As you may have heard, mobile phone giant, Samsung, has released new phone models: Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and expectedly, they landed with a thud! They are what everyone who knows the importance of a good smartphone is talking about, from London to Lagos. We need not be told that you are likely to get one. So here are all the things you should know about Samsung’s latest babies.
- Bigger battery
See, there is nothing anyone will tell me to make me think otherwise. Samsung thought about our power situation in Nigeria and designed these phones with the average Nigerian in mind. Otherwise how do we explain that though they made the S7 1.1mm thicker than the S6 but in the process boosted the battery capacity from 2550mAh to 3000mAh. Most phablets come with batteries that big, how did Samsung pull this off on such a small device?
The secret trick was innovating to increase battery density rather than size. Even super-fast wireless charging also made return so you don’t have to be carrying charger everywhere you go anymore looking for which neighbour or barber’s generator to charge with. No more “losing chargers”. Wireless is back! If you are familiar with S6, you’d realise that battery life was one major complaint and it is good to see Samsung address that intelligently.
- Same design but much better
The S7 and S7 Edge reflect all of Samsung’s learnings from the past year. The S7 retains the same strong metal chassis and glass and adds a curved back for better one handed usability. The S7 Edge has a slightly curved back as well. Sleek and in terms of utility the new smartphones are IP68 dust and water resistant (water submersion at 1.5 metres for 30 minutes) and include expandable storage via microSD (up to 200GB). The devices are water tight from the inside thus removing the need for ugly and intrusive flaps as seen on the S5. Samsung opted to not use USB Type C on its latest smartphones in order to keep them compatible with the existing Gear VR which in our opinion was a smart move. If you have always wondered by your smartphone keeps heating up at the slightest use, not to worry; the neatest innovation lies inside the devices’ body. Samsung has installed a tiny heat pipe similar to ones you would find on laptops to keep the device nice and cool at all times.
- Always On Display
Like LG’s G5, Samsung S7 incorporates an always on display. Before you panic about draining your battery, read on. The folks at Samsung are clever. The device uses light and proximity sensors to determine if it is in a pocket or is flipped over. Therefore the display is lit up only when it is in a position where the user can view it. The Super AMOLED display lights up only specific pixels thus making it extremely efficient. This feature shows notifications, time and other relevant info at a glance. So you don’t have to be “pressing phone” first before you check time. Which means you also get unlock your fewer times (especially when yours is a very long password or complicated pattern) and in the long run saves battery life. Who saves no to anything that causes you to save your phone’s battery life despite providing even the least function?
- Fewer megapixels, better picture quality
Since last year’s best in class was the 16MP camera, one would ordinarily expect that the newest phones will have more pixels. But Samsung has just proven with this latest technology that you can do more with less. Samsung increased the size of each pixel to 1.4 microns therefore enabling the sensor to capture 95% more light than the S6. Combined with a lower f1.7 aperture, Samsung promises the best low light performance. The innovations go further with the camera as DSLR like Dual Pixel technology has been used on each pixel. Essentially, this allows for supremely faster auto-focusing especially in low light situations.
- Top of the line specifications
Powering the new devices is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor in the US and an in house Samsung processor in most other territories. The CPU is 30% faster while the GPU is 64% faster and the S6. The new devices also come with 4GB of RAM. The specifications in most 2016 flagships should be similar, the winner of this contest will be determined by optimization and real world performance. And for all the game lovers, Samsung is taking gaming seriously with the S7, the devices are the first to support the new Vulcan API which makes it future proof for the latest and most intense games. So enjoy on!
- Pricing and Availability
The phones are already on sale in Nigeria and are available in four colours ; Black Onyx, Pearl White, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium. Click here to get the best deals on the all-new Samsung S7 and other Samsung phones!
Click here for more details on the specifications of both phones
