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| By MakeUsesOf |
When
Samsung revealed the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge flagship smartphones in April
2015, the designs and features were drastically different from the Galaxy
S5. Samsung did away with expandable storage, the removable battery and
water resistance from the Galaxy S5 to the Galaxy S6 in favour of aluminum
edges and a glass back. Even though Samsung got rid of favourable features
that distinguished its Galaxy devices from the iPhone, the Galaxy S6
received very positive reviews. And the curved screens built into the
Galaxy S6 edge clearly proved that Samsung knows how to innovate. Now rumours
about what Samsung will be doing for its next line of flagship smartphones have
been pouring in. Here are 10 leaked features that are expected for the Galaxy
S7.
1.) Two Sizes
Samsung
is expected to be trying something bold with the Galaxy S7 two sizes. South
Korean news agency ET News reported Samsung will be releasing 5.2-inch and
5.5-inch options. The standard Galaxy S7 will have a 5.2-inch display,
which is a departure from the 5.1-inch displays on the S6 and S5. And there is
supposedly going to be a 5.5-inch option called the Galaxy S7+.
ET
News also said that the edge variation of the Galaxy S7 devices will have the
same screen dimensions as the standard S7. This means that the S7 models will
have less than a half inch difference between all of them, according to Forbes
contributor Gordon Kelly. As a comparison, the difference between the Galaxy S6
edge (5.1 inches) and S6 Edge+ (5.7 inches) was 0.6 inches. But another rumor
suggests that the new Galaxy S7+ will be a 6-inch device.
2.) Four Flagship
Models
Samsung
will be offering plenty of options for its new smartphones. There will be a
Galaxy S7, a Galaxy S7+, a Galaxy S7 edge and a Galaxy S7 edge+. EVleaks, a
reliable source of Samsung leaks, recently tweeted a screenshot
with the names of the new devices:
Making
a choice about which Samsung device to buy even more complicated is a potential
Galaxy Note successor being released several months later. However, there is a
chance that Samsung may phase out the Galaxy Note line because the flagship
devices are getting closer in size and the Korean electronics giant limited the
global availability of its previous Note device. Aside from the four
flagship models of the Galaxy S7, there is also a rumour that a “Premium
Edition” of the device will be offered. More details about the “Premium
Edition” are in the design changes below.
3.) Subtle Design
Changes
Rumour
has it that the Galaxy S7 will feature a similar design as the Galaxy S6, but
it will use a new kind of magnesium alloy. The new magnesium alloy is
expected to make the Galaxy S7 much stronger than the Galaxy S6. The
Galaxy S7 line of devices will also have a glass back, but this time Samsung
may be switching to Turtle Glass instead of Gorilla Glass. Turtle Glass is a
glass cover developed by Samsung that is supposedly stronger than the Gorilla
Glass used in its current devices.
The
rear glass casings in the Galaxy S6 line were designed using a
nano-thin multi-coating process. Nano layers of multiple coatings gives the
devices a dynamic colour that reflects light at different angles. The
Galaxy S6 and S6 edge shells were created using 6013 aluminium, which is
typically used in products like automobiles, mountain bikes, yachts, aircrafts,
etc. But the Galaxy S6 edge+ was upgraded to 7000 series aluminium, known
for being 1.7 times stronger and 1.3 times more scratch-resistant than standard
aluminium. The curved design of the Galaxy S6 edge uses a 3D
Thermoforming process where glass is inserted between two molds and heated to a
temperature of 800 degrees Celsius before it is pressed into a symmetrical
shape. These design changes are radically different from the Galaxy S5,
which has a plastic case surrounding it.
The
Galaxy S6 and S6 edge displays are Quad HD Super AMOLED, which have more than
3.6 million pixels (577 ppi). And the Adapt Display feature adapts the colour
range and saturation to the app being used. The Galaxy S7 will likely have
improvements over those specs and there are rumours that Samsung will offer a
“Premium Edition” of the upcoming flagship with a 4K display. If Samsung
introduces a UHD 4K display to its flagship smartphones, it would not be the
first Android-based devices to do so. Sony’s Xperia Z5 Premium has a 3840
x 2160 resolution with 806 pixels per inch, which was introduced at the IFA
event in September.
4.) Upgraded Processors
Now
let’s talk about what will be under the hood powering the Galaxy S7. There are rumours
that the Galaxy S7 devices will feature chips made by Qualcomm and Samsung.
Qualcomm allegedly had overheating issues with the Snapdragon 810 so Samsung
decided to turn to its Exynos 7 Octa for the Galaxy S6. However, the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 820 chip should be ready in time to power the Galaxy S7. The
Snapdragon 820 chip features the first custom-designed 64-bit quad-core CPU.
Depending
on the country where you will be buying the Samsung Galaxy S7, it will probably
feature either the Samsung Exynos 8890 chip or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
chip. Samsung Galaxy S7 devices made for the United States and China will have
the new Snapdragon chips and Galaxy S7 devices shipped in other countries will
have Exynos chips packed in, according to Reuters.
How
much RAM will the devices have? The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+
have 4GB of RAM so the Galaxy S7 line should have at least that much.
5.) Speculation about
The Battery
Earlier
this month, a rumour popped up about the Galaxy S7 potentially packing a 3,500
mAh battery. But this rumour seems farfetched because Samsung seems to favour
making its devices thinner, which is not conducive to fitting larger batteries.
And it’s worth pointing out that the Galaxy S6 line of devices have
smaller batteries than its predecessors.
The
Galaxy S6 has a non-removable 2,550 mAh battery, which is less than the
removable 2,800 mAh battery in the Galaxy S5. But the Galaxy S6 has a fast
charging feature, meaning the device hits nearly 4 hours of usage
with only 10 minutes of wireless charging using WPC- or PMA-compatible wireless
charging pads.
The
battery in the Galaxy S7 is also most likely be non-removable, but sources
with The Wall Street Journal are reporting that it will support a full day
charge in only 30 minutes. The Galaxy S7 Plus and Galaxy S7 edge+ should have
larger batteries than its smaller flagship counterparts.
6.) Type-C USB
When
Type-C USB became widely available in 2015, Apple’s 12-inch MacBook became
the first notebook to use the new port for its battery power. And the
Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P became two of the first mainstream smartphones to ship
with USB Type-C. According to Sam Mobile, the Samsung Galaxy S7 series of
devices are expected to have USB Type-C instead of microUSB too. The
USB Type-C port is known for faster data transfers and reversible cable
support.
Another
advantage of USB Type-C is its ability to multitask. For example, it could be
used for charging a smartphone, USB 3 data transfer and video output supporting
HDMI, VGA and Display Port connections all at the same time.
7.) Pressure Sensitive
Feature Similar To Apple 3D Touch
Earlier
this month, Gordon Kelly also reported that Samsung is expected to be
integrating a pressure sensitive display similar to Apple’s 3D Touch feature
into the Galaxy S7. 3D Touch senses how much pressure is applied to the display
of the iPhone 6S devices that offers a new way to interact with the
devices such as “Peek and Pop.” Peek and Pop lets you preview kind and act on
content without having to open it. For example, a light press on an email
previews it and a deeper press actually opens it.
Another
3D Touch feature is having a pop-up menu appear on an application icon when
pressured it applied to it on the home screen. The pressure-sensitive
functionality in the Galaxy S7 will likely be similar the iPhone 6s and
the iPhone 6s Plus.
8.) High Quality Camera
One
of the least appealing features in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge is that the
camera is large and sticks out of the back. Regardless, the photos and videos
it takes are very sharp. A couple of months ago, Samsung filed a trademark
application for a mobile phone image sensor known as “Britecell.”
Britecell
utilizes a new RGBW pattern and light sensitivity technology. The new sensor is
also expected to be upgraded from 16-megapixels in the Galaxy S6 to
20-megapixels in the Galaxy S7.
It
is unclear whether Samsung will be using Sony sensors for its smartphone
cameras. Last year, some Samsung Galaxy S6 devices shipped with Samsung’s
ISOCELL sensors and others shipped with Sony sensors.
9.) microSD Card Slot
Reportedly Returning
For
some reason, Samsung removed the microSD card slot in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy
Note 5. But the microSD card slot is expected to return in the Galaxy S7 for
expandable storage, according to HDBlog.it. Expandable storage will definitely
be welcomed back to the new Samsung flagships because photos and videos are
becoming higher quality and they take up a lot more storage space.
10.) Iris Scanner
For
months, Samsung has been hinting at the addition of an iris scanner
for its future devices. Digital Trends pointed out the Samsung
Exynos Twitter account posted a tweet in July 2014 saying: “Security
can be improved using features unique to us. That’s what we envision. What
would you use? #ExynosTomorrow.” And the tweet used to have this photo
embedded in it before it seems to have been removed:
Notice
how the image shows a thin smartphone with an eye in the middle of the screen
with a target? Hypothetically, the iris scanner could be for unlocking the
phone, authorizing payments and downloading apps similar to how
a fingerprint scanner works.
Another
hint about iris scanners heading to Samsung devices comes from Samsung Mobile
executive Lee Young He. “Many people are fanatical about iris recognition
technology,” said Lee at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2014 via
Bloomberg. “We are studying the possibility but can’t really say whether we
will have it or not on the [Samsung Galaxy] S5.” Samsung likely needed more
time to improve the development of iris scanners before the Galaxy S5 and
Galaxy S6 released, but the Galaxy S7 will probably be ready for it.
However,
the integration of an iris scanner could lead to a price hike. Since everyone
has unique eye patterns, the iris scanner can be considered “the most precise
type of biometrics available,” said PhoneArena in a blog post. Other smartphones
that have iris scanners includes the Microsoft Lumia 950 and Microsoft Lumia
950 XL.
Release Date / Price
China
Mobile inadvertently leaked the release timeframe of the Galaxy S7. One of
the slides presented by a China Mobile executive lists the Galaxy S7 as being
slated for release in February 2016 rather than April 2016. This means that the
Galaxy S6 and S6 edge would have just a 10 month lifecycle. But the early
release would give Samsung a major head start on the iPhone 7.
Earlier
this year, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note 5 ten months after the Galaxy
Note 4. This gave the Galaxy Note 5 a one month head start on the iPhone 6S
Plus. By launching the Galaxy S7 in February, it would give Samsung Galaxy S7 a
seven month head start on the iPhone 7.
The
base price of the Galaxy S7 is expected to start at $649.99 (32GB). And the
64GB model is expected to cost $749.99. The S7 edge will probably cost about
$100-$150 more, giving it a base price of $749.99 for the curved screen
variants.
Based on all of these rumours,
would you consider buying a Samsung Galaxy S7 device? Please leave a comment
with your thoughts about the Samsung Galaxy S7 rumours?
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