Samsung recently launched their two flagship devices, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The two are successors of the S6 and S6 Edge which were launched last year.
I had a chance to review the S7 Edge and here are my thoughts on it.
Read: S7 and S7 Edge Specifications
Build and design
The S7 Edge has a metal body exterior with an expansive 5.5 inch screen at the front. The front also has a 5 Megapixel camera and an earpiece. On the left side, there are two volume buttons (up and down). On the right is the power button.
The back has a 12 Megapixel camera, LED flash, flash light and a non-removable battery. The top has a SIM Card + Memory card slot which can be opened by a pin. The SIM card slot can hold a nano SIM. The memory card slot can hold a memory card and a SIM card.
The phone has a solid build and it also feels solid when holding it. Using the phone while the edge screen is turned on is a task and it takes getting used to. When the Edge screen is on, one handed use is difficult and i sometimes found myself opening things I didn’t intend to. The same thing happened (with one handed use) when the Edge screen was off while I was typing.
Screen
The phone comes with a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED capacitive edge touchscreen with 1440 x 2560 pixels (~534 ppi pixel density). It also comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 4.
The Edge screen makes it possible for users to add panels which are actually shortcuts to apps, contacts and feeds. The specific shortcuts can be deleted and added in settings. The Edge screen can also light up when you receive a phone call or get a notification.
The screen is nicely bright and clear. It’s perfect for watching a video and playing a game. When indoors, it is better if the brightness is set manually. Outdoors in bright sunlight, auto brightness works better.
It has a split screen feature where you can use two apps on the S7 Edge screen at the same time. This feature unfortunately works with certain apps.
Camera
The S7 Edge camera is packed with features and can be turned on by tapping the home button twice.
Back camera
It comes with a 12 megapixels back camera with 4032 x 2034 pixels resolution and has the following features.
- The camera shoots in 4032 x 2034 by default. This can be adjusted down to as low as 2160 x 2160 pixels .
- LED Flash that can be turned on, off or put on on auto.
- A timer that can be set to 2, 5 and 10 seconds. The timer feature can also allow you to take 3 shots.
- HDR – The camera takes awesome pictures in low light using this feature.
- Effects – The effects feature has Instagram like filters like Deep, Gold, Nostalgia and
- Film. Specific effects can be turned off and new ones can be downloaded depending on one’s preferences.
- Mode – This brings out three features that I really like.
Pro, which allows the user to choose their own settings.
Live broadcast which livestreams via YouTube
Hyperlapse which creates time lapse videos.
It is also possible to download more features under mode.
Front camera
The front camera on the S7 Edge is 5 Megapixels with 2592 x 1944 pixels resolution and shares most features with the back camera. It shoots in 2592 x 1944 pixels by default and as low as 1936 x 1936 pixels. It is also possible to get a wide selfie, video collage and also live broadcast with the front camera.
Video
The phone shoots video in Full High Definition (FHD – 1920 x 1080 pixels) by default. It can shoot in Quad High Definition (QHD – 2560 X 1440 pixels) and also as low as VGA (640 x 480).
It has video stabilization except when shooting in QHD and VGA. It has HDR and Video Effects except when shooting in QHD>
Battery
The S7 Edge comes with a 3,600 mAh non-removable battery. It goes for about 8 hours with power use with the screen on the always on feature turned on. With power saving turned on and the always on screen feature turned off it can go for about 10 hours. It also has an Ultra Power Saving Mode when the phone is on low power. It can last to upto 3 hours on 6% battery.
RAM, Internal Storage and Processor
The phones comes with a Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa-core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.6GHz Quad) 64 bit processor, 32 GB internal storage and 4GB RAM.
The phone works well even when upto 30 apps are open at the same time. Gaming on the phone also works seamlessly.
The storage is expandable by upto 200GB via MicroSD.
Software
The phone runs on the Android 6.0 “Marshmallow operating system that is overlaid with Samsung’s own TouchWiz.
Navigation
The navigation bar is a drop down. The quick settings bar is also visible after one pulls down the navigation bar. The quick settings bar can also be expanded.
SIM
The phone can hold two SIM cards in the SIM card slot plus the memory card slot. The SIM cards have to be nano.
Network and connectivity
The phone is 4G and it pretty well with Safaricom, Airtel and Orange although it’s only the former that has 4G. Calls on the phone are pretty clear and it has noise canceling for noisy environments. Internet is pretty good both on mobile and Wi-Fi. It does however have a weird connection error sometimes on both mobile and Wi-Fi.
Price and availability
The phone is retailing at Ksh. 84,999 and is available at Samsung branded stores and Safaricom retail centres.
Warranty and support
It comes with 2 year warranty and support is available at Samsung support centres,
Extras
Water resistance
The phone is water resistant by upto 30 minutes immersion in water upto 1.5M in depth.
Screenshots
Users can take screenshots ny long pressing the home and power button at the same time.
Fingerprint scanner
The fingerprint scanner is seamless and it enables users to unlock the phone, verify one’s Samsung’s account and sign in to certain websites.
Wireless charging
The wireless charging feature enables the phone to be fully charged in one hour with a fast charger. Charging using a general charger takes about 4-6 hours.
Conclusion
The S7 Edge is a powerful device which is perfect for power and business users. It, and the S7, are currently the best high end phones we have in the market.