Samsung Unpacked 2020 revealed five new devices with details that were completely leaked even months before the event.
In this new normal brought by the pandemic, online launches will become more usual for companies. Only Samsung and Huawei were able to hold physical events for new devices this year. All other companies had to move online. OnePlus started the shift, which was followed by Apple not later that month.
Physical events are crucial for a phone’s success. In reality, the keynotes are important parts of the events. However, it’s the physical and tactile experience of the devices that comes after that is more looked forward to. Based on these two factors Samsung Unpacked 2020 didn’t live up to the hype.
Cringeworthy Samsung Unpacked 2020
Samsung surely observed WWDC 2020 and how they executed their launch. The Korean company must have found the experience lacking because there was no audience reaction. As a result, Samsung went with the live stream rout. In between big announcements, they flashed users’ screens to get their reactions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmS5rlX9cDA
It is pretty clear that Samsung thought about the entire viewing experience. They even sent out emoji, and Samsung sticks to these viewers. More than showing happy faces, these viewers raised these sticks to show their approval. It didn’t quite evoke the same excitement during physical launches. Nonetheless, Samsung tried.
Unfortunately, the result was just awkward pauses from the presenters mixed with muffled cheers from the crowd. It wasn’t only the botched audience participation that was lackluster. Outside of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live’s actual inner workings, all the other devices were already expected.
Leaks destroyed the watching experience
Leaks aren’t unusual to launch like Unpacked 2020. However, when details of the devices are fully leaked before the event, it takes away the excitement in watching. It just becomes some sort of a formality for the device to enter the market.
The presenters didn’t dwell too much on the new Galaxy Note 20 lineup. They just focused on the design process instead of doing a deep-dive on the specs sheet. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Tab had long airtime, but the demo looked too stiff.
The most exciting part of the keynote was how Samsung addresses the first Galaxy Fold’s problem. They spent a considerable amount of time on this. Samsung’s video went through each problem one by one. It discussed the screen membrane, external screen size, and the folding mechanism.
Image from Samsung/ YouTube screen capture