Samsung Galaxy S7 release date, price, specs and features

Samsung has given its first official hints about the new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones with the release of a video teaser.

The video, uploaded to the Samsung Mobile YouTube channel, mentions #TheNextGalaxy and confirms that a Samsung Unpacked event, the same kind used to reveal the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge+, will take place on 21 February, one day before Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona.

The announcement follows weeks of rumours and, in just the past week, alleged leaks of the new devices' features and design. We've amassed every plausible detail about the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge thus far to help you keep track ahead of the unveiling, and will update this article with further developments.

We expect Samsung to announce when the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will go on sale at the same time as revealing the handsets themselves. That said, we might not have to wait too long as prolific tech industry leaker Evan 'Evleaks' Blass has indicated a US release date of 11 March.

In the UK, meanwhile, Carphone Warehouse allowed potential buyers to register interest in the Galaxy S7 even before the teaser video went online. The retailer also said that pre-orders will become available shortly after the initial unveiling, making it probable that the new smartphones won't arrive too much later than in the US, if not on the same day.

Information is scarce, but the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are certainly going to be premium devices with prices to match. For reference, the 2015 Galaxy S6 started at £560, while the Galaxy S6 Edge started at £620, and we'd be surprised if the Galaxy S7 Edge isn't even more expensive, considering that it appears to have a larger 5.5in display. This actually puts it in between the Galaxy S6 Edge and the Galaxy S6 Edge+, which launched at £749 and upwards, so perhaps the new phablet's price will be somewhere in the middle as well.

With all that in mind, Samsung's smartphone business lagged behind Apple's in 2015 as Galaxy S6 sales failed to keep up with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. So the firm could make the upcoming devices a little more affordable in a bid to make up sales against the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, as well as the upcoming iPhone 7. Indeed, analyst Pan Jiutang has predicted that the Galaxy S7 models will be 10 percent cheaper than their 2015 equivalents.

:story: V3.co.uk