Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
PROS
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Great camera in all conditions
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Stunning design
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Sharp, vibrant display
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CONS
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KEY
FEATURES
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WHAT IS THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 EDGE?
The curved screen is Samsung’s new
headline design trait, and it’s using it more and more frequently. The S7 Edge
is the best version of it yet, I haven’t spent enough time with the Galaxy Note 7 just yet, and it makes for an iconic
phone. It's more eye-catching than the regular Samsung Galaxy S7, too.
It doesn’t just impress in the looks
department though; this is an all-round stunner. It has the best optics,
crispest screen and even Samsung’s software has taken a step back. The sloping
display might make it harder to hold for some, but it’s never become an issue
for me.
It’s expensive, it’s always going to be,
but you’re getting a lot of phone for your money.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – DESIGN
Metal and glass build, curved display,
IP68 water resistant, available in black or gold
Design hasn't always been Samsung's strong
suit. Just two years ago, Samsung released the Galaxy S5. The handset was
the most powerful phone available at the time, but it wasn’t a looker. Last
year’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge signalled a much needed change for Samsung, and
the change is only more obvious with the S7 Edge.
The Galaxy S7 Edge is
downright gorgeous. In my eyes, it’s the best looking phone ever and makes
the iPhone 6S Plus look blocky, boring and dated.
On the surface, the S7 Edge looks just
like its predecessor. A metal rim is sandwiched between two slabs of Gorilla
Glass 4, with a lock switch on one side and separated volume keys on the other.
The back is almost completely clean, with a now flush camera sensor, heart rate
monitor and a Samsung logo.
Along the top is the repositioned
sim-tray, which now pops in a microSD slot too, plus a microphone. The bottom
houses the headphone jack (this should always be on the bottom, can other
manufacturers please take note), another microphone, a tiny and frankly
disappointing speaker, plus a microUSB port for charging.
Rumours suggested Samsung was going to
make the switch to the new, reversible USB–C connector that’s already being
used on the Nexus 6P, OnePlus 2 and LG G5, but it
hasn’t panned out that way. This isn’t really a bad thing, in fact USB–C is
more of a hindrance than a help at the minute. Especially as it means getting
rid of all those microUSB cables you’ve accumulated over the years.
The front is almost as clean as the back,
and features an elongated home button set under the display, plus another
Samsung logo – does it really need two?. Unlike the HTC One A9, the front
control is a physical button, not a capacitive pad. The front button houses the
Galaxy S7 Edge's fingerprint sensor, which is just as fast as all the others on
the market now.
Samsung has once again decided not to use
on-screen buttons, so glowing ‘back’ and ‘multitasking’ keys light up when
needed. Ditching virtual buttons gives you more screen space, but this phone
could be even more compact if Samsung went down that route.
Samsung's also redesigned the Galaxy S7
Edge's camera module. Unlike the S6's, the S7 Edge's module sits flat on the
phone's back. This might sound like a small change, but it makes a big
difference. I can now tap out a text with the phone flat on my desk without it
jumping and rocking from side to side.
But, the biggest change between the S6
Edge from last year and the Galaxy S7 Edge is the size. Instead of simply
keeping both the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge the same, with just the Edge sides to
differentiate them, Samsung has positioned the Edge as the ‘higher-end’ device,
pushing up the screen size from 5.1-inches to 5.5-inches.
When I first heard Samsung made this
changed, I was a little annoyed. There was something unique about having a
fully-powered phone with a screen that was on the small and compact side. It’s
a rarity these days. Pick up the S7 Edge though, and you might have to double
to check the spec-sheet, surely this phone doesn’t have the same size screen as
the iPhone 6S Plus?
Yet it does. Somehow Samsung has managed
to cram a large screen into the body of a much smaller phone. Next to the
iPhone 6S Plus, the S7 Edge is narrower, shorter and much lighter. I can even
use it comfortably in one hand, stretching my thumb from one corner to the
other without too much trouble.
There’s something else the size increase
helps too: those gorgeous, sloping curved edges. The Galaxy S7 Edge is the
fourth Samsung phone to use this design trait, but it’s the best implementation
I've seen yet.
The S6 Edge was difficult to hold for an
extended period, while the Galaxy S6 Edge+ was simply too big. The Galaxy
S7 Edge, though, is just right. There’s enough space between where the curved
screens stops and the back starts to grip, while the newly curved back –
reminiscent of the Galaxy Note 5 – slips nicely into my palms. In
short, it feels great to hold and it’s an impressive feat by the Samsung design
team that these slight changes have made such a big overall difference.
