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This year, however, Samsung is pulling out all stops with the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, if not in terms of design, as the chassis concept is already premium enough, but rather by listening to user demands. It has focused efforts where it matters most in today's smartphones - the low-light performance of the camera, the battery life, and the durability of the device, and at the same time brought back the microSD slot for storage expansion.
What more can you desire from a phone? Well, let's roundup all the important new features you will encounter in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, and we'll let you decide if we are in for the treat of the season.
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge: all the new features
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New phones deserve new cameras, right? The fresh 12 MP shooter on the rear of the S7 and S7 edge is a refreshing departure from the megapixel rat race Samsung has been engaged in together with most everyone else in the high-end phone realm. It sports large 1.4 micron pixels that are able to collect 95% more photons than the camera on its predecessor, improving picture quality in low-light scenarios. Not only that, but the new sensor also employs a Dual Pixel technology for faster and more accurate autofocus, which potentially makes the S7 shooter the camera to beat this year.
Dual Pixel camera
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In the US, and a few other markets, the phones will come powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 chipset, while globally they will be released with Samsung's own Exynos 8890. No matter which one is in your phone, these are the best that the industry can offer for any Android handset, and besides screeching fast performance offer a modest power draw, and a plethora of additional functions.
Screeching fast mobile chipsets
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Taking a cue from the Note 5, Samsung has released the first members of the Galaxy S line with the whopping 4 GB of RAM amount, and of the latest low-power DDR4 variety at that.
Hey, this is as much as your old laptop has at home now, don't get too sad about it. The Galaxy S6 shipped with 3 GB of the fast random-access memory type, and with a dual-channel configuration you can be certain that the S7 and S7 edge will be able to open fast, and keep all apps and games you throw at them, and keep them running in the background ad infinitum.
Hey, this is as much as your old laptop has at home now, don't get too sad about it. The Galaxy S6 shipped with 3 GB of the fast random-access memory type, and with a dual-channel configuration you can be certain that the S7 and S7 edge will be able to open fast, and keep all apps and games you throw at them, and keep them running in the background ad infinitum.
4 GB of DDR4 RAM
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Unlike the Galaxy S6, the S7 and S7 edge feature a tapered back for a more comfortable grip, while it's not every day we see a high-end phone announced that is both sturdy, pretty, and with high watertight certification - in fact only Sony's Xperia line comes to mind - but Samsung somehow has managed to create metal-and-glass phones with premium design and a crazy specs sheet, which on top of that can be submerged in up to five feet of water for 30 minutes without damaging it, which will be a godsend for all poolside photographers out there, or simply for the clutz in you when you spill a glass of water over the phone.
Tapered, waterproof chassis
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Samsung has made it extremely easy to move from your old phone to your new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, regardless of whether you are using an iOS, Android or Windows device at the moment. While you've been able to take advantage of the Samsung Smart Switch app and software since the S6, the company now provide an USB connector in the S7 and S7 edge retail box for a seamless direct transfer of your contacts, message history, app and game settings to your flashy new S7.
Samsung Smart Switch with USB connector provided in the box
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Samsung has been quietly optimizing its in-house screen and chipset components' power draw to perfectly match the battery capacity in their midrange and high-end phones for a while now, and this trend has delivered some impressive battery life results from the new A-series 2016, but also from last year's Note 5.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will be no exception, it seems, and might even reach the two-day battery Holy Grail, as they are now equipped with 3000 mAh and 3600 mAh juicers that are much larger than what we have in their predecessors.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will be no exception, it seems, and might even reach the two-day battery Holy Grail, as they are now equipped with 3000 mAh and 3600 mAh juicers that are much larger than what we have in their predecessors.
Large batteries
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We aren't even kidding here - if you want the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the brand new TouchWiz browser that comes with it on Samsung devices, it looks like your best bet is to grab a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge. The 2016 A-series shipped with Lollipop, and the S6 or Note 5 carrier versions are still waiting for Android 6.0, so the S7 and S7 edge are the ones that will let you experience the new double-width
Android Marshmallow with new Edge UX
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Yep, unlike the Galaxy S6 or Note 5, which support LTE Cat. 9 download speeds of up to 450 Mbps, the new modems soldered on both the Exynos 8890 and the Snapdragon 820 chipsets that are in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge support LTE Cat. 12, which will net you 600 Mbps on the downlink, and 150 Mbps upload speeds. And don't scoff at these theoretical speeds either, as both Verizon and AT&T started trials for their 1 Gbps LTE Advanced Pro networks, so if you intend to keep the S7 for a while, Cat. 12 might be put into good use.
