Samsung's flagship announcements have become cornerstones of the Android upgrade cycle. Just like last year, the company has announced two new Galaxy-branded phones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona: the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Both phones are modest bumps over their previous designs, both in terms of hardware and style, but there are some notably improved features that power users and practical consumers will both appreciate.

The new phones bring back two of the most-missed features that were dropped from the S6 generation: expandable storage (via MicroSD cards) and water-resistant bodies. The former comes from a new "hybrid" nano-SIM tray, which houses both the SIM card and the MicroSD card in a single metal tray that slides out via a standard SIM tool. (Note that this means you'll have to pop out the SIM to change MicroSD cards, which could be a bit annoying.) The later is IP68-rated ingress protection, a dust and water-resistant function that was last seen on the Galaxy S5. Both of them can spend up to a half an hour in 1.5 meters of water without sustaining damage. That's handy, since the SoC uses an integrated liquid vapor cooling system.

Inside, the new phones have some industry-leading hardware, headlined by Qualcomm's top-of-the-line Snapdragon 820 system-on-a-chip - an interesting choice, considering Samsung's competing Exynos chips. Both phones come with a massive 4GB of memory, 32GB or 64GB of storage space, and a new "Dual Pixel" 12MP rear camera with an F-stop rating of 1.7. (That rivals some standard DSLR lenses for clarity and low-light performance). The screens are 5.1 inches for the standard Galaxy S7 and a more expansive 5.5 inches for the S7 Edge - the Edge is notably bigger than the standard model, reaching into size territory that used to be reserved for the Galaxy Note series. Both screens are Super AMOLED panels with 2560x1440 resolution. The mobile radios have been upgraded to LTE category 9.

 

The cameras have been given particular attention. Though 12 megapixels isn't astounding, Samsung claims that the Dual Pixel sensor allows for better performance in low light thanks to its larger sensor pixels. Samsung says that these pixels are 30% larger than the latest iPhone, and that 100% of those Dual Pixels can be used to focus images simultaneously. The rear camera is equipped with optical image stabilization, something that many flagship devices still don't come with, and the 5MP front-facing camera with its wide-angle "selfie" performance also uses an F/1.7 lens. Samsung will also sell first-party add-on lenses for the rear camera - similar to those "DSLR" phone lenses you've seen in mall kiosks for years.

The Galaxy S7 uses a 3000mAh battery, which is pretty beefy for a 5.1-inch screen device, but the S7 Edge bumps it up to 3600mAh. Both designs still use an enclosed body (the better to keep it waterproof), so batteries can't be swapped out. The good news is that both phones support the dual-mode wireless charging seen in the S6 series. Dimensions are 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9mm for the Galaxy S7 and 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm for the S7 Edge.

Stylistically, both phones are extremely similar to the last generation, with the only notable changes being the more gentle curves around the edges and the larger size of the S7 Edge. The design is familiar, with power and volume buttons on the right edge, a standard MicroUSB port (not USB Type C), and a single speaker on the bottom. Both use the "glass sandwich" approach, with a metal band around the edge (which is a little curvier than it used to be) and tempered glass on the front and rear of both phones.

Both phones use Samsung's latest advances in its proprietary user interface, including an "always on" display similar to the one used by Motorola and Nexus phones in previous generations. Here's a quick look at that - we'll have in-depth breakdowns of all the new bells and whistles when we post hands-on articles for both phones. They're running Android 6.0 underneath, an impressive inclusion considering the depth of Samsung's software customizations.

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Samsung says that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will be available in March. There's no word on a price, but expect both models to match the price of the previous generations, starting at around the $600 mark and going up for larger capacities and the premium S7 Edge model. Anyone who pre-orders a phone will get the latest version of Samsung's Gear VR headset as a bonus. They should launch in every major worldwide market at around the same time, including all major US carriers.

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.

Source: Samsung

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