Samsung's brand new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will go on sale on March 11

12:06:00 PM dickwyn 0 Comments

After this morning's announcement of the LG G5, Samsung is trailing behind a little with the unveiling of the Galaxy S7 series which like last year includes both a standard flat screen model and a second curved screened model. Say hello to the brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, unlike it's predecessor, Samsung's 2016 flagship offerings brings back the microSD slot and IP68 certification from the Galaxy S5.

microSD cards and water resistivity is now back with the Galaxy S7

Unlike LG, Samsung has not radically changed the design of the Galaxy S7 series and in fact, it's actually hard to tell them apart when compared side by side. The Galaxy S7 in particular still comes with a 5.1-inch display but the Galaxy S7 edge is now armed with a larger 5.5-inch curved display. One notable change from the Galaxy S6 to the Galaxy S7 series is that Samsung has reduced the camera bump on the Galaxy S7 but there's still a slight bump on the back.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Key Specifications:

5.1-inch 2560 x 1440 sAMOLED display
64-bit octa core Exynos or Snapdragon 820 SoC
4GB RAM
32G/64GB expandable memory
12MP f1.7 Dual pixel rear camera with OIS
5MP f1.7 front camera
IP68 certification
3,000mAh battery with wireless charging
LTE
142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9mm (152g)
Fingerprint scanner with Samsung Pay

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Key Specifications:

5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 sAMOLED display
64-bit octa core Exynos or Snapdragon 820 SoC
4GB RAM
32/64GB expandable memory
12MP f1.7 Dual pixel rear camera with OIS
5MP f1.7 front camera
IP68 certification
3,600mAh battery with wireless charging
LTE
150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm (157g)
Fingerprint scanner with Samsung Pay

Samsung did not shake up the design of the Galaxy S7 but the device does come with some new tricks up it's sleeve. Most notably is it's always-on display which utilized the super AMOLED display to allow the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge to display information passively. Samsung says the Galaxy S7 is smart enough to know when the phone is in your pocket and when it's not so it doesn't bring up the always on display in your pocket.

Samsung didn't stop there and while the battery is still very much sealed in the glass and metal design, both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge received a big battery bump from just 2,600mAh on the Galaxy S6 and up to 3,600mAh with the Galaxy S7 edge. While the battery life will most likely be improved with this larger cell, the Galaxy S7 series is still relying on the microUSB port and Samsung says the USB Type C port is still not ready for prime time and the fact that Samsung is trying to get backwards compatibility with the existing Gear VR which still uses a microUSB port.

In the camera department, Samsung for the first time is dropping the megapixel count and going towards the direction that Apple is going fore that is a bigger sensor size. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge comes with 1.4µm sensor that has a larger f1.7 aperture. Another thing that Samsung is implementing on the camera of the Galaxy S7 is a technology call Dual pixel which uses all the pixels to focus on a object.

The combination of a larger sensor and the Dual pixel technology enables the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge's camera to perform significantly better in low light and have fast and accurate autofocus. Learn more about the Galaxy S7's new 12MP camera here

As for the software, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge is still running TouchWiz atop Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The aesthetics of stock TouchWiz still looks pretty similar to TouchWiz on the Galaxy S6 but specifically for the Galaxy S7 edge, Samsung has updated the Apps Edge feature to take advantage of the bigger screen. Instead of just showing icons, the apps compatible with Samsung's Apps Edge will now be able to take up to 1/3 of the screen which vastly improves on the functionality of the feature.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge will be available globally starting March 11 and the pricing for both devices will be similar to the one for the Galaxy S6 series. Particularly in Malaysia, Samsung Malaysia will begin opening up pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge starting March 7 and the device will officially go on sale in Malaysia on March 18. No official word on pricing yet but expect the Galaxy S7 to start at around RM 2,599. Both devices will come in either gold, black or silver.

Gear 360 camera

Oh yeah, before I forget. Samsung also showed off a 360 degree camera cleverly called the Gear 360. The camera the size of a tennis ball is designed to create immersive videos at 4k resolution. This is done by having two CMOS 15MP fisheye camera on the front fan back and the built in accelerometer and gyroscope make sure that your video is right when you upload it to services like Facebook, Youtube or even Samsung's own Milk VR service.

But the Gear 360 isn't only about taking 360 degree videos, you could also use it to take 2D pictures and even some wide angle selfies. Similar to the Galaxy S7, the Gear 360 is also built to withstand the elements with it's IP53 certification. However, unlike the Galaxy S7, the Gear 360 will only be available in select regions in the 2nd quarter of 2016 (Q2 2016).

UPDATE 21/2/2016 13:49: Update to reflect on Malaysia launch time frame