Welcome to Tech Bytes! In this series, we bring you the biggest news hitting the Tech and Gaming fields, putting it into an excellent, simple brief for you to quickly catch up on so you’re up to speed over dinner and drinks.
We’ve reached the second half of the year, which brings another series of exciting reveals over the next few months. Meanwhile, July 2025 starts it all off with new hardware from Samsung and the return of a beloved FPS franchise. Our Tech Bytes July 2025 round-up has it all!
Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7 are back in the limelight
First up on our Tech Bytes July 2025 round-up is Samsung, who has unveiled the latest iterations of its foldable line – and the company has finally made big changes to them.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 has now been made remarkably slimmer, measuring 4.2mm thick when unfolded and 8.9mm when folded. And at 215 grams, it is actually lighter than the S25 Ultra. The rear camera system has also received an upgrade; it is now equipped with a 200-megapixel sensor for its main lens. However, S Pen support has been removed.
As for the Galaxy Z Flip7, the cover screen now fully extends across the entire area of the exterior, allowing for more usability. Samsung has also included a larger 4,300mAh battery, even though the phone has slimmed down to 6.5mm thick when unfolded. Also curiously, instead of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor that is found on the Fold7, the Flip7 instead uses an Exynos 2500 chip.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7 will be made available on 1 August 2025, priced starting at S$2,698 and S$1,648 respectively. You can learn more about the new devices by reading our hands-on preview coverage.
Samsung also announces the Galaxy Watch8 Series
Also announced alongside the foldables were the new smartwatches from Samsung: the Galaxy Watch8 series. And the lineup sees the return of the fan-favourite Classic version with its rotating bezel.
The notable highlight is that, like the new foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Watch8 series has also been made slimmer than its predecessor—11% to be more specific. It also comes with a Dynamic Lug system that helps with a more snug fit on wrists. In terms of upgrades, the watch is now brighter at 3,000 nits and comes with an 8% larger battery.
New health-tracking capabilities have been added. This includes the Antioxidant Index, which measures your carotenoid levels, and Vascular Load, a feature that tracks stress levels on the vascular system during sleep.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Series is also available on 1 August 2025, with the regular Watch8 priced starting at S$498, the Classic at S$698, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra costing S$988.
Sony launches the RX1R III
With fixed lens cameras becoming more popular, Sony is joining the trend by bringing the new RX1R III, the first update to the RX1R line in nearly a decade.
The new third-generation RX1R III uses the same 35mm full-frame Exmor R sensor as the previous edition, but the camera now has an improved 61 megapixels—up from 42.4 megapixels. With the increased megapixels, photographers can take advantage of the Step Crop Shooting function, which allows users to switch between 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm focal lengths.
For the performance, the camera has shooting speeds that max out at five frames per second and is able to capture 4K video at 30 fps or 1080p at up to 120 fps. Users can take advantage of the 12 different quick access Creative Looks for images and video, which can also be customised. The RX1R III is positioned as a lightweight camera, using magnesium alloy for the body. To keep it portable, Sony has elected to make the back screen a fixed screen, unable to tilt up or down.
The Sony RX1R III will be launched in Singapore in August 2025. While no details have been announced for its Singapore pricing, it is being sold in the US at approximately US$5,099.99.
Perfect Dark and Everwild cancelled as part of Microsoft layoffs
Microsoft announced this month that 4% of its workforce will be laid off, with the cuts affecting many within the Xbox division. This has had a massive impact on some of Xbox’s upcoming games, with both Perfect Dark and Everwild now being cancelled as a result.
Everwild, announced initially during the Xbox X019 presentation in November 2019, has had difficulties in its development, with news in 2021 reporting that the game was being rebooted. While its most recent update in 2024 stated that development was going well, that was not enough to save the game.
The Perfect Dark reboot likewise had a difficult development, but with a gameplay trailer released last year, there was optimism that it would be one of Xbox’s upcoming premier titles. Alas, Microsoft has decided to cut their losses and cease production of the game. Developers The Initiative have also been shut down as part of the layoffs.
Other affected areas include King, makers of Candy Crush, who are reducing their manpower by 10%. More than 70 people from the Forza Motorsport studio, Turn 10, are also being made redundant. The Microsoft layoffs are the biggest yet in the games industry this year; we hope that there won’t be many more like this.
Battlefield 6 is revealed
After a four-year absence, Battlefield is back on the field (pun intended). The newest game in the series is, perhaps unsurprisingly, called Battlefield 6 – with destruction once again back on the menu.
The game’s first trailer gives fans a first look at the Pax Armata, the new antagonists for the game. EA describes them as “a Private Military Corporation bankrolled by former NATO states whose agenda threatens to throw the world into global conflict”, with that conflict setting the stage for the visceral combat in the game.
Battlefield 6 promises the return of epic warfare and unbound player freedom, with gamers able to destroy parts of the map like buildings for a tactical advantage, as well as commandeer a number of vehicles such as tanks and fighter jets.
No release date has been announced for Battlefield 6 as of writing, but it is largely expected to launch sometime at the end of the year.
This marks July 2025’s edition of Tech Bytes, and we hope this roundup gives you a little insight into tech to be excited about. Check with us again in August 2025, as we bring you more byte-sized news every month!
Visuals courtesy of Samsung Singapore, Sony, Xbox, and EA.