Just like the microSD slot, Samsung has
brought back another fan favourite from the Galaxy S5; an IP68 rating for
water-resistance. While this is by no means a vital feature, it’s admirable
that it has been added without any noticeable loss to the design. There are no
flaps covering the ports, no added thickness and no extra space between the
display and glass.
What does an IP68 rating mean? Well,
you’ll be able to dunk the Galaxy S7 Edge into one meter of water for up to 30
minutes without damaging the phone. Basically, you can use it in the rain
without issue and even watch some YouTube in the bath without worrying about an
accidental slip. Not that I did that, honest.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – SCREEN
5.5-inch quad-HD panel, dual curved edges
If the design of the S7 Edge is stunning,
then the same word can be used to describe the display. Not a whole lot has
changed from the outgoing flagships, but this still holds up as the best screen
on a smartphone for a number of reasons.
First up is the sheer amount of detail
here. Samsung didn’t try and go all-out with a 4K display, but really when
quad-HD (that’s 2560 x 1440) looks this good I don’t think there’s much of a
need for more pixels. Maybe it would help make VR even better with the Gear VR
headset, but that’ll probably come next year.
Everything from images to films to games
look beautiful, with pixels completely invisible to the naked eye. The 534ppi
(pixels per inch) density beats the iPhone 6S Plus and means the S7 Edge easily
outmuscles Apple’s phablet in the display department.
Samsung has stuck with its Super AMOLED tech
for the Galaxy S7 Edge and that’s not really a surprise. AMOLED screens are
much more vibrant than the LCD counterparts. Oversaturation isn’t as much of a
problem as it was on older Samsung phones, and personally I like a bit more
‘oomph’ to my colours. But for those that like a cooler look there are options
to tone things down.
AMOLED displays are also much better at
showing off blacks than LCDs. Instead of looking slightly grey, the blacks here
are inky deep. You’ll easily notice this when watching media and it’s hard
going back to an LCD afterwards.
Now, there are a few niggles I have with
the display on the Galaxy S7 Edge. There’s a really strong blue tinge on the
two edge sides, especially when viewing content with white background. In both
Twitter and Gmail I can pick this out and while it won’t come across in
pictures, it’s annoying.
Viewing angles also aren’t the best. But,
that’s really one of the sacrifices you get when you don’t use an IPS LCD
panel. Tilt the phone to an angle and the sides become bright white, but the
rest of it looks like it’s masked in a grey fog.
The new ‘Always-on Display’ mode, is also
cool but needs some work. The Always-on tech takes advantage of the fact AMOLED
screens don't need to light up the whole display all the time and can instead
select individual pixels to charge. This means the S7 Edge can still show the
time, date and a couple of bits of other information on the lock-screen when
the phone is off without eating through too much battery.
Samsung says having the ‘Always-on
display’ switched on will only use up an extra 1% of battery per hour and those
claims stand true during my testing. Samsung also says you should save battery
because you don’t unlock the phone as much with Always-on activated, but I
disagree with this.
Yes, the Always-on mode shows the time,
but it will only alert you to notifications from Samsung’s default apps like
Messages, Mail and Phone. Use WhatsApp? Or Gmail? Tough, these won’t show up.
I’d also like a bit more control over the
mode. You can’t alter the brightness, which causes some problems when you’re in
a darker room, and aside from choosing whether or not you want a calendar
showing, there isn’t much customisation allowed.
It’s a nice start and a feature that has
potential to be very useful, but it needs work.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – BATTERY LIFE
3,600 mAh battery, fast charging, Qi/PMA
wireless charging
The Galaxy S7 Edge packs a 3,600 mAh
battery that's much larger than the disappointing 2,600 mAh cell sat inside the
Galaxy S6 Edge and it performs so much better for it.
Battery life still isn't perfect though. The iPhone
6S Plus can go a few hours longer and the Moto X Force will last
an extra half a day, but even if you’re a heavy user you shouldn’t have to
reach for the charger until bedtime.
With moderate to high daily use the S7
Edge tends to leave me with around 25-35% battery life at the end of the day.
