Samsung rumored to have a Galaxy S7 Mini in the works

It’s that time of year when smartphones are getting manufactured left and right and announcements of said smartphones are landing left and right. Samsung announced the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge at MWC on Sunday, February 21st, with a worldwide release as of last Friday (one week ago tomorrow), but sources say Samsung may emerge with a “mini” version of its latest flagship.

The device, called the Galaxy S7 Mini for now, would feature all that users have come to love about the Galaxy S7 but with a smaller display size (4.6 inches instead of the S7’s 5.1-inch display). The Galaxy S7 Mini would feature both the Snapdragon 820 processor and Samsung’s homegrown Exynos 8890 processor — but which smartphones get which processor is based on region and Samsung’s own preferences and financial decisions. There is no word about the camera and so on, but most of these specs found in the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will be brought to the handset, it’s assumed.

The Galaxy S7 Mini is said to have an HD (720p display), 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM instead of the 4GB of RAM found in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, alongside of the usual AMOLED display, cameras, and fingerprint sensor (that we’re sure will make it to the device). The Galaxy S7 Mini should also receive Samsung Pay integration as well, since Samsung is keen on bringing its mobile payment system to more budget-friendly devices in order to push it forward globally in the face of Apple Pay and Android Pay, Apple and Google’s own mobile payment approaches, respectively.

The Galaxy S7 Mini, if it lands, may arrive as early as late Spring/early summer, but likely before Samsung decides to announce the Galaxy S7 Active (its most water and dust-resistant, military standard version of the Galaxy S7). Samsung isn’t doing this to copy Apple (though some seem to think that is the case), but the company may indeed be doing this to stay true to its tradition: Samsung has released a Galaxy S5 Mini prior to now, though it didn’t release a Galaxy S6 Mini. Form factor isn’t everything, and if the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7 has the same specs and features as the Galaxy S7 Mini will have (with a smaller screen), we think users should just purchase the original Galaxy S7 and not wait so long for a “Mini” version. What often happens, though, is that Apple will bring something back that many clamor for, leading Samsung to want to cater to the same customer base. We’ll see if the Galaxy S7 Mini arrives, but for now, take everything with a grain of salt.

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