The Samsung Galaxy S7 was announced Sunday evening in Barcelona, one day ahead of Mobile World Congress. The official unveiling of the smartphone, and its curved display version, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, confirm months of rumors that continued until days prior to launch. The smartphones will be available starting March 11, with preorders coming soon.
“The S6 and S6 Edge were true innovations but the S7 and S7 Edge take an even bigger step forward,” said Samsung senior vice president, product strategy, Justin Dennison.
Samsung Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch Quad HD (2560x1440 resolution) display while the Galaxy S7 Edge features a 5.5-inch display, both protected by Gorilla Glass 4. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exynos 8890 chips power the smartphones, depending on the market. The U.S. in particular will receive the Snapdragon 820 model of both devices.
Chipsets for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge include CPUs 30 percent more powerful and GPUs 64 percent faster than the components on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Samsung has also introduced on the Galaxy S7, the Vulkan API for smartphones, which will allow the devices to be particularly equipped for mobile gaming. Gaming features on the Galaxy S7 include an overall improved user experience, a dedicated game launcher, a games power saving mode, a games do not disturb mode and the ability to record real time game play. These are several features previously found only in PC gaming.
The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge include 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The devices also once again support microSD expansion up to 200GB. Samsung says expansion capabilities on the Galaxy S7 will improve as external expansion technology improves.
The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge also feature a new 12-megapixel-rear camera, which features an f/1.7 aperture. The shooter is upgraded from the f/1.9 lens on the Galaxy S6. Samsung said the S7 camera lets in 25 percent more light, allowing for significant improvements, particularly for low-light photography.
A new feature on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge is the always-on display, a feature that was also introduced on the LG G5 Sunday. The Always On display on Samsung’s shows details like time, date and email, text and missed calls notifications on the screen at all time, as long as the device is in a lit room. Once users put a Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge in their pocket or in a dark room, the always-on feature will turn off.
To power this new feature, Samsung has outfitted the Galaxy S7 with a 3,000mAh battery, while the Galaxy S7 Edge features a 3,600mAh battery. These cells are a significant power increase from the batteries in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. However, like their predecessors, the batteries remain unresolvable.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge also includes updates to its Edge UX with extended 550 pixel panels, which allow for a vertical orientation of tiles and icons. In addition to standard features like the Apps Edge and People Edge, there is now the Task Edge, which users can customize and a new Third Party Edge, applicable now that Samsung has opened its Edge SDK to developers.
Samsung has also brought back water resistance to the Galaxy S7 devices, with an IP68 Ingress Protection Rating, which allows the handsets to be submerged in up to five feet of water for up to 30 minutes.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 will be available in black onyx, white pearl and gold platinum color options, while the Galaxy S7 Edge will come in black onyx, gold platinum and silver titanium options. All color options will be available in the U.S.
