Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Review

April 05, 2016 Android News Reviews Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S7 comes with a significant different from last year’s edge. The camera has been revamped, the Always On feature is added to the display, and a lot of other features have been added. 

Overview of the smartphone 

The battery on the Galaxy S7 is 3,600 mAh, which comes with fast and wireless charging. The Chipset on the S7 edge is is Snapdragon 820/Exynos 8890, a 4GB of RAM, 32GB storage, expandable with a microSD. The Camera on the Galaxy S7 edge is 12 MP Dual pixel and aperture lens of f/1.7, 2160p video capture and a 5 MP selfie camera. The S7 edge features a 5.5-inch curved Super AMOLED display and 2,560 x 1,440px.  The new flagship also features a Fingerprint reader, metal and glass body, and IP68 water resistance.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge release date 

Although the Galaxy S7 edge has been on pre order since its announced in February this year, it is officially on sale from March 12 The smartphone will be available in different color variants: gold, black, and silver. Each of these will come with 32GB. Also available in Dual Sim version. According to reports, the Exynos version will be available to UK and Europe while the Snapdragon version will be available in other markets

Build quality and design 

One of the places where there is a significant difference between the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge is the display. The Galaxy S7 has a 5.1-inch display while the Galaxy S7 edge has a 5.5-inch display. Even though the S7 is bigger in display, it is compact. 

galaxy S7 edge

Unlike the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge+, the S7 comes in a more beautiful design. The camera protrusion on the back is reduced, it offers an excellent grip and is compact. 

A tough glass covers the back and front of the Galaxy S7 edge and a process called 3D thermo-formed, unique only to the manufacturer. Unlike the last year’s edge, the camera on this new flagship is closer to the body of the smartphone i.e. the protrusion is minimal. The smartphone has a bigger pixel density than the previous model, picking up 56% more light under low light situation than the S6 edge+. So far, the camera on this smartphone is not comparable to what we have seen in previous models. With all these design, you have a better protection against cracks that could result from drops. Although this cannot be compared, to what you can get from the Moto X Force. 

Galaxy s7 edge back

Moreover, the metal edges on the sides of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is narrow and is well pronounced in the overall design of the phone. This design element gives the S7 edge a clear visual difference from the iPhone. 

At the top of the smartphone, the microSD slot and nano SIM card slot are located. A tray will become visible when you open it and it is here that you can place both cards. As for the expansion of the storage memory, it could be up to 200 GB with the microSD.  

The new flagship also has the micro USB port and the headphone jack as well as the speaker. This design element has been retained from the S6 edge+. However, it seems that the speaker on this device is not as much as what tech savvy users are expecting. As a smartphone with such a big display, it should obviously have a better speaker to complement the high quality display. 

As for stereo audio, you may need to get headphones. Although this does not mean that the stereo audio does not work or that it is not effective, it simply should be your choice to use a headphone if you intend to use it a lot outside the precinct of your house. If however, you intend to be using it at home, you may settle for the phones loudspeaker. 

Galaxy S7 audio

Just like the previous models, you can access the Fingerprint reader from the home button. This configuration makes the access to this feature faster and it is equally effective. On the plus side, the Galaxy S7 is IP68 certified for water and dust. This is a big feature for those who like to use their smartphone under water as this will allow you to go spend up to 30 minutes at 1.5m depth of water. 

One thing that you need to be aware of is that the Fingerprint scanner will not work if your hand and the phone is wet. Even if you are at home in the kitchen and your hand is wet, you may not be able to unlock your smartphone. 

As far as the design is concerned, this year’s model is a lot better than last year. This is because there is a significant difference between the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in the screen size. If it had not been so, there would not have been much difference between them. 

Display 

The 5.5-inch display of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge put it above the S7 and S6 smartphones. The display spots an Always On features, which takes away 1% battery charge/hour. One feature that makes it unique to other models in the series is the curved lateral edges. It has one of the best color saturation on any device with an AMOLED display. Viewing angles are also good on this new flagship because you can easily see clearly objects on the phone’s display when you are viewing at an angle of 80-85 degrees. 

s7 edge display

When it comes to everyday use, there is not going to be much to be desired in quality from the display of the Galaxy S7. 

Software 

The Galaxy S7 comes with the latest Android software, Marshmallow 6.0, preinstalled. However, the TouchWiz is still similar to what is obtained from other models like the Note 5 and last year’s dual-edge smartphones. The Samsung skin, however, is more improved in this model with many features optimized. 

Performance 

This smartphone is powered by the Exynos 8890 process and the CPU has 8 cores with first four running at a max speed of 2.8 GHz and the other running at 1.6 GHz. According to the manufacturer, the CPU and GPU performance are much better than what you can get with the Galaxy S6. 

s7 edge

 

Conclusion 

This smartphone is a significant improvement over its predecessor. The design, software, camera, and battery capacity have been overhauled. And as you can expect, the performance is then much better. 

Samsung has managed to build one of the best smartphones that can effectively compete with the iPhone in term of design, power, material, and performance. Not only is it beautiful, but also comes with lots of features to be enjoyed.