Latest Galaxy S7 news
Introduction
Samsung's remarkable Galaxy S6 was very well received so it gave the company a great base to work off of for the Galaxy S7. Announced in February 2016, the Galaxy S6's successor made several key improvements. For example, the microSD card slot that was removed a year before was brought back with the Galaxy S7.
The new flagship also brought more powerful internals as well as a bigger battery. With battery life being a concern on its predecessor, the Galaxy S7's bigger battery was certainly one of its major selling points.
Design
Samsung retained the same metal and glass build that it introduced with the Galaxy S6 for the Galaxy S7. The device looked and felt super-premium as Samsung used high-quality materials for its unibody construction. The device had subtle rounded corners that allowed for a comfortable grip and curves on the back for a more ergonomic fit.
The front was dominated by the display and features a physical home button with recent apps and back keys at either side. The charging port at the bottom was accompanied by a speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Samsung also brought back the IP68 water and dust resistance rating for its flagship series with this device. The Galaxy S7 was rated to survive under five feet of water for up to 30 minutes. The Galaxy S7 measures 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9mm and weighs 152g.
Specifications
Samsung opted for the 2.3GHz Exynos 8890 processor for the Galaxy S7, with select markets getting the Snapdragon 820 variant. The company claimed that the chip delivered a 30 and 60 percent CPU and GPU performance improvement respectively. The handset was offered with 4GB of RAM with 32GB and 64GB storage options.
The microSD card slot was brought back so users could externally expand the stroage. The chipset was paired with a Mali-T880 MP12 GPU and the integrated LTE Cat 9 modem provided download speeds of up to 450Mbps. The Galaxy S7 also featured a 3,000mAh battery. It was non-removable much like the one on its predecessor with support for wireless charging.
Display
The Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch Quad HD+ (2560×1440) pixel resolution Super AMOLED display topped with Gorilla Glass 4 for protection. It's brighter than the one on its predecessor with sharp, vibrant colors.
Samsung also introduced the Always On Display mode with the Galaxy S7. This feature showed useful information like the time, calendar, notification icons when the screen is turned off.
Camera
The Galaxy S7 comes with a 12-megapixel f/1.7 rear camera with an LED flash. Samsung improved the tech as this device had the world's first Dual Pixel sensor on a smartphone. Dual Pixel allowed for better and faster autofocus.
Each pixel was also bigger at 1.4 microns and combined with the f/1.7 aperture, it allowed the Galaxy S7 to take much better low-light photos. Selfie duties were assigned to a 5-megapixel f/1.7 camera.
Software
The Galaxy S7 was Samsung's first smartphone to come with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box and it was topped with the latest version of Samsung's custom UI. As always, there were UI improvements as well as several new features.
Game Launcher and Game Tools features were aimed at gamers, allowing Galaxy S7 owners to get the most out of their mobile gaming experience. Microsoft's suite of productivity apps came pre-installed on the device.
Release date and price
The Galaxy S7 went on sale across the globe on March 11, 2016 in Black Onyx, Gold Platinum, White, Silver Titanium and Pink colors. Prices started at $669 for the unlocked variant.
