Galaxy Unpacked 2: the emperor’s new clothes

Dominik Bärlocher

20.10.2021

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

Samsung held a livestream. For whatever reason. Because nothing new was really announced. Only new colours for existing devices.

Some relevant questions to ask and answer would be, «What did Samsung show us today?» or, «Is the W22 coming to countries other than China?» or, «Is a new Note coming?» Instead, the question that arises is, «Who’s Somi?» The blonde singer opened up the livestream with her thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3. But the phone has been on the market for a while now, and Jeon So-Mi has been a star in South Korea for a while, too.

Style goes on to determines the entire rest of the livestream. And any sign of a technological marvel remains absent. But hey, One UI with Material You is coming. For the Galaxy Watch, too.

Galaxy Z Flip 3 Bespoke Edition: Material You, but in terms of hardware

First things first: no new phone was shown at the event. Instead, one that’s already available, just in an edition that’s supposed to suit your style. With the «Bespoke Edition», you don’t need a case to change your phone’s look. You also don’t need a skin or anything else for that matter. You can design your phone’s exterior yourself. Samsung gives you a choice of five colours for the exterior. With the colour options for the frame and joint, there are 49 design combinations to choose from.

The phone is only available directly from samsung.com, as each one is made to order. For readers from Germany: the Galaxy Z Flip 3 configurator is live.

The Swiss and Austrians get the shaft here. The Bespoke Edition is only available in Germany, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, South Korea and the UK.

However, it’s possible that the Maison Kitsuné Edition of the current Galaxy lineup – a collaboration with the design studio of the same name – will be available in Switzerland.

More not-newsworthy news from the event

• There’s an official tool to transfer a WhatsApp backup from the iPhone to Samsung phones.
• Samsung Phones can now display «emoji pairs». So something like «I’m pissed, but happy» can be portrayed in an emoji.
• The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is also available in the Bespoke Edition.

Samsung really didn’t have to hold an event just because of a few colours. We’re disappointed.

Dominik Bärlocher

Senior Editor

dominik.baerlocher@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.