Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
Design.
Camera.
Interesting moments in life do not only happen in bright daylight. Now you can take photos without worrying about lighting or lack thereof. It doesn't matter whether it's performing tricks on a skateboard or blowing out...
The device works with Nano-SIM cards from all GSM operators.
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
By pushing boundaries and taking bold steps, we have achieved new levels of progress. Listening to your feedback. Combining sophisticated design and outstanding functionality. We present to your attention the possibilities...
The device works with Nano-SIM cards from all GSM operators.
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
By pushing boundaries and taking bold steps, we have achieved new levels of progress. Listening to your feedback. Combining sophisticated design and outstanding functionality. We present to your attention features that were not previously available in smartphones, but which soon you will no longer be able to do without.
Design.
We made no compromises when developing the design of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. As a result, all the benefits of the latest technology are contained in an elegant and ergonomic design. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge smartphones look great, fit perfectly in the hand and bring joy to their owner.
Camera.
Interesting moments in life do not only happen in bright daylight. Now you can take photos without worrying about lighting or lack thereof. Whether it's performing tricks on a skateboard or blowing out candles on a birthday cake, photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge will always be clear, bright and vibrant.
Games.
Playing mobile games on the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge has become even more enjoyable with a dedicated game control center and features such as gameplay recording.
Components.
Powered by a powerful processor, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge runs fast and smoothly, confidently handling every bit of extra data on your microSD card. Despite the increased battery capacity, the smartphone charges quickly both wired and wireless.
Protection from water and dust.
Thanks to a combination of high-quality materials, we have found a simple but very effective way to protect all internal components of the smartphone from water and dust, leaving the USB ports and headphone jacks open.
Edge interface.
We are always looking for ways to make your life easier. Help you work faster and get what you want instantly, with one touch. Edge UX's smart curved screen interface gives you quick access to what you need to always have at hand.
Early last year, Samsung released the Galaxy S6 and its curved display version, the GalaxyS6 Edge. Everything was fine until confusion appeared in the second half of the year in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, which was presented along with the Note 5. And recently clarity has come, now we have the S7, S7 Edge with a 5.5″ display, and in August - September we will see Note 6. Of course, these are guesses, but they seem obvious to me. Today we’ll look at the first wave of Galaxy flagships.
Video review of Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge
Design and ergonomics
The design of the S7 clearly shows the features of last year's models. The S7 is similar to the S6, the S7 Edge is similar to the S6 Edge+, but in life, at the first meeting, you notice quite serious differences. Firstly, in all models the glass on the front and back is now 2.5D (except for places where it is 3D, it was previously 2D), which is why the smartphone feels more comfortable in the hand. This is especially true for the S7 Edge; the previous model had almost sharp edges and cut straight into the palm. Although some people like it, the new product wins in terms of convenience.
The materials remain the same: glass on the front and back, metal on the sides. The arrangement of the elements has also not changed, except for a few points. The camera doesn’t stick out that much, which bothered many people, and the IR port has disappeared from the top edge. This is a pity, before it was possible to control household appliances. Although it was no longer present in the SGS6 Edge+ and Note 5.
From the point of view of design and ergonomics, I liked the new products. The regular S7 turned out to be more convenient to use, it is more compact and there are no false clicks on the side edges. But the impression of the curved edges of the display in the Edge still remains; nevertheless, this is still rarely seen anywhere. I didn’t like the fact that the glass is very easily soiled, fingerprints and stains are constantly visible on it, it needs to be wiped. Well, the logo on the front, how long, Samsung? I know which manufacturer’s smartphone I’m paying for, and if I forget, I can always look at the back. To be fair, somewhere common sense is beginning to take precedence over ambition and, at least for the domestic market, the S7 should be available without a logo on the front panel. I hope it's not fake.
The fingerprint scanner is located in the home key, as before. I liked it in terms of response speed, but Touch ID is still inferior, errors happen more often. You can add up to four fingerprints in total.
