Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are now available in the U.S.

Not a fan of those two-year carrier contracts? Samsung's got a fix for that: The company will soon start offering unlocked versions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in the U.S. 

The phones will be available through Samsung's online store as well as a number of other retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Sam's Club and Target.

If you go to Samsung's online store now, you won't find the S7/S7 Edge contract-free just yet, but Samsung assured us in a previous email the phones would become available shortly after 8 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Other than being contract-free, these devices are exactly the same as the ones you get from AT&T, Verizon and other carriers. One important detail is that they don't come with Samsung's pre-installed software, which can be a pretty big deal, depending on how much you detest bloatware. 

The hardware specs didn't change: You get a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel camera and 32GB of memory with both devices. Samsung also points out they work with the company's ecosystem of devices, such as Gear 360, Gear VR and other Samsung gizmos. 

As for the pricing, you'll have to dish out at least $669 for an unlocked Galaxy S7, and $769 for the cheapest Galaxy S7 Edge.

Samsung Galaxy S7 review, news, price, specs and features

The long-awaited Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge have finally arrived — and they’re everything we hoped they would be. Announced at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Samsung has again released two variants of the S7 — both similar at the core, but with a few subtle differences. Last year’s Samsung offering was a big one with theGalaxy S6 and S6 edge, and this time around Samsung has made its 2016 phones even better than ever before.

Last year with the GS6, Samsung dropped both the S6 proper and S6 edge at the same time, while the S6 edge+ came along a bit later. The design of the S6 was totally different from that of the previous years S5. Gone was the cheaper-looking plastic, here now was a solid glass and metal design.

This time around, Samsung has announced two variants of the S7, in two different sizes, right from the start. Both carry on with the metal and glass design of the GS6, with a few major updates. The S7 proper rings in at 5.1-inches, and the slightly larger — but otherwise quite the same — S7 edge at 5.5-inches. Both S7 variants are packed with features that include a microSD card slot, bigger battery, refreshed camera and even waterproofing.

Here's everything you need to know:

Samsung Galaxy S7 Review

It's not all that often we can recommend a phone without any real hesitation. The Galaxy S7 is one of those. Samsung has improved on most of our complaints from the Galaxy S6 era. Battery life is improved. Not great, but adequate. The overall design is better and less slippery, and it takes a case well without becoming too large. The display size hits that 5.1-inch sweet spot. The fingerprint feature is excellent.

And while we're a little back-and-forth on the camera, that's because Samsung is among the manufacturers that we tend to hold to a higher standard in that regard. The Galaxy S7 camera should, in any event, serve you just fine.