What we know of the Samsung Galaxy S7 so far

It’s perhaps the next best thing to a Steve Jobs Apple event. In just a few short days, Samsung will be holding its Unpacked event in Barcelona. Traditionally, the technology company has released their newest flagship in their first-quarter events. We already know that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will make an appearance for the first time in public, but that hasn’t stopped leaks and rumors from grinding down the rumor mill. We have a pretty solid idea of what it will look and be like. Here’s a neat, little checklist if you’ve been following the rumor mill and want to check if Samsung delivers for this year.

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A sleeker update of the S6’s design philosophy. Without a doubt, Samsung will be touting the S7’s looks. Last year, the S6 was a frontrunner for the all-metal phone trend. This year, rather than seeing a new trend, Samsung will be updating the S7’s looks with more curves, curves, curves. Also, we’ll be seeing less colors as the S7 will be (initially) available in a simpler gamut: silver, black, white, and gold.

A bigger edge. Last year’s “edge” phones were available in two flavors: the S6 Edge and the S6 Edge+ released months later. Essentially, their biggest difference was size. The S6 Edge has a meager 5.0-inches of tech, while the Edge+ has a bigger 5.5 -inch screen. This time, we’re going to see the 5.5-incher as a staple. The S7 Edge will release in 5.5 inches. Meanwhile, the regular S7 will ship in 5.1 inches.

Snapdragon 820? Fingers crossed on this one. The S6 was one of the first sets to come with Snapdragon 810. We know Qualcomm will make an appearance at this year’s CES. Are the stars aligned for us to see the Snapdragon 820 make its debut in the S7? We can only hope.

Marshmallow? Marshmallow device adoption is woefully slow as always. Updates are only starting to trickle down. Critics have been receiving the S6’s Marshmallow update positively. It’s a foregone conclusion that the S7 will have Marshmallow, but in what form? Samsung’s TouchWiz usually takes its own liberties with Android. We’ll see if the S7 manages to be its own thing, while still maintaining the feel of Android.

Is camera still king? The S6’s camera was top-notch. Last year saw the rise of smartphone photographers. This year is still a head-scratcher. Samsung is “downgrading” their megapixel count to 12 (down from last year’s 16). We’re not really sure if this is a downgrade. Toning down the megapixels left room for Samsung to supposedly improve the camera’s low-light abilities. We’re still on the fence, but Samsung definitely has the chops to sway us over to their side.

SD expansion. It’s baaack. Looks like haven’t seen the end of microSD cards. With the departure of the feature last year, we thought we heard the last of the microSD, but it looks like Samsung listened to the public clamoring for its return. The S7 will definitely come with a microSD expansion slot.

More power! We’re in for a much bigger battery this time around. The S7 is finally upgrading its lot to 3,000mAh. Meanwhile, the S7 Edge will be carrying a whopping 3,600mAh, an all-time high for its category, barring all entries from the battery-centric market.

Of course, rumors are rumors. But eventually, rumors fall away in the light of truth. We’re only a few days away from Samsung’s biggest event of the year.