All the Important Details You Must Know about the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 22 Feb 2016

Samsung just unveiled the new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.

Turns out that the rumors about Samsung bringing back water resistance were true, and the S7 and S7 Edge are indeed water resistant. Not only that, they also reintroduced support for microSD cards. Aside from water resistance and microSD support, here are all the other important details you need to know about these two smartphones.

How the Galaxy S7 looks like

The Galaxy S7 boasts a refined design that features 3D glass and metal. It has a streamlined silhouette and ergonomic curves that offer a comfortable grip. The device’s four sides, which are covered in glass, have been carefully contoured to emulate the form of a three-dimensional water drop. The device feels great when you hold it in your hand and, as you can see below, it looks great as well.




What’s under the Galaxy S7’s hood?

The Galaxy S7 features a large 5.1-inch display, a powerful 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, and other goodies. The thing that stands out is the smartphone’s Dual Pixel camera – the first Dual Pixel camera on a smartphone. Thanks to this revolutionary technology, you can capture brighter and sharper images, even in low light. On top of that, autofocus is even more accurate in low-light conditions and the shutter speed is faster than ever.

Samsung Galaxy S7 – Main Specs
  • Operating system – Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
  • Display – 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED, 2560 X 1440 (577ppi).
  • Dimensions & weight – 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9mm, 152g.
  • Processor – 64-bit octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.6GHz Quad) or 64-bit quad core (2.15GHz Dual + 1.6GHz Dual).
  • Memory & storage – 4GB of RAM; 32/64GB (UFS 2.0) internal storage; microSD up to 200GB.
  • Camera – 12MP dual pixel rear camera, 5MP front camera.
  • Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, ANT+, USB 2.0, Location.
  • Sensor – Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Fingerprint, Barometer, Hall, HRM.
  • Battery – 3,000mAH battery that’s compatible with fast charging and wireless charging.



Galaxy S7 vs. Galaxy S6

Compared to the previous model, the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S7 has a more powerful processor, better network connectivity, a more advanced camera, more RAM, and a larger battery. On top of that, it reintroduces water resistance and it reintroduces the option to plug in a microSD card.

The infographic featured below highlights the main differences between the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S7.



Via Samsung Newsroom.


How the Galaxy S7 Edge looks like

Just like the Galaxy S7, the S7 Edge has a refined design that features glass and metal, ergonomic curves, and a streamlined silhouette. It’s narrower than its predecessor and it has a slimmer bezel as well. Even though it has a large 5.5-inch display, it naturally fits in one hand and provides an even better grip than before.




What’s under the Galaxy S7 Edge’s hood?

The Galaxy S7 Edge has the same processor, RAM, internal storage, and camera as the Galaxy S7. The two devices differ in display size, dimensions, and battery capacity.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Main Specs
  • Operating system – Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
  • Display – 5.5-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED, 2560 X 1440 (534ppi) Edge Screen.
  • Dimensions & weight – 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm, 157g.
  • Processor – 64-bit octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.6GHz Quad) or 64-bit quad core (2.15GHz Dual + 1.6GHz Dual).
  • Memory & storage – 4GB of RAM; 32/64GB (UFS 2.0) internal storage; microSD up to 200GB.
  • Camera – 12MP dual pixel rear camera, 5MP front camera.
  • Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, ANT+, USB 2.0, Location.
  • Sensor – Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Fingerprint, Barometer, Hall, HRM.
  • Battery – 3,600mAH battery that’s compatible with fast charging and wireless charging.



Galaxy S7 Edge vs. Galaxy S6 Edge

The S7 Edge, compared to the S6 Edge, comes with a bigger screen, more Edge apps, better network connectivity, a more powerful processor, more RAM, a more advanced camera, and a larger capacity battery. Also, it reintroduces water resistance and support for microSD cards.

The infographic presented below shows the main differences between the Galaxy S6 Edge and the new Galaxy S7 Edge.



Via Samsung Newsroom.


Water (and dust) resistance is back

With the Galaxy S6, Samsung went for a premium look and feel, doing away with water and dust resistance. With the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung decided to bring it back. Both devices come with IP68 water and dust resistance.




UPDATE, February 23.

T-Mobile posted an unboxing video for the Galaxy S7. An underwater unboxing video.




The microSD slot is back as well

You can never have too much storage space. Despite that, Samsung decided to remove the microSD slot when it released the Galaxy S6. Now it's back! You can fit the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge with a microSD card up to 200GB.

On top of that, you can use the same tray to add a second SIM. You see, it's a hybrid SIM card tray that can either be used for a microSD card up to 200GB or it can be used with a dual SIM card (limited to select countries).

UPDATE, February 23 – you can use the expandable storage for things like photos, video, music and files, but not apps. Samsung’s reasoning is that confused customers pull out the microSD while it’s being used. So to prevent accidents, it decided to not let you put apps on the microSD.




Introducing Always-On Display (AOD)

Both the Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge come with new super AMOLED Always-On Displays. The Always-on feature puts the date & time and all your notifications on the screen, when the display is off.

You don’t have to turn on the display to check the time or see a notification, because it’s already on the screen.




The Galaxy S7 Edge comes with a more useful edge screen

Samsung refined the Edge UX, making the device’s edge screen more useful than ever. It comes with more apps and personalization settings, so you can quickly access anything you want with just a flick of the finger.




The Dual Pixel camera works great in low-light conditions

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are the first smartphones to come with a Dual Pixel camera. The exciting thing about Dual Pixel technology is that it works great in low-light conditions. The camera’s autofocus works accurately and you can take brighter and sharper images.




Optimized for mobile gaming

A lot of people play games on their smartphones. Well aware of this fact, Samsung optimized the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge for mobile gaming. The powerful hardware offers the best gaming performance and the cooling systems in these phones are meant to handle the stress.

With the pre-loaded Game Launcher app, you can maximize game-playing time, turn off non-game alerts, track game rankings, take screenshots, and more.




Whitepages caller ID and spam protection

As part of a partnership between Samsung and Whitepages, Galaxy S7 users in 16 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East will get to enjoy a better phone experience that not only identifies unknown calls, but protects against phone spam and scams.



“We are pleased to work with Samsung on one of the great issues currently impacting mobile users worldwide,” said Alex Algard, Founder and CEO of Whitepages. “Ensuring phone safety through user-friendly services is what we do at Whitepages. We are happy to have worked with Samsung on the Galaxy S7 to provide their users with the greatest phone experience possible and further grow our footprint in the international arena.”


When will the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge hit the market?

Samsung said that it will release the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge starting mid-March 2016.

The smartphone will be available in 4 different colors: Black Onyx, Gold Platinum, White Pearl and Silver Titanium.




Pre-order and get a free Gear VR

Starting February 23, you can pre-order the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge and get a Gear VR for free.

This is a time-limited offer, available while supplies last. So act fast!




“We believe in a world that is brighter, sharper, more convenient, and more fun. We strive to deliver on that vision with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge by marrying elegant design with functionality and providing a seamless mobile experience,” said DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “We empower consumers with technology to help them get more out of life and will continue to push the frontier of what’s possible.”




UPDATE, February 23.

The Galaxy S7's official user manual has been posted online.




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