February 21 is going to be one of the most exciting days of the year for gadget geeks, because both South Korean electronics giants Samsung and LG will unveil their 2016 flagship phones, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5. But in today’s web-driven, ultra-connected culture, it’s just about impossible to keep highly anticipated projects under wraps (just ask Rihanna, whose new album was leaked by music service Tidal last month). So naturally, details of the Galaxy S7 has all been confirmed, a week before the phone’s official announcement.
Notable leaker Evan Blass had already revealed unofficial images of the Galaxy S7, but Samsung’s overzealous Indonesian branch has provided what is essentially an official leak in the form of an unlisted YouTube ad. Usually, people “unlist” their YouTube videos if they want to share the content with a select few but not broadcast to the public, so it’s safe to assume that Samsung Indonesia does not want the ad to go public yet. Oops.
The ad, which should be taken down soon once Samsung Indonesia’s PR department realizes the goof, stars Indonesian archer Dellie Threesyadinda and confirms the rumors that the phone will be completely water-proof and includes wireless charging. An official Galaxy S7 Indonesian site suggests the S7 will have extra security features in addition to the fingerprint scanner.
Design-wise, Samsung looks to have kept last year’s design language going, as the Galaxy S7 looks almost identical to the S6, whether that’s good or bad news depends on your preference (me personally, I didn’t like the S6′s slippery design and absurd placement of the back button to the right of the main button).
It’s almost all but certain that Samsung will unveil multiple versions of the phone on the 21st in Barcelona: a normal version, a curved screen “edge” version, and a larger “plus” variant.
While Samsung is doing better than its rival LG in sales, and still leading the Android market, industry experts believe the S7 is a crucial launch for the company, since the company’s profits and market shares have dropped amid stiff competition from Chinese companies releasing cheaper phones. According to Dutch site Tweakers, expect the Galaxy S7 to cost roughly the same as the S6: the 32 gb version will go for $787, with the Edge version costing $100 more.
Information on the LG G5 has leaked in recent weeks too, and with both companies going all out, along with the iPhone 7 later this year, 2016 seems to be the year to get a new phone.
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