Event Coverage

Every phone revealed at MWC 2016

By James Lu - 26 Feb 2016

Samsung, LG

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

Samsung unveiled its latest flagship smartphones the evening before MWC. The new phones restore a couple of popular features dropped from the previous generation, including expandable storage space, and a water resistant design.

Like last year, two models were released, the S7 and the curved display S7 Edge. While the Galaxy S7 retains the same 5.1-inch screen size as the S6, the S7 Edge's display has grown from 5.1-inches to 5.5-inches. Both phones sport QHD 2,560 x 1,440 Super AMOLED displays.

Both phones now accept microSD cards, granting expandable storage up to 200GB. The phones also sport fully dust and water resistant builds, something we haven't seen since the S5. The waterproofing is better too - it's now IP68, which means the phones can be safely submerged in 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes. The waterproofing is internal, so there are no fiddly flaps to protect ports.

The most noticeable new feature this year is the always on display that shows notifications and the time without needing to wake the screen up. It remains to be seen whether this will have a big impact on battery life, but fortunately, both models also have larger capacity batteries this year anyway - 3,000mAh for the S7 and a whopping 3,600mAh for the S7 Edge.

On the rear of the phone, the big camera bump is gone, and the new rear camera is much flatter than last year's (although it's still not completely flush). Additionally, Samsung has improved the rear camera, giving it a wider aperture of f/1.7 (rather than f/1.9 lens on the S6). The new camera module also boasts larger pixels, which gives it better capabilities in low-light conditions.

The rear camera is also the first smartphone to feature "dual pixel autofocus". This means each pixel can be used to both record the image and determine focus rather than just one or the other. This enables the phone to lock focus to an object more quickly for stills, and deliver smoother focus tracking in video mode. This technology was first developed by Canon, and as previously only found on DSLRs. While the new camera looks much improved, one consequence of adding the new tech is that the megapixel count has shrunk from 16 to 12.

Inside, the phones will be powered by Samsung's latest Exynos 8890 processor (a variant with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor will also be available in certain regions).

The phones will be priced at S$998 for the Galaxy S7, and S$1,098 for the Galaxy S7 Edge. Customers who pre-order will receive a free Samsung Gear VR headset (worth $148).

Pre-orders for both phones will commence on 26th February at 10AM, with pre-order customers able to collect their handsets on Friday, 11th March. General sales will commence on Saturday, 12th March.

For an in-depth look at both phones, check out our hands-on here. 

You can also take a look at photos taken with the S7's camera here.

LG G5

The G5 is LG's most daring smartphone to date. The curved design and rear volume buttons of the G4 are gone but, in their place, LG has developed a unique modular Magic Slot that lets you replace the entire lower bezel of the phone with different units such as an add-on camera module with battery and a pro-class Hi-Fi DAC.

The G5 is also the first LG smartphone to boast a sleek full metal aluminum uni-body design (LG's V10 has a stainless steel frame). The 5.3-inch phone is fairly slim and light measuring just 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm and weighing 159g. The display is a Quad HD IPS Quantum panel with a 2,560 x 1,440 pixels resolution (554 ppi). Like Samsung's S7, the display has an always-on feature that displays the time and date even when the phone enters Sleep mode.

The smartphone's entire bottom bezel can be unlatched and replaced with different modules. LG showcased two modules at the unveiling event: the first is the LG CAM Plus, which resembles a camera grip and makes it easier for the user to handle the phone while shooting, and it also houses an extra 1,200 mAh battery. The sides of the module also have extra controls for the camera: there's a circular zoom jog for precise zooming, a 2-step shutter key, and a separate button for video recording. With this module's extra battery capacity, it brings the phone's total battery charge up from 2,800 to 4,000mAh - ideal for intensive shooting. 

The second module is the LG Hi-Fi Plus, developed in partnership with Bang & Olufsen. It offers 32-bit Hi-Fi DAC upsampling and lets the phone support 32-bit 384KHz high-definition audio playback. The module also doubles as a standalone Hi-Fi DAC, which can be connected to PCs or other smartphones as well.

On the rear, the G5 sports dual cameras - one with a standard 78-degree lens at 16-megapixels, and the other a wide angle 135-degree lens at 8-megapixels. The 135-degree wide angle lens has a viewing angle that's supposedly 15-degrees wider than the natural human field of vision, and LG claims that it is also approximately 1.7 times wider than those of existing smartphone cameras. The front camera is a 8-megapixel sensor.

Inside, the G5 is powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 820 processor. Local pricing and availability has not been announced yet.

For an in-depth look at the G5, check out our hands-on here. 

And here's a closer look at some of the other modules that will be available for the G5.

LG X Cam and X Screen

The G5 wasn't the only phone LG unveiled at MWC. The Korean company also introduced two new mid-range smartphones that each specialize in a specific area. First up, the LG X Cam, which takes one of the best features from the G5, the dual rear cameras, and puts it on a 5.2-inch plastic smartphone with a Full HD display. The phone is fairly compact, measuring 142.6 x 71.8 x 7.1 mm and weighs just 118g. Inside, the X Cam is powered by a 1.1GHz octa-core processor with 2GB of RAM, and comes with 16GB internal storage, with a microSD card slot for expandable storage.

While the X Cam has a similar rear camera setup to the G5, the actual camera modules aren't quite as good: you get 13- and 5-megapixel cameras instead of the 16/8 setup on the G5. Like the G5, the dual camera setup can be used to add some depth to your shots and both cameras have different fields of view too, so you can easily get a wider shot if required.

The X Screen is another mid-range phone, but instead of dual cameras, this one has dual screens - a smaller one above the main display - similar to LG's V10 smartphone. Above the X Screen's 4.93-inch HD display, there's an always-on 1.88-inch display that shows the time, as well as any missed notifications.

The X Screen is also slightly less powerful than the X Cam, making do with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. Like the X Cam, you also get 16GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot. On the rear, you'll find a single 13-megapixel camera. The front-facing camera is 8-megapixels.

Pricing and available on both the X Cam and X Screen has not been announced yet.

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