In India, especially in the smartphone market, Android smartphones priced below Rs 10,000 are now dominating. Companies are offering these smartphones with metal body and great features just like flagship smartphones. Samsung is also not untouched by this.
Now Samsung is facing a new challenge with the new flagship smartphones Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Will Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge be as successful as their previous generation? After spending a lot of money, is Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge worth buying? Today we will review these two new flagship smartphones of Samsung.
Look and design
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and the curved Galaxy S7 Edge have a slightly different design from the previous Galaxy S6 series. Galaxy S6 Edge+ users might be a bit disappointed as the S7 Edge has completely replaced the S6 Edge. The S7 Edge is definitely comfortable to use. The biggest problem with the phone is its extremely smooth glass and metal edges which makes it a constant fear of dropping the phone when you hold it in your hand.
Apart from this, Galaxy S7 fits perfectly in the hand. The curved rear and flat edges give more control over the phone.
Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to choosing between a flat and curved display. After spending some time with the Galaxy S7 Edge, there is one issue that we notice when we use the S7. Just like the S6 Edge, we find that the curved glass reflects when held from any side, which makes it difficult to focus on content.
The difference between the displays of both the smartphones is more than just the design and size. In our review unit, we found the Galaxy S7 to be darker and crisper while the S7 Edge lacks much contrast and gives off a slightly yellow colour tone. Both smartphones have attractive screens and both give the feel of a flagship device display.
Both Galaxy S7 smartphones are almost identical. Both phones have a physical home button with a fingerprint sensor below the screen, capacitive back and recent buttons, a power button on the right and volume buttons on the left. The physical home button on the S7 Edge is a bit thin but there is no problem in using it.
Samsung has not provided USB Type-C support in its flagship smartphone, while other companies are using this feature extensively in their smartphones. Both Galaxy S7 have a 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom, a micro-USB port on the left and a small speaker grill on the right. The phone has a hybrid SIM tray on the top, which allows the user to choose between two SIMs at the same time or one SIM and one microSD card. But the S7 is one step ahead of the Galaxy S6 series, in the Galaxy S6 the user did not have the option to increase storage, while in the S7 they can do so.
Another special feature of the SIM tray given in the phone is the rubber flange provided for protection. Both the phones have received IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
Along with the camera on the rear, both phones have a flash and a heart rate sensor. At the bottom is Samsung’s shiny silver Samsung logo. We got the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge review units in Black Onyx colour variant which is actually a bit grey. The S7 smartphones are also available in Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium colour variants.
The phone looks sturdy, although it can get dents if dropped. Although the phone fits easily in the pocket, scratches were seen on both the buttons of the phone during one night of use.
Specification
Apart from the screen size and battery capacity, both these Galaxy S7 smartphones have many similar features. Galaxy S7 has a 5.1 inch screen while S7 Edge has a 5.5 inch screen. Both have Super AMOLED display and 1440×2560 pixel resolution. Galaxy S7 has a 3000 mAh battery and Galaxy S7 Edge has a 3600 mAh battery.
Samsung has launched its new smartphone in India with Samsung’s own Exynos 8890 processor and in some other countries this phone comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. The phone has 4 GB RAM and 32 or 64 GB fixed storage (64 GB variants of both phones are not available in India at present). Storage can be increased up to 200 GB with the help of microSD card and USB-OTG is also available in the phone.
Apart from this, the phone has features like Wi-Fi B/G/N/AC, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, NT+ and GPS. But due to the removal of infrared feature in the phone, you will not get the experience of handy remote control in S7 like in S7. Samsung has given a completely new camera system in both the phones. There is a 12 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. Even though the camera has less megapixels, Samsung promises that with large pixels from the camera, good quality pictures can be taken in more light, good autofocus speed and even in dark light.
Software
The phone’s homescreen is a bit cluttered, but you do have the option to get rid of Samsung’s promotional “Galaxy Essentials” widget to download themes and apps. Interestingly, you can switch to a single-layer UI. If you don’t like the phone’s default icons and wallpapers, you can also download free and paid themes from the Theme Store.
