Samsung release two big phones a year: Galaxy S models in April, and Galaxy Note models in October; perfectly positioned six months apart. In 2016 though, that schedule may be sent into overdrive, with rumours stating that Samsung will be launching the Galaxy S7 much earlier in the year than its predecessors.
Right now, one theory is that we’ll see the phone announced somewhere between the two big tech conferences in the first quarter of the year, CES in early January and MWC in late February. This theory is supported by evidence provided by @evleaks that American mobile network AT&T are already testing the new phone, under the model numbers SM-G930A and SM-935A. This is thought to mean we’ll see both a Galaxy S7 and a Galaxy S7 Edge.
There are also rumours that suggest that we’ll see models with both Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets. One version would use the upcoming Snapdragon 820 chipset and connect to (American) CDMA networks, while other models would run Samsung’s own Exynos 8890. In the past the competing chipsets have offered similar levels of performance, but leaked benchmark results suggest that Samsung’s CPUs may have the upper hand this time.
Finally, SamMobile is reporting on accessories scheduled to launch alongside the new handsets. The phones will come with an S View Cover, a Glitter Cover, a Clear View Cover and a Keyboard Cover. While we did see a keyboard cover on the Galaxy S6 Edge+ (as shown above), it would be a bit of a squeeze to fit one on a 5.2-inch screen like the original S6 Edge… so we may be seeing a different keyboard design, a larger display for the phones or both.
What features do you want to see on the Galaxy S7? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for more rumours, news and accessories on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge!