Samsung’s Galaxy S7 phone will go on sale on Friday March 11th, executives at its Irish launch said tonight.

The 5.1-inch handset, which adds waterproof capability and a brighter 12-megapixel camera, will be available from free on contract with operators or at €659 on prepay.

Speaking at the RDS launch of the phone, Samsung’s Irish manager, Gary Twohig, said that pre-orders for the device are three times the level of its last phone, the S6.

The device comes with 32GB or 64GB of storage together with 4GB of Ram, making it the most powerful handset on the market. It also has one of the most advanced screens available, with 577 pixels per inch.

Expand Close Samsung Galaxy S7 (Photo: Adrian Weckler) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Samsung Galaxy S7 (Photo: Adrian Weckler)

In addition to its onboard storage, there’s also an additional storage option in its 200GB memory card slot.

Its battery life has been extended, with a 3,000mAh battery included.

Expand Close Samsung Gear VR headset (Photo: Adrian Weckler) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Samsung Gear VR headset (Photo: Adrian Weckler)

The new phone’s screen now comes out to the very edge of the phone’s frame, making the phone smaller and sleeker than most phones with the same size screen.

Samsung has followed the lead of a handful of other phone manufacturers and reduced the number of megapixels its camera has in favour of ‘larger’ pixels. So the S7’s main rear camera has 12 megapixels instead of the S6’s 16 megapixels. (For comparison, the iPhone 6S has 12 similarly ‘large’ megapixels while Sony’s Xperia Xperia Z5 has 23 ‘regular’ megapixels.)

Expand Close Ryan Sheridan performing at Samsung S7 launch (Photo: Adrian Weckler) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ryan Sheridan performing at Samsung S7 launch (Photo: Adrian Weckler)

The lens sports an f1.7 aperture, which means it lets in more light than before and lets you create nice effects, such as shallow depths of field.

The lens now protrudes less from the back of the phone, while the ‘selfie’ front lens has five megapixels.

Samsung’s head of mobile in the UK and Ireland, Conor Pierce, said that the Gear VR virtual reality headset accessory would be a central selling point for the S7 phone. He also said that Samsung’s virtual reality camera, the Gear 360, would arrive in the Irish market by June.

The musician Ryan Sheridan played at the event, while JetPackMan, whose real name is Nick Macomber, flew into the RDS hall on a jet pack.

Online Editors