We like Samsung’s Always On Display feature. This feature takes us back to the days of Nokia’s S60 screensaver phone. Battery consumption is low due to AMOLED screen technology. With this feature, you can easily check the time, battery status and notifications even when the phone is in standby.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has some unique touch features like you can choose a specific color for some contacts, you can easily see the clock while lying down. What attracts the most attention is its Edge panel.
Most Samsung Galaxy phones have a split-screen view. While it works with pre-installed apps, the S7 series also has enough screen space to allow you to use two apps simultaneously. For this, you have to long tap the recents button or go to the app switcher and make the controls visible on the thumbnail.
Samsung has pre-installed some of its own apps along with other apps from Microsoft, Facebook and Google. Microsoft Word is on the home screen but Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote are in a folder called Microsoft. Skype is also in this folder but WhatsApp and Instagram are in another folder called ‘Social’. Many pre-loaded apps cannot be uninstalled but can be turned off.
Similar to Apple’s Aurora Watch app, Samsung has also provided Gear Watch Manager along with S Health and S Voice.
Another app, My Galaxy, offers shopping offers and also lets users avail Samsung’s concierge service in India. It lets you book a service center appointment, schedule pickup and drop times, and chat with tech support. When we tried to book an appointment, it was done easily but we didn’t see any way to cancel it. Also, we didn’t find any agents for live chat. But it’s possible that these features will be rolled out once the phone reaches the general public in India.
Camera
The hardware and material quality of the flagship smartphones launched last year are easily available in mid-range smartphones today. But the best feature in expensive smartphones is their camera. We have no doubt about the camera of Samsung Galaxy S7 as per Samsung’s promise. The cameras of Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series have impressed everyone so far.
Samsung’s camera app is simple but has a lot of features and controls. Motion photo is a special feature similar to Apple’s live photo. With this, a video of a few seconds is saved as soon as the shutter button is pressed. One of the most useful features in both these phones is that while using any app, you can open the camera app directly by double tapping the home button or by jumping to the lockscreen.
The phone has a total of 10 modes including the Pro mode. The photos we took with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge looked great. There is no difference between the cameras of these two phones in terms of quality and capability. The phones give detailed photos. Photos taken with distant backgrounds also look good.
Both phones take good pictures even in low light. Even pictures taken in streetlights in the dark of night looked detailed.
Both these phones of Galaxy S7 series can record 4K video from their rear camera and 1440p video from their front camera which is fine. The video quality is also good and we have no complaints about it.
Performance
We really liked the performance of both Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. However, S7 Edge is much more beautiful and attractive than S7. Even though it is a bit bigger and wider, you can easily read full page text on the screen.
From games to every app, everything works on the phone without any problem. We were able to watch heavy video files on these phones with ease. The speakers of both the phones work well. Apart from charging, the phone never heats up. According to Samsung, it is normal for the phone to heat up so much. There is also an option to disable fast charging in the phone.
Our Samsung Galaxy S7 had issues with 4G networks indoors. However, the S7 Edge did not have any such issues.
Talking about the battery life of the phone, the battery of S7 Edge lasted for 17 hours and 49 minutes in the video loop test, while the battery of Galaxy S7 lasted for 16 hours and 26 minutes. On the other hand, on normal use like 4G and games, videos, the phone lasts for almost a whole day without charging. The quick charge technology works well in the phone.
The benchmark numbers for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are simply amazing. We have never seen numbers at this level before.
Our verdict
These smartphones of the Galaxy S7 series are much better and have everything better than the Galaxy S6 series. If money is not a problem for you then both these smartphones are a great option. You will definitely be able to impress your friends with the pictures taken at night or in dark light. Apart from this, you also have health monitoring and concierge service to show off.
When it comes to choosing one of these two phones and screen size and curved screen does not matter to you, then you will get more thrill and satisfaction in S7.
#Samsung #Galaxy #Galaxy #Edge #Review