Samsung Galaxy S7: More than just good looks

Samsung recently updated its flagship device in India. Just like its predecessor, the Galaxy S7 is a chic and stylish looking device. We got our hands-on the S7 and feel that it scores well in terms of design. It features a glossy, metal alloy body with a 5.1 inch screen. It is a light-weight device and could easily fit in your palm and can be operated single-handedly. Images look sharp and vibrant on the Quad HD super AMOLED display. Samsung has introduced the ‘Always on Display’ feature which lets you check on updates and notifications without unlocking the phone.

The S7 comes with a 12 mp rear camera and a five mp front camera. In an arena of rising up megapixels count, Samsung falls on the lower side, but that doesn’t translate into lack of picture quality. The camera comes with a dual-pixel technology and F1.7 aperture. There are two features developed by the Indian R&D team from Bengaluru: The Motion Panorama feature lets you record live events by capturing every piece of dynamic motion and the Spotlight Selfie feature provides a studio-like environment with a virtual light source. The device runs on the Android Marshmallow OS. It is powered by 2.3 Ghz + 1.6 Ghz Octa Core processors with four GB RAM. The S7 features a hybrid dual SIM slot, for the first time, which would support two SIM cards or a microSD card in the second slot. This option of expanding the memory feels quite restrictive as a dual SIM user will either have to stick to the 32 GB internal memory or have to find another device for the other SIM. There is also finger print scanner, which we found to be messy to set up.

Samsung has packed a 3,000 mAh battery and has introduced the Vulkan API for a better gaming experience. Priced at Rs 48,900, the Samsung Galaxy S7 falls in the higher price range, but you may feel it’s worth for the design and innovations.

Samsung has also launched the Galaxy S7 Edge for Rs 56,900. This comes with a 5.5-inch screen and a curved body. Most of its features are similar to the Galaxy S7.

Vivo Y51L: Need for speed This is the first major launch in 2016 from the Chinese brand. The Vivo Y51L is a five-inch dual SIM phone, with the custom Funtouch 2.5 OS sitting on top of Android Lollipop. The cameras are about average — 8 MP and 5 MP — and while the RAM is 2G, the storage of 16 GB can be expanded up to 128 GB with a micro SD card. Video recording, however is full HD 1080p. This one has friendly camera features which will allow us to tweak poor snaps into good photos, while taking selfies with simple gestures. Chats can be stored by capturing screenshots. Considering this is a 4G LTE-ready phone, the price of Rs 11,980 is very reasonable.

Canvas Fantabulet F666: Largest phone screen Another 0.2 inches and Micromax would have had to call this a tablet. But with a 720p HD IPS 6.98-inch screen, they can claim to make India’s largest smartphone or phablet. Fueled by a 1.3 GHz quad ship with 1 GB RAM and 16 GB of onboard storage, the Canvas Phantabulet F666 offers two SIM slots ( 3G + 3G), an 8 MP rear and 2MP front camera. Dual speakers belt out enough sound to support the video capabilities of the device, while the 3000mAh battery ensures you can see a three-hour movie with one charge. It retails for Rs 7,499.

What next Foldable phones A 7-inch device is a tablet. A 6.5 inch device is a phone. Both make and receive calls and connect to the Internet. Where can mobile phones go next Perhaps they can fold themselves. A few days ago details of a patent application made by Samsung to the US Patent Office in November last year became known. The patent, titled Foldable Device and Method of Controlling the Same, shows a design where the display is folded like a wallet. Another tentative Samsung design shows the display rolled up, to be pulled open before use. Is this the shape of phones to come that will offer larger screens without a larger package Organic Light Emitting Diode are inherently flexible —- and analysts predict Samsung may harness this technology to roll out a foldable phone by year end. It tested foldable and rollout displays even three years ago which you can check out in a YouTube video called 2014 Samsung Flexible OLED Display Phone and Tab Concept.