Foldable Phones Are Really the Future
The company also usually puts the same chip from its flagship Galaxy S series into the Galaxy Z Flip, so there's a chance it will inherit the same AI tricks as the Galaxy S24 series. But Samsung could also add additional AI features that are optimized specifically for the Galaxy Z Flip's design, as Won-Joon Choi, executive vice president and head of the research and development office for Samsung's mobile experience business, hinted during a recent CNET interview.
Of course, this is all just speculation for now; we won't know for sure until Samsung makes an announcement. But Samsung is bringing Galaxy AI features to the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 through a software update, so it'll be interesting to see how it takes that further in the future.
Samsung typically announces new Galaxy Z Flip phones in the August time frame, although it announced the Z Flip 5 slightly earlier this year in July.
Galaxy Z Fold 6
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5
Like the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung's newest Galaxy Z Fold also usually arrives in the late summer time frame. Rumors about what's next for the Z Fold are scarce. But a recent patent showing a device that looks a lot like the Galaxy Z Fold with an S Pen slot has generated speculation that Samsung's next book-shaped foldable will finally have a place to store its stylus. That could make the Galaxy Z Fold 6 more useful as a productivity device.
Based on Samsung's previous Galaxy Z Fold launches, the Z Fold 6 could have a new processor that matches the one in the Galaxy S24, some new software features and a slightly improved design. And like the next Galaxy Z Flip, we'll likely see the arrival of Galaxy AI potentially along with other new features developed specifically for the Z Fold. But we'll likely have to wait until the summer to know for sure.
Galaxy Watch 7 series
Health and exercise tracking is usually a big focus for Samsung's Galaxy Watch.
While we don't know what's next for Samsung's smartwatch lineup, we can expect health tracking to remain a big theme. Samsung has been focused on sleep; it even conducted what it claims is one of the largest single health sleep studies ever by examining the sleep behaviors of Galaxy Health users worldwide. Samsung's One UI 5 Watch software update from 2023 also puts sleep statistics front and center on the company's smartwatches.
Samsung also showcased a new health metric during its recent Unpacked event called My Vitality Score, which will evaluate your physical and mental readiness based on factors such as sleep, activity, resting heart rate and heart rate variability. We can expect this to play a role in future Galaxy Watches.
Otherwise, the biggest changes between the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 6 had to do with software, screens and battery life, as my colleague Lexy Savvides wrote in her review. It's possible that Samsung could take a similar approach with the Galaxy Watch 7's hardware. Given the company's focus on AI, it also wouldn't be surprising to see some Galaxy AI features baked into the next Galaxy Watch.
Galaxy Buds 3
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.
Samsung launched its pair of "fan edition" Galaxy Buds in 2023, but it's been a while since it's released regular and pro models. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro arrived in August 2022, and the Galaxy Buds 2 came in August 2021. While both pairs of earbuds got high marks from CNET's David Carnoy for their comfortable design and good sound quality, there's room for improvement.
Some Galaxy Buds 2 Pro features work only with Galaxy phones, for example, which could limit their appeal to other Android phone users. And the regular Galaxy Buds 2 have low-level, IPX2 water resistance. Hopefully, Samsung's next generation of Galaxy Buds addresses these shortcomings and others.
New Galaxy foldable
Samsung showcased its display concepts at CES 2023.
Samsung has a lot of ideas about where foldable phones could go next, but none of its future concepts have graduated to becoming real products yet.
At CES 2024, for instance, it showcased a Galaxy Z Flip-like concept device that could bend in both directions. And before that, at CES 2023, for example, Samsung showcased the Flex Hybrid, which has a tablet-size screen that can extend to provide more screen space. At Mobile World Congress in February, we also got a look at Samsung's concept phone that wraps around your wrist like a bracelet.
Those are just three of several concepts Samsung has shown over the years; it's also created prototype mobile devices that bend in multiple areas like an accordion.
The company hasn't said when or if any of these concepts will make it to market. But shipments of foldable phones are expected to grow, even though they account for only a small portion of the mobile market today. Worldwide shipments of foldable phones are expected to have grown 43.9% in 2023 compared with 2022, according to market research firm International Data Corporation.
Galaxy VR headset
Samsung's Gear VR headset from 2017.
It's been a busy time for mixed reality. Apple launched its first headset, called the Vision Pro, this year, while Meta debuted the Quest 3 and Sony introduced the PlayStation VR 2 in 2023. But Samsung's plans for mixed reality are still largely a mystery.
Samsung, Qualcomm and Google are working on a mixed-reality project, although we haven't heard much about it since the three companies announced their partnership in February 2023. It's possible that we'll hear more at Samsung's expected Galaxy S24 launch event since it may take place roughly one year after the partnership was announced.
Samsung hasn't mentioned whether any specific mixed reality products, like a new headset, are under development.
"It's more of a declarative announcement about how we are going to get it right in trying to build the XR ecosystem," T.M. Roh, president of Samsung's mobile division, said through a translator in an interview with CNET in February 2023.
Although we don't know what the company's plans for mixed reality are yet, Roh hinted in a separate CNET interview in July that phones will play a big role in the experience.
"So, for the short term, perhaps many features or experiences [in] mixed reality would be in connection with [the] smartphone," he said.
We'll know more about Samsung's product plans as 2024 unfolds. But what seems clear, given the tech industry's direction, is that AI will be a big part of what's next.
