Gear News of the Week: Samsung's Trifold Promise, Ikea's Sonos Split, and Hugging Face's New Robot
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Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event in Brooklyn earlier this week debuted seven new devices, from the Galaxy Z Fold7 to the Galaxy Watch8 series. But there weren't any surprises at the end, despite rumors that Samsung would unveil a trifold phone. Sensing disappointment, the company later confirmed that the phone is expected to land in 2025.
'I expect we will be able to launch the trifold phone within this year,' TM Roh, head of Samsung's mobile business, told The Korea Times . The trifold phone, rumored to be called the Galaxy G Fold, would have a normal screen on the front and two hinges that let you open it up as a tablet-sized screen.
Huawei first unveiled its trifold, the Mate XT, in China last year, with an eye-watering price of 3,499 euros ($4,090~), and Samsung showed off a concept version at Mobile World Congress 2025. Considering it has upped the price of its Galaxy Z Fold7 flagship to $2,000, expect a high cost. Samsung is also expected to launch its Android XR mixed reality headset in the fall, so the trifold could land alongside it. Hugging Face Has a New Robot
AI startup Hugging Face has announced a new coding robot called Reachy Mini, mere months after acquiring Pollen Robotics, the company behind the Reachy 2 humanoid robot. The Reachy Mini is open for preorder for $449 (though there's a Lite version for $299), and it's an open source robot designed around AI experimentation and coding.
Think of it like a STEM toy or a Raspberry Pi (in fact, the Robot is powered by a Raspberry Pi 5 minicomputer)—you have to build it yourself, and there are more than 15 'robot behaviors' so you can learn how to use it out of the box. Reachy Mini can employ the latest AI models, and you can program it to act in certain ways. The head is motorized, and the antennas move around, too. It has a camera, microphone, and speakers for interacting with its surroundings.
Reachy Mini owners will be able to upload and share these robot behaviors with the Hugging Face community, and download other ones too. It'll ship this fall, though the Reachy Mini Lite, which isn't wireless, will arrive first, late summer. We can only hope this cute little robot won't have the same fate as the Jibo. Apple's iOS 26 Beta Drama
The public beta for Apple's iOS 26, macOS 26, and iPadOS 26 is expected to launch next week, but some drama has been brewing after the recent developer beta 3 for iOS 26. The company has reduced the transparency of its Liquid Glass design language, making the interface appear more like frosted glass. That's drawn criticism online that Apple has changed it too much, though there was plenty of backlash and readability concerns when Apple debuted the design at WWDC 2025.
In more Apple news, the company is expected to debut a new Apple Vision Pro later this year, powered by the M4 chipset that's in some MacBooks and iPads. The hardware itself won't look any different, though Bloomberg reports there will be a more comfortable strap. The rumored cheaper version of the Vision Pro is still a few years away. Ikea Ditches Sonos and Zigbee for Matter and Spotify
It's a new day for smart home strategy at popular Swedish furniture purveyor Ikea, as the company announced more than 20 new Matter smart lights, sensors, and remotes using the Thread protocol. That means you can snag some of Ikea's affordable wares and use them directly with your Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Samsung SmartThings setup, without having to purchase an Ikea hub. And Ikea's David Granath told The Verge there are 'more new product types and form factors to come.' Folks with Ikea's Dirigera hub will also be pleased to learn that Ikea is activating the built-in Thread radio and adding Matter support. That means it can serve as a Matter Controller and a Thread Border Router, enabling it to hook up and control any Matter devices in your home. Sadly for some, this signals the end for Zigbee support, as Ikea plans to replace its Zigbee gadgets with Matter devices.
Ikea also unveiled two new Bluetooth speakers this week—one that looks like a retro radio and another that doubles as a lamp. Both have a dedicated Spotify Tap button that allows you to jump straight back into whatever you were last listening to on Spotify. It's another nail in the coffin for Ikea's partnership with Sonos, as Ikea strives for simplicity, accessibility, and affordability. — Simon Hill OnePlus Has 5 New Devices, but Only 2 for US
OnePlus Watch 3 43mm Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
It was five plus for OnePlus this week, as the company unveiled a slew of new devices. A smaller, 43 mm, version of the Watch 3 that's far more comfortable, but has less stamina than its larger sibling, is now available from OnePlus for $300 (a full $100 less than the 47 mm model). The very affordable wireless Buds 4 are also landing in the US at $130.
The rest of the new lineup is only being released in Europe and India. The headliner is the latest midrange OnePlus Nord 5 phone. It has a 6.83-inch display with a silky 144 Hz refresh rate, is powered by the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3, and offers a 50-megapixel camera front and back. There's also a 5,200 mAh battery and snappy 80-watt charging. You can get the 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage model for £399 in the UK. Add another £50 to jump to 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.
If your budget is more limited, the Nord CE 5 sports a similar look, but has a slightly smaller 6.77-inch display, slower MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex processor, and is lower specced across the rest of the board, but starts at £249. Both models will get four years of Android updates.
The last new device is the OnePlus Pad Lite, and it looks to be a bit of a bargain. This 11-inch tablet boasts a 2K display with a 90-Hz refresh rate, a MediaTek Helio G100 chipset backed by 6 GB of RAM, and a chunky 9,340 mAh battery. There are also central 5-megapixel cameras front and back. It starts from £199, but you can jump to 8 GB of RAM and get LTE connectivity for just £30 more. — Simon Hill Foldables Get Slimmer With Honor's Magic V5
It seems like only yesterday we crowned the Honor Magic V3 as the world's thinnest folding phone (it was last September). Now, Honor is back, having skipped the number 4, to reclaim the crown from Oppo's Find N5. The Honor Magic V5 is similar to the V3, but the important measurement is that it's just 8.8 mm thick when folded shut. That's just slimmer than Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold7, by 0.1 mm.
The Honor Magic V5 is some feat of engineering, weighing 217 grams (lighter than Apple's 16 Pro Max, but 2 grams heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold7). It's no slouch inside with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite, backed by 16 GB of RAM. There's also a hefty 5,820-mAh battery, wireless charging support, and IP58 and IP59 water-resistance ratings (impressive for a foldable). The screens are LTPO OLED panels with up to a 120-Hz refresh rate. The camera bump on the back, which arguably spoils the svelte form, houses a 50-megapixel main shooter, a 64-MP periscope telephoto lens capable of 3x optical zoom, and a 50-MP ultrawide.
Throw in Honor's generous suite of AI features, and you have a luxurious top-tier device on your hands. The Honor Magic V5 launched in China last week, but unlike the Oppo Find N5, Honor plans to bring the Magic V5 to international markets soon, so folks craving a slim foldable better get saving. — Simon Hill
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