Many are confused by the lack of USB Type-C in the new product, but, as for me, this is easily explained. Firstly, Samsung themselves have been releasing all sorts of things for MicroUSB, like power banks and Gear VR 2. The transition would mean the incompatibility of the new flagships with other new devices within the company itself. Secondly, the market is not ready yet; such a sharp transition would have a rather detrimental effect on ordinary people. And so, LG, Huawei and other manufacturers will prepare the ground and S8 will solemnly acquire a new port next year. Or maybe Note 6 will come with it, we'll see.
But there are two things that came back to us straight from 2014, namely from the Samsung Galaxy S5 - a Micro SD memory card slot and, THANK YOU SO MUCH, IP68 protection. This means you can take your smartphone with you to the bathroom, to the pool, to the beach, in the rain, and generally anywhere. And instead of a memory card, if necessary, you can insert a second SIM card. This is not common among A-brands, you must agree.
Display
Of course, the screens in the new Super AMOLED products, which are getting better every year. Unlike the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, the new generation has a diagonal split between the regular S7 and S7 Edge. The first display has a diagonal of 5.1″, the second – 5.5″. The resolution for both is QHD, or 2560x1440 pixels.
There is not much to say about the quality, it is gorgeous here, however, as in the case of the S6, in the regular S7 at maximum deflection angles, the glass shimmers with green and purple tones. There are no such gags with Edge. I don’t know why they didn’t do this before, but now, finally, information can be displayed on the display even in a locked state. This feature is called Always On. Why has Nokia had this since time immemorial, when no one had ever heard of Amoled displays, and Samsung has only just now implemented it? After all, Super AMOLED was simply created for such features, when only individual pixels can be displayed on the display, without including the entire display. Naturally, energy is spent only on those pixels that are active. So, the locked display can display the time, calendar, alerts, and even some individual pictures. Moreover, you can choose display styles, colors and even backgrounds. Yes, the picture does not have to be monochrome, because the model does not care how exactly an individual pixel will work. If the phone is in your pocket, thanks to the proximity sensors, it buys it and extinguishes this information until you take out the smartphone again. In short, it’s a small thing, but it’s so convenient, I’m very happy about it!
Cameras
For an inexperienced user, it may seem that the camera has become worse, because in the last generation it was 16 MP, and now it has been downgraded to 12. But back in our first one, I made the assumption that if this happens, the camera may wildly break away from everyone else white light. The white light of smartphones, of course. Why? Each individual pixel has become larger and is now 1.4 microns in size. Let me remind you that in SGS6 the size of an individual pixel is 1.2 microns. This means that each pixel can receive more light. Add here faster optics with f1.7 and you really should get something uncompromising. Is it so? We have already done the preliminary and the difference is not great, in some places the Samsung is a little better, in others the iPhone is a little better. This is not bad, because we are comparing the strongest, but I expected a gap, as I already said. By the way, the aspect ratio of the matrix has changed and is now 4:3, like in the iPhone.
As before, the camera has many modes, but I'm most interested in a few: a pro mode with completely manual settings, an auto mode for most tasks, a live broadcast mode on Youtube and the ability to take photos in RAW. It's all here. In RAW photos can be stretched quite a lot; TIFF and regular JPEG were not even close. In Snapseed you can already work with uncompressed formats and there you can extract information from completely illuminated areas, for example the sky. In this generation, SloMo has finally become usable; you can shoot honest 240 fps at 720p. Thanks for that too!
The front camera has a resolution of 5 MP, the aspect ratio of the matrix is the same as the main one - 4:3, but the angle is wide and now there is a lot of room not only on the sides, but also on the top and bottom. Profit! True, not everything is rosy with the detail on the front camera; it deliberately blurs everything a little to avoid the appearance of noise.
Examples of photos and videos are available; soon we will make a separate comparison of top camera phones!
Performance
We have already written a separate post on this part - they happen at maximum settings, but it’s not critical, you can already play. But in GTA SA at maximum speed everything can be bad: there are artifacts and a constant 20 fps feeling. I hope that this is just a game not designed for Exynos, we'll wait and see. In any case, there were no problems with everything else: the interface works quickly, applications and games too.