Cat. 12 LTE modem
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Both the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge have a Quad HD Super AMOLED screen with a so-called Always-On Display function. It lets the owners quickly glance at important info like date, time, calendar or messaging content without having to wake up the device. Always-On Display can actually be turned off, and it does this automatically when the phone is slid in your pocket or purse.
Always-on display
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The S7 and S7 edge will support the new Vulcan API for gaming that Marshmallow brings, but Samsung has create quite a few options on its own to lure the hard-core gamers out there. The new Game Launcher is an add-on for gamers, "allowing users to manage battery consumption and minimize notifications. Additionally, users can record their gaming experience or share their screen to play with others. Paired with Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, Vulkan API gives users the ability to play high-performance graphic games with lower battery consumption."
Vulkan graphics and Game Launcher
image
Yep, this is one of the coolest-sounding features in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge (pun intended). There were rumors about it, and Samsung indeed confirmed it at the presentation. The S7 and S7 edge will sport cooling technology, with tiny pipes filled with liquid circulating around the CPU and GPU to soothe down the S7 internals under heavy gaming. Check out the copper piping in this teardown pic of the S7 here.
Liquid cooling
image
This might not sound like much, given that the phones ship with 32/64 GB of storage out of the box, but the outcry Sasmung encountered when it released the Galaxy S6 without a microSD slot must have resonated hard in its headquarters. After all, one of the reasons people were grabbing Samsung's flagships was that they have removable batteries and expandable storage, and in one fell swoop Samsung ditched that advantage last yer, only to remedy the situation with the S7 and S7 edge.
Let's face it - in this day and age of 4K videos and vast media or document libraries, you can't always rely just on the cloud, plus expanding local storage with a memory card comes much cheaper.
Let's face it - in this day and age of 4K videos and vast media or document libraries, you can't always rely just on the cloud, plus expanding local storage with a memory card comes much cheaper.
A microSD slot, yoohoo!
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge: all the new features
New phones deserve new cameras, right? The fresh 12 MP shooter on the rear of the S7 and S7 edge is a refreshing departure from the megapixel rat race Samsung has been engaged in together with most everyone else in the high-end phone realm. It sports large 1.4 micron pixels that are able to collect 95% more photons than the camera on its predecessor, improving picture quality in low-light scenarios. Not only that, but the new sensor also employs a Dual Pixel technology for faster and more accurate autofocus, which potentially makes the S7 shooter the camera to beat this year.
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge: all the new features
1. Dual Pixel camera
New phones deserve new cameras, right? The fresh 12 MP shooter on the rear of the S7 and S7 edge is a refreshing departure from the megapixel rat race Samsung has been engaged in together with most everyone else in the high-end phone realm. It sports large 1.4 micron pixels that are able to collect 95% more photons than the camera on its predecessor, improving picture quality in low-light scenarios. Not only that, but the new sensor also employs a Dual Pixel technology for faster and more accurate autofocus, which potentially makes the S7 shooter the camera to beat this year.
2. Screeching fast mobile chipsets
In the US, and a few other markets, the phones will come powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 chipset, while globally they will be released with Samsung's own Exynos 8890. No matter which one is in your phone, these are the best that the industry can offer for any Android handset, and besides screeching fast performance offer a modest power draw, and a plethora of additional functions.
3. 4 GB of DDR4 RAM
Taking a cue from the Note 5, Samsung has released the first members of the Galaxy S line with the whopping 4 GB of RAM amount, and of the latest low-power DDR4 variety at that.
Hey, this is as much as your old laptop has at home now, don't get too sad about it. The Galaxy S6 shipped with 3 GB of the fast random-access memory type, and with a dual-channel configuration you can be certain that the S7 and S7 edge will be able to open fast, and keep all apps and games you throw at them, and keep them running in the background ad infinitum.
Hey, this is as much as your old laptop has at home now, don't get too sad about it. The Galaxy S6 shipped with 3 GB of the fast random-access memory type, and with a dual-channel configuration you can be certain that the S7 and S7 edge will be able to open fast, and keep all apps and games you throw at them, and keep them running in the background ad infinitum.
