If you know Samsung (and we do), you’d know that there was an Unpacked scheduled for about this time this year. That’s now official, with a date and time set for Samsung’s event. Unusually, it’ll take place sooner in the day than we were expecting.

The date is 26 July and the official time is 07h00 ET (Eastern Time). The American timing is odd because the event is taking place in Seoul for the very first time. Here in South Africa, the event will kick off at 13h00 on the day. Generally, these things happen in the evening but we’re up for a lunchtime Unpacked for a change. Believe us.

Flipping Unpacked, again

Samsung’s event has a very specific tagline and visuals to go with it. It promises to make viewers want to “Join the flip side”, which suggests that Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 5 will be the main focus of this year’s presentation. Still, expect some time to be given over to the Galaxy Fold 5, which will undoubtedly have the more advanced hardware of the lot. But if Samsung’s made the Galaxy Flip 5 more affordable than last year’s folding smartphone, it could be a game-changer for the folding device space.

Rumours haven’t been silent about the Galaxy Flip 5 thus far, suggesting that there will be a larger outer screen for the clamshell folder this year. The hinge has apparently also been reworked, allowing for the phone to close with even less of a gap between the two sides. Internally, Samsung’s apparently sticking in Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips (but the speedier Samsung edition seen in the Galaxy S23 lineup) and you can bet there will be other incremental device updates.

Whether there’s anything new on the screen front will have to wait until 26 July but we’re expecting little to change besides the chipset this year. That’s just the way Samsung seems to be rolling at the moment.