We have here the latest eight-core Exynos 8890, Mali T880 M12 graphics and as much as 4 GB of RAM, of which 1.5 GB is always available to the user after closing all applications. User memory can be 32 or 64 GB, but the main thing is that it can be expanded using memory cards, up to 200 GB are supported. In Ukraine, a model with 32 GB of internal memory will be available only.
I was pleased with the battery capacity in both cases. In the regular Galaxy S7 it is 3000 mAh, in the Edge it is 3600 mAh. For comparison, the SGS6 Edge+ with a 5.7″ display diagonal had a battery capacity of 3000 mAh! So you can count on two days of more or less active work.
Specifications Samsung Galaxy S7
- Dimensions: 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm.
- Weight: 152 g.
- Graphics: Mali-T880 M12.
- Display: Super AMOLED, 5.1″, 2560 × 1440 pixels, 577 ppi
- Memory: 32, 64 GB flash
- RAM: 4 GB.
- Battery: Li-Pol battery 3000 mAh.
Specifications Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
- Dimensions: 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm.
- Weight: 157 g
- Operating system: Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
- Processor: eight-core, Exynos Octa 8890
- Graphics: Mali-T880 M12.
- Display: Super AMOLED, 5.5″, 2560 × 1440 pixels, 534 ppi
- Memory: 32, 64 GB flash
- RAM: 4 GB.
- Camera: main - 12 MP OIS, video recording in 4K, front - 5 MP.
- Wireless technologies: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1
- Interface connectors: 3.5 mm headphone jack, Micro USB 2.0.
- Battery: Li-Pol battery 3600 mAh.
BY
Out of the box, the user has access to the latest version of Android – 6.0.1 Marshmallow. A proprietary TouchWiz interface is installed on top of Android, which has long learned to be normal. It’s cool that there’s a minimum of third-party software; I remember with horror the years when a brand new device had several screens for something unknown and it couldn’t be demolished. Well, themes - they continue to develop, the theme store has been updated, beautiful and clear categories have appeared, there are more and more themes and many of them are of really high quality. If you want naked Android, go for it, if you want Hello Kitty? Stop reading my articles.
Until the Note 7 came out, the Samsung S7 Edge was rightfully the most expensive device in Samsung's 2016 smartphone lineup. As a larger, more curved version of the standard Galaxy S7, the S7 Edge is much sexier than its flatter little brother and has a much larger battery, giving the device more staying power.
No worse than Note 7
The Samsung S7 Edge, whose reviews remain commendable even after the release of the Note 7 (it continues to be produced), will be the best choice for many 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. Plus, the Note 7's 5.7-inch display is only a few millimeters larger than the S7 Edge's, which is unlikely to affect the experience when gaming or watching downloads on iPlayer.
But the user will most likely notice the difference if they compare the S7 Edge with the regular S7, which only has a 5.1-inch diagonal display size. Here, the larger screen creates a distance between the models so that the buyer feels the need to upgrade the flat phone.
Before delving into the device of the smartphone, it is worth mentioning that on September 7, 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 still unknown. Although it was previously reported that the company excluded the model from its product line.
If you have one, the S7 Edge can be powered all day long, which changes everything radically. It's convenient, it just doesn't require attention. As long as the phone is on the charging pad, everything is fine.
Camera
There is a new 12 MP camera on the back. It may seem like a step down from the 16-megapixel sensor in the S6, but more megapixels doesn't always mean better image quality. In the camera (32GB), the specs have changed, with individual pixel size increasing from 1.12µm in the S6 to 1.4µm, allowing everyone to get more light and less noise in low light conditions. The aperture has been increased to f/1.7, letting even more light into the sensor for higher-quality images.
It's a risky move, but the S7 Edge lives up to expectations. When shooting outdoors, the smartphone allows you to take beautiful photos, high-contrast and bright, accurately conveying colors. Some parts of the frame are a little overexposed, especially in bright sunlight, but this is easily corrected thanks to the camera's exposure compensation slider. It appears when you tap the screen while focusing, but you can switch to HDR mode if you wish.
Less is more
The camera takes even better photos indoors. Not only do the photos have a very high level of detail, but there is also no visible noise even when shooting in low light conditions, which is pretty impressive for a phone. However, if you compare the test shots with the S6 photos, they look almost identical.
This is 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 at a shutter speed of 1/25 second, rather than the S6's 1/15 second. This means that the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge SM-G935F's camera performance offers greater reliability in low-light conditions, as faster shutter speeds result in less blurring of moving objects, resulting in an overall benefit.
A 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, since you don't have to shell out for an expensive PC or the likes of the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. The implementation is a bit basic, 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 camera, you can record your own VR video and view it using a virtual reality headset.
The best you can buy
Currently, the Samsung S7 and Samsung S7 Edge, whose specifications are among the best among Android phones, except, of course, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, are beyond competition. Since all three models are very similar in terms of performance, display and camera quality, the question becomes, is it worth paying more for the S7 Edge when the S7 is cheaper? Just like last year, the curved edges look nice, and the large screen alone will be enough to convince some of the model's superiority, especially when you take into account the better battery life.
However, the software of the side screens still does not convince of their advantage. And the amount of time it takes to scroll through each edge doesn't make the device any more practical than having all the information on one main display.
Right choice
According to users, the best option is S7. The Samsung S7 Edge is a large smartphone, but the S7 is more convenient, has the same performance and battery life is not short either. According to reviews, for those who want to buy the most beautiful phone that money can buy, the S7 Edge will be the right choice, while more practical users are better off sticking with its flat “brother.”
The new smartphone from Samsung has become the most anticipated new product of 2016. We are, of course, talking about the Samsung Galaxy S7 series, and, as all fans of this brand’s products know, the new product will come in two versions: regular and with a curved screen (edge). As you know, the tradition dates back to the time of Samsung Galaxy Note 4. We can say that the new curved device has replaced the Galaxy S6 Edge, which is still very popular among fans of unusual design.
Still the same "double-edged"
It is unlikely that the company counted on the huge success of the Samsung Galaxy S6 when it released this series for sale. Be that as it may, the demand for them turned out to be serious: for the company this was a regular marketing ploy, which cannot be said about users who lacked fresh solutions. In any case, this is still the same device with two curved edges of the display. And, despite the fact that many users still prefer the classic form factor, the manufacturer is confident in the future popularity of the new product.
In addition, 5.5 inches, and even in a waterproof case, are powerful arguments in choosing. Anyway, live Samsung galaxy s7 edge catches your eye: this is exactly the solution that comes close to the technologies of the future, and not only in design.
Technical capabilities
The device is truly ahead of current capabilities. Firstly, support for microSD expansion cards; in the future, the user will be able to use cards with a capacity of 512 GB, although the manufacturer claims that two more terabytes are completely non-existent. Who said that there are no flagships for many years? Secondly, the device has built-in 4G LTE (with the prospect of up to LTE Cat). It is difficult to imagine when such coverage will appear in our latitudes. The same applies to the new Wi-Fi protocol.
If we talk about the capabilities that are available now, we should note the colossal performance of the new Exynos 8 Octa, which is devoid of all the shortcomings of previous generations. This is an efficient eight-core solution, where four cores are responsible for performance, and the other four are responsible for running in economy mode. Moreover, in Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge there is a 3000 mAh battery with fast charging and an innovative twelve-megapixel camera using the manufacturer's proprietary Britecell technology. What else can you expect from 2016?
Samsung's flagship smartphones have been among the most technologically advanced on the market (if not the most) for several years in a row. Of course, there are no ideal devices: either the MicroSD slot was removed, or there is not enough moisture protection for complete happiness, or the design is very “for everyone”: hello to models with a plastic back “under the skin” and the Galaxy S5 from last year with a patch-like golden version. Starting last year, Samsung finally decided to abandon plastic and switched to more expensive-looking glass and metal. The move is definitely the right one, because a flagship device should look like a flagship, right? This year, the company continued this practice and took into account many previous shortcomings when designing the flagships Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.
