As we approach the end of the year and the last flagship from Samsung is now history, the rumor mill is getting hot about the company’s next top phone, the Galaxy S7. Although we are still far from having leaked images and more detailed information from insiders, there are plenty of rumors going on, mostly regarding the device’s processing unit. This year’s breed of high-end smartphones from Samsung have ditched the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 in favor for their own Exynos 7420, allegedly due to overheating issues. It was a huge blow to Qualcomm’s pocket since the Korean giant is the largest smartphone maker in the world. However, as reported previously, Samsung is said to be working on two different versions for the S7, one running the next-generation Exynos 8890 SoC and other carrying the new Snapdragon 820. According to a new report from Reuters, the Snapdragon version will be bound to China and the U.S., and the remaining markets around the world will get the Exynos version.
Both chips are going to be really powerful and we should expect to have a little monster in our pockets. The Snapdragon 820 with four Kryo cores which were custom-made by Qualcomm to replace the Cortex cores by ARM. It is also said to be manufactured by Samsung with their 14nm process, offering smaller sizes, better power consumption, and less heat generation. As for the Exynos 8890, it is an octa-core processor clocked at 1.38 GHz and is reportedly using Samsung’s own core, called Mongoose, meaning it will be also ditching ARM’s Cortex-A72 core. Although these two systems work on different ways, the end user will probably see similar performances on both versions.
As for the remaining specs, other rumors say the Galaxy S7 will come in two different sizes – a smaller one featuring a 5.2-inch display and a bigger one with a screen measuring around 5.8 inches. Prototypes have been already spotted on benchmarking tests revealing that the devices may come in versions of 3 and 4 GB of RAM. Thanks to the success of the Galaxy S6 edge, there may be only the curved screen device. Another important aspect of a phone is the camera and the S7 is set to have a 16-megapixel rear shooter and a 5 MP front-facing sensor. The phone is expected to be released in February or March.