If this was a Facebook “Memory” it would be all about the stunning new Samsung Galaxy S6 – that’s missing three key features that had been part of what made the Galaxy S5 such a huge success for Samsung.  Well, in 2016 Samsung is asking forgiveness and bringing back what the Galaxy S6 was missing.

Screen Shot 2016-02-21 at 5.52.56 PM

Those three things were expandable storage, water resistance and a removable battery.

Unfortunately, Samsung didn’t get the same memo LG got, so their 2016 flagship product does not have a removable battery.

What it does have though is a dual purpose SIM card tray that will also house a MicroSD card – adding up to 200GB of storage to your phone.

And, IP68 water and dust resistance.

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There are of course the obvious improvements in the camera (reducing the Megapixel count, while improving low-light performance), and in overall performance there are the leaps forward we would all expect.

The S7 is available as a 5.1 inch screen, while the Edge version of the S7 jumps straight to 5.5 inches – both QuadHD Super AMOLED displays.

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At a glance, you’ll struggle to see the difference, but for hard core fans who were disappointed by the S6 – the S7 is the perfect upgrade from the S5, or from many other smartphones on the market.

It’s what Samsung should have done in 2015 – so the real question is did that gap year hurt them?

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Only time will tell – until then, Samsung once again have an absolutely class leading phone on their hands – we’ll have a full review in the near future!

You can put your name down for one in Australia from Friday, the Galaxy S7 will be $1149 while the S7 Edge will be priced at $1249. Plan prices will be available in the days ahead.

Here are the full Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge Product Specifications

  Galaxy S7 Galaxy S7 edge
OS Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Network LTE Cat.9(450/50Mbps)

* May differ by markets and mobile operators

Dimension 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9mm, 152g 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm, 157g
AP Octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.6GHz Quad), 64 bit, 14 nm process

Quad core (2.15GHz Dual + 1.6GHz Dual), 64 bit, 14 nm process

* May differ by markets and mobile operators

Memory 4GB RAM (LPDDR4), 32/64GB (UFS 2.0)      + microSD (up to 200GB)
Display 5.1” Quad HD Super AMOLED

2560 X 1440 (577ppi)

5.5” Quad HD Super AMOLED

2560 X 1440 (534ppi)

Edge Screen

Camera Rear: Dual Pixel 12MP (F1.7), Smart OIS

Front: 5MP (F1.7)

Battery 3,000mAh 3,600mAh
Fast Charging both on wired and wireless

Wireless Charging compatible with WPC and PMA

Payment NFC, MST
Connectivity WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), MIMO,
Bluetooth® v 4.2 LE, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC, Location
Sensors Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro,

Fingerprint, Barometer, Hall, HRM

IP Code IP68
Audio MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR,
AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
Video MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM

 

Trevor Long travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Huawei, details at the EFTM Disclosures & Commercial Interests page