Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge launch with battery boost and microSD slot

Galaxy S7

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have finally launched, coming with big enhancements to a number of important areas.

The big news is the return of the microSD slot, which allows users to expand the memory in their phones without having to pay out for a bump in storage.

The battery, oft-maligned in the S6 range, has been upgraded too, with the Galaxy S7 featuring a 3000mAh power pack and the Galaxy S7 Edge coming in with a whopping 3600mAh battery underneath.

The improvement in battery is impressive in the Galaxy S7, as it's still got the same 5.1-inch screen as the S6 before it, yet jumps up from the 2550mAh offering there.

However, the S7 Edge gets the biggest upgrade, with the screen size boosted to 5.5-inches while maintaining a relatively svelte form factor thanks to the new '3D Thermo Forming' manufacturing procedure which allows the screen to be even more curved than before – both on the front and back.

Waterproofing makes a return on both phones, with an IP68 rating letting you drop the thing in a meter and a half of water for 30 minutes. Which we all wish we could do with our phones once in a while.

Snap up

The camera's been boosted to 12MP – which counts as a boost despite dropping in megapixels, as an increase in pixel size giving more light into each snap.

And there's a new Gaming Launcher, where you can add new controls into your smartphone gaming experience to alter the performance, disable alerts and record yourself playing games. If you're into that.

We're still waiting for a price on these phones, but the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge release date has been set for 11 March – so get saving now, as pre-orders will be going live very soon.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.