Samsung recently posted a huge improvement in its sales for Q1 2016, stats that showed the South Korean company sold more handsets in the U.S. than the country’s own Apple.
According to the company, this figure was bettered by the release of Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge units that have proved to be a huge success among Samsung Galaxy enthusiasts. On the contrary, Apple is going through the toughest time of its existence in the smartphone world and predictions have indicated that this might go on for the rest of the year.
Apple tried to reduce the gap on Samsung by coming in with an iPhone SE, however, the release date wasn’t quite favorable for the pint-sized phone as Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge had already taken the handset world by storm. This might probably be the same case with respect to Samsung Galaxy Note 6 and iPhone 7 Pro, but for now, let’s keep our focus on the smaller iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7.
Design and display
There is very little that can be said of the design of the iPhone 7. However, since Apple is known for coming in with incremental upgrades with S models, we might have some changes in the design looks of the iPhone 7. Still, reports are rife that Cupertino is saving major design overhauls for next year.
There are also rumors that Apple will be making the iPhone 7 the slimmest ever iPhone, thin enough to allow the exclusion of the 3.5mm earphone jack and instead replace it with a Lightning port. It is also thought that Apple will do away with the physical home button, meaning that the Touch ID will be hidden inside the virtual home button located on the screen. However, this might have to wait until 2018 when the iPhone 8 is unveiled. As for the display sizes, don’t expect any changes on the usual 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches.
A look at Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will quickly tell you that these two are successors to last year’s Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge (S6 Edge+). While Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch display panel, the S7 Edge has 5.5 inches. However, you will notice huge similarities in the shape, build material and quality like last year’s models. The most notable additions include support for microSD card and IP68 water and dust resistance rating.
Samsung Galaxy S7 comes with a Super AMOLED QHD resolution panel with 2K resolution. Don’t expect the same quality with the upcoming iPhone 7 as Apple will probably stick to using LCD panels it has been using before, which, according to experts, are not better than OLED panels. However, we might see a slight improvement in the pixel density as compared to last year’s iPhone 6S.
Performance and camera
Given the great performance offered by iPhone 6S, we expect to see even better coming from iPhone 7. Expect to see performance improvements coming from all angles, be it display resolution, battery life, imaging or even connectivity. There are even some reports adding that Apple might come in with better water and dust proofing mechanisms. With iPhone 6S featuring an A9 SoC and 2GB RAM, this can be bumped up to an A10 SoC, but we might see the RAM retained or slightly upped to 2.5GB or 3GB. The 1715mAh battery capacity is also expected to be stepped up.
On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S7 has what Qualcomm’s labels as the best smartphone chipset in 2016 – a Snapdragon 820 SoC – and is backed by a RAM of 4GB. You can also get another variant equipped with an Exynos 8890, but the RAM and performance of the two are the same.
When iPhone 6S was released, many were impressed with the camera improvements Apple had stepped in with, for instance, 12MP and 5MP sensors on the rear and front respectively. As far as the megapixel count is concerned, don’t expect any major upgrade, however, you can expect huge improvements in quality of photos and general imaging performance.
There are reports that iPhone 7 will come with a flush rear snapper that also features optical image stabilization, a feature that has only been appearing on the phablet models. As for the rumored dual-lens setup, it is believed this has been kept aside specifically for the phablet variants, especially the iPhone 7 Pro. However, don’t be surprised to see the same feature appearing in the standard variant.
Samsung Galaxy S7 is currently considered as the device with the best camera. Featuring a 12MP DualPixel snapper on the rear and a 5MP selfie camera, this device promises the best photography from a Samsung phone ever. Despite the small number of megapixels, you get a larger aperture of f/1.7 and even larger pixel sizes of 1.4µm featuring 100% PDAF.