It drops much more suddenly during intensive tasks – 30 minutes of Hitman
Sniper took it down 15% – but it has exceptional standby time. Leaving it
unplugged overnight only ate through 2% thanks to Android Marshmallow's
excellent Doze feature.
A chart of the battery life over a day
One hour of Spotify streaming over a 4G
connection uses up 5% and an episode of House of Cards on Netflix 10%. They’re
both good, if far from amazing, results.
If you want to squeeze even more out of
the battery then there’s a few power saving modes to choose from. The regular
‘Power saving modes’ gives you about an extra hour, while the ‘Ultra power
saving mode’, which turns the whole device into something more akin to Nokia
3310 than a modern day superphone, doubles the time you can keep on going for.
There’s still no removable battery, but
the S7 Edge does benefit from adaptive fast charging. You can get up to four
hours of use from a 10-minute juice up and it’ll fully recharging in about 90
minutes. You’ll have to use the bundled cable and power block though, not just
any charger you have about the house. It is also compatible with wireless
chargers, both Qi and PMA standards.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – ANDROID 6.0.1 MARSHMALLOW, TOUCHWIZ AND SOFTWARE
Game Launcher, Microsoft Office Suite,
S-Health
Once a thorn in the side of the Galaxy
series, TouchWiz has slowly gotten cleaner, smoother and better. With the
Galaxy S7 Edge, the skin has finally reached the point where it’s no longer a
serious negative against the phone.
Granted, it’s not as sleek as
vanilla Android Marshmallow, but it’s starting to come mightily close.
There are fewer useless bundled apps, fewer ‘bleeps’ and ‘blops’ and fewer
childish icons. The theming engine from the S6 is still around, so you can do a
pretty good job of making Android look just the way Google intended.
TouchWhiz is much cleaner on the Galaxy S7
Edge
Most of Samsung’s default apps have been
cleaned up, to the point where they’re *gasp* attractive. The
Phone dialler has some nice animations, S-Health is very capable for tracking
how much you move and eat and even the once hideous S-Planner (basically a
calendar app) is surprisingly feature rich.
One really nice new addition to TouchWiz
is the Game Launcher. This is best described as a super-charged folder for your
games, with a few nifty added features. Aside from organising everything, it
lets you ‘go-all-Twitch’ and stream your latest round of Clash of Clans,
quickly save a screenshot of your latest highscore and pause notifications
while you’re in a game.
Game Launcher can also be completely
disabled, so if you don’t like the feature, it’s not forced upon you. Something
that probably wouldn’t have been included a few years ago.
Game Launcher has some handy features,
like recording your gameplay and locking the capacitive buttons
There are still quite a few apps that
you’ll wish could be removed. Microsoft’s suite of Office and Skype apps come
pre installed, and if you don’t plan on using them the best you can do is
disable them, which doesn’t delete them from the system memory. Plan on using
Chrome instead of Samsung’s default browser? You can’t even disable that so it
doesn’t show up.
Even though it has been severely stripped
back, TouchWiz is still one of the heavier Android skins. 7.14GB out of the
32GB of internal storage is already eaten up when you switch on the phone, add
to that the pre-installed apps and you’ve only about 20GB free to you to use.
Comparing a clean 32GB Nexus 6P with the S7 Edge, you've got an extra 1GB of
storage on the Google handset.
Marshmallow's adoptable storage has also
been disabled, which makes Touchwiz' hefty footprint all the more
annoying. Adoptable storage lets you combine the S7 Edge's internal
storage with a microSD card's. It’s great, and lets you use install all your
apps to the expandable storage.
Being fair, Samsung isn't the only company
to turn the feature off. LG has done the same thing with the LG G5,
claiming people wouldn’t be able to quickly change out and swap microSD cards
if it was enabled. You can still moves certain apps and your media to a card,
but it’s nowhere near as seamless as it should be.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – PERFORMANCE AND BENCHMARKS
Exynos 8890 CPU, Mali T880, 4GB RAM, 32GB
internal storage, water cooling
With the Galaxy S6, Samsung made a big
change. It switched from Qualcomm’s massively popular Snapdragon series to its
own Exynos chips.
This move proved to be a complete success
as the then Snapdragon flagship – the 810 – had a rocky start with bouts of
overheating woes. The Exynos 7420 soared to the top of our performance tables
by comparison.
For the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung has gone back
to Qualcomm in certain territories, but stuck with the latest Exynos 8890 in
others. My review unit is running the Exynos and it’s certainly a strong
performer.
Samsung’s latest high-end CPU consists of
eight-cores, four running at 2.6GHz and the other four at 1.59GHz. It’s paired
with a Mali T880 GPU.
During my time with the Galaxy S7 Edge the
performance has been exactly what I expect from a 2016 flagship phone. It’s
fast in general use, with all that power barely put to the test when you’re
knocking out emails, messages, browsing Chrome or even playing bouts of Candy
Crush or Monument Valley.
The 4GB RAM helps multitasking stay smooth
even with multiple apps open and I'm yet to find a game that lags even
slightly. Hitman Sniper, Lara Croft Go, Asphalt 8 and Real Racing 3 all play
with ease. But, to be completely honest, I would be very disappointed if the
Galaxy S7 Edge struggled with any of these tasks.
Yet, there’s still niggling little bits of
lag littered throughout TouchWiz. There’s an odd pause when opening up an app
and navigating through Samsung’s own often leads to lengthy loading times.
In our usual suite of benchmarking tests,
the Galaxy S7 Edge leaves the competition trailing in its wake. I’ll update
this once I have used all the Snapdragon 820 phones as that will give a better
comparison, but for the time being Samsung’s latest flagship sits atop the
pile.
It picks up a score of 6,669 in the
Geekbench multi-core test, putting it ahead of its closest rival, the Huawei
Mate 8, by about 300. The difference is much bigger when compared to a
Snapdragon 810 device like the Nexus 6P which has a score of 4,245.
There’s an even wider gulf when it comes
to AnTuTu. Here, the Galaxy S7 Edges scores 129,468 a big improvement over its
closest rival which again is the Huawei Mate 8 (92,746)
Samsung has added in a futuristic sounding
‘water-cooling element’ inside the S7 Edge to try and halt any accusations of
overheating. It seems to work, for the most part anyway. The phone does get hot
when installing lots of apps and when it’s fast charging, but aside from that
it manages to stay mostly cool.
Aside from the small niggles I mentioned
earlier, the Galaxy S7 is currently the fastest phone around. There’s enough
raw power here to handle pretty much everything Android is currently capable of
doing.
Call quality is excellent, on Three’s UK
network, and the microphones do a really good job shutting out any pesky
background noise.
The bottom facing speaker is less
successful. While competing phones like Google’s Nexus 6P and
Motorola’s Moto X Style have impressive, loud and great sounding
speakers, the ones on the Galaxy S7 Edge are tinny and distorted. They’re loud
enough though, which is something at least.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – SAMSUNG PAY, EDGE APPS, UPDAY AND GEAR VR
One major negative I still hold against
Samsung’s phone is that it doesn't yet have an Apple Pay rival set-up and
available in the UK. Samsung Pay is alive and kicking in the USA and South
Korea, and I am told it’ll hit the UK in 2016, but it would have been nice to
have it along with the launch of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
To make those ‘Edges’ – the curved portion
of the display – seem more than just something to lust over, Samsung has Edge
apps that aim to put the curves to use. They were limited last time around, but
they’re a little more useful here.
You can add favourite contacts, shortcuts
to apps and handy tools like a compass and a, erm, ruler. At £639, this is
easily the most expensive ruler you can buy.
Developers can now build extensions for
the Edge. Yahoo, for instance, has made one for quickly swiping in and checking
the news and to see if Leicester are still riding high at the top of the
Premier League. It’s more of a novelty than something you’ll actually use
everyday, but it’s nice to see Samsung is at least trying to do something
different here.
Finally, upday (I haven’t yet worked out
why it’s called that) is the replacement to the Flipboard Briefing screen that
used to sit on the screen left of your homepage. It’s a slick looking news
aggregator and rival to Apple News that’s easily accessible, but it’s highly
curated and you can’t add in any extra sources. Still, it can be turned off
completely and never touched.
If you’ve pre-ordered a Galaxy S7 or S7
Edge from Samsung or another supported retailer, you’ll also be getting a Gear
VR in the package too. This is Samsung’s entry-level virtual headset, but it’s
surprisingly full-featured and a great little freebie.
Stick your phone in the top – it also
works with older the older S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge+ – and you can play a
selection of VR games, watch videos and even stream Netflix.
Our full Gear VR review goes
into more depth about just how this handy accessory works, but it’s certainly
an impressive first taste of virtual reality.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – CAMERA
12MP Dual Pixel sensor, f/1.7 aperture,
LED flash, 5MP selfie sensor, OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation)
Megapixels no longer matter, there are
more important factors in making a great mobile camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge actually has
fewer megapixels (12-megapixels as opposed to 16) than the Galaxy S6, but
you wouldn’t think that looking at the results. While the actual amount of
pixels in the sensor is less, there’s a load of improvements here.
The biggest update is geared towards
improving low-light performance, something most phones really suffer with.
Samsung’s employing a new-fangled tech called Dual Pixels here, and it helps
the auto-focus work fantastically well. Instead of just one, each pixel in the
sensor has two ‘photobodies’ and this basically means the camera can focus much
quicker, and more accurately, than before.
Marketing speak is one thing, but it
actually lives up to the billing. This is the best autofocus I've ever seen on
a phone. It’s fast, almost instantaneous, and moving from one focus point to
another doesn’t stump the sensor and cause jarring like on so many competing
devices.
The other big improvement is low-light
performance. And again the changes make a big difference.
The aperture now sits at f.1/7, brighter
than before and this makes your night-time shots look less murky and much more
visible. There’s less graininess in the results too and you can pick out
details that you wouldn’t have been able to before.
I wouldn’t say there’s a huge improvement
in general daylight picture quality from the Galaxy S6 Edge to the S7 Edge, but
considering it was already one of the best cameras on any Android phone that
isn’t so much of an issue.
The detail here in the
flowers show the megapixel drop doesn't make a whole lot of difference.
The colours here are accurate and shows how well the sensor deals with macro shots
The colours here are accurate and shows how well the sensor deals with macro shots
While there are plenty of
options, settings and modes the camera app is still easy to navigate and far
from overwhelming. A ‘Pro’ mode lets you alter the focus points, ISO, white
balance and so on while the ‘Live Broadcast’ option lets you beam videos
straight to YouTube.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7
EDGE – THE COMPETITION
The Galaxy S7 Edge has a head start on the
rest of the 2016 flagship phones, being the first to come out this year.
The biggest Android competition comes from
the upcoming LG G5, which matches a lot of the specs from the S7 series
and adds in nifty modular system for switching out components. It lacks the
looks of the Galaxy S7 Edge, but it’s more in-line with the size of the smaller
S7 and should give the camera a good run for its money.
Costing £200 less, the Nexus 6P is my current pick for best Android
phone and even though it’s a few months old now it’s still an impressive
device. It’s the only phone to pick up a 5/5 score from TrustedReviews since
the original Moto G and offers a lot of phone for a smaller amount of money. It
can’t match up to the Galaxy S7 Edge in terms of raw power and features, but
it’s much lighter on the wallet.
And then there’s the iPhone 6S Plus.
You can pick up a 64GB version of Apple’s phablet for around £20 less than the
S7 Edge.
Apple’s app ecosystem is still much better
than Android’s and 3D Touch is coming along nicely, but its lacks any type of
water resistance and there’s certainly no expandable storage.
You should also take into consideration
the regular Galaxy S7. It's lighter on the wallet, £569 as
opposed to £639, and due it being slightly smaller it's more manageable if
you're not a fan of larger phones. It's not quite as striking, but it's still a
very good looking phone too.
Plus, there’s the iPhone 7, which will hopefully be landing in a few
months. HTC’s M10 (or simply HTC 10) could also be a strong
competitor but there’s still little confirmed about it yet.
SHOULD I BUY THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 EDGE?
If money is simply no object and you want
a phone that looks absolutely stunning, the Galaxy S7 Edge is the phone to
choose. It’s the culmination of Samsung’s impressive rise in the design stakes
and it brings back a lot of features that were annoyingly missed out of the S6
and S6 Edge.
The 5.5-inch display is sharp, if a tad
too reflective, and the camera’s improved low-light performance and best in the
business autofocus puts it right at the top of the pile. It’s a combination of
high-end components that all fit together perfectly and unlike the S6, there’s
little by way of compromise here.
Yes, the battery might not quite match
some of the competition and even though TouchWiz has been stripped back it, it
still seems to bog down performance on some occasions. These are only minor
niggles, though.
Apple, you better have something
impressive up your sleeve with the iPhone 7.
VERDICT
Best in class camera, design and
performance make the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge the Android phone to beat in 2016.
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