Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge to feature water resistance, large batteries, and always-on screen functionality

Expected to look a lot like last year's Galaxy S6, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S7 series might be officially announced at MWC 2016, on February 21.

While we already heard quite many things about the Galaxy S7 family, VentureBeat now has new details that allegedly come from a person familiar with Samsung's plans. Reportedly, only two members of the new smartphone series will be announced in February: a 5.1-inch Galaxy S7 (with flat display), and a 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 Edge (with dual-curve display). Both displays should be of the Super AMOLED variety, offering 1440 x 2560 pixel resolutions. Interestingly, it's said that Samsung has implemented an always-on display feature that's easy on battery life, and allows users to glance at notifications and various info without fully turning the screen on - this appears to be similar to Motorola's Active Display, or the Ambient Display feature of Google's latest Nexus smartphones.

VentureBeat further notes that the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will be dust- and water-resistant (IP67-certified), just like the Galaxy S5 from 2014, and unlike the S6 series from 2015. Another feature that Samsung is expected to bring back is microSD card support: both the S7 and S7 Edge should have it.

Samsung's new octa-core Exynos 8890 processor should power the Galaxy S7 series, though some models (depending on market) may use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor. Chipsets aside, all S7 models should offer 4 GB of RAM, and at least 32 GB of internal memory.

On the camera front, the S7 and S7 Edge are expected to have 5 MP front-facing shooters, and 12 MP rear cameras with larger sensors and f/1.7 aperture - theoretically, this means they're going to be better in low light environments than the 16 MP, f/1.9 aperture rear cameras of the Galaxy S6 series.


VentureBeat has it that the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will feature 3000 mAh and 3600 mAh batteries, respectively. These are significantly larger than the batteries of last year's S6 and S6 Edge (2550 mAh and 2600 mAh), and should obviously offer extended usage times.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are expected to be available around the world starting March, in three color variants: black, white, and gold. Are you waiting for them?

source: VentureBeat