Rumor check: Everything we think we know about the Samsung Galaxy S7

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Published 10 Feb 2016

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If you’re an Android fan, then you might be aware of some of the rumors making the rounds on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7. I personally don’t like commenting on rumors, but Mobile rld Congress is just around the corner the rumblings regarding Samsung’s next flagship device can no longer be ignored.

Here’s a look at some of the latest hearsay on the Samsung Galaxy S7, which will be officially revealed on February 21.

It could ship with a 12-megapixel camera

gs6 camera

The camera in the Galaxy S6 was a huge hit. Here’s to hoping the Galaxy S7 follows in its footsteps.

Typically, the best cameras have higher megapixel counts great low-light performance, but there’s a new trend emerging among mobile devices. Rather than increase the megapixel count, manufacturers are dialing them down instead increasing the size of the pixels on the sensor. l the better to increase low-light performance, reduce noise, increase dynamic range.

That’s what Samsung apparently plans to do with the Galaxy S7, too. Blass, also known as the notorious @EVaks, reported that Samsung’s next device will have a 12-megapixel camera with an aperture of f/1.7 (the Galaxy S6’s aperture is a smaller f/1.9).

It might sound like a regression going from the Galaxy S6’s 16-megapixels to 12-megapixels, but it’s not. In fact, this particular sensor could offer better low light performance more detail overall, especially if it’s the same Sony IMX377 sensor that’s inside the Nexus 6 5X. The latest rumors state that Samsung will use one of its own sensors with its “britecell” technology. But let’s hope Samsung adds in optical image stabilization, since it’s quite an issue on the Nexuses.

There will be an ge variant

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There may be another ge on the horizon.

This isn’t even a rumor. Samsung accidentally confirmed on its developer site that there will be a Galaxy S7 ge, in addition to the regular, flat Galaxy S7—just like last year. 

samsung galaxy s7 edge widetype GalaxyClub.N/a>

de Type looks like a weird mix between ve Tiles Samsung’s older ge features.

Unfortunately, the admission from Samsung is no longer live on the site, but there are screenshots floating around. This one shows that there will be also be a new software feature called de Type edge panels, which look like an amalgamation of the ge’s status updates Microsoft’s ve Tiles. The feature could end up being interesting helpful, or it could end up being another little Samsung software gimmick that no one uses. ’ll have to wait see.

Bigger batteries for longer days

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Admit it: l you’ve ever wanted out of life was a smartphone battery pack that could last an entire afternoon of running errs.

You want to have enough battery life to get you through the day so that you can shoot photos of sunsets, right? Thankfully, there’s an FCC filing for the Galaxy S7 ge that confirms battery life will not be an issue with its 3600mAh battery pack.

It was previously rumored that there’d be two variants, including a 3000mAh battery for the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7, a 3600mAh battery pack for the Galaxy S7 ge, which would have a larger 5.5-inch display. don’t know if the rumor on the Galaxy S7 is correct but the FCC filing all but confirms the S7 ge. Either number is a lot better than the 2550/2600 mAh batteries of the GS6/ge.

Back to two chips, Qualcomm Exynos

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American Android users, you’re probably not getting an Exynos processor in your hs this year.

According to SamMobile, one of the biggest Samsung fan sites on the web, the company is planning to launch two different versions of its hset for different markets: A Galaxy S7 variant with a Snapdragon 820 in the States (with supposed AnTuTu benchmarks floating aroundby AnTuTu), an Exynos 8 version overseas. The U.S. version may also include 4GB of RAM 32GB or 64GB of storage.

This is a practice that the company has had in place for years. Samsung typically launches a hset based on its Exynos processor in Asia other markets, a Qualcomm-based phone in the U.S. another other stern markets. It didn’t do this last year, though, in part because Samsung’s Exynos chip was produced on a more power-efficient 14nm process.

Now, what about that SD card?

Samsung Galaxy S6 News Service/ nas

The Galaxy S7 will hopefully get its expansion slot back. 

st year’s Galaxy S6 would have been perfect if it would have just accepted a little extra storage. But Samsung omitted the expansion slot, likely because it just wasn’t conducive to the phone’s sleek, metal design. 

This year, the Galaxy S7 is expected to launch with a microSD slot that can take up to 200GB of extra storage, though that’s as far as the excitement goes. There still won’t be a removable battery.

en do we find all this out?

Come back here on February 21 watch live as Samsung reveals its next lineup of Android smartphones.