Galaxy S6 and iPhone 7: specs, features, release date

Updated on

There is no doubting what the two major smartphone releases of 2015 will be. Samsung will likely unveil the Galaxy S6 around the time of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona; this year scheduled to begin on March 2. And while the Samsung release will dominate the first half of the year, Apple will be very much the headline maker during the second half, with the release of the iPhone 7.

Murmurings are intensifying regarding both of these mobiles, so here are all the latest leaks, speculation, rumors and analysis regarding these two key smartphone releases.

Galaxy S6 Latest

According to BGR, the Galaxy S6 will be completely redesigned for a release during Q2 of this year. Central to this will be an improved body, intended to make the device more physically attractive than the Galaxy S5. The appearance of the flagship Samsung smartphone last year was not particularly praised, and Samsung will be keen to improve on this considering Apple is so lauded for its design quality.

Charging

Another expected feature of the Galaxy S6 is a faster charging system, which will enable you to a squeeze four hours of usage out of the device from a mere 10 charging minutes. Samsung has already been significantly praised for the quality of battery life that its mobile devices deliver, so this speculation is very much in line with this approved quality of the company.

In addition, rumors continue to intensify that the Galaxy S6 will incorporate wireless charging. Even though Samsung is intending to improve the charging time for this device, it still remains the case that modern mobile devices take a significant amount of time to charge, so this will doubtless be an extremely welcome addition.

Processor

It looks highly likely that the Galaxy S6 will run off a 64-bit processor, with several analysts predicting that this will be the case. There have been continual suggestions that Samsung may consider ditching Qualcomm chips for this iteration of the Galaxy S series, and instead opt for its own range of custom-made chips. But it seems a little late in the day for this, and it is notable that Qualcomm will be significantly represented with a keynote speaker at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress.

Display

There have been varying reports regarding the screen size of the Galaxy S6, with some sources suggesting that it will increase to 5.5-inches. However, recent rumors have also indicated that the display will remain at its current 5.1-inch size when the S6 is unveiled. What is generally expected, regardless of opinion on the actual screen size, is that Samsung will significantly increase the resolution of the device.

One purported pixel density associated with the device suggests that the Galaxy S6 will be capable of displaying 577 pixels in each inch of the phone’s screen; this would represent approximately a 33 percent improvement on the Galaxy S5. This would point to a quad HD display for the Galaxy S6, and it is fair to say that most analysts expect last year’s full HD screen to be improved upon.

Battery

According to The Register, the Galaxy S6 will feature a 2550mAh battery. This is also expected to be coupled with power saving functionality, which could extend Samsung’s lead in the battery life department.

Samsung Pay

Further leaks emanating from BGR suggest that Samsung will release its own mobile payment system when the Galaxy S6 is released. This doesn’t seem too far-fetched at all, considering that Apple has already launched Apple Pay. Whether Samsung will be swimming against the tide by attempting to compete with Apple in this department remains to be seen, but it is an absolute certainty that Samsung will want a slice of this particularly valuable pie.

Other Specs

When the Galaxy S6 hits the market, it is expected to have a 128GB storage option, Exynos 7420 and Snapdragon 810 chipsets, and a 21-megapixel camera.

Galaxy S6 and iPhone 7: specs, features, release date

iPhone 7 Latest

There is considerably more time for Apple to develop the iPhone 7, as a likely release date would be September 2015. Apple always keeps its product lines extremely close to its chest, so no concrete information will emanate from the consumer electronics giant until well into 2015. But a similar release schedule as the iPhone 6 would seem to be likely.

Meanwhile, rumors continue that Apple will release a budget iPhone 6S device as a companion to the Apple Watch either late in Q1 or early in Q2 of this year. But this section will deal with the premium iPhone 7, likely to hit the stores several months later.

Display

Apple significantly increased the display size of the iPhone 7 from previous iterations in the series, and it seems likely that the corporation will stick with 4.7 and 5.5-inch variants of the smartphone when the iPhone 7 is unveiled. This is not a certainty; Apple certainly has time to up the display size of the iPhone 7 should they choose to do so, but there has always been a commitment to compactness and design quality in the iPhone series.

Curved screen

The popularity of Samsung’s range of curved televisions has seen the curved mobile become a mainstream device already, and there is already frenzied speculation that Apple will produce its first device of any nature with a curved display when the iPhone 7 hits the market. This hasn’t really been significantly confirmed, but the trend in the industry already seems to be towards this display niche, and thus Apple may decide on this occasion they are willing to be a follower rather than a trendsetter.

There is also talk of a naked eye 3D screen which wouldn’t require 3D glasses to view, but this must be viewed as something of a remote possibility.

Design

The big rumor related to the iPhone 7 is that Apple will finally incorporate Sapphire Glass into its design. This was strongly suggested to be part of the design parameters of the iPhone 6, but never actually came to fruition, despite numerous analysts suggesting that Gorilla Glass was about to be replaced.

Apple has huge amounts of Sapphire Glass in storage, and it is obviously a certainty that this will be utilized in a mass market device at some point or other. The stars are certainly aligned for the iPhone 7 to use Sapphire Glass, and there must be a very good chance that this will occur.

Camera

This would seem to be one area where Apple wishes to significantly develop the iPhone 7 over previous models. Above all else, there is a persistent rumor that Apple will include a DSLR quality snapper with a dual-lens system in the iPhone 7.

Should this be the case, then iPhone 7 consumers would be able to take almost professional quality photographs with their smartphone; pretty much a first for the industry. Rumors also suggest that Apple will improve the optical image stabilization feature in the camera, as well as including optical zoom for a first time. If all these rumors turn out to be correct then there is no doubt that the Apple iPhone 7 will offer one of the most outstanding camera systems in any mobile phone ever released.

Other Specs

Other purported specs for the iPhone 7 include 2GB of internal memory, a possible 256GB version of the phone, a new A9 chipset and updated iOS 9 operating system, and a 20 percent more powerful, 35 percent more power efficient processor.

Leave a Comment