4. Tapered, waterproof chassis
Unlike the Galaxy S6, the S7 and S7 edge feature a tapered back for a more comfortable grip, while it's not every day we see a high-end phone announced that is both sturdy, pretty, and with high watertight certification - in fact only Sony's Xperia line comes to mind - but Samsung somehow has managed to create metal-and-glass phones with premium design and a crazy specs sheet, which on top of that can be submerged in up to five feet of water for 30 minutes without damaging it, which will be a godsend for all poolside photographers out there, or simply for the clutz in you when you spill a glass of water over the phone.
5. Samsung Smart Switch with USB connector provided in the box
Samsung has made it extremely easy to move from your old phone to your new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, regardless of whether you are using an iOS, Android or Windows device at the moment. While you've been able to take advantage of the Samsung Smart Switch app and software since the S6, the company now provide an USB connector in the S7 and S7 edge retail box for a seamless direct transfer of your contacts, message history, app and game settings to your flashy new S7.
6. Large batteries
Samsung has been quietly optimizing its in-house screen and chipset components' power draw to perfectly match the battery capacity in their midrange and high-end phones for a while now, and this trend has delivered some impressive battery life results from the new A-series 2016, but also from last year's Note 5.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will be no exception, it seems, and might even reach the two-day battery Holy Grail, as they are now equipped with 3000 mAh and 3600 mAh juicers that are much larger than what we have in their predecessors.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will be no exception, it seems, and might even reach the two-day battery Holy Grail, as they are now equipped with 3000 mAh and 3600 mAh juicers that are much larger than what we have in their predecessors.
7. Android Marshmallow with new Edge UX
We aren't even kidding here - if you want the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the brand new TouchWiz browser that comes with it on Samsung devices, it looks like your best bet is to grab a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge. The 2016 A-series shipped with Lollipop, and the S6 or Note 5 carrier versions are still waiting for Android 6.0, so the S7 and S7 edge are the ones that will let you experience the new double-width
8. Cat. 12 LTE modem
Yep, unlike the Galaxy S6 or Note 5, which support LTE Cat. 9 download speeds of up to 450 Mbps, the new modems soldered on both the Exynos 8890 and the Snapdragon 820 chipsets that are in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge support LTE Cat. 12, which will net you 600 Mbps on the downlink, and 150 Mbps upload speeds. And don't scoff at these theoretical speeds either, as both Verizon and AT&T started trials for their 1 Gbps LTE Advanced Pro networks, so if you intend to keep the S7 for a while, Cat. 12 might be put into good use.
9. Always-on display
Both the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge have a Quad HD Super AMOLED screen with a so-called Always-On Display function. It lets the owners quickly glance at important info like date, time, calendar or messaging content without having to wake up the device. Always-On Display can actually be turned off, and it does this automatically when the phone is slid in your pocket or purse.
10. Vulkan graphics and Game Launcher
The S7 and S7 edge will support the new Vulcan API for gaming that Marshmallow brings, but Samsung has create quite a few options on its own to lure the hard-core gamers out there. The new Game Launcher is an add-on for gamers, "allowing users to manage battery consumption and minimize notifications. Additionally, users can record their gaming experience or share their screen to play with others. Paired with Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, Vulkan API gives users the ability to play high-performance graphic games with lower battery consumption."
11. Liquid cooling
Yep, this is one of the coolest-sounding features in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge (pun intended). There were rumors about it, and Samsung indeed confirmed it at the presentation. The S7 and S7 edge will sport cooling technology, with tiny pipes filled with liquid circulating around the CPU and GPU to soothe down the S7 internals under heavy gaming. Check out the copper piping in this teardown pic of the S7 here.
12. A microSD slot, yoohoo!
This might not sound like much, given that the phones ship with 32/64 GB of storage out of the box, but the outcry Sasmung encountered when it released the Galaxy S6 without a microSD slot must have resonated hard in its headquarters. After all, one of the reasons people were grabbing Samsung's flagships was that they have removable batteries and expandable storage, and in one fell swoop Samsung ditched that advantage last yer, only to remedy the situation with the S7 and S7 edge.
Let's face it - in this day and age of 4K videos and vast media or document libraries, you can't always rely just on the cloud, plus expanding local storage with a memory card comes much cheaper.
Let's face it - in this day and age of 4K videos and vast media or document libraries, you can't always rely just on the cloud, plus expanding local storage with a memory card comes much cheaper.
