Galaxy S7 Rumors Take Aim at iPhone 6s

The new Samsung Galaxy S7 is still months away from being released, likely coming in the early months of 2016, but that hasn’t stopped the rumors from appearing at an increasing pace. We’ve heard plenty about the 2016 Galaxy S7 already, but new reports this week suggest Samsung’s already working on something to take on the iPhone 6s and its new 3D Touch Display.

Last month Apple announced the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Two smartphones that looked identical to last years model but received major overhauls in terms of specs. Everything from a new 12 megapixel camera, more powerful processor, and something called 3D Touch.

Read: How to Use 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s

With the iPhone 6s Apple “reinvented” multi-touch by adding 3D Touch to its phones. The display can feel the difference in pressure, allowing for previews before opening apps, and deeper (hard 3D presses) of the finger to quickly open apps, quick-launch the camera, and other fancy features. It’s one of the highlights of the iPhone 6s, but Apple might not be in that exclusive club for long.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 is just over six months old, but another model is clearly already in the works. In fact, early Samsung Galaxy S7 rumors started to surface before the new iPhone 6s was even announced, then a few weeks ago we even received a potential release date.

So far we’re hearing a lot about the Samsung Galaxy S7 already. Everything from another two-device launch with one 5.1-inch phone, and a bigger Galaxy S7 Edge with a 5.8-inch curved display, and much more.

Read: Galaxy S7 Release: 5 Things Rumors Suggest

However, where Samsung really needs to step things up, as we all expected, was in the touchscreen department to continue its long-standing fight with Apple. Most analysts and enthusiasts knew these rumors would emerge, and now they’re already here.

A detailed rumor from a reliable source at Weibo claims that Samsung is one of many companies working on something similar to Apple’s 3D Touch, although it’s called ClearForce. Essentially working exactly the same as the iPhone 6s by recognizing the pressure against the display on our smartphones. This will allow for light taps for certain things, and deeper presses to instantly launch apps, previews instead of opening apps or emails to save time, instant scrolling and much much more. Here’s a short preview of a few features Synaptics is working on for ClearForce and Samsung devices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=22&v=g9lcaL-UqIk

Samsung already does a lot of this with the S-Pen stylus and all of its features, like Airview, but most likely some sort of S-Touch or S-Force feature will debut with the new Galaxy S7, offering some similar functions and advanced controls as the iPhone 6s.

Many have called Apple’s new 3D Touch feature a gimmick, but countless reviews around the web seem to suggest otherwise. However, it’s worth noting that unlike multi-touch and other patents that Apple has sued Samsung for, the company doesn’t own the rights or technology to 3D Touch. Which is one more reason why we can expect it to arrive with the Galaxy S7 in early 2016.

That all aside, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is shaping up to be another excellent smartphone. According to recent reports Samsung looks to release it months earlier than previous years, similar to how the Galaxy Note 5 was released in August rather than October.

We’re hearing Samsung’s new Galaxy S7 will be announced and released in February of 2016, and come with some fancy new features. Some reports suggests there will again be two sizes, one being the regular Galaxy S7, and another being a 5.8-inch phone possible with a curved screen similar to the Galaxy S6 Edge+. Other details suggest an improved 8-core processor with 4-6GB of RAM, a new 20 megapixel camera, a better fingerprint scanner, Quick Charging 3.0 technology to recharge to 85% in 35 minutes, and much much more.

For now it’s far too early to remotely speculate what will arrive with the Galaxy S7. SamMobile has reported three different versions are in the works, or at least being tested, but we still have a long ways to go with plenty of changes likely to take place from now until a release in February of 2016. Expect more and more Galaxy S7 rumors to emerge as the holiday season nears and 2016 approaches.