The lifespan of mobile devices is getting shorter, and why not? After all, with new models coming out on a monthly basis, why would a carrier want to inventory one year old devices? It costs the carriers a lot of money to maintain not only inventory, but to offer support and replacement devices. According to our friends at MobileSyrup and an internal document they have got their hands on from Bell, a number of popular devices are being retired and given an “End of Life” status.
One device which surprisingly was still active is the Samsung Galaxy S4 in Black. Although, the most surprising is the Galaxy S6 in both the 64GB and 128GB models. So it does look like they will keep the most popular 32GB model as a viable purchase. This is most certainly due to the newly released Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, already on pre-order at most carriers, with delivery set for March 11. However, by pre-ordering now, Samsung is throwing in their Gear VR headset for free – free is always good and it will give you a chance to test drive the virtual reality world. By tagging those older headsets for End of Life it will help clear out the shelves for these new models. Another surprise is the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, especially since the Galaxy Note 6 will not be out until this fall, but apparently, the Galaxy Note 5 is selling well enough they can dismiss the Note 4.
Bell is selling the 32GB Galaxy S7 for $899.99 no-term or $399.99 on a two-year contract. The Galaxy S7 Edge will cost you $999.99 with no contract and $499.99 on a two-year deal with Bell. The Galaxy S7 comes in either black or silver and the Galaxy S7 Edge is sold only in black. The outside of the Galaxy S7 series looks almost identical to the Galaxy S6 series, with only a few minor changes on the outside – and why not as last year Samsung did a major redesign when the Galaxy S6 series arrived on the scene.
It is the inside where the real changes are made – the displays are always upgraded in technical specs, but the big news here is that Samsung brought back the expandable memory – expandable to 200GB via a microSD card. Samsung kept the sealed device and added IP68 waterproofing certification. They increased the non-removable battery size and while it always had rapid charge capabilities, they added quick wireless charging to the package. The processor could be the Exynos 8890 octa-core or the new Snapdragon 820 quad-core depending where you live. All models get an increase from 3GB to 4GB of DDR4 RAM. The main camera has taken a radical turn to a Dual Pixel 12MP sensor that is larger and allows more light and subject matter into the lens.