The previous line was organized, it seems to me, somewhat chaotically: first, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge were released with identical characteristics and the difference in the curved display. Later, two larger ones appeared: S6 edge+ and Note 5. Again, with similar characteristics and the main difference in the curved display and S-Pen stylus. It seems that Samsung was testing the waters with the optimal sizes of these same curved screens for more widespread adoption. Current flagship line Galaxy S7 and S7 edge received only one edge model with an “average” size of 5.5 inches (right between the 5.1 and 5.7 models last year).
What will we talk about?
Today we will take a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. We recently released a large and cool review of the Samsung Galaxy S7, which is highly recommended both in general and from the point of view of today’s review: the smartphones are almost identical in internals, performance and shell. The main emphasis will be on the differences between the models and personal impressions, although we will not miss all the traditional points. In her review, Nina Glushchenko wrote about her extremely positive impressions of last year’s Galaxy S6 line. It was all the more interesting for me, since I did not share her enthusiasm at all. Looking ahead a little, I’ll say that Samsung managed, at first glance, to refine in small ways what we already saw in the Galaxy S6, but to do it in such a way that the overall impression is radically different.
Good looking?
Of course, the design is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+, but that makes it no less impressive. Quite the opposite: there are still a number of successful improvements, and the colors have become more interesting and practical (this is a matter of taste): the golden version remains, the other two colors are black and silver, which just ended up in our editorial office and which I consider the most practical . The smartphone looks great. In addition to the folding side edges, the top and bottom of the front glass are now rounded. There are no sharp corners; the impression is created of a harmonious flow of glass into a metal frame, which, by the way, also has no sharp corners. It is difficult to fully convey the impressions with photographs.
The screen occupies most of the front panel ( 76.1% to be exact), the frames on the sides are minimal, and thanks to the bends it seems like they are completely absent. Despite the formal 5.5 inches, the smartphone cannot be called a “phablet” or “plafond”, as has already been the custom with such a diagonal or more. Thanks to very small frames and curves, the smartphone is comparable in width to 5.2-inch models: its width is 72.6 mm, while the 5.2-inch Sony Xperia Z5 has 72.1 mm, and the 5.3-inch flagship LG G5 has 73.9 mm. The rest of the functional elements are standard: a pair of touch buttons on the bottom, between them there is a mechanical “Home” button with a built-in fingerprint scanner. Above the screen there is an earpiece, sensors, an LED indicator and a large front camera lens.
The smartphone glares in places where it bends, although I didn’t notice anything bad about it. This does not affect the visibility of information when the screen is on, even with a large number of bright light sources around. The LED indicator is large and bright. And, of course, one of the “tricks” of this year is the active screen. A useful feature, although not new for a long time. You don’t have to go far: for the same Lumia with OLED displays, this function is called Glance Screen. With AMOLED screens, you don’t have to worry that it will consume a lot of charge, because only specific pixels light up, and not the entire screen:
The frame is metal, quite narrow on the sides, due to the curves of the glass at the front and back. It was made successfully: the smartphone does not try to slip out of your hand, as one might expect. The buttons are implemented as in the previous line: thin, metal and quite protruding beyond the body. They are convenient to use. On the left are separate volume control buttons:
On the right is the power button:
There is a MicroUSB connector on the bottom edge. Samsung is in no hurry to switch to USB Type-C yet. One of the reasons is compatibility with the already released Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset. Despite the water protection, it does not have a plug, but you won’t be able to charge a smartphone with a wet port: there is a software and hardware “foolproof” feature. The user will see a corresponding message on the screen, and charging will not begin until drying. There is also an external speaker, quite loud and of high quality, a microphone and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. A more convenient location for it than at the top end. After all, most people carry a smartphone in their pants pocket. On the sides there are plastic inserts for antenna output:
On the top edge there is another microphone, a SIM and MicroSD tray and two more plastic inserts:
The entire back cover is made of glass, the sides are also curved. Of course, it looks beautiful and impressive, but not very practical. It collects fingerprints generously, although thanks to the oleophobic coating they are removed quickly and easily. Again, this cannot be conveyed in the photo, but both in front and behind the glass, with an abundance of different light sources, casts corresponding glare.
