NEXT GEN Samsung Galaxy S7 & Samsung Galaxy S7+: 4K Display, Dual Camera, Exynos 8890 Processor Detailed

 

 

Samsung is preparing another duo of Samsung Galaxy S7 flagships

Yes it's that time again. We've had the debut of the Galaxy Note 5 just ahead of September and Apple's new crop of iPhones inside September itself, so now apart from eagerly awaiting the next Nexus from Google it's time to start looking forward to early 2016 - and that means a new Samsung Galaxy S flagship! Let's do it all over again!

The rambunctious rumour mill seems to often pipe up very early these days; we're frequently seeing rumours of next-gen devices appear before a new generation of that model is even released. We've been seeing murmurs of the iPhone 7 months ahead of the recent iPhone 6s launch, for example. A similar thing happened with the Galaxy S7 too.

Initial rumours of the Samsung Galaxy S7 emerged far too early to be all that believeable (although the idea of a new model being worked on at that time was entirely plausible and, in fact, likely), surfacing very soon after the announcement of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. Those devices have been around for a while now though, and as we head towards Christmas and the new year, Samsung's usual flagship bracket inside Q1 is also nearing at a pace. Meaning, of course, that Galaxy S7 rumours from here on out could carry a bit more weight.

Samsung Galaxy S7 To Pack Exynos 8890 Processor, 3GB/4GB RAM AND Dual Camera?

According to reports from September 14, Samsung may be prepping a new Exynos processor for use inside the Samsung Galaxy S7. However, with that said there are multiple reports of Galaxy S7's being benchmarked with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, so it appears it is a return to Samsung's old model of a Qualcomm-based version for North America and Europe, while Asia gets the home-grown Exynos hardware.

Still, the Exynos hardware has shown up via new Geekbench benchmarks where previously the Snapdragon 820 was spotted in multiple testbeds, including AnTuTu. The database lists a "Project Lucky-LTE" and a plain ol' "Project Lucky", both using the Exynos 8890 chip, codenamed Mongoose. Curiouser and curiouser, it seems the non-LTE model packs 3GB of RAM while the LTE-enabled variant (using one of Samsung's own LTE modems) has 4GB.

Meanhwile, a slightly earlier report from September 11, coming via Korean source MK.co.kr, claims that Samsung will begin ramping up Galaxy S7 production in January 2016 ready for a reveal in February. Lastly this rumour also claims Samsung is toying with the idea of an HTC One M8 style dual-sensor camera, although there are no further details about this at present.

Two Samsung Galaxy S7 Devices In The Works

As of September 9 (that's iPhone launch day, for those who didn't know!) a new report has emerged  claiming that Samsung is at work on two Galaxy S7 models, one with a 5.2in display, and the other with a 5.8in screen; meaning it's more of a phablet really. The source is quoted by Korean publication Asia Times as having claimed the 5.2in model will be the "standard" Galaxy S7 version, though that's not exactly surprising to be honest.

The other titbit of info mentions a 4K display, however, it isn't specified if this is the 5.2in version, the 5.8in, or both. Either way it seems Samsung is trying to beat Sony's Xperia Z5 Premium at its own game, which, if taken literally, could hint at the phablet being the UltraHD monster as that's certainly the case with Sony's offering as the largest in the group, but even there it's only 5.5in, which isn't really THAT big these days.

Also of note is the claim of 4GB of onboard RAM for the Galaxy S7 (presumably both versions?), meaning Samsung's recently revealed 6GB RAM hardware isn't getting a look-in this time round.
A benchmark for what is claimed to be the larger variant of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7 has leaked online. Originally found by Telefoonabonnement, a Dutch webiste, the leaked AnTuTu benchmark appears to detail some key elements of the upcoming Galaxy S7 flagship, as you can see below:

Obviously NONE of this can be taken as gospel, but AnTuTu has proved a pretty reliable source for decent leaks in the past, so we’re prepared to give this one the benefit of the doubt. All in all, the specs are what you’d expect: a slight bump up from the Galaxy S6, though interestingly the handset is labeled as rocking a Snapdragon 820 CPU.

Lastly, there is one snippet from this report which casts the whole thing in a suspicious light, that is the claim that Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy S7 by the end of 2015 rather than waiting for its usual Q1 slot in the new year. Colour us skeptical.

Samsung Galaxy S7 With FOLDING FLEXIBLE OLED TOUCHSCREEN?!

Ok, so yes this may be a bit way out there but bear with us a second. It's a well known fact that Samsung has been working on flexible OLED technology for years, with the ultimate goal of bringing us flexible screen smartphones and other mobile devices that fold. This is known because Samsung itself has been very vocal about it all, publishing concept videos and attending expos with working prototypes for several years now.

