Last week, images of the Galaxy C7 Pro, Samsung new premium upper-mid-range handset, leaked online. Those pics proved to be accurate, as the company has since officially revealed the new device.
The Galaxy C7 Pro"s key specs include:
- 5.7-inch Super AMOLED with Full HD (1920x1080px) resolution
- Octa-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC with Adreno 506 graphics
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB onboard storage (50.9GB available to user) plus microSD card support up to 256GB
- 16MP rear camera with f/1.9 aperture, LED flash, autofocus, and 1080p video capture at 30fps
- 16MP front-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture
- 4G LTE connectivity
- Dual SIM support
- 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 4.2
- NFC, including Samsung Pay support
- USB 2.0 port with Type-C connector
- Accelerometer, gyroscopic sensor, magnetic sensor, proximity sensor and RGB light sensor
- Fingerprint reader
- 3,300mAh battery
- 156.5 x 77.2 x 7mm; 172g
As you can see from those specs, and from Samsung"s images, the Galaxy C7 Pro is remarkably slim and comes with metallic bodywork. It will be offered in three colors - gold/white, rose gold/white, and blue/black - but despite its sleek design, the device also includes a "liquid cooling system". As Samsung explained (roughly translated from its Chinese website):
High performance means that the CPU runs at high power and high temperature. For this reason, at the same time as ensuring slim design, we also sought more effective device temperature control solutions. The Galaxy C7 Pro optimizes energy consumption of the processor, introducing better thermal efficiency through its heat pipe cooling system. Compared with the traditional temperatures of graphite cooling, a heat pipe cooling system - through the directional flow of liquid, and like a heat-absorbing, efficient radiator - is like giving your enthusiast computer an efficient water cooling radiator.
Samsung"s brand has become synonymous with overheating devices in recent months after the problems suffered by its exploding Galaxy Note7 handsets before their eventual global recall. But while Samsung hasn"t yet officially detailed the findings of its investigation into those issues with its fiery flagship, it"s widely believed that the problems were related specifically to the design of its battery, rather than the cooling of its Snapdragon 820 chipset.
Pre-orders will open for the new Galaxy C7 Pro in China shortly, although it"s not yet clear how much it will cost, or if it will be made available in other markets.
Unfortunately, the device will launch with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow onboard, despite Android 7.0 Nougat having been available for almost five months, and the newer Android 7.1.1 update having been released in December. Samsung only began rolling out its Android 7.0 update to its first two handsets this month.