Samsung set to unveil 5 flagship devices on Wednesday amid pandemic

New Delhi

Samsung is all set to introduce five new flagship devices on Wednesday via a virtual event as the South Korean major aims to boost its gadget sales amid the pandemic.

Industry insiders expect that the company will showcase five products -- the Galaxy Note 20 phablet, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch, the Galaxy Buds Live wireless earbuds and the Galaxy Tab S7 tablet.

In its earnings announcement last week, Samsung said it sold 57 million units of handsets in the April-June quarter, down 26 million units from a year earlier.

The company also dropped to the second spot in global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of the year as China's Huawei Technologies Co. overtook the top spot, according to reports from market researchers IDC and Canalys.

Samsung has yet to confirm specification about new devices, but some foreign tech reviewers have already leaked information and images of the products, reports Yonhap news agency.

Te Galaxy Note 20 series will likely come out with two models -- the Note 20 with a 6.7-inch flat screen offering a 60Hz refresh rate and the Note 20 Ultra with a 6.9-inch curved-edge display supporting a 120Hz refresh rate The Note 20 is expected to sport a triple rear camera setup with a 12-megapixel (MP) main sensor, a 64MP telephoto camera and a 12MP ultrawide lens. It is likely to pack a 4,300-mAh battery.

The Note 20 Ultra is projected to have a 108MP main sensor as well as 12MP telephoto and ultrawide cameras on the back. It is expected to support a maximum zoom range of 50x, instead of the 100x that was featured in the Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone.

Both models are likely to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus, or the Samsung Exynos 990 chipset, depending on the market. The S Pen is expected to have only 9 milliseconds of latency and could be used a laser pointer.

Samsung will introduce the second generation of its book-like, out-folding foldable phone. The name of the device is likely to be the Galaxy Z Fold 2 instead of the Galaxy Fold 2 as the company apparently pushes to put its foldable smartphones under the Z brand.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is expected to feature a 7.6-inch screen when unfolded, while having a 6.23-inch cover display, both larger than its predecessor's 7.3-inch and 4.6-inch displays. The inner display is likely to support a 120Hz refresh rate.

It reportedly sports a 12MP ultrawide lens, a 12MP wide-angle sensor and a 64MP telephoto camera.

The Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch has been tipped to release with two models -- a 45mm version with a 1.4-inch screen and a 41mm variant with a 1.2-inch display.

Both models reportedly come with Samsung's classic rotating bezel instead of the touch bezel used in the Active series. It has been also rumored that Samsung could release a titanium variant in addition to models using aluminum and stainless steel materials.

The Galaxy Buds Live are the successor to the Galaxy Buds Plus wireless earbuds. They are expected to have a bean-shaped design to offer a more comfortable fit.

They are likely to be the first Samsung wireless earbuds to feature active noise cancellation (ANC) technology. Each earbud reportedly weighs 5.6 grams and offers a maximum battery life of 7.5 hours.

The Galaxy Tab S7 tablet is expected to be released with two models -- the Tab S7 with an 11-inch LCD screen and the Tab S7 Plus with a 12.4-inch AMOLED display.

The smaller one is likely to pack a 7,040mAh battery, with the bigger variant to have a 10,090mAh battery.