Despite the similar color, the back panel is made much more successfully than that of the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, which looks like a mirror. In this case, you won’t be able to see your reflection: the color is more matte:
The main camera module is very similar to the previous line, but it is made more successfully: the camera practically does not protrude from the body, which was quite annoying in the Galaxy S6:
In our test sample, the tray is designed for one SIM card and MicroSD. Commercial samples will have a combined second slot for SIM or memory card. A folk craftsman from the Internet has already posted detailed instructions on how to get both 2 SIM and MicroSD, but the procedure is quite troublesome and is accompanied by the risk of damaging both the cards and the smartphone itself:
Both the design and build quality were expectedly at the highest level. In fact, Samsung took all the best from the previous line, and smoothed out all the controversial issues. The smartphone looks great and fits very comfortably in the hand. More convenient than the Galaxy S6 edge+, and it’s not just the smaller screen diagonal. The only thing you can cling to is glass, which very actively collects fingerprints, but this is absolutely not lethal. Another indicator of a successful appearance is that the Galaxy S7 edge was very popular with several non-fans of Samsung smartphones and several Apple fans. As for moisture protection, engineering samples do not always correspond to the final ones in this regard, and I deliberately did not drown our sample, although it managed to get caught in a very impressive downpour and survived such a light bath without any problems.
How is his screen?
The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge has a SuperAMOLED display with Diamond PenTile pixel arrangement. The diagonal, as we remember, is 5.5 inches, the pixel density is 534 ppi, which is more than enough, the pixels are impossible to see. Theoretically, the picture in the Samsung Gear VR helmet should also be quite decent. Despite my skepticism about AMOLED, in this case the screen looks great, after all, the screen developers from Samsung Display are not in vain getting their money. According to subjective impressions, the brightness is enough even for sunny weather, which during testing was not pleasant in rainy Kyiv in March. Screen protected Corning Gorilla Glass 4 with excellent quality oleophobic coating.
It’s probably not worth expecting any problems with viewing angles. No distortion or loss of brightness:
Multi-touch up to 10 touches supported:
If you don’t go into the measurement results of the devices, the screen really deserves praise; it looks great. Reacts without problems, including touches with wet fingers in heavy rain.
For those who trust dry numbers and instruments more
The smartphone has four calibration modes:
Adaptive and “film” are distinguished by more “vigorous” colors, “Photo” and basic look more natural, but at the same time the maximum brightness is lower. The calibration cannot be called accurate; the screen goes into cold tones with different intensities depending on the mode. Of course, the minimum brightness is 0, and the contrast tends to infinity. The maximum brightness in adaptive mode is 359.848 cd/m2, highest blue bias:
“Film” is a little more precise, maximum brightness is 356.852 cd/m2:
The “Photo” mode turned out to be the closest to natural color rendition; the maximum brightness is significantly lower: 316.766 cd/m2:
And the main mode with the lowest maximum brightness of 308.467 cd/m2:
The maximum brightness is not a record, but very good considering AMOLED. Most IPS displays have the same level, although IPS is usually brighter.
How powerful is the hardware inside and how long does the battery last?
For those who are too lazy to read the dull names of processors, numbers, watch numerous screenshots of synthetic tests, and so on, it’s worth mentioning right away: the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is one of the most powerful smartphones in existence. The most powerful proprietary Exynos processor and 4 GB of RAM are installed inside, which is no longer a record, but this is sufficient for absolutely any task. What can I say, 3 years ago I had less RAM on my desktop PC. No applications, games or a large number of them running simultaneously makes the smartphone slow down or even get warm. Any currently available games “fly” at maximum graphics settings:
At this point, it’s worth remembering that there is such a thing as Game Tools. Nina spoke about it in detail in her review of the Galaxy S7; in the edge version everything is absolutely the same. The utility collects all games in one place, allows you to disable touch buttons during the game (a kind of analogue of disabling the Win button on gaming keyboards), turn off notifications, take screenshots, take videos in the game and configure the performance mode depending on the remaining charge:
There is only one version: with 32 GB of internal memory and a hybrid slot for SIM/MicroSD. Not much by today's standards, but the returning memory card slot solves the problem. The volume of the external speaker is quite sufficient for both alarm clocks and calls in moderately noisy places, and the quality is also quite good. From the point of view of use as a player, it is difficult to judge, because I have long been accustomed to using a Hi-Fi player for these purposes. After a relatively short listening period, we can say that the sound quality in the headphones is very high, plus there are all sorts of improvements and useful functions:
The smartphone is equipped with all modern wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, NFC, ANT+. There is only no infrared port for controlling equipment, but I don’t think this is critical. Navigation is also good; GPS picks up satellites almost immediately:
The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3600 mAh. This is more than the S7 with a 3000 mAh battery. In terms of battery life, things are going very well: with very active use with a lot of conversations, the Internet, constant synchronization and games, the smartphone lasts a day without problems. In a more gentle mode, you can easily get two days. The smartphone streams video over Wi-Fi for just over 14 hours, and you can play games for about 7 hours. The smartphone supports fast charging via cable and wireless induction. We did not have the appropriate chargers during testing, so it would not be entirely correct to give figures on charging time.
For those who want to know more
The Exynos 8 Octa 8890 processor is manufactured using 14nm FinFET technology, using the architecture big.LITTLE. The production unit contains four custom Mongoose cores with a clock frequency of up to 2.6 GHz, the second unit contains four Cortex-A53 at 1.6 GHz, a graphics accelerator - Mali T880MP12 with Vulcan API support, so future graphics-heavy games will run smoothly. RAM - 4 GB. This is the configuration in the global version; in the US, instead of Exynos, the top-end quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 is used. The smartphone scores very high scores in performance tests and is ahead of most existing smartphones. In the popular AnTuTu, the smartphone scores more than 130,000 “parrots”. As you can see in the screenshots below, only one other Galaxy S7 edge has a higher indicator (errors in tests can be very significant) and Xiaomi Mi5, which has a screen resolution of 1920x1080:
How good is the shell?
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS with its own TouchWiz shell. It just so happens that in terms of shell, top-end Samsung smartphones are akin to spaceships. An incredible number of additional functions, bells and whistles, and so on. By and large, the shell is a topic for a separate large article, but we will try to describe the capabilities in general terms.
The desktops are organized in the usual way, there is a separate menu with all applications. Many labels have been redrawn. Application icons have notifications about new messages (social networks, for example):
You can change wallpapers, themes, add widgets, everything is as usual. It is possible to customize the grid of shortcuts. Available options are 4x4, 4x5 and 5x5:
We should also mention the Galaxy Labs section in the settings with “experimental” functions. At the moment there are two of them. The first is displaying all applications on desktops (as is done in MIUI and other Chinese shells). The second is speed dialing using voice:
The curtain is two-level, everything is quite conveniently organized, but there is also the ability to edit:
The organization of the settings menu has not changed much from previous versions of TouchWiz:
The Application Manager looks pretty standard, but there is a button to switch to multi-window mode:
You can adjust the size of windows, rearrange them, copy content, and so on:
There is a simplified mode with large icons:
Security settings and fingerprinting. The scanner works great. Very fast and accurate, one of the best at the moment (subjective):
The Smart Manager utility allows you to clean the internal memory, RAM and enable power saving mode:
Various energy saving modes, including extreme energy saving with grayscale color palette changes:
Useful additional features:
Small screen mode for one hand. Launched by triple pressing the Home button:
By swiping diagonally down from any top corner, you can minimize the open application to the window. It can be adjusted in size, moved, or completely collapsed into a shortcut:
In the display settings you can adjust the brightness, font, font size, enable the notification indicator, screen saver and Always On Display. There are different modes: just a clock, a calendar, a picture, and so on:
Something like this:
And a utility for quickly connecting to nearby devices:
Well, there are a bunch of branded applications, starting with your own dialer and file manager and ending with a voice recorder:
The shell is really very functional and comfortable. I suspect that most users will not use all the features it has.
