The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have finally arrived, setting the bar for this year’s premium smartphones.
Both the standard screen model and curve-edged variants of the Galaxy S7 made their long-awaited debut at the Samsung Unpacked event at the opening of this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with all the glorious details revealed about the South Korean mobile maker’s flagship duo for 2016. And we think you’ll agree the specifications are spectacular as promised.
To run through some of the stand-out specs: both come running the latest Android OS 6.0 Marshmallow with octa-core processing provided by a tag team of 2.3GHz and 1.6GHz quad-core chipsets. The maker boasts that this model will run 30% better than its predecessor with game-centric graphics running 64% faster than before and each S7 model offers a generous 4GB of RAM, a full gig increase on the S6’s 3GB. There’s no flexibility on internal storage options that customers can choose from, however removable storage has been re-introduced this year and can support micro SD cards up to 200GB. Micro SD cards share the same sliding port as the Nano SIM card.
The camera tech on the S7 and S7 Edge has received improvements too with 12-megapixels at the rear main camera which includes HD photo capture, video recording and motion panorama supported and a first-of-its-kind Dual Sensor is built in for great images even in the dark. The front facing camera comes in at 5-megapixels offering sharp selfies and video. The camera features even include a Beauty Mode which will make those selfies looking stunning.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will connect to 3G/4G/LTE networks and also Wi-Fi with Bluetooth also available on both models. Both are dust and waterproofed with a water resistance grading of IP68 and Samsung have managed to seal the phones vital bits but keep accessibility to all ports without need of awkward caps and covers employed by other manufacturers.
One of the other notable differences between each handset is the battery size, with the standard S7 including a 3000mAh non-removable cell and a full charge within 95 minutes and the S7 Edge holding a 3600mAh battery with charging complete in 115 minutes on wired outlet (wireless charging will add an extra 35 minutes onto the charging time of each device). For additional power saving, buyers will be able to choose which features they can access at a glance meaning less charge used and the Edge model will allow a selection of basic functions or Quick Tools to be accessed from the side of the screen reducing the need to use the full screen all of the time.
A few other note-worthy features are Samsung Knox – as the name suggests this one’s all about ensuring security, protecting valuable personal data and content against unlawful access and hacking, and also the Smart Switch app provided by Samsung will offer easy switch over for photos, videos and data from previous device to your brand new Galaxy S7.
With an initial choice of Black Onyx or Gold Platinum casing the Samsung Galaxy S7 will cost £569 and the S7 Edge £639 with lots of accessories and extras available. Both arrive on the market on March 11th but will reach the hands of pre-order customers on March 8th.
We await tariff details from the various UK networks but straight out of the gate is O2 which is listing the Samsung Galaxy S7 starting at £54 monthly and the S7 Edge at £51 per month – each with a £9.99 upfront payment. O2 will also throw in a set of Jabra Sport Pulse headphones worth £149 on tariffs of over 3GB of monthly data.