Snapdragon 820 Rumored To Be Exclusive To Samsung Until April 2016: Will Galaxy S7 Get A Head Start?

Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon 820 chipset is expected to be part of many Android devices earmarked for release in 2016. This chipset has already amassed impressive scores in benchmark tests. A new rumor however says, the S820 could be exclusive to Samsung for several months.

According to earlier rumors, Samsung will be utilizing both Exynos and Snapdragon 820 chipsets to power the Galaxy S7, depending on the region of release. Based on the new report from China, the South Korean tech giant will be given exclusivity to Snapdragon 820 until April 2016. If true, apart from Samsung handsets, no other OEMS will be releasing flagships in the first quarter of 2016 with this chipset on board.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S7 release date has been pegged for February 2016. Following this, the device will hit the store shelves in March. In case, the S820 exclusivity plan works out, Samsung will get a competitive advantage over other OEMs.

Accordign to GForGames, the alleged deal between Samsung and Qualcomm is not entirely surprising because the Snapdragon 820 chips are being manufactured by none other than Samsung itself using the efficient 14nm FinFET process.

Moreover, Samsung was apparently the first one to test the chipset in its lab to make sure the infamous overheating problems, seen in the Snapdragon 810 SoC, do not crop up. Readers should however note that both Samsung and Qualcomm have not confirmed this report yet.

Meanwhile, here is a quick summary of the rumored Galaxy S7 specifications. The handset will apparently house a 12-megapixel BRITECELL rear-facing camera, instead of the ISOCELL sensor seen in the predecessors.

GSM Arena said that the device will feature a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display, Quad HD resolution and Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Other key configurations include Hi-Fi audio, 3D Touch-related capabilities and Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.

Support for Cat. 12 LTE connectivity has also been tipped. If this turns out to be true, the Galaxy S7 owners should be able to receive up to 600 Mbps downlink speed.