Samsung Galaxy S7 Review

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Product Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Website Samsung
Specifications 5.5in 1440x2560 AMOLED display at 534ppi, octa-core Samsung Exynos 8890 processor (four 2.6GHz cores and four 1.59GHz cores), Android 6.0 Marshmallow, 4GB RAM, 32GB built-in storage expandable up to 200GB via microSD, 12MP rear camera with LED flash and OIS, 5MP front camera, 3,600mAh battery, 151x73x7.7mm, 157g.

If you're not one for flashy looks and flattering curves, but instead want a phone that stuns with its screen, camera and endurance, the Samsung Galaxy S7 could be the handset for you.
Design
Samsung ushered in a new era of design with the Galaxy S6. Gone was the plasticky look and feel of old and endless revisions of the same, mid-tier handsets.
Refinement must be the buzzword of 2016 as, just like the S7 Edge, the Galaxy S7 builds on the successes of last year.
Its back arches in a smooth curve like the Galaxy Note 5 and, while the screen isn't as effortlessly cool as its edgier sibling, there's the smallest of bevels that gives it a style all of its own. It's not as in your face as the S7 Edge, but rather a tiny detail that shows Samsung has thought about how to differentiate the two.
The S7 measures 142.4x69.6x7.9mm, so if you look at it side-by-side with its predecessor you'll notice it's shaved off a cool 1.1mm. Things get interesting when it's compared with the S7 Edge, however. Obviously the larger screen accounts for the jump in length and width to 150.9x72.6mm, but the 7.7mm girth is a whisker thinner than the Edge-less S7.

It's notably heavier than the S6 at 152g, but lighter than the 157g S7 Edge, so swings and roundabouts.
We'd probably say it's more pocketable than the Edge, leading to fewer of those heart-in-the-mouth moments. We didn't feel like we were going to lose grip during our testing.
Like the gorgeous S7 Edge, the Galaxy S7 is damn near impossible to keep clean and smudge-free, an unfortunate consequence of the shiny black aluminium and Gorilla Glass design.

As with the S7 Edge, the Galaxy S7 is IP68 certified. No finicky caps or covers, as Samsung has made sure that exposed ports are completely sealed off from the internals.
Performance
We touched on the differences between the UK-centric Exynos 8890 CPU and the Snapdragon chip that powers the US models in our S7 Edge review. Suffice to say our review unit has the 8890 with four cores running at 2.6GHz and another four at 1.59GHz. Again the trusty Mali T880 GPU takes care of graphics, plus there's 4GB of RAM.
Strangely our S7 Edge narrowly pipped the S7 in all but one of the performance tests when put head-to-head.
Kraken 2551.9 (S7 Edge - 2557.5)
Sunspider 313.2 (S7 Edge - 316.2)
PCMark work performance score 4758 (S7 Edge - 4670)
3DMark 2155 (S7 Edge - 2185)
Antutu 126092 (S7 Edge - 126904)
Geekbench single-core 2092 (S7 Edge - 2155)
Geekbench multi-core 6292 (S7 Edge - 6505)

As if there was ever any doubt, the handset coped ably with everything we threw in its direction. It blazed through graphical workouts like N.O.V.A. 3and Rayman Adventures, shrugged off multiple open webpages and documents, and coped perfectly with a Netflix Breaking Bad marathon.
Camera
The camera on the rear of the Samsung Galaxy S7 makes the tiniest of protrusions (0.42mm), and it's a welcome advance from the previous generation.

