Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: What's the difference?

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                                                                                                                                                                   Samsung announced its flagship Galaxy S6 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last year but that wasn't the only device to be unveiled on the stage. The South Korean company also revealed the Galaxy S6 edge.

One year on and once again, two handsets were announced at the Unpacked 2016 event, with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge taking centre stage, well, along with Mark Zuckerberg.

Here we are looking at the differences between the Galaxy S7 edge and the Galaxy S6 edge, based on the numbers. For those interested in how the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S6 differ, you can read our separate feature.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: Design

When Samsung launched the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, it brought an entirely overhauled design in comparison to its previous flagship smartphones so minor design changes were expected for the next generation.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge measures 142.1 x 70.1 x 7mm and weighs 132g. It has a metal frame with a tempered glass rear and it comes complete with a fingerprint sensor. The Galaxy S7 edge looks very similar, although the rear camera lens does sit more flush with the rest of the device in the new handset.

A fingerprint sensor is on board again and although there was no USB Type-Cfor faster charging and data transfer in sight, microSD has been reintroduced on the Galaxy S7.

The S7 edge is quite a bit larger than its predecessor measuring 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm. It is also a little heavier, hitting the scales at 157g.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: Display

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge features a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED dual-edge display with a Quad HD resolution. This is the feature that sets it apart from the Galaxy S6 and it is also the feature that helped this device grab headlines when it launched.

The Galaxy S7 edge of course also sports a dual-edge design but Samsung has bumped up the size to 5.5-inches. A Quad HD resolution remains, delivering a 534ppi pixel density, meaning while the S7 edge is larger than its predecessor, the S6 edge packs more pixels in per inch for a very slightly sharper result.

The Galaxy S7 edge also comes with an Always-On display like the Galaxy S7. The display means users will still be able to see various pieces of important information without the need to turn the main display on. According to Samsung, the Always On feature uses less than one per cent battery per hour but it can also be switched off if you don't want it. 

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge was heavily praised for its camera capabilities so expectations were high for the Galaxy S7 edge. The Galaxy S6 edge comes with a 16-megapixel rear camera, coupled with a 5-megapixel front camera.

The Galaxy S7 edge camera is all about low light performance rather than megapixels. There is a 12-megapixel rear camera sensor with larger 1.4um pixels in comparison to the 1.2um pixels found on the previous device.

The aperture has also been widened to f/1.7 from f./1.9 and Samsung has added what it calls Dual Pixels, which is a technology found on DSLRs, helping with the speed of the autofocus. The front-facing camera of the S7 edge is 5-megapixels like the S6 edge but again, the aperture is wider at f/1.7. 

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: Hardware

Samsung opted to step away from Qualcomm for its Galaxy S6 edge processor, putting an Exynos chip inside instead. The octa-core chip is supported by 3GB of RAM and 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of internal memory, with no microSD support. There is a 2800mAh battery.

The Galaxy S7 edge on the other hand, will be coming in two variants depending on the operator and region. A quad-core model and an octa-core model will arrive with the octa-core chip being the next generation Exynos 8Octa processor. It is this model that will be available in the UK and Europe, as well as some other regions.

The US gets a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset instead.

Both variants will be supported by 4GB of RAM, either 32GB or 64GB of internal memory and as we mentioned previously, microSD for storage expansion, which is a big bonus over the S6 edge.

A much bigger battery capacity is also on board the Galaxy S7 edge with 3600mAh under the hood. This should offer a big improvement on the Galaxy S6 edge but bear in mind the bigger display will eat some of it. Wireless charging is on board both the S6 edge and the S7 edge.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: Software

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge launched with the latest version of Android at the time, along with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface over the top. Android Marshmallow is currently not available on the Galaxy S6 edge but it will be coming soon.

The Galaxy S7 edge will launch with Marshmallow from the box. It will also offer TouchWiz over the top along with a couple of specific features including a new Games Launcher. You'll also find Samsung Knox security software and Samsung Pay on board the new smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S6 edge: Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge offers various improvements over its predecessor including an upgraded processor, camera enhancements and battery, as you might expect.

The design is similar to the S6 edge, but there have been some refinements and there is also an increased display size, differentiating it more from the flat-display S7.

All-in-all, as with any flagship update, there will be differences and changes from the previous model and the long and short of it is the Galaxy S7 edge is bigger and, in many respects, better than the Galaxy S6 edge.