Samsung Galaxy S7 release date, price, specs, features

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It is increasingly expected that Samsung will release the Galaxy S7 early next year, and thus numerous rumors are circulating about this flagship smartphone. Reports this week have suggested that the Galaxy S7 may release during February 2016, with Samsung officially confirming the handset at some point during January. This would be a departure from the approach of the corporation in previous years, as the Korean consumer electronics giant has utilized the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce Galaxy S devices in recent years.

Cat 12 LTE to be included

Murmurings this week suggest that the Galaxy S7 will come complete with Cat 12 LTE, and that this will be supported by both the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung’s own Exynos 8990 processor. It appears increasingly likely that Samsung will revert to its old policy of releasing two separate Galaxy S units in different regions of the world, with the East Asian marketplace likely to receive its proprietary technology.

Samsung is particularly known for packing its devices with the highest specifications possible, and the company has pioneered numerous innovations in recent years. The most notable of these is the curved screen technology that is now almost indelibly associated with Samsung, and it is expected that this will become even more significant when the Galaxy S7 is released.

Internal documents leaked in Korea suggest that Samsung will produce more curved screen models of the Galaxy S7 than in previous generations of the handset, as the technology becomes increasingly mainstream in nature. Whether this will be reflected in pricing remains to be seen, but certainly the suggestion is that this will no longer be a premium device, and instead will be marketed as a mainstream unit.

Samsung seeks Sony sensors

Elsewhere, it has been suggested this week that Samsung is keeping a particularly close eye on Sony. The Japanese corporation has hardly been successful in the smartphone market in recent years, and indeed the significant financial loss that Sony made in 2014 was largely attributed to its mobile phone division.

Nonetheless, Samsung isn’t prepared to completely drop the ball on its smartphone offerings, and has just recently announced the first mass market 4K smartphone. Considering the association that Samsung has with high-quality screens, it was largely anticipated by industry insiders and analysts that the Korean corporation would have debuted this technology, so the Samsung hierarchy has indeed been keeping very close tabs on Sony.

This includes monitoring the IMX300 sensor that has been recently included in the Sony Xperia Z5. Those who are knowledgeable about Samsung may wonder what the corporation hopes to gain from the IMX300, but rumors suggest that Samsung is considering something truly innovative for the Galaxy S7.

Despite the fact that Samsung already posted the impressive ISOCELL feature sensor, it is suggested that the Korean corporation could have produced a handset that is capable of utilizing the two sectors interchangeably. It could even be possible for users to switch between the two sensors in the Galaxy S7 device; certainly an innovation for the smartphone marketplace. It is also possible that the two mooted models of the Galaxy S7 could ultimately feature different sensor technology.

However, if Samsung is indeed considering this possibility, the road to achieving it is not entirely clear. The Korean manufacturer would have to deal with the fact that Sony intends to use the sensor exclusively in its Xperia line of devices. Yet murmurings from Korea suggest that Samsung is determined to acquire this sensor for the Galaxy S7.

It seems that the particularly attractive aspect of this sensor is its 25-megapixel capabilities that can also be scaled down to 23 or 21-megapixels. This is considered to be a particularly attractive proposal for Samsung considering that its ISOCELL sensor is only 20-megapixels.

Sony’s sensor has been particularly praised for its 192-point hybrid autofocus system, which produces outstanding fast focus times of 0.03 seconds minimum. Considering that Samsung has been praised for its camera technology in the past, and is also associated with extremely high spec devices, it seems that the Korean corporation is not willing to wait on the sidelines while Sony reserves this technology for its own devices alone.

Galaxy S7 screen

Aside from this, Samsung is also likely to upgrade the display technology included in the Galaxy S7. With Sony having released the world’s first 4K smartphone in the shape of the Z5 Premium, Samsung is expected by many analysts to follow suit. It is also suggested according to recent rumors that the Galaxy S7 will follow the example of Apple and include a technology similar to Force Touch. This could utilize a system known as ClearForce, which is able to differentiate between a tap and a press to trigger different actions.

Analysts are currently split on this suggestion, with many expecting Samsung to stick to the ultra HD technology that it has included in previous devices. But with Samsung falling increasingly behind Apple at the head of the mobile marketplace, and facing challenges from affordable Android manufacturers as well, it seems likely that the corporation will attempt to produce a knockout Galaxy S7 this time out.

Three Models

Another rumor that has emerged in recent weeks is the suggestion that Samsung will release three models of the Galaxy S7 simultaneously. The Samsung product range has been a little complicated in recent releases, and it is suggested that the Korean company will simplify the situation by producing a Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge+, and releasing them at the same time.

This would send out mixed messages, with Samsung having introduced the first Edge+ just six months ago. It seems certain that there will be some disgruntled Android fans should this decision be made. However, Samsung could possibly offer upgrades to this new device relatively cheaply for existing owners, and this would be a way of keeping Galaxy aficionados on side.

With increasing pressure on Samsung from multiple directions, it has been anticipated in some quarters that Samsung will freeze the price of the Galaxy S7. This would certainly make it an attractive device, as Samsung works behind the scenes on producing an outstanding handset.

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