Dozens of announcement occasions rock the tech house yearly, however few draw as a lot consideration as Samsung Unpacked. It’s a pity that the corporate’s current unveilings haven’t introduced a lot innovation or sparked the thrill we’d hoped for. This wasn’t the case prior to now when Samsung often shook the panorama with its product releases and gave us among the finest Android telephones. Should you miss these days like I do, be part of me on a visit down historical past lane to revisit among the finest Samsung launches.
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The Samsung Galaxy S III
A Samsung bestseller
Supply: Samsung
Introduced in Could 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S III is among the firm’s best-selling telephones. Over 70 million models of the Galaxy S III collection had been shipped. This was a formidable feat, contemplating that competitors within the Android house was formidable on the time.
In hindsight, the Galaxy S III was not good. It wasn’t the quickest Android telephone for each day use, and lots of of its options might be described as gimmicky. Nevertheless, the telephone was an enough response to the shifting developments. It targeted on digicam efficiency and display high quality when extra individuals had been ditching point-and-shoot cameras and consuming media totally on their telephones. It prioritized design, as smartphones had been changing into way of life equipment.
The Galaxy S III solidified Samsung’s place as a number one maker of high-end telephones, a course of kickstarted by the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II in earlier years. Its success, nonetheless, wasn’t as a lot of a shock as that of the subsequent telephone on the record.
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The Samsung Galaxy Observe
An sudden success story
Supply: Samsung
There was a time when a 5.3-inch show on a telephone was thought of gigantic. The primary-generation Samsung Galaxy Observe was ridiculed for its dimension when it launched in 2011. For context, the telephone was as tall because the smallest Galaxy S25 mannequin however 13mm/0.5 inches wider on account of its 16:10 display facet ratio.
Nevertheless, a couple of million individuals didn’t discover the idea of a giant-screened Android telephone ridiculous. Extra importantly, they voted with their cash, so Samsung offered 10 million Galaxy Observe models in 9 months. The corporate hit a house run and pioneered a brand new product class: the phablet (a portmanteau of “telephone” and “pill”).
Whereas the Galaxy Observe collection is discontinued, its legacy lives on. Its signature characteristic, the S Pen digital stylus, is constructed into the very best Samsung telephones and supported on a spread of its tablets and foldable telephones.
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The Samsung Galaxy S8 collection
Peak Samsung smartphone design
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are two of probably the most lovely telephones the corporate has made. Seems to be are subjective, however the S8 collection represents the height of Samsung smartphone design.
Would they wow anybody right this moment? In all probability not. We’re spoiled by glass-and-metal sandwiches and bezel-less display designs, which are actually the norm even among the many finest midrange Android telephones. Nevertheless, in 2017, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ seemed and felt beautiful. “They’ve an virtually treasured high quality to them,” we stated in our evaluation, and I couldn’t agree extra.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ suffered from a poorly positioned fingerprint reader, and a reddish show tint was a typical challenge. Nonetheless, that didn’t cease Samsung from delivery over 20 million Galaxy S8 models three months after its launch.
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The Samsung Galaxy Observe 20 Extremely
The last word Samsung smartphone
The Observe 20 Extremely wasn’t the primary Extremely-branded Samsung telephone. It arrived within the second half of 2020, a number of months after the Galaxy S20 Extremely. Nevertheless, the Observe 20 Extremely was a greater match for the title and served because the blueprint for the Samsung Extremely telephones that adopted.
Whereas the Samsung Galaxy Observe 20 Extremely was costly for the time, it was the last word telephone for followers of the model: the one which did all of it. It packed a lot of the {hardware} and software program goodies from the S20 Extremely and added the utility of the S Pen. It had as a lot RAM because the S25 collection has right this moment. The S Pen had Bluetooth and will set off the digicam shutter, not like the S Pen you get with the S25 Extremely. Once I look again at my outdated images, I’m amazed by how nicely the Observe 20 Extremely’s pictures maintain up right this moment.
Within the following yr, Samsung discontinued the Galaxy Observe model. The Galaxy Observe 20 Extremely turned the final and finest telephone within the Galaxy Observe lineup.
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The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2
It made us imagine in foldable telephones
Samsung didn’t make the primary foldable telephone, but it surely did lots to popularize the shape issue. The Galaxy Fold launch in 2019 was tormented by issues. Nevertheless, the Galaxy Fold 2 launched the next yr and was a extra refined system. It had a extra sturdy internal show and a bigger, extra useful cowl display. In different phrases, it felt like a correct telephone, not like a prototype.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 was vastly improved, turning reviewers from skeptics to believers. “Folding telephones are undeniably the longer term, and for the precise of us, the Z Fold 2 is a must-buy game-changer,” we stated on the time. Had the Fold 2 flopped, maybe the Z Fold 6 would by no means have materialized. But right here we’re, anticipating to see a Fold 7 in 2025, and a Samsung telephone in a completely new kind issue.
What had been your favourite Samsung telephones of all time?
Itemizing probably the most important Samsung merchandise is not any simple job. The corporate has a wealthy historical past of cell system launches, and its tech has been shifting the cell panorama for a number of a long time. A listing like that is certain to be subjective, however I’m assured tech fanatics would agree with at the very least a few of my prime picks.
As for the subsequent few a long time, I can’t say what the longer term holds for Samsung. Nevertheless, rumors level to thrilling prospects. A Samsung tri-folding telephone is believed to be in improvement, together with the primary Samsung rollable telephone. Prototypes and ideas of those kind components have been teasing us for years, and shortly, they could materialize on a retailer shelf close to you.