New leaks about the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the appearance of the upcoming flagship HTC, the unusual design of Chinese devices and Samsung's patent for a 'camera phone' with a removable lens, as well as timid attempts of budget smartphones to get on the same step with the flagships …
What can be said about the absence of any significant leaks a couple of months before the announcement of the new flagship? In fact, about anything. Maybe the company is seriously concerned about security issues and to the last hide the details about the revolutionary new product. It is possible that in previous years, most of these leaks were directed by the manufacturer himself – such things also happen, and quite often. Such 'accidental' leaks help not only to stir up the interest of buyers in the new product, but also to unobtrusively get the opinion of the public about a new design or some kind of experimental function.
And even a minimum of interesting leaks may indicate that there is nothing special to 'leak' there. The new flagship will be just a slightly improved copy of last year's model, that's all.
To which case the situation with the Samsung Galaxy S7 should be attributed is not yet entirely clear. It seems that leaks about the flagship have been on the Internet with enviable consistency in recent weeks, but there is nothing to tell really about.
The Wall Street Journal has once again confirmed the presence in the flagship of the function a la ForceTouch. In addition, there are rumors of an iris scanner and camera specially adapted to work in low light conditions.
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In addition, it became known that this year there will be as many as four different flagship models. Anyway, @Evleaks hinted about it in his tweet.
Well isn't this interesting… pic.twitter.com/imbSzQslcH
– Evan Blass (@evleaks) December 11, 2015
In a pair to the 'classic' Galaxy S7, they will add a device with an increased display diagonal – Galaxy S7 Plus. In addition, these smartphones will have counterparts with a rounded display – SGS7 Edge and SGS7 Edge Plus.
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The discussion of the novelty was slightly revived by the latest Samsung patent, which deals with a smartphone with a removable camera module.
It turned out to be something between the Galaxy Camera and Sony QX lenses.
Although it is clear that the thing will turn out to be rather controversial and not particularly necessary for most buyers, I was unexpectedly interested in this concept. Perhaps, I could even really buy such a device – only if it enters the market (which is not nearly a fact), the price will clearly be astronomical.
Offtopic: metamorphosis
We talked about something similar in one of the issues of 'Offtopic'. The border between devices of different classes is gradually blurring, and soap dishes on Android practically do not differ from smartphones now. In theory, such 'hybrid' devices could indeed have a good future – but only if the price is right. By buying one device instead of two, the buyer should save his money, and not overpay at all.
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In any case, there is no chance that this patent has anything to do with the Galaxy S7. Even if such a smartphone comes out, it will become a separate model in the Galaxy line, and not a special version of the flagship. Moreover, one can more or less imagine the design of the SGS7 now, and there is no interchangeable lens even close.
Recently, a couple more were added to the previously published leaks, although one cannot vouch for their reliability.
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For those who find it difficult to imagine the flagship design based on photographs of individual components, the uswitch.com resource staff created a special video with a 3D model of the device. When working on the render, all leaks and photographs available at that time were taken into account.
Just in case, I will clarify once again that this is not a prototype of a smartphone, but just an amateur 3D model drawn on the basis of unconfirmed rumors.
What about the intended design? All in all – a typical Samsung device, nothing interesting. Although it is understandable – the emphasis on design will be in the Edge models, and the 'classic' SGS is increasingly turning from an uncompromising flagship into an 'above average' smartphone.
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The design of the flagship devices HTC will obviously not shine with variety either. In any case, if you believe the photos of the China Mobile portal.
