Until the Note 7 arrived, the Samsung S7 Edge was rightfully the most expensive device in Samsung's 2016 smartphone lineup. As a larger and more curved version of the standard Galaxy S7, the S7 Edge is much more attractive than its flat smaller brother and has a much larger battery, which gives the device more endurance.
Not worse than Note 7
Samsung S7 Edge, which remains commendable even after the release of Note 7 (it continues to be released), for many will be the best choice due to its relatively low cost and lack of a stylus. The smartphone has a lot in common with the Note 7, as they share the same processor, camera, and screen resolution. In addition, the Note 7's 5.7-inch display is only a few millimeters larger than that of the S7 Edge, which is unlikely to affect the experience of playing games or browsing downloads on iPlayer.
But the user is likely to notice the difference if they compare the S7 Edge with the regular S7, which only has a 5.1-inch diagonal display. Here, the screen magnification sets the distance between the models, so that the buyer feels the need to upgrade the flat phone.
Before delving into the device of a smartphone, it is worth mentioning that on September 7In 2016, the new iPhone 7 was announced - the main competitor of the model in question. In addition, the Samsung S7 Edge Plus is expected to appear, the characteristics of which are not yet known. Although it was previously reported that the company has excluded the model from its product line.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Specifications
What will surprise this smartphone? The device parameters are as follows:
- Chip - octa-core 2.3 GHz Exynos 8890.
- Screen size is 5.5 inches.
- Resolution - 2560 x 1440 pixels.
- Rear camera - 12 MP.
- Memory - 32 GB (24.8 GB).
- Supported standards - 3G, 4G.
- Weight - 157 g.
- Size - 151х73х7, 7 mm.
- OS - Android 6.0.
Design
The S7 solved a lot of problems that the entire S6 family had. True, there is still no removable battery, but the S7 Edge now has a micro-SD slot that allows you to expand the 32/64 GB of memory up to 200 GB, and also received IP68 dust and water protection, which makes it more flexible and practical. compared to all predecessors.
For some, that alone might be reason enough to upgrade to the next generation of Samsung smartphones, especially Galaxy S5 owners who deliberately shied away from upgrading due to lack of expandable storage. However, one thing that has definitely not improved on the S7 Edge is the sheer amount of fingerprints that the glass back cover collects. Dirt and grease are not the besttrappings for a flagship phone, and users often recall the S5's leatherette back panel with nostalgia. However, the device feels comfortable in the hand, as its curved edges and metal frame form a slightly stiffer, flatter edge than the regular S7 and offer decent grip despite being larger.
Bending for the sake of bending
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has the same amazing screen performance as the S7, but for the former, Samsung has made a number of software improvements. The edge panels, activated with a simple touch of a finger on a small translucent tab on the side, are wider, allowing them to accommodate more information and find more uses for them. The long-awaited app shortcut bar and quick access page are back, but now you can dedicate side screens to web bookmarks, compass, weather, S Planner and more.
A user favorite is the Tasks Edge app. Perhaps it was the answer to Apple's Force Touch technology. The program allows you to quickly access some phone functions, such as typing a text message or e-mail, viewing Internet bookmarks, creating a calendar event, taking a selfie, or speed dialing your favorite contacts. The My Places Edge screen replicates some of the elements of the HTC Sense 7 home bar. It contains the 3 most used apps that are tied to your current location. For example, ifthe user is at work, then S Planner or Google Docs is displayed, at home they will be replaced by Google Play Music, and in other places - Google Maps.
On the brink of expediency
These additions are handy, but given that two of the best side-screen apps have already been implemented somewhere before (and probably better), it's safe to assume that Samsung has a hard time using its sidebars. While there is no doubt that some of their features are very handy, most of the shortcuts can be easily replaced by adding additional widgets to the main panel. Side screens help reduce home clutter, but are not absolutely necessary.
The screen has other problems too. By bending it, Samsung has created GUI issues that aren't talked about much. And while the manufacturer's software is usually prudent enough not to place vital areas in the curved part, in other cases often the edges caused irritation and inconvenience: it is difficult to crop a photo that is curved at the edges, a strong light source causes unexpected reflections, it is inconvenient to use any an application where the user interface elements are located at the edge of the screen (for example, Gmail).
Samsung S7 Edge display specs
At least there is one thing you can be sure of. This is the quality of the S7 Edge display. 5.5-inch 2560x1440 pixel panel using Super AMOLED technology is the bestin your class. The screen covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut along with a perfect black level (0.00 cd/m2). Images look stunning on the S7 Edge, and its ultra-high contrast ratio captures plenty of detail. You can be sure that your photos and videos will always look great.
As usual, Super AMOLED displays are not as bright as their LCD counterparts, as evidenced by a peak brightness level of 361.01 cd/m2. However, as with the S7, there is a trick to boosting this in very bright sunlight in auto mode. In this case, peak brightness values reach 503 cd/m2. That's roughly on par with LCD smartphones, so Super AMOLED's achievement is pretty impressive considering the screen delivers rich, vibrant colors that can't be achieved with LCDs.