How useful is a curved screen?
We should also consider the Edge UI, which is missing in the regular S7. As in previous S6 edge/edge+, the side panel opens by swiping from the edge of the screen in the place where the marker is located. Its position, size and transparency can be adjusted, just like active panels:
The company store has additional ones, including paid ones with additional functionality. Let's hope there will be more of them. The assortment is not too diverse yet:
Standard panels. Quick access to applications, favorite contacts, weather and useful tools: compass, flashlight with 5 brightness levels and ruler:
There is a quite useful night clock function. In the settings you can select a time range:
The bend displays the clock, the nearest alarm clock, battery charge and notifications (if any):
When you miss a call or message from one of your favorite contacts, another side marker of the corresponding color appears. By pulling it you can see information about a missed call, make a call, send a message or e-mail:
When the screen is off, you can swipe back and forth along the curve; all notifications and/or news feed from selected sources will be displayed on this edge. In general, the edge functions are quite convenient and useful, more thought out than in the previous model, but they cannot yet be called something revolutionary or necessary.
How are things going with the camera?
The main camera has a resolution 12 megapixels Dual Pixel, with LED flash, phase detection autofocus, f/1.7 aperture and 4K video recording, front - 5 MP. According to information on the Internet, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge use different modules, Samsung and Sony respectively. Our edge actually has Sony installed:
The camera is described in great detail and with an abundance of test shots in the Galaxy S7 review, so there is no point in repeating it. Despite the different modules, there is no fundamental difference in quality. By the way, according to the version DxOMark, the camera in the Galaxy S7 edge is currently the best among smartphones. The interface was also described in the previous review, so we can limit ourselves to screenshots of all the main controls:
The camera is really excellent, the photos are taken even in very low light, everything is cool.
Standard Mode:
Slow motion:
Bottom line
The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge has turned out to be an almost uncompromising flagship at the moment, which has everything (or almost everything). The company found the optimal screen size and corrected most of the design flaws. All I left was the dirty rear window. The smartphone has added features that last year's flagships lacked: a slot for memory cards and dust and moisture protection according to the IP68 standard. Traditionally for the company's flagships, the smartphone is one of the most powerful on the market and is equipped with one of the highest quality cameras. In addition to this, it also works for a decent amount of time on a single charge. Of course, the price tag turned out to be very impressive, but when compared with Apple products, it no longer seems so scary: it is comparable to the iPhone 6s (not 6s Plus) in the simplest 16 GB version. The only controversial issue remains the practical benefits of a curved display. Yes, it’s functionally more interesting, but it still falls short of the Killer feature.
7 reasons to buy Samsung Galaxy S7 edge:
- chic design, materials and assembly;
- top performance;
- excellent screen;
- long battery life;
- one of the best cameras on the market;
- dust and moisture protection;
- Fast and accurate fingerprint scanner.
2 reasons not to buy Samsung Galaxy S7 edge:
- the price is not affordable for everyone;
- the body is a collection of fingerprints.
| Specifications Samsung Galaxy S7 edge | |
|---|---|
| Display | curved on the sides SuperAMOLED, 5.5 inches, 2560x1440, 534 ppi, no air gap |
| Frame | dimensions 150.9x72.6x7.7 mm, weight: 157 g |
| CPU | 64-bit Samsung Exynos 8890, 4xMongoose, 2.6 GHz, 4xARM Cortex-A53, Mali T880MP12 graphics |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Flash memory | 32 GB, MicroSD, USB OTG |
| Camera | 12 MP Dual Pixel, F/1.7, dual LED flash, PDAF, 5 MP front camera |
| Wireless technologies | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac (dual band, 2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, ANT+ |
| GPS | GPS, Glonass |
| Battery | 3600 mAh, non-removable |
| operating system | Android 6.0.1 + TouchWiz |
| Sim card | 2xNanoSIM |