Yesterday the fated Samsung Galaxy S7 was just a bunch of rumors and leaks, but today those rumors can be laid to rest, because it’s official! The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are here, and we’ve got all of the details you’ve been waiting for right here on PhoneDog.
Last year was the first year that Samsung introduced both an original Galaxy S and an Edge variant alongside it, and this year the trend continues as Samsung has announced both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. The overall design of the S7 doesn’t stray far from the Galaxy S6, as the two look very similar. Most notably, the devices are thinner than their predecessors, and the rear-facing camera is now nearly level with the glass back. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are, by and large, refined versions of last year's S6 and S6 Edge designs.
If you’ve been keeping up with the surplus amount of rumors and leaks over the past few weeks, you probably won’t be surprised to see what changes were made with the Galaxy S7. Nonetheless, the upgrades made to this year’s Galaxy S duo are quite pleasing.
For convenience’s sake, we’ll go ahead and put the S7’s specs and features in list form:
- 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display (Galaxy S7) / 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display (Galaxy S7 Edge)
- Snapdragon 820 processor (U.S.) / Samsung Exynos 8990
- 4GB of RAM
- 32GB internal storage
- microSD card support (up to 200GB)
- 5-megapixel front-facing camera with F1.7 aperture
- 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with F1.7 aperture, OIS
- Water resistance (IP68)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Wireless charging
- “Always On” secondary display
- 3000 mAh battery (Galaxy S7) / 3600 mAh battery (Galaxy S7 Edge)
It’s nice to see that Samsung re-implemented the microSD card support, as the removal of this feature in the S6 upset a lot of people. The removable battery, on the other hand, will not be making a return this year. Both Samsung Galaxy S7 variants also continue to use micro-USB instead of USB Type C for charging.
A couple of other notable features for the Galaxy S7 are the “Always On” display, which is a popular feature that has been appearing on more smartphones as of late (including the LG G5 announced earlier today). The addition of water resistance is also a big plus for people who are – or who worry about being – accident prone with their expensive smartphones. Really, any extra layer of protection is appreciated.
Pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge begin at 8:00 am ET on February 23, 2016. Customers who pre-order will also receive a free Samsung Gear VR headset as a gift. The devices will officially land in-store on March 11. As for pricing, you can view a detailed breakdown of pricing for each major carrier here.
What do you think of the new Samsung Galaxy S7? Are you happy that Samsung kept a similar design to last year’s flagship, or were you hoping for something more drastic? Will you be upgrading to a Galaxy S7 this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!