In this model, Samsung introduced an always-on feature that shows the time, date and battery status when the phone is in sleep mode. This is an incredibly useful feature, as often the only thing required of the phone is to show the current time. The battery does not consume much power, as the Super AMOLED only powers the pixels needed to display information, rather than using all the backlighting.
Performance
The specifications of the Samsung S7 Edge are equally unparalleled as its Exynos 8890 octa-core processor and 4GB RAMmove it straight to the top of the rankings.
It's interesting to note that the S7 series falls short of the Apple iPhone 6S when it comes to the single core test - the phone is 400 points worse than the 6S in this respect. But that only goes to show that it's slightly less efficient when it comes to low-level tasks. The S7 family has a multi-core performance advantage (6323) with the iPhone 6s only scoring 4417, but it's clear that Samsung's Exynos chip has room to grow despite being significantly faster than any other Android smartphone. True, this may change after testing the LG G5 with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset.
In the meantime, the Samsung S7 Edge's video-accelerated performance provides better performance than existing Snapdragon 810-based devices, as GFX Bench GL averages 37fps. This matches the S7, which is not surprising given the identical hardware.
Browsing the web is super fast. With a score of 1528 in Peacekeeper, the S7 Edge easily navigates complex web pages with fast and easy scrolling even while loading many photos and ads.
Battery life
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is a high performance smartphone. The battery performance of the device, however, is no less impressive. After setting the display brightness to 170cd/m2 and continuousIn a video playback test, the phone lasted an impressive 18 hours and 42 minutes, a full hour better than the S7.
The large 3600mAh battery should have lasted longer than the S7's 3000mAh batteries, but considering the large screen, it's worthy of praise. In any case, the smartphone can be used all day, if not two days in a row, in a gentle mode of operation.
Moreover, the Samsung S7 Edge has improved its fast charging performance as it takes just under two hours to go from 0 to 100% with a standard 5V 2.0A fast charger. The smartphone supports wireless charging standards Qi and PMA.
If you have a wireless charger, the S7 Edge can power all day, which changes everything. It's convenient, it just doesn't require attention. As long as the phone is on the charging pad, everything is fine.
Camera
A new 12 MP camera is located on the rear panel. It may seem like a step back from the S6's 16-megapixel sensor, but more megapixels doesn't always mean better image quality. In the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (32GB) camera, the specs have changed, with the size of a single pixel increased from 1.12µm in the S6 to 1.4µm, allowing everyone to receive more light and reduce noise in low light conditions. The aperture has been increased to f/1.7 to allow even more light into the sensor for better quality shots.
It's a risky move, but the S7 Edge lives up to expectations. When shooting outsideindoors, the smartphone allows you to take beautiful photos, high-contrast and bright, accurately reproducing colors. Some parts of the frame are a bit overexposed, especially in bright sunlight, but this is easily corrected thanks to the camera's exposure compensation slider. It appears when you touch the screen while focusing, but you can switch to HDR mode if you wish.
Less is more
Indoors, the camera takes even better pictures. The shots not only have a very high level of detail, they also lack visible noise even when shooting in low light, which is pretty impressive for a phone. However, if you compare the test shots with the photos on the S6, they look pretty much the same.
That's true, at least on the surface, but if you dig deeper into the shutter speed data, the S7 Edge allows you to shoot in low-light conditions with a shutter speed of 1/25 second instead of 1/15 second as in S6. This means that in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge SM-G935F, the camera features provide more reliability in low light conditions, as a faster shutter speed blurs images of moving objects less, which gives an overall advantage.
Virtual Reality
Another feature of the phone worth mentioning is that it fits perfectly with the new Gear VR headset. This is a relatively affordable way to immerse yourself in virtual reality, as you don't have to shell out for an expensive PC oranalogues of HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. The implementation is a bit rustic, but it handles a lot of entertainment applications like virtual roller coasters and even some shooters like Suicide Squad: Special Ops VR. And if you purchase the Gear 360, you can record your own VR video and view it with a VR headset.
The best you can buy
Currently, Samsung S7 and Samsung S7 Edge, which are among the best features among Android phones, except, of course, Samsung Galaxy Note 7, are out of competition. Since all three models are very similar in terms of performance, display, and camera quality, it begs the question, is it worth paying extra for the S7 Edge when the S7 is cheaper? Like last year, the curved edges look cute, and the big screen alone will be enough to convince some of the model's superiority, especially when you factor in better battery life.
However, side screen software is still not convincing. And the time it takes to swipe each edge doesn't make it any more practical than having all the information on one main display.
The right choice
According to users, the best option is S7. The Samsung S7 Edge phone is a big smartphone, but the S7 is more comfortable, the performance is the same and the battery life is also not short. As the reviews say,those who want to own the most beautiful phone that money can buy, the S7 Edge is the right choice, while the more practical users should go for its flatter sibling.