Samsung has been making progress with the tech. So far this has only materialised in a few specific forms, however, namely the Samsung Galaxy edge series devices with curved display edges, including the Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note edge. LG's also been working on the same tech and produced the LG G Flex and LG G Flex 2. In all cases they use flexible OLED screens but in a fixed curved form factor layered over with rigid glass - you get a curved display, but not one that actually flexes much, if at all.

Now, however, there are rumours that Samsung may be making breakthroughs with the technology, so much so that it may, if the whispers are accurate, be aiming to produce a flexible OLED phone by early 2016, something it has publicly stated an ambition to do before. It just so happens that early 2016 is also when new Galaxy S7 models are also rumoured to arrive.

The word comes via sources on Chinese network Weibo, which claims a so-called Project V or Project Valley is being tested with an aim to release in January. The report claims that several prototypes are being tested with both Snapdragon 620 and Snapdragon 820 processors, but that both have 3GB of RAM, microSD support, and a sealed battery compartment.

Multiple patents and internal Samsung design documents have also emerged showing some of the innovative folding designs, specifically showing Samsung experimenting with flexible mesh designed to avoid deterioration of the display panel at the folding point.

None of this is conclusive evidence that the Galaxy S7 will feature a folding form-factor and flexible OLED, of course. However, what is important to note is that Samsung has got into the habit of introducing special variant models to debut its flexible OLED technology alongside more traditionl models already; again you only have to look at the Galaxy Note edge and Galaxy S6 edge launching alongside their non-edge counterparts to see this. Could this mean that in early 2016 we see a Samsung Galaxy S7 accompanied by some special folding Galaxy S7 variant with a tweaked name? We are hopeful.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Details Emerge

The last time we heard a mention of the Galaxy S7 was in relation to Samsung developing its own CPU core for use inside its next flagship. According to that information, plans are afoot at the company’s Korean HQ to develop its very own custom processor core, meaning no more stock ARM Cortex CPU cores.

But we'll come back to that in a bit.

Another bit of info from the rumour mill came from Digitimes and Korean news source Newsis, the latter of which claimed to have heard from its insider sources that Samsung has plans to launch the Galaxy S7 during the second half of 2015, rather than waiting until early 2016 as many expected.
But according to a subsequent statement from Samsung itself, that's all a load of complete gumpf, hokum, twaddle, or whatever you like to call it.

A Samsung marketing spokesperson explained to MobileBurn:
"The company remains committed to launching products in pre-determined launch windows, which includes the S series."

Or in other words, it's sticking to a 12 monthly cycle with an early year launch, probably at MWC like last time, so look out for MWC 2016 in late February/early March.
Still, as we said at the start of the article, you can rest assured there is definitely a Galaxy S7 in the works, it just won't come until 2016.

What about that processor architecture rumour?

Apple has been doing something similar for a while developing its own Cyclone processor cores. Ditto Qualcomm with its Krait and upcoming KRYO setup. The benefits of such an approach are myriad; firms have more control over APIs, performance, functionality and efficiency.
A move such as this was always on the cards. Samsung has been investing heavily in its chip-making arm, so it stands to reason the company would want to begin developing its own, bespoke custom processor core just like its now arch-rival Qualcomm.

“Samsung is almost ready to finally release its own processing core next year,” reports Phone Arena, “perhaps in time for the Galaxy S7.

Samsung's System LSI Division has been working on a proprietary 64-bit core for four years and will no longer be using the default ARM Cortex designs, according to a reports from Korea.
“The current Exynos 7420 in the Galaxy S6 is plenty powerful, but still, in its single-core performance, it is no match for the proprietary Apple A8 chipset, despite the latter being clocked at much slower speeds,” the report added.

Qualcomm is set to debut its new KRYO core later on this year. At the time of writing there is no solid information about the roadmap for Samsung’s solution, save for the nod to its inclusion inside 2016’s Galaxy S7.

According to a report from April 27, more details have emerged regarding Samsung's custom "Mongoose" cores. The word comes via KitGuru, which has identified some interesting titbits in ARM' latest developer toolset for ARM core architecture, allegedly as well as containing support for ARM A17 and A72 cores, it also supports a "Samsung Exynos M1" core, aka "Mongoose". Not a great deal is known about the core architecture other than allegations that it is a Heterogeneous Sytem Architecture.

A new set of information circulating as of August 11 suggests that the Galaxy 7 may pack Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor, or at the very least there may be a variant which does. The word comes via Chinese social network Weibo, where a leaked document details some goings on inside Samung. According to this, a "Hero" device (ie: a flagship) will be equipped with a MSM8996 processor - aka the Snapdragon 820. There is also mention of what's believed to be a new Android  build, probably Android M, codenamed as "Jungrau" - a name already associated with the Galaxy 7 in earlier rumours