Tech

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge: Here's what to expect

The floodgates are open, and we are awash with Galaxy S7 rumors, and it looks like Samsung is learning from some of the mistakes it made with the Galaxy S6.

Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Senior Contributing Editor Feb. 1, 2016 at 3:15 a.m. PT

Android fans are eagerly waiting to see what Samsung has planned for them with the upcoming Galaxy S7 handset, rumored to make an appearance later this month. But many of the features seem very familiar.

Smartphones

The Galaxy S7 is expected to feature a 5.1-inch 1440 x 2560 quad HD display with Super AMOLED, while the Galaxy S7 Edge will feature a slightly larger curved 5.5-inch display with the same resolution. It has been also suggested that the displays will feature a new technology called ClearForce that is rumored to work much like the 3D Touch feature on the new iPhone 6s.

On the processor front, there will be two variants. Powering the non-North American version will be Samsung's Exynos 8 Octa 8890 processors which will offer four cores running at 2.3GHz and a further four running at a more energy-efficient 1.6GHz. The North American versions of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will be powered by Snapdragon 820 chipsets featuring 14nm FinFET LPP (LLP stands for Laser Produced Plasma) and the Adreno 530 GPU

Both versions are expected to have 4GB of RAM, and will come with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1.

Storage is expected to come in 32GB and 64GB options, but with this release, Samsung is going to bring back a much-loved feature -- the microSD card slot -- which will allow owners to bump up storage while on the move.

Also back is the water- and dust-resistance, with the new handsets expected to have an IP67 rating, which means they will be totally dust resistant, and waterproof to between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth.

While the microSD card slot and water- and dust-resistance have made a return, a much-loved feature that hasn't returned is the removable battery. The Galaxy S7 is expected to have a 3000mAh battery, while the larger Galaxy S7 Edge will have a 3600mAh battery.

The handsets are also expected to feature the new USB-C port for data and power. Both devices will support wireless charging.

On the camera front, both the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are said to sport a 12-megapixel BRITECELL rear camera with an f1.7 aperture. This is a significant drop in megapixels from the Galaxy S6 (which has a 16-megapixel camera), but this is offset by the improved aperture. The front camera is expected to remain the same at 5 megapixels.

As to what the handsets will look like, here are images leaked by Evan"@evleaks" Blass. Given how accurate Blass has been in the past, there's little doubt that these images are real.