Everything we loved about the S7 Edge's ability to take fantastic snaps rings true with the S7, which is no surprise as both phones use the same technology.
The S7's ability to pick up and shoot immediately (without needing to lock focus) continues to impress. Samsung's decision to incorporate a Dual Pixel Sensor and larger 1.4um pixel size means that low-light shots are more successful than not, despite the reduction in megapixels, and noisy pictures full of ghostly haze are all but a thing of the past.
Our S7 Edge review didn't focus much on the Pro mode that makes a welcome return in Samsung's S7 lineup.
Switching to Pro mode reveals all of those options usually reserved for digital SLRs or mid-tier compact system cameras, so you're able to tinker with ISO level, aperture, metering, contrast, white balance and more.
Something else that's worth noting is the ability to shoot in RAW mode and save all of your images without any compression. The option to save RAW files is available only in Pro mode and you'll need to download a viewer capable of opening the picture format, but those serious about their photography will prefer the freedom and creative control that RAW provides.
Samsung phones have a tendency to overly boost colours and sharpen images, so shooting in RAW eliminates all the intelligent processing the phone handles on the fly. Perhaps with the exception of dabbling in RAW, the camera on the S7 is just so darn impressive you probably won't find yourself using Pro mode much.
New to the S7/S7 Edge is Hyperlapse mode. This rather nifty feature allows the creation of impressive-looking timelapse videos without much effort. Just set it up on a tripod and leave it to do its thing.
If you're a hardened Samsung Galaxy user, you'll wonder how you ever lived without the double-tap shortcut to put the phone into camera mode.
There's a 5MP camera on the front for wide-angle selfies and general high jinks.
Display
The 5.1in Super AMOLED screen is capable of a 2560x1440 QHD resolution. While it features an upped 577ppi ratio, the Galaxy S7 matches the display found on the S7 Edge. And what a beautiful sight it is. Colours pop, blacks are inky, whites are clean, and the sheer vibrancy makes the colours jump off the screen. In fact we detected less glare which resulted in better viewing angles owing to the absence of the curved Edge.
If you have less than superhuman eyesight that higher ppi value is unnoticeable.

Once again we found the display better than our trusty S6 Edge, and the S7 lineup all but eliminates the yellow haze on our 2015 handset.
We touched on the Always-on display in our S7 Edge review, so suffice to say a sliver of the screen remains permanently on and lit up with the date, time, notifications and such.
Software and security
Knox is Samsung's blanket term for security across the Galaxy S7 line. You really wouldn't know it's there if Samsung hadn't advertised the fact. Among other features, there's a fail-safe built into Knox that can detect any attempt to root the phone or install a custom book loader.

The My Knox app, meanwhile, has been built for enterprise users. Once initialised My Knox offers a secure app ecosystem and you can add apps and data to the Knox workspace so they'll only ever be viewable from inside the Knox environment. It's a bit like having two phones in one with a way to keep business separate from pleasure.
Knox offers tools to lock and erase a device remotely should it be lost or stolen. Hopefully you'll never need it, but it provides added peace of mind.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge also mark the beginning of the Enterprise Device Programme that pushes Android- and Samsung-specific security updates to devices every month. Businesses will also be able to take advantage of a Device Purchasing Programme guaranteeing product support through updates and patches for two years. At the time of writing the programme is live in over 100 countries.

Happily the fingerprint scanner is the same as on the S7 Edge. We like the larger surface area, and it correctly recognised our print on nine out of 10 occasions.
The S7 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. For more on the Samsung-specific software additions such as Game Launcher and Upday.
Storage
Storage is something of a bone of contention with the S7/S7 Edge at the time of launch as you're limited to a middling 32GB variant. Infuriatingly a good chunk of this has already been spoken for. Samsung's TouchWiz UI is present, but a bunch of third-party software from the likes of Microsoft and Google has already taken up residence.

Presumably Samsung hopes you'll take advantage of the newly added support for microSD storage, upping your maximum capacity to 200GB. The bad news is that Samsung has opted not to enable full microSD support, but you can still move selected apps (and some of their data) to your expandable storage.
You can also save photos and videos to microSD as default. To enable this just launch the camera, tap Settings then Storage location and choose the SD card.
Battery
The 3,000mAh battery is considerably larger than the 2,550mAh unit found in the S6, but those hoping for the S7 Edge's meaty 3,600mAh will be disappointed. However, put the S7 through a normal day's use and that disappointment won't last for long as you'll easily make it to bedtime without needing the charger. We found there was even enough for the morning after.

Again we detected a slight increase in phone temperature when we took advantage of Samsung's fast-charging feature and while working our way through a lengthy download queue, but it's nothing to be overly concerned about.
New to Android 6.0 Marshmallow is a feature called Doze. This is enabled by default and effectively puts your phone into a sleep state when it's lying idle. You can also expