Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge announced!

[thexzenon]

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge have been announced!

 

Photos:

Spoiler

 

Quick specs:

Spoiler

• Android 6.0 Marshmallow w/ TouchWiz
• 12 MP rear camera - f/1.7 aperture w/ OIS and dual-LED flash
• 5 MP front camera - f/1.7
• 32 GB of internal storage (64 GB versions also available in some regions) w/ microSD support
• IP68 rating (meaning 1.5m of water for half an hour)
• Micro USB v2.0 port
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (or  Exynos 8890 Octa depending on region)
• Quick charge 3.0: 83% in 30 minutes
• Wireless charging
• 4 GB of RAM
• Always-on display
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth 4.2
• Curved back for better grip

Samsung Galaxy S7 only:

Quote

• 5.1" Super AMOLED qHD display
• 3000 mAh battery (up from 2550 mAh) non-removable
• Dimensions: 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm (slightly thicker, otherwise the same)
• Weight: 152 g (up from 140 g)

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge only:

Quote

• 5.5" AMOLED qHD display
• 3600 mAh battery (up from 2600 mAh) non-removable
• Dimensions: 150.9 x 72.6 x7.7 mm (taller than S6 Edge, shorter than S6 Edge+)
• Weight: 157 g (up from 132 g on S6 Edge and 153 g on S6 Edge+)

 

The phones will be available for preoder starting February 23rd. The S7 will come in black or gold and the Edge will also feature a silver option. Samsung will also give a free GearVR for early buyers.

 

The S7 camera:

Quote

Perhaps the most significant change this year comes in the S7’s new 12-megapixel camera. It’s lower resolution than last year’s 16-megapixel shooter, but Samsung says its larger pixels let in 56 percent more light than before for better low light images. The camera’s lens is a brighter f/1.7 aperture, allowing in 25 percent more light. Combined, the new sensor and lens let in 95 percent more light than last year’s already impressive camera, which is promising for low light photography. The sensor’s shape has also changed from a wide-format 16:9 to a more traditional 4:3 ratio.

Samsung says the new camera can focus up to three times faster thanks to its dual-pixel system that allows every single one of the 12 million pixels to act as focus pixels, similar to the system Canon uses in some of its DSLR cameras. The camera is also very quick to launch — in brief demos it handily beat out a Nexus 6P and iPhone 6S Plus in getting ready to take a shot.

 

Software features:

Spoiler

• New edge swipe features (also on the S6 Edge) - Edge variant only
• Always-on display feature consumes only 0.5% battery/hour - shuts off when in a bag/pocket
• Support for Vulkan API

 

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/21/11077956/samsung-galaxy-s7-edge-smartphone-announced-specs-mwc-2016

 

Imo this phone looks much better than the G5. It's also a clear upgrade over the previous generation S6 (Edge). I guess the camera and battery upgrades will be (at least for me) the main selling points. Good job Samsung!

 

The icons also look much more rounded and nice (not the biggest selling point, I know) and they have kept the app drawer. Looking at you LG! 

 

 

 

[kuzimins]

The normal S7 has curved back too.

[ZetZet]

Makes G5 look like a joke (a bad one)

[Trixanity]

Quote

Micro USB port

In the words of Simon Cowell: "it's a no from me"

[Aniallation]

 

 

[ZetZet]

1 minute ago, Trixanity said:

In the words of Simon Cowell: "it's a no from me"

big fucking deal lol. microusb is still better in my eyes since most people have microusb cables all over the place. usb-c would be nice, but microusb doesn't make much of a difference. 

[ZetZet]

1 minute ago, ninninon said:

Let's see how the 820 does against the A9X.

How could it possibly go against it? One is huge tablet chip another is small smartphone chip. 

 

 

That's like saying let's see how A9X does versus Polaris. 

[Trixanity]

Just now, ZetZet said:

big fucking deal lol. microusb is still better in my eyes since most people have microusb cables all over the place. usb-c would be nice, but microusb doesn't make much of a difference. 

Ah, yes: better because of ubiquity; that makes sense.

 

We should stop changing technology. Let's stick with SATA drives and VGA ports. Let's also go back to horse-drawn carriages instead of cars.

[ZetZet]

Just now, Trixanity said:

Ah, yes: better because of ubiquity; that makes sense.

 

We should stop changing technology. Let's stick with SATA drives and VGA ports. Let's also go back to horse-drawn carriages instead of cars.

usb speeds don't matter on phones anymore unless you need docking. so the only thing that really matters is charging and for charging microusb is still better. I personally don't care much.

[Trixanity]

Just now, ZetZet said:

usb speeds don't matter on phones anymore unless you need docking. so the only thing that really matters is charging and for charging microusb is still better. I personally don't care much.

That also makes no sense. How can it be better at charging when Power Delivery 2.0 (a USB spec) is literally made to be better? It offers more granularity in voltage and amperage, not to mention maxing out at 20V and 5A. 

