So it's been a pretty rough year all around for Android flagships - however the S7 is slated for a January unveiling as Samsung accelerates their product launches (Note 5 was over a month "early").
1. Next Exynos SOC may catch up to the A9 overall, though I hope Samsung doesn't go for all-out scores and instead picks a reasonable max clock to maximize battery life. http://wccftech.com/mongoose-soc-from-samsung-shows-dominating-benchmark-results/
The Qualcomm S820 is rumored to be used in certain markets like the US - it may not provide the all-out performance of the M1, but should still be a great performer with the benefit of Qualcomm's superior modems in LTE markets.
2. The S6 camera is still arguably the best smartphone camera, but if they manage to get the sensor for the Z5 + Samsung's superior software, it should make for quite the camera. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...ia-Z5-camera-sensor-for-the-Galaxy-S7_id75344.
3. Display - speculation that Samsung may only release Edge versions for the S7, in both a normal and Plus size version. Expect some functionality bumps but at minimum it'll provide a design differentiator for 2016. I also hope they stick with a 1440p screen in the normal S7, with the normal annual improvements in brightness, power consumption, and accuracy. No need to jump to a higher res when the SOC can't handle it well. Or do something like Sony and have only media, browsing, and VR games render natively in say a 3K screen, but have normal games and such run at 1080p.
4. USB type C is almost a certainty.
5. Things I hope to see:
- Renewed focus on battery life. Like the improvement from the S4 to the S5, battery life on the S7 has to be better. Doesn't matter if it's a combination of Android 6.0, SOC improvements, or other tweaks, but S7 real world battery life has to at least Note 5 level IMO.
- Even lighter Touchwiz - take another step in lightening TW like the S5 to the S6. Stock android is a pipe dream.
- Removal of the mechanical home button. I think a capacitive button on the front or back would be superior as it would give more space for a fingerprint read and be more reliable. Improve the reliability of the fingerprint scanner.
- Speaker improvement - this personally isn't very important to me but I would like it to be bigger than the tiny holes on the bottom which are easy to cover. Stereo speakers like the Moto X Style would be ideal as it still kept bezels small, but even speakers on the bottom of the phone that are on both sides of the USB plug would be good enough for me.
- All metal build is rumored - please keep wireless charging as well as I'm used to the convenience.
6. Things that could shake up the market:
- Release a base 32GB version and only a 128GB version for $100 more. Make storage even faster by using SSD type storage like Apple (Samsung, you are the biggest SSD OEM).
- Release a carrier free version in the US and other developed markets. Other OEMs have done this for a while, Samsung doing so would be long overdue and continue to put the pressure on carriers to be more competitive.
1. Next Exynos SOC may catch up to the A9 overall, though I hope Samsung doesn't go for all-out scores and instead picks a reasonable max clock to maximize battery life. http://wccftech.com/mongoose-soc-from-samsung-shows-dominating-benchmark-results/
The Qualcomm S820 is rumored to be used in certain markets like the US - it may not provide the all-out performance of the M1, but should still be a great performer with the benefit of Qualcomm's superior modems in LTE markets.
2. The S6 camera is still arguably the best smartphone camera, but if they manage to get the sensor for the Z5 + Samsung's superior software, it should make for quite the camera. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...ia-Z5-camera-sensor-for-the-Galaxy-S7_id75344.
3. Display - speculation that Samsung may only release Edge versions for the S7, in both a normal and Plus size version. Expect some functionality bumps but at minimum it'll provide a design differentiator for 2016. I also hope they stick with a 1440p screen in the normal S7, with the normal annual improvements in brightness, power consumption, and accuracy. No need to jump to a higher res when the SOC can't handle it well. Or do something like Sony and have only media, browsing, and VR games render natively in say a 3K screen, but have normal games and such run at 1080p.
4. USB type C is almost a certainty.
5. Things I hope to see:
- Renewed focus on battery life. Like the improvement from the S4 to the S5, battery life on the S7 has to be better. Doesn't matter if it's a combination of Android 6.0, SOC improvements, or other tweaks, but S7 real world battery life has to at least Note 5 level IMO.
- Even lighter Touchwiz - take another step in lightening TW like the S5 to the S6. Stock android is a pipe dream.
- Removal of the mechanical home button. I think a capacitive button on the front or back would be superior as it would give more space for a fingerprint read and be more reliable. Improve the reliability of the fingerprint scanner.
- Speaker improvement - this personally isn't very important to me but I would like it to be bigger than the tiny holes on the bottom which are easy to cover. Stereo speakers like the Moto X Style would be ideal as it still kept bezels small, but even speakers on the bottom of the phone that are on both sides of the USB plug would be good enough for me.
- All metal build is rumored - please keep wireless charging as well as I'm used to the convenience.
6. Things that could shake up the market:
- Release a base 32GB version and only a 128GB version for $100 more. Make storage even faster by using SSD type storage like Apple (Samsung, you are the biggest SSD OEM).
- Release a carrier free version in the US and other developed markets. Other OEMs have done this for a while, Samsung doing so would be long overdue and continue to put the pressure on carriers to be more competitive.