If we were to ask people on the street what were two of the biggest reasons they’ve broken phones in the past it would probably be by getting them wet or by dropping them and smashing their screens. Sony realized years ago that spills and such were just part of everyday life and so since the original Xperia Z, launched way back in 2013, they’ve shipped every Xperia Z device with the ability to stand up against spills and even submersion under water. Samsung thought this was a great idea and made the Galaxy S4 Active, back in 2013 with water-resistance as well as a more rugged shell and they dabbled with water-resistance in the Galaxy S5, but not in the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge. Rumor has it that the feature could be making a return with the Galaxy S7 and part listings have now been spotted online alluding to as much.
As PhoneArena is reporting, an import listing from Zauba lists a number of “waterproof” parts destined for a Galaxy S7 including a “mic”,”SIM tray”, “Octa” and “HRM”. The first two components are pretty obvious, but the second two probably relate the processor and perhaps the heart-rate monitor to be housed at the rear of the phone. The listing does note that these are for a mobile phone “for captive consumption” which could be an ominous way of telling us these are parts for test models. The import listing is dated towards the end of January, which seems pretty close to the official launch of February 20th to still be testing an as-yet unreleased smartphone. Of course, these could also be demo models ready for a later launch in India itself.
Either way, it appears as though the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will be launching as water-resistant smartphones, not unlike the Galaxy S5 did this time a couple of years ago. It’s a great feature for a lot of users and it’s nice to see it make a return. Speaking of returning features, it’s unclear whether or not the Galaxy S7 will launch with a removable battery and expandable storage, but we’re sure Samsung has been considering the inclusion of those two features for some time now.