[Nineshadow]

So...it's exactly what the S6 should have been D: (except the Snapdragon 820 , but whatever)

[ZetZet]

2 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

That also makes no sense. How can it be better at charging when Power Delivery 2.0 (a USB spec) is literally made to be better? It offers more granularity in voltage and amperage, not to mention maxing out at 20V and 5A. 

It's better because you have cables all over the place and super charging is still the same speed since no smartphone battery could handle 20v 5a.

[Nineshadow]

12 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

Makes G5 look like a joke (a bad one)

May I ask why?

[dingernalt]

• Micro USB port

I don't know if we can meme on this board, but

 

"Yeah that going to be a no for me dawg..."

[atrash]

1 minute ago, ZetZet said:

usb speeds don't matter on phones anymore unless you need docking. so the only thing that really matters is charging and for charging microusb is still better. I personally don't care much.

Unless you haven't tried it, you won't truly appreciate the usb-C. I too said the same thing, until i got my hands on the 950XL. Now I have both 6S and 950XL, I will not get a phone with non reversible usb port ever again.

[ZetZet]

4 minutes ago, Nineshadow said:

May I ask why?

bigger battery, better screen to size ratio, less camera bump, ip68.

[Trixanity]

6 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

It's better because you have cables all over the place and super charging is still the same speed since no smartphone battery could handle 20v 5a.

The granularity in voltage and amperage is what allows the charge speed to improve without it overheating. And the cable talk does not make it better. It just means you get to keep your collection of old cables. Holding back because of old cables is a silly reason. For instance, I enjoy my fiber connection, but if we followed your example, we should stick with copper because it's already there and ubiquitous.

 

Edit: Also, USB OTG is a thing. The bandwidth helps that immensely. 

[ZetZet]

2 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

The granularity in voltage and amperage is what allows the charge speed to improve without it overheating. And the cable talk does not make it better. It just means you get to keep your collection of old cables. Holding back because of old cables is a silly reason. For instance, I enjoy my fiber connection, but if we followed your example, we should stick with copper because it's already there and ubiquitous.

 

Edit: Also, USB OTG is a thing. The bandwidth helps that immensely. 

I'm not saying usb-c shouldn't exist. I am saying that it's not that big of a deal for a smartphone yet. 

 

 

When have you ever used USB OTG? Wi-fi, bluetooth, NFC, enough connectivity. 

[RedRound2]

Atleast this looks so much better than G5 albeit similar to previous phone. If the battery life on the S7 edge holds up I might actually get one if the prices drop enough 

[corsairian]

Finally, samsung has a that impressed me.. but only because it has the sd card back. Im hoping the battery on the note 6 will be 4000mah.. that would be amazing. Its 3000 on the note 5 and its too small for me...

[thexzenon]

2 minutes ago, RedRound2 said:

Atleast this looks so much better than G5 albeit similar to previous phone. I might get one if the prices drop enough 

Well to be fair, the S6 did look great. I might not be a fan of glass backs, but damn they look nice.

 

 

[RedRound2]

Just now, crisro996 said:

Well to be fair, the S6 did look great. I might not be a fan of glass backs, but damn they look nice.

 

 

Never said the s6 looked bad. But holy crap the G5 does IMO. How'd they go from a pretty sexy G4 to G5

[thexzenon]

5 minutes ago, RedRound2 said:

Never said the s6 looked bad. But holy crap the G5 does IMO. How'd they go from a pretty sexy G4 to G5

Well who cares about looks when you play more? /s

[Trixanity]

1 minute ago, ZetZet said:

I'm not saying usb-c shouldn't exist. I am saying that it's not that big of a deal for a smartphone yet. 

 

 

When have you ever used USB OTG? Wi-fi, bluetooth, NFC, enough connectivity. 

I used USB OTG two days ago. I probably use it weekly or bi-weekly. I use it to transfer data to USB drives (before you ask). My USB drives aren't wireless. Bluetooth is slow, wifi depends on compatibility between devices/apps, NFC is simply used to establish connections basically.

 

USB-C is simply more convenient in every day use, it's more robust, is future-proof and will only become more ubiquitous and can provide higher bandwidth and faster charging and if needed: advanced display output.

 

My use-case may be esoteric but the idea of sticking with outdated technology because you can settle for less is a dangerous precedent I'd say. If we settle because it's "good enough", then we'll never move forward. Everyone else has moved forward with USB-C except Samsung who is supposedly a technology leader and pioneer (and Apple on phones). We're talking Google, Microsoft, LG, HP, Huawei, probably HTC, probably Sony, Lenovo, OnePlus. All these are going forward with this shift. Most ship their devices with the cables, so is it the lack of a spare that bothers you? Or the fact that you invested in a bunch of cables that weren't even advertised as technology that would last a life time? 

 

This is not the first time technology becomes obsolete. So I don't see why consumers should be surprised that a decade of using a bad technology, it becomes replaced.

[ZetZet]

11 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

 

Another thing, is there a waterproof usb-c port yet? Because that might be it.