Samsung Galaxy S7

Galaxy S7 and S7 edge / Photo Credit: Samsung

Earlier this week, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S7 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Samsung did not announce the pricing and availability at the time of the event, but those details were recently revealed.

The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will be available starting March 11th across 60 countries around the world. And pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge started on February 23rd through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. The suggested retail price for the Galaxy S7 is $669 and the S7 edge is $779. You can buy the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge at full retail price or monthly payments with $0 down from each of the wireless carriers.

Samsung is offering a free Gear VR and several virtual reality games when you pre-order the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge. Below is a breakdown of the pricing from the four major U.S. wireless carriers:

AT&T is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 for $23.17 per month or $694.99 total. The color options on AT&T for the Galaxy S7 are Black Onyx and Gold Platinum. And AT&T is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 edge for $26.50 per month or $794.99 total. The color options on AT&T for the Galaxy S7 edge are Black Onyx, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium. Plus AT&T is offering a free Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 with a two year contract of the Galaxy S7.

Sprint’s offer for the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge is buy one, get one 50% off. Sprint is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 with several options: 1.) $25.99 per month with $0 down under a Galaxy Forever plan that lets you upgrade any time after 12 payments. 2.) $27.09 per month with a low monthly plan cost and you own the phone when it’s paid off 3.) $199.99 today to pay your phone upfront and own it right away at a higher monthly plan cost and 4.) a full price of $649.99. The color options on Sprint for the Galaxy S7 are Black Onyx and Gold Platinum. And Sprint is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 edge with several options: 1.) $30.50 per month with $0 down under a Galaxy Forever plan that lets you upgrade any time after 12 payments. 2.) $31.25 per month with a low monthly plan cost and you own the phone when it’s paid off. 3.) $299.99 today to pay your phone upfront and own it right away at a higher monthly plan cost and 4.) a full price of $749.99. The color options on Sprint for the Galaxy S7 edge are Black Onyx, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium.

T-Mobile is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 for $27.92 per month or $669.99 total. The color options on T-Mobile for the Galaxy S7 are Black Onyx and Gold Platinum. And T-Mobile is selling the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge for $32.50 per month or $779.99 total. The color options on T-Mobile for the Galaxy S7 edge are Black Onyx, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium. When you buy the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge from T-Mobile, you will receive a year of Netflix free.

Verizon:

Verizon is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 for $28 per month or $672 total. The color options on Verizon for the Galaxy S7 are Black Onyx and Gold Platinum. And Verizon is selling the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7 edge for $33 per month or $792 total. The color options on Verizon for the Galaxy S7 edge are Black Onyx, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium. Verizon is also providing $100 credit towards your bill when you buy a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.

What features does the Galaxy S7 have?

The Galaxy S7 brought back desired features that were lacking in the Galaxy S6 such as IP68 dust and waterproof rating and expandable storage up to 200GB. Apparently these features were removed from the Galaxy S6 because Samsung completely redesigned its mobile devices with an all metal casing. Samsung was able to bring back these features due to improvements in microSD card reading and writing speeds plus an all glass design. The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge can be submerged 1.5 meters (about 4.92 feet) underwater for an hour, thus increasing its durability.

The processor is region specific, meaning it will be either Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890 depending on your location — Exynos in South Korea and Snapdragon in other countries. Samsung said that the new chipsets combined with 4GB of RAM will offer 30% improved CPU performance and 64% improved GPU performance. The quad HD display is 5.1 inches (2560×1440 pixels) on the Galaxy S7 and 5.5 inches (2560×1140 pixels) on the Galaxy S7 edge. And the Galaxy S7 has a 3000 mAh battery while the S7 edge has a massive 3600 mAh battery. The devices are slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessors. However, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge devices are narrower and shorter. And the backs of the new devices are more rounded, thus making it easier to hold.

The Galaxy S7 also has a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera (with 4K video recording and optical image stabilization) that has a f/1.7 aperture — which lets in 56% more light than the rear-facing camera on the Galaxy S6. The front-facing cameras are 5 megapixels.

Forbes contributor Gordon Kelly pointed out that the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge displays have increased brightness, power efficiency and color accuracy compared to the Galaxy S6 line of devices. And the Galaxy S7 devices support “Always-On Display” technology, which means that it will show pertinent information at all times such as the time, date and battery percentage along with several types of notifications. The “Always-On Display” consumes about 1% per hour, but you can disable this feature.

To charge the devices, you can still use your microUSB since it does not use USB Type-C. The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge supports the Qi and PMA wireless charging standards. Samsung also launched a new “Motion Panorama” feature that captures video in panorama photos to create a wider equivalent of Apple Live Photos. And the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge devices are powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow.