Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The best smartphone in the world right now
The screen is larger, yet somehow the phone doesn't feel too much
bigger in the hand. The rear of the phone is now curved too, making it
sit nicely in the hand. It's waterproof. There's a microSD card slot.
There's so much power in there I'm pretty sure I could strap it on the
back of a speedboat and make my way across the Atlantic.
And that's even more possible because the battery – such a
disappointment on last year's S6 phones – is boosted massively too,
giving us a handset that's able to last over 24 hours between charges.
All
this comes at a cost obviously, and a pretty hefty one. In the UK that
cost is £640, while in the US you're looking at a huge $299 on a
two-year contract, or the new unlocked price of $769. In Australia, the
Galaxy S7 Edge attracts the highest price for a Galaxy yet: AU$1,249 for
the 32GB version.
Design
The Galaxy S7 Edge is a phone that lives and dies by its looks. If
you're only interested in the power then just go for the standard Galaxy
S7. The smaller, 'normal', model has got all the same smarts, but a
slightly sharper screen thanks to packing the same amount of pixels into
a smaller area
What it misses is the clever elements that Samsung's used on the
Edge. The display curves further away into the sides of the phone than
ever before, which means that even though you've got a phablet-sized
display, the phone is as compact as possible.
Place it side by side with the iPhone 6S Plus
and you'll see what I mean. The amount of bezel used above and below
the display on Apple's phone is almost laughable, especially when you
compare it to how tightly packed everything is on the S7 Edge – and the
Samsung has a much, much larger battery.
The S7 Edge is shorter
and narrower (150.9 x 72.6mm) than the 6S Plus (158.2 x 77.9mm), even
though both devices have the same 5.5-inch screen size. The iPhone is
however, a hair thinner at 7.3mm versus the Samsung's 7.7mm girth.
It's also very similar in size to the LG G5 (149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm), which again sports a 5.5-inch display - with the Android manufacturers really sticking it to Apple.
One of my favorite parts of the design upgrade on the S7 Edge comes
on the rear. A process called 3D Thermo Forming – which sounds like it's
been named by a sentient marketing machine – enables the brand to curve
the rear of the phone into a single metal rim that runs all around the
edge.
It's a feature that was used last year on the Note 5 (and is also used by brands like Xiaomi) to really help the phone slip into your palm and remove any sharp metallic edges.
Combine
that with the same curve on the front of the device and you can see why
it feels so smooth in the hand, almost pebble-esque in the way you can
roll it around in your palm.
Intriguingly, this has left some
people with the impression that it's not quite got the same premium feel
as previous Samsung phones. By having less metal to grasp on to you're
touching the Gorilla Glass 4 covering, which can feel a little like
plastic due to its lightweight (but still very strong) construction.
That back does have one issue though: it's a fingerprint fairground, a veritable carnival for any crime scene investigators looking to nab you for some dirty villainy.
So many phones have that criticism thrown at them, but it's particularly true for Samsung's new curved phone. It's easy enough to wipe the sticky offenders off, but it's annoying to have to do it time and again.
The camera protrusion on the rear has been reduced to just 0.42mm, which means it's barely noticeable when you're placing the phone down, while still being strong enough to help protect the lens.
And then you remember something else: this phone, with its elegant rim and clean lines, and complete with exposed ports, is waterproof.
No, sorry, water-RESISTANT, as it's IP68 rated. That means it's still
able to work after being dunked in fresh water for 30 minutes up to a
depth of 1.5 metres, so you'll be able to use it happily in the bath, or
beside the shallow end of the swimming pool, and not worry about
dropping it.
It's less of a 'let's take our phone scuba diving to
get some amazing pictures' feature, and more of a safety feature – and
the phone will even refuse to charge if the port is too wet, such is its
ability to manage moisture.
Sadly, you're still left with a
single speaker firing out the bottom of the Galaxy S7 Edge, which
doesn't really have the most premium of sound; however, it's
serviceable, and noticeably louder than other mono speakers I've used.
Overall,
I can't speak highly enough of the S7 Edge's design. It feels amazing
in the hand, and Samsung has managed to bring enough upgrades to make
this look and feel like a completely different phone; and most people
trying it for the first time will – even if they're not a fan – be able
to appreciate something different in a world filled with black,
rectangular slabs.
Screen
The display, while technically part of the Galaxy S7 Edge's design, is worthy of chatting about in its own right – simply because it looks so great.It's the defining feature when you pull this phone out among friends, and while it doesn't elicit the same response that the S6 Edge's display did last year (like I said, curved displays are nothing new these days), it still gets a lot of approving looks, especially as it's combined with the rounded back.
The QHD resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 still looks as good as anything I've seen on a smartphone. Despite being stretched a little from last year, the 5.5-inch size still looks absolutely pin-sharp, and it's very hard to see any artefacts lying around on the screen.
It's amazing to think that, two years after LG brought out the first
mainstream QHD phone, we still don't have any dedicated content that can
be viewed at this resolution. Despite that, however, I don't feel like
the Galaxy S7 Edge really suffers, as that display makes viewing web
pages and photos a really great experience.
The S7 Edge uses Super
AMOLED technology, which Samsung's been chucking out for close to a
decade now, and it really works well to make the phone look premium and
the colors really pop.
The contrast ratio – the difference
between the whitest whites and the blackest blacks – is still pretty
sensational, which is because when they're not in use, the pixels are
turned off; with something like the iPhone 6S or the LG G5
you've got a display that just blocks out the backlight when the pixel
is showing a black image, so there can be a small amount of light
bleed-through.
The Galaxy S7 Edge screen also has the added
benefit of the side display, which is accessed by swiping your thumb
along from the right- or left-hand side of the phone's screen (you can
specify which in the settings)
.
Where this was a nonsense, useless feature in years gone by, the side
display has a much more defined role on the Galaxy S7 Edge. You can
easily get access to news, regular contacts, tools (the ruler, for
digi-measuring is back – GET IN) and other elements that are currently
in development.
Check out the Specs and Performance section of
this review to hear a little bit more about this feature – or skip it
entirely if you're bored of hearing me witter on about a piece of the
display you can swipe.
One of my favorite parts of the design upgrade on the S7 Edge comes on the rear. A process called 3D Thermo Forming – which sounds like it's been named by a sentient marketing machine – enables the brand to curve the rear of the phone into a single metal rim that runs all around the edge.
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