Samsung's Galaxy S7 has been out in the wild for a little bit now and the overall reaction seems to have been largely positive both from professional reviewers and actual consumers too. What's more, although it's still early days, Samsung seems to be a lot happier with initial pre-order sales figures for the device, suggesting it may have done its job in hauling Samsung flagship performance out of a downward trend.
The Galaxy S7 is facing some stiff competition from the LG G5, however, and we've got the HTC 10 to look forward to inside April. Apple hasn't left much of a breather with the iPhone SE arriving during March, but the real contest can be seen as being either between the Galaxy S7 and the current iPhone 6s flagship, or Apple's much-rumoured iPhone 7 which will arrive in September.
Yup, the end of the year pretty much; the iPhone 7 will almost certainly launch in its usual bracket of September, but we've been hearing rumours now for a good long while, with many of them coming from repeatedly reliable sources such as KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple Insider and 9to5Mac to name but a few.
And this year’s iPhone launch will be the biggest in Apple’s history, according to reports, with three models getting official: the standard iPhone 7, the iPhone Plus and the iPhone 7 Pro. Yep, a holy trinity of iPhones for 2016 — just as the rumours said all along. The Pro version will apparently feature a VASTLY superior camera than the more standard, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models.
Get the FULL low-down on Apple's iPhone 7 here: Apple's iPhone 7 Models Detailed: Specs & Hardware
The iPhones will definitely have a fight on their hands though, according to reports from April 4, analysts in Asia estimate than in its first month of sales over March the Galaxy S7 series shipped as many as 10 million units, up from earlier predictions of 7 million.
Analysts are now reportedly adjusting their sales forecasts for Samsung's 2016 performance, although it's important to note Samsung hasn't actually released sales and shipping figures just yet. However, Samsung did previously reveal pre-order figures and predicted the Galaxy S7 would out-sell previous flagships as a result of the surge in interest - at the time this isn't something many analysts took seriously, but it appears with the observed March performance things are looking up for Samsung with a rise in share prices and analysts suggesting the firm may be finally coming out of its two year flagship sales dip.
Samsung Galaxy S7 vs iPhone 7: Major Specs
Samsung Galaxy S7
Display: 5.1in Super AMOLED 2560x1440 pixels (QHD), 577ppi (Galaxy S7 edge: 5.5in, 534ppi)
Storage: 32GB onboard (larger capacity models MAY be available), microSD slot
CPU and RAM: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820/Samsung Exynos 8890 processor (region dependent), 4GB RAM
Front Camera: 5MP
Rear Camera: 12.2MP, f/1.7 aperture, 1.4um pixels, dual-pixel 100% phase detection sensor
IP68 water and dust proofing (1.5m submersion up to 30 minutes)
Battery: 3,000mAh (Galaxy S7 edge: 3,600mAh) NON-removable
iPhone 7
Display: 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Force Touch, but likely with a QHD display of 2560 x 1440 resolution
Storage: 32GB/64GB/128GB/256GB
CPU and RAM: A10 processor, 3GB RAM
Front Camera: 5MP with wide angle lens
Rear Camera: 12MP, 4K video recording, optical image stabilization
Waterproofing?
Samsung's muddied the waters somewhat by taking a leaf out of Apple's playbook and not disclosing much information about the processor hardware at launch. We already know from earlier rumours that both the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exynos 8890 SoC's are inside various iterations of each Galaxy S7 model, and we know 4GB of RAM was rumoured too. However, all Samsung has said is that the Galaxy S7 has a 30% CPU performance uplift over the previous generation, and a 64% speed enhancement to the GPU, along with the introduction of a liquid-cooled heatpipe and heatsink setup to help in high-performance situations.
The iPhone 7 will run Apple’s next-generation A10 mobile chipset and, if previous versions are anything to go by, it should be an alarmingly powerful chipset. Apple’s A8 and A9 chipsets dominated the mobile space in 2014/15 showcasing just what was possible with processing power when you have complete control over specs, hardware and software. And this is no doubt the reason Samsung invested so heavily in its Exynos solution — it wants more control over its devices’ performance and capabilities.
However, this year’s iPhone will likely be the most spec-heavy release Apple has ever pushed to market, providing it features a QHD panel. How much RAM Apple uses is also a deciding factor in the spec battle between the two handsets as well, but mostly this is just academic — the A10 and new Exynos will be super fast, regardless for whether they’re paired with 2GB or 4GB. Apple has consistently shown it can get plenty of performance out of very little memory, so the addition of more inside the iPhone 7, alongside the A10 chip makes for a pretty monstrous phone.
One thing that can be expected for sure is that the iPhone 7 will likely come in 32, 64, and 128GB models. Thankfully Apple should drop the 16GB iPhone version this time around. However there are rumors the iPhone 7 could also come in a 256GB model…something that seems far too good to be true at present. Nevertheless, should Apple get rid of the 16GB version — something it really needs to do, as 16GB is just pathetic these days — then it stands to reason it will have to replace it with something at the top-end to bump everything down a peg and make 32GB the standard model, before 64GB and then 128GB and finally 256GB.
Again, Samsung has sort of glossed over storage capabilities, aside from the microSD slot, and even then it hasn't disclosed how big the cards can be. We believe, based on earlier benchmarks and leaks, that the Galaxy S7 series starts at 32GB onboard, and may have 64GB and 128GB models too, but Samsung is yet to confirm this.
What we do know is each Samsung model packs a hefty battery pack, either a 3000mAh cell inside the Galaxy S7 or a 3600mAh setup in the Galaxy S7 edge - both should provide plenty of juice on a single charge. There's little info about Apple's battery hardware at this stage.
Samsung Galaxy S7 vs iPhone 7: Design
At this stage information on the iPhone 7's possible design is fairly limited. Given Apple's usual MO we're fairly confident it will be a significant overhaul, as the firm tends to keep things incremental on the 'S' models (like 2015's iPhone 6s) and then puts in big changes on the lone number models, with the iPhone 7 of course being one of the latter. On top of this we've heard rumours Apple plans on making the handset incredibly thin, thin enough to warrant the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack and the adoption of built-in stereo speakers and a proprietary set of headphones (Bluetooth and/or Lightning connector compatible, allegedly), if the rumours are true.
There’s also strong hints that Apple is working on doing away with the physical home button and embedding a virtual home button and Touch ID in the screen itself, but that might not come until the iPhone 8. The iPhone 7 will almost certainly retain the same size display as this year's models with 4.7in and 5.5in models to choose from - although there is talk of a 4in iPhone 6c dropping in April.
Other whispers say we'll see a "streamlined" design with fewer obvious antennae bands, a thinner bezel around the display, and the absence of any camera bump whatsoever - the sensor will reportedly fit flush. There are also some murmurings about waterproofing.
Generally though we're expecting an extremely sleek and distinguished new iPhone that's super-thin and entirely made out of metal.
Although different from their predecessors in some ways, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are, on the whole, quite similar to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in terms of design. The overall shape, build quality, and materials (metal and glass) are all pretty much a repeat of last year - not that this is a bad thing of course, as last year's Galaxy S6 series was gorgeous. The most notable improvements include the addition of IP68 waterproofing and a microSD card slot. It's also worth noting that while the Galaxy S7 is pretty much the same size as the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S7 edge is not only distinguished by its unique curved edge display, but also by being much larger than both the Galaxy S7 and the last-gen flagships, with a 5.5in display.
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