Samsung’s outing at this year’s MWC event is unfolding well along expected lines though there are still some surprises packed in at its UNPACKED 2016 event in Barcelona, Spain.
To begin with, the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are finally out of the woods, and how! The devices, exquisitely crafted out of metal and glass make for the perfect balance of stunning looks together with exemplary performance.
However, the biggest draw with the new S7 and S7 Edge is the return of the microSD card with support for up to 200 GB that complements the 32 and 64 GB onboard storage that the new flagships comes with.
That is not all! Since, the S7 series also carries IP68 certification for water and dust proofing, which means the new Galaxy phones can take in a fair bit of rough usage as well. The microUSB slot also makes a comeback with the new S7, which comes in place of the Type-C port that was seen on the S6 series.
Coming back to what is already familiar stuff so far, both the S7 iterations come with Quad HD 2560 x 1440 pixels Super AMOLED display which provides for 5.1 and 5.5-inch of viewing pleasure on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge respectively.
Watch Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2016 Event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6KeASdz2AI
Another unique aspect of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge is its always-on display which makes the clock and other widgets accessible at all times. Also, lest anybody starts worrying about the power drain usually associated with always-on displays, Samsung said it costs just 1 percent of battery power every hour.
Fortunately, Samsung has also endowed the Galaxy S7 Edge with a bigger 3,600mAh battery while a 3,000mAh power source juices up the S7. However, actual run times aren’t available right now though these sure are expected to better what the S6 were capable of.
The rest of the specifications are mostly common, which includes Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system is common to both the versions along with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and 5-megapixel front and 12-megapixel rear shooter. The S7 series also supports 4G LTE Cat 9 connectivity wherever available.
However, as has been usual with Samsung flagships, the S7 and S7 Edge will be available in different regions with two different processor options. These include 64-bit octa-core Exynos 8890 or 64-bit quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.
Special mention must also be made of the camera which in spite of a downgrade over the 16-megapixel unit at the rear of S6/S6 Edge, the new 12-megapixel camera of the S7 series boats of increased pixel size and aperture which allows for 50 percent more light absorption. Further, auto-focusing has been enhanced as well with the incorporation of dual-pixel autofocus technology which makes focusing extremely fast.
Samsung has also introduced the new Gear 360 camera at the Barcelona event. Also, as is already discernible, the new camera is able to shoot 360-degree photos and videos which in turn can be uploaded to YouTube and Facebook easily.
Samsung has explained the device is aimed with dual dish eye lenses each of 15-megapixel resolution though one of the lenses can be used at the time to capture 180-degree videos as well.
The Gear 360 is also compatible with select Samsung smartphones which include Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6.
