I reviewed the Galaxy S6 Edge last year, coming away impressed overall with New Samsung’s design, camera, and display technology. There were a few shortcomings, such as battery life and the usefulness of the Edge Panel, but as Samsung announced when they introduced both the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, most of the problems I had with last year’s device have been addressed. There’s a bigger battery, they completely reworked Edge Panel, and even threw in water resistance and expandable storage as a bonus. On paper, this should be the ultimate phone.
I will say, the Galaxy S7 Edge is much like the Galaxy S7, so instead of diving deep into features that have already been touched on in Kellen’s review, I will attempt to primarily speak about features specific to the Galaxy S7 Edge. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty to talk about.
Here is our Galaxy S7 Edge review.
The Good
Specs
The Galaxy S7 Edge features a 5.5″ Super AMOLED QHD display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 12MP Dual Pixel rear-facing camera with OIS, 5MP front-facing shooter with OIS, IP68 water and dust resistance, microUSB charging and data port, 32GB of onboard storage, expandable storage slot for an extra 200GB of storage, fingerprint reader, 3,600mAh battery, wireless charging, NFC, and TouchWiz running atop Android 6.0 “Marshmallow.”
While we will likely see plenty of other devices rocking similar specs this year, the IP68 water resistance helps separate Samsung’s latest offerings from the rest of the field. Needless to say, all of these specs in a single smartphone package is what dream phones are made of.
Display
Compared to last year’s Galaxy S6 Edge 5.1″ display, the S7 Edge features a slightly larger screen, with Samsung bringing the panel up to 5.5-inches. It’s still the same resolution, Quad HD (2560 x 1440). It’s still Super AMOLED. Beyond the size, not much is different. According to the pros who test all things smartphone displays, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are some of the best on the market, meaning Samsung is still cranking out good quality panels.
To my eyes, I prefer Super AMOLED panels over the other types you would find from HTC or LG, as the colors are usually more saturated than you’d find elsewhere. Some folks don’t care for high saturation, but with a few tweaks in the settings, you can actually change the amount of saturation you will see. Out of the box, the Screen Mode is set to Adaptive, which attempts to give the best experience based on what it is you are doing on your phone. If you want the colors toned down a bit, switch the Screen Mode to either Basic or AMOLED Photo.
Design
If you took the Galaxy S6 Edge and merged it with the Galaxy Note 5, you would have the Galaxy S7 Edge. Thanks to the curved backside, like we see on the Galaxy Note 5, the device is much more comfortable to hold than the Galaxy S6 Edge. Last year, the S6 Edge was quite rigid, almost sharp on its siding. This year, it’s very smooth and feels fantastic in-hand. As for the curved sides, they look great, and definitely draws the attention of anyone around you who is unfamiliar with Samsung’s latest designs.
What draws me to the Galaxy S7 Edge in 2016 is that Samsung stayed true to the idea of the Galaxy S6 Edge, with the curve, but made rather minimal changes to make it easier to handle. This shows me that Samsung’s design team were listening closely to those who purchased the phone, then made the changes to reflect what they heard. Really, you can’t change anything else to make it a better feeling phone. The gentle slope on the back and curves on the front all feel great. Besides the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 5, I can’t think of a more comfortable phone to hold.
With all of the praise out of the way, I will say that it took me a few solid days to get used to handling the device properly. By this, I mean you have to adjust where your fingers rest when the device is in landscape mode, or you might accidentally hit the screen, causing unwanted actions. For example, if I’m watching YouTube and don’t have my fingers just right, I might hit a playback option and the video will skip forward or even pause it depending on where I tapped it. So, yes, the S7 Edge takes a bit of practice, but once you master where your fingers should rest whenever you are holding the phone, it’s fine.
Camera
You will find the exact same shooter in the Galaxy S7 Edge as you would the Galaxy S7, a 12MP Dual Pixel sensor featuring optical image stabilization (OIS) and an aperture of f/1.7. Samsung actually toned down the resolution of the camera sensor from last year’s 16MP sensors (Galaxy S6), which broke the trend of the ever-increasing resolution size year-over-year. Even with the lower megapixel count, the shots capable of being taken on this phone are mind boggling at times. When going in for those macros, or zooming in on a landscape, the clarity and details that remain after you have clicked the shutter is downright impressive.
Let’s talk about the experience of taking photos on this phone. As soon as you open up the camera app, you will notice that the camera is quickly focusing on whatever is in front of it. If shooting something as quickly as possible is required, the Galaxy S7 can be very clutch. After you have focused on your target, switching to Pro mode can get you adjusting the ISO, white balance, shutter speed, and exposure levels. You can even select between a multi-point auto focus or centered auto focus, giving you better command over your shots. Source from http://www.droid-life.com