Samsung has officially unveiled its flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones that feature faster performance, improved cameras, longer battery life and many other enhancements. The Korean company has confirmed that the new devices will be available on March 11, with pre-orders beginning February 23.
Samsung gives you a good reason to pre-order Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge
Samsung is giving fans an added reason to pre-order the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge. The company is offering its Gear VR headset, which usually costs $99, for free to those who pre-order either phone. On top of that, Samsung has thrown in six virtual reality games with the headset. So, which of the two smartphones should you buy if you are interested in mobile virtual reality?
Oculus VR chief technology officer John Carmack says you should get the standard Galaxy S7 for the best experience with the Gear VR headset. Carmack knows his stuff. He leads the joint effort between Samsung and Oculus to design the Gear VR. Even though Oculus has its own virtual reality product, the company is working with Samsung to ensure that the Galaxy owners can enjoy virtual reality at relatively lower cost.
Why Galaxy S7 should be your choice for mobile VR
Carmack expressed his views on Twitter. He was quick to point out the shortcomings of the Galaxy S7 Edge. The Oculus CTO said the S7 Edge features a display that curves around the side of the device. It allows the device to display more information, but it isn’t as good as the Galaxy S7 because of the way optics inside the Gear VR work. What’s more, the Edge is bulkier, causing more light to leak into the headset. It may distract users and cause eye strain.
@hugotheonly1 @oculus the edge pixels aren't quite as well used, and it leaks a little more light
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) February 22, 2016
It doesn’t mean the S7 Edge is not good for virtual reality. It just means that the standard Galaxy S7 is slightly better than its dual-edge sibling. The Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch display, 12-megapixel main camera, a quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM, and a 3,000mAh battery. But the biggest highlight is the return of a microSD card slot and water-resistant capabilities. Both the S7 and S7 Edge support an additional 200GB of storage via microSDXC card.
