Samsung’s Rumored “One More Thing” Event: A Tri-Fold Phone, AI Glasses, and a Pricey Vision Pro Rival

Just when you thought Samsung’s fall hardware blitz was set, the rumor mill has spun up a classic “one more thing” moment. While the company has already announced a September 4th Unpacked for its new tablets and Fan Edition phone, sources now point to a second, more secretive event slated for September 29th in South Korea. This showcase won’t be for iterative updates; instead, it’s rumored to be a coming-out party for Samsung’s most ambitious and experimental hardware yet, including a tri-folding phone, AI-powered smart glasses, and its long-awaited answer to the Apple Vision Pro.

Key Takeaways

  • Samsung’s Packed Calendar: In an unusual move, Samsung is rumored to be hosting a third Unpacked event this year on September 29, just weeks after its confirmed September 4th launch of the Galaxy Tab S11 and S25 FE.
  • A Trio of New Devices: The rumored event will reportedly unveil three next-generation products: a tri-folding smartphone, the “Project Moohan” XR headset, and “Project Haean” AI smart glasses.
  • A Pricey XR Contender: Leaks suggest the Project Moohan XR headset, a direct competitor to Apple’s Vision Pro, could be priced between $1,800 and $2,800, raising immediate questions about its mainstream appeal.
  • A calculated risk: This separate event appears to be a strategic move to showcase “riskier bets” and new platforms, like the co-developed Android XR, without distracting from high-volume products like the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip series.

A Fall Full of Gadgets

Samsung’s product launch schedule is starting to look as packed as a holiday travel calendar. The company already has an official virtual Unpacked on the books for September 4th, where we expect to see the Galaxy S25 FE and the shiny new Galaxy Tab S11 series. But the real story is the rumored encore performance.

According to multiple reports from Korean media, Samsung is preparing a special event on September 29th to pull back the curtain on hardware that’s a bit more… out there. This isn’t about making phones a little thinner or faster; this is about introducing entirely new form factors to the world.

Unfolding the Future: The Galaxy Z Tri-Fold

First up is the device that’s been hiding in plain sight: the tri-fold. After teasing the concept earlier this year, Samsung seems ready for the big reveal. Think of your current Galaxy Z Fold, but with an extra screen panel that unfurls to create a nearly 10-inch tablet-like display, up from the Z Fold 7’s 6.5-inch cover screen, according to TechRadar.

And in a move that signals this is no watered-down prototype, a report from SamMobile suggests the complex hinge mechanism won’t force a compromise on core features. The device is still expected to pack both wireless and reverse wireless charging—a relief for anyone worried that the ambitious design would mean sacrificing the convenience of topping up your earbuds on the back of your phone.

Samsung Enters the XR Arena

The main event, however, is Samsung’s two-pronged assault on “extended reality” (XR). The headliner is the “Project Moohan” headset, a device Samsung has been developing for years in a major collaboration with Google and Qualcomm to take on the Apple Vision Pro. While Apple calls its approach “spatial computing,” Samsung and Google are building out their own ecosystem, dubbed Android XR, and this headset is its flagship vessel.

The biggest question has always been price. The good news? It’s expected to cost less than Apple’s eye-watering $3,500 starting price. The bad news? It’s still not going to be cheap. Leaks reported by outlets like 9to5Google point to a price range between 2.5 and 4 million won, which translates to a hefty $1,800 to $2,800. For context, as Gizmodo notes, that’s significantly more than Meta’s discontinued $1,500 Quest Pro, a device that failed to find an audience. Samsung seems to be treading cautiously, with reports suggesting an initial production run of just 100,000 units.

But wait, there’s more. The “biggest surprise,” as ZDNet calls it, might be the “Project Haean” AI smart glasses. Poised as a direct competitor to the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, these are expected to be audio-focused frames with an onboard camera, microphone, and speakers, all powered by a specialized Qualcomm chip. This is Samsung’s bet on a more subtle, everyday form of wearable AI.

Why It Matters

This rumored event is far more than just a product launch; it’s a window into Samsung’s soul-searching about the future of personal technology. With the smartphone market maturing, every major player is hunting for the next big thing, and Samsung is placing its bets on two fronts: more flexible screens and immersive computing.

Holding a separate event for these devices is a shrewd move. As Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told ZDNet, it “allows the company to focus on these riskier bets and newer, more experimental platforms without drawing attention away from” its bread-and-butter products. It’s an R&D showcase disguised as a product launch.

The Project Moohan headset is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward play. Samsung cannot afford to let Apple run away with the “premium XR” narrative. However, the ghost of the Meta Quest Pro looms large, a cautionary tale about what happens when you launch an expensive headset without a killer use case. We use our phones for everything, which makes a $1,800 price tag on a foldable at least justifiable. A headset you might only wear for an hour a day? That’s a much harder sell.

Ultimately, this isn’t about selling millions of headsets or tri-folds by Christmas. It’s about planting a flag. It’s Samsung’s public declaration that it intends to be a key architect of the next phase of computing, not just a spectator.

Conclusion

While Samsung’s September 4th event will give us predictable and welcome updates to its existing lineup, all eyes in the tech world will be on the end of the month. The rumored second Unpacked is Samsung’s attempt to answer the industry’s biggest “what’s next?” questions. The challenge isn’t just to build a tri-fold phone or a high-end headset, but to convince us why we actually need one.

Sources