The Samsung Galaxy S7 rumour train pulled out of the station in September last year and it’s still picking up steam. There are said to be several versions of the new flagship headed our way and they’re going to be quite different to their predecessors if the latest reports have any credence to them. Let us see what is trailing behind the rumour engine in early 2016, shall we?
Bigger Screen
Samsung likes big phones, we saw that with the S6 and S6 Edge as well as the monster Galaxy S6 Edge+. But it seems that they’re going to be incrementing screens for one of the the Galaxy S7’s flavours just slightly (more so for another), giving them some size over 2015’s model. At least, that’s the claim being made by a Reuters report citing info out of South Korea. The Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge clocked in at 5.1-inches apiece and the Galaxy S7 is going to be increasing on that only slightly, to 5.2-inches. The S7 Edge, on the other hand, that will be making a jump to a 5.5-inch display according to the report, closing in on the S6 Edge+‘s dimensions somewhat. How big will the S7 Edge+ be?
More (Battery) Power
Sammy’s going to be pushing up the battery capacity for the S7 range. You still won’t be able to take them out and swap em around but you’ll be able to stay away from the charger for longer periods. The Galaxy S7 will be improving on its predecessor’s 2,550mAh battery with a 3,000mAh effort, according to rumour, and the S7 Edge will be jumping up from 2,600mAh to 3,600mAh. The difference in power packs makes sense if you’re thinking about the screen sizes, the S7 Edge will need some extra juice for that 5.5-inch display. And we’re never going to say no to some extra power. Oh, wireless charging will also be a thing, with 2 hours (S7) and 2.2 hours (S7 Edge) expected to refill the banks.
That MicroSD Again
Despite an apparent render that shows a distinct lack of microSD space, this is the Samsung rumour that just will not die. Both the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge will supposedly feature slots for storage expansion and these slots will support cards of up to 200GB in capacity. That’d kill one of our big criticisms from last year but time will have to tell whether we’ll be pleased or miffed come launch day.
Elemental Protection?
This isn’t unknown territory for Samsung but it’d be nice for their glass handsets: The S7 lineup is said to feature an IP67 rating, putting the phones on even footing in the dust and water stakes with the likes of Sony’s Xperia heavy hitters. We don’t have much more information than that but do you really need more than the reassurance that you won’t be able to drown your handset?
A Camera Downgrade – Kinda
Samsung could be scaling down their camera, at least in terms of megapixels. The sensor will apparently be dropping from 16MP to 12MP but the lens aperture will be improving, from f/1.9 (as in the Galaxy S6) to f/1.7. Might not be such a bad thing though, as that camera bulge will probably be going away. And then there’s the whole, you know, more impressive performance in low-lighting conditions to look forward to. The loss of a few pointless megapixels isn’t going to be a big wrench.
Processors Reconfirmed
What doesn’t seem to be in much doubt are the processor options. 2016’s reports seem to be consistent in the CPU selection, where the main chip for 2016 is supposed to be the Exynos 8890. But Samsung never only takes that route, so that Snapdragon 820 spotted last year will probably be putting in a showing in at least a few parts of the world. 4GB of RAM appears to be the standard for everyone, regardless of configuration and there will be 32GB and 64GB storage models of the S7 family available. 128GB… has been mentioned but might be geographically restricted. All in all, though, it’s looking like a good start to 2016.
Source: VentureBeat, Reuters
