Thanks to the success of its Galaxy S lineup, Samsung is now known as one of the premium smartphone manufacturers in the market. Given that, everybody is excited to see what the Korean electronics giant has in store for us this 2016 with its latest iteration of its flagship device – the upcoming Galaxy S7.

Over the last couple of weeks and months, the rumor mills have been hard at work spewing leak after leak about Samsung’s upcoming flagship and in the process giving everybody an insight as to what can be expected from the Galaxy S7.

For example, how many phones will have the Galaxy S7 name? What hardware will power the handset’s operation? What killer features will the device come with? What changes can we expect in terms of the upcoming flagship’s design and aesthetics?

Again, it’s hard to predict what the company has in store for us in advance, so we rounded up the best and most believable leaks and rumors about Samsung’s upcoming flagship – the Samsung Galaxy S7.

Hardware

Last year’s Galaxy S6 was powered solely by the Exynos chipset. This year, we expect Samsung to go back to its old habit with its plans of releasing the Galaxy S7 in both Exynos and Snapdragon-based configurations. Similar to how things were, the Snapdragon-based version of the handset will be released by US carriers, while the Exynos edition will hit the international market.

In terms of the chipsets, we expect the latest Exynos 8 Octa 8890 along with what is said to be the most popular SoC among flagships today, the Snapdragon 820. Both models have been burning through benchmark tests so regardless of which Galaxy S7 variant you get your hands on, you are assured to have a smartphone with more than enough processing power.

In terms of screen size, there were a lot rumors regarding curved-screen edge designs along with an alleged phablet-sized Plus version of the Galaxy S7. Latest leaks and rumors however have indicated that the upcoming Samsung flagship will have two main display configurations – a conventional flat-screen Galaxy S7 with a 5.1-inch display and a Galaxy S7 edge with a slightly larger 5.5-inch screen.

Other rumored specs include 4GB of RAM, possible quad HD resolution for the handset’s display, and 32GB and 64GB storage capacities. Additionally, the displays will allegedly feature an at-a-glance always-on mode that allows users to quickly access notifications without draining the battery too much.

The return of fan favourites

Last year, Samsung was criticized for some controversial decisions it made on the hardware of the galaxy S6. We saw last year’s flagship without a removable battery, microSD memory expansion, and waterproofing. This year’s Galaxy S7 may again not have a removable battery but at least, multiple sources have indicated that the handset will support microSD expansion and feature a waterproof construction.

In terms of battery life, Samsung may have learned its lesson that its flagship users are left wanting. Hence, the Korean electronics giant will allegedly outfit its upcoming flagship with larger battery packs. The Galaxy S7 will reportedly feature a 3,000 mAh battery while the Galaxy S7 edge allegedly will have a larger 3,600 mAh power pack.

The Aesthetics

If you happen to like the design and aesthetics of the Galaxy S6, then we have good news for you. Reports intimate that the design and aesthetics of the Galaxy S7 is not too far off from that of its predecessor and will retain curved edges, a slightly protruding rear camera bump, and speakers mounted at its bottom.

The even better news though is that while the overall look of the galaxy S7 may seem to be heavily inspired by its predecessor, there are some minor changes – changes that are for the better. Our sources say that the camera bump of the Galaxy S7 will significantly be less pronounced compared to its predecessor and a recent leaked image of the handset seems to back that up.

As for the Galaxy S7’s camera, Samsung is rumored to cut down on the raw megapixel count of its flagship’s camera. The handset will allegedly feature a lower resolution 12MP rear shooter but will have significantly improved light sensitivity for enhanced low-light performance. This is further supported by reports that the handset will have a larger f/1.7 aperture compared to the f/1.9 aperture of its predecessor.

We consider software equally important to a phone’s success as its hardware but there is little to go on in terms of what software package we can expect from the Galaxy S7. Several reports claim that Samsung is working on a low-lag, graceful, and easier to use version of TouchWiz but there isn’t much to confirm this.

As for release and availability date, we haven’t been able to nail down a specific date but March 11 has been mentioned quite a few times. A safe bet is that the upcoming Galaxy S7 will hit the shelves towards the middle of March. Regardless, it is safe to assume that whatever Samsung will unveil on its Unpacked event on February 21 will surely raise the bar yet again in the high-end category of the smartphone market.