Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is up for preorder in the US, and there’s a simple hack that unlocks a Galaxy Watch 9 for free; no trade-in needed.

The offer discussed here is actually a cash discount; I just gave it a marketing narrative. You can either bundle a Galaxy Watch 9 or Buds 4 Pro, or score a cash discount of over $300 by purchasing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in the US.

How to save over $300 using Samsung Galaxy Card

Earlier this week, Samsung launched the Galaxy Card in the US. The product offers 5% cash rewards on direct purchases from Samsung Shop and the website.

What comes next is the real deal: make purchases of over $2000 within 90 days of card issuance and get $200 cash rewards as a welcome benefit.

This makes the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra a steal of a deal, as buyers will have it at an even lower price than the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Meanwhile, buying the Galaxy Z Fold 8 alone won’t hit the threshold for $200 welcome rewards.

How the $409 Watch 9 can be yours for free

Calculate the prices of the products:

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 – $1,899 [256GB]
• Galaxy Watch 9 – $409 $142 [Bluetooth]

Thanks to Samsung’s bundle program, the Galaxy Watch 9 goes down to just $142 when purchased alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Total purchase – $2,041.99

Rewards:

• 5% cash rewards on $2,042 = about $102
• Welcome bonus = $200 (spending over $2,000 in the first 90 days)

Total rewards = about $302

When combining the 5% cash rewards (about $102) with the $200 welcome bonus, the total reward is about $302 on a $2,042 purchase, making the Galaxy Watch 9 actually free.

Wait, there’s more for you; the $302.05 in total rewards completely covers the $142 watch price, leaving you with ~$160 in net profit/extra discount.

Getting the Galaxy Z Fold 8 alone can also earn you a $200 cash welcome benefit. You just need to spend $100 elsewhere to complete the required purchases. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra costs $2,099, immediately hitting the mark.

Samsung One UI 9.0 introduces a major lockscreen change that makes every unlock attempt matter. The company today announced the new lock screen security policy, reducing the total number of allowed failed attempts.

On July 22, Samsung revealed its Android 17-based One UI 9.0 software. The new version comes with user interface tweaks and new features. Samsung also adopted Android 17’s security tweaks into the One UI 9.0 for Galaxy users.

One UI 9.0 lockscreen change comes from Android 17

Samsung announced that “the total allowed attempts before a lockdown are reduced” in One UI 9.0. That said, Galaxy phones will be even more secure against brute force attacks that could hand over your access if executed.

On July 25, Samsung published a dedicated webpage to announce the new policy. The company specifically highlighted “lockout duration” after a specific “number of failed attempts.”

At the same time, Samsung confirmed that there’s no return window after 12 consecutive failures. As soon as you surpass the limit, the 13th attempt will enforce a permanent lock, and there will be no other option but a factory reset.

Samsung has published the exact progression:

• 5 failures → 1 minute
• 6 failures → 5 minutes
• 7 failures → 15 minutes
• 8 failures → 30 minutes
• 9 failures → 90 minutes
• 10 failures → 4 hours
• 11 failures → 12 hours
• 12 failures → 24 hours
• 13 failures → Permanent lock

Earlier, Google reduced the allowed failed unlock attempts in Android 17. This move is aimed at securing devices from brute force attacks. Hackers try to gain access to your devices by endless PIN/Password checks on the lock screen.

Samsung has made the interface even more informative with the addition of a timer. Instead of leaving users guessing, One UI 9 displays the number of remaining attempts once a certain threshold is reached.

Genuine users are safeguarded by smarter implementation. One UI 9 won’t punish users for accidentally repeating the same wrong credential twice.

• Example:
  • Wrong PIN: 1234
  • Enter 1234 again immediately
  • This counts as one failed attempt, not two.

Samsung specifically calls this out as a usability improvement to reduce accidental penalties.

One UI 9.0 will begin rolling out on August 7 with new foldable phones. The Beta Program is underway for Galaxy S26 series, with Samsung readying it for more devices. Existing devices will get Stable update by September 2026.

Samsung has tailored some unexpected features for the Galaxy S25 series in the One UI 9 update. Leaked firmware has just given our first look at the newly added features, such as Now Nudge and two camera tools, before the official rollout.

One UI 9 is available for Galaxy S26 series in Beta Program. The update seems boring as it doesn’t bring major changes or new features. However, it’s not the case for the S25 series, at least from the early preview, courtesy of @fahadalijaved.

One UI 9 brings impressive new features to Galaxy S25 series

Now Nudge is also reportedly coming to the Galaxy S25 series. The One UI 9 update has adopted this contextual AI feature for last year’s flagship phones. Samsung should not abandon its plans during the Beta testing phase.

Samsung launched Horizontal Lock camera feature with the Galaxy S26 series. It’s a significantly upgraded version of optical image stabilization (OIS). When enabled, the feature keeps the footage orientation unchanged at all times.

One UI 8.5 update didn’t bring this feature to the Galaxy S25 series. Samsung has finally tailored the Horizontal Lock for last year’s flagships. It’s available in internal firmware, and hopefully survives till the build goes public.

In addition, Galaxy AI is also getting a major boost on the devices. Samsung could bring new AI-powered secure locking, My FanCam, and Bixby Voice features. Warranty and Care hub will also be installed inside Settings.

My FanCam could debut with the new foldable phones next week. It appears to be an upgraded version of Samsung’s Auto Framing. When enabled, the camera will keep tracking the object for optimized video recording.

Secure Lock feature will let you lock your device from the quick panel or hardware keys, pausing fingerprint and facial recognition. Bixby Voice is also here, introducing Samsung’s new AI voice model on your Galaxy device.

​Warranty and Care is going to be another big addition. Offered inside system Settings, this hub will have all the crucial features tied to your device, such as health checking, diagnostics, and warranty information.

Courtesy of Fahad Ali Javed [X]

The Galaxy S27 series camera rumor I’m hoping turns out true, with Samsung reportedly testing a 50-megapixel sensor from Sony.

Fresh off the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 8, the tech world’s eyes are already turning toward Samsung’s next major flagship lineup. While we are barely halfway through 2026 and months away from an early 2027 launch, early whispers are already giving us a glimpse into Samsung’s hardware plans.

Why Galaxy S27 should adopt Sony camera

Sony’s imaging sensors have a well-earned reputation, and they already power some of the most respected camera phones on the market. If Samsung genuinely brings that expertise into the S27’s main camera, it’s an admission that the ISOCELL approach needed outside help.

Samsung has leaned on in-house ISOCELL sensors for its main cameras for years now, and while they’ve gotten the job done, “gotten the job done” isn’t exactly a compliment when you’re competing with the Apple iPhone.

According to a recent report from GalaxyClub, Samsung is currently testing device variants of the standard Galaxy S27 and S27+ featuring a 50-megapixel Sony main camera sensor.

If this holds true through development, it would mark the first time in years that Samsung drops its in-house ISOCELL primary sensor on base S-series models in favor of Sony hardware.

While the Galaxy S27 Pro and Ultra are reportedly getting a proper 50 MP ultrawide upgrade, the base S27 and S27+ look set to stick with a modest 12 MP ultrawide sensor.

A main camera powered by Sony’s advanced sensor technology would compensate for compromises elsewhere, ensuring that everyday shots deliver flagship-grade clarity and color accuracy.

Sony sensor in the Galaxy S27 main camera would be a meaningful shift, especially at a time when pricing across Samsung’s lineup keeps climbing.

We’re still early in the Galaxy S27’s development cycle, and a lot can change between now and launch. Take this one with the usual grain of salt for now, but if it’s true, it’s a step in the right direction.

Samsung’s latest flagship just got a new benchmark to run through. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has been out since Unpacked on February 25, with units shipping from March 11, so this isn’t a leak of an unreleased phone; it’s Samsung’s 2026 flagship on the new Geekbench 7, which Primate Labs brought to the world just today.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra runs Geekbench 7

Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Geekbench 7 listing points to model number SM-S948B. It’s running Android 17 with One UI 9 Beta 4, 10.82GB of RAM (rounding up to the familiar 12GB tier), and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor.

CPU: Single-Core and Multi-Core scores

On the CPU side, our Galaxy S26 Ultra pulled a 3,030 single-core and 10,495 multi-core score on Geekbench 7. Sub-scores like Clang (13964) and Ray Tracer (13728) stand out, hinting at strong compile and rendering throughput.

It looks like a step down at first glance, since this same phone posted 3852/11738 on Geekbench 6 shortly after launch.

Well, that’s not the S26 Ultra losing steam; it’s Geekbench 7 measuring against an entirely new reference point. Primate Labs moved the calibration machine from an Intel Core i7-12700 system to a Lenovo Legion running a Ryzen 7 7700.

GPU: OpenCL and Vulkan Scores

Under OpenCL, our Galaxy S26 Ultra scored 17,641, while Vulkan pushed it up to 20,799.

Workloads like Super Resolution and Particle Physics stood out most, with Vulkan scores climbing past 58,000 and 25,000 respectively, hinting at strong on-device AI upscaling and gaming potential.

Treat this as an early data point, not a full verdict; we’ll want more Galaxy S26 Ultra units and rival flagships listed on Geekbench 7. Still, it’s a solid look at how Samsung’s current chip holds up under a genuinely new testing methodology.

For context, the Galaxy S25 Ultra posted 3106/9763 on Geekbench 6 last year, so generation-over-generation the S26 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is still the faster chip; it’s just measured on a refreshed benchmark standard.

While today’s numbers look smaller than usual for this phone, they’re measuring a different, arguably more realistic kind of performance than Geekbench 6 ever did.

We’ll keep tracking fresh listings and update you the moment more numbers come in.