Samsung Galaxy S7
Fans of the Galaxy range are going to be happy… very happy! There are two versions of the S7 which are available depending on where you live. Most of the world, including Europe, will find their Samsung packs an Exynos 8890 octa-core processor which has some serious grunt behind it. With the 4GB of RAM I don’t see many tasks slowing this beast down.
The tech world has been very excited about the release of the Galaxy S7, last year the S6 was an impressive feat but there was still room for improvement. So with that in mind, and just a year later, we all wondered what Samsung could pull out of the proverbial “bag” this time around.
With Android 6.0.1 Marshmellow the S7 won’t skip a beat, although some Android purists out there may not like the extra bloatware that comes with it... but I get the feeling those types may never be happy!
I’m still waiting for that innovative solution to the eternal battery life conundrum but Samsung has done well on improving performance in this area. The solution...? A bigger battery! They have gone from a 2550mAh up to a 3000mAh, the result basically takes you over the magic mark of one day of heavy use, although a day and a half is probably pushing it. They have also decided that the device needed to have the microSD slot reinstated after the reaction when it was left out of the S6 model.
Cost-wise UK residents can expect to pay £549 for the S7 which really isn’t a surprise considering it is Samsung’s flagship. Design wise it doesn’t look much different to its predecessor but Samsung has actually done quite a lot of subtle changes, one of which is that the new model is waterproof. Somehow they have improved the screen also which still sports Super AMOLED technology and an eye-watering resolution.
LG G5
Also launched at MWC this year the G5 is LG’s latest attempt to make an impact at the premium end of the market. Due around April time, there is no word on the price yet, but expect it to be over the £500 mark. Design wise LG has stepped up a gear and got rid of the awful leather backing the G4 had. It’s smaller but has a 5.3 inch display and is much easier to hold than the previous version.
LG has identified that people that check their phone a lot, ie. most of us, are turning our phones on and then off again after a few seconds up to 150 times a day. This is a drain on battery life if you are just checking the time or notifications, to combat this LG has introduced an always on screen which shows you the basics like time etc without the need to turn the device on.
The G5 is packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM but unfortunately only comes with 32GB of internal storage, this can be expanded with the microSD card slot, up to a maximum of 2TB apparently - good luck doing that though because at the moment that capacity isn’t available.
Where the G5 really has something different is its removable component or ‘slot’ which can be removed to add extra features such as a camera upgrade, better audio technology or simply just extra battery. It isn’t clear how much extra juice you can add to the G5 right now but on its regular battery it will give you a day and a bit. Anything that takes it to near the three day mark has got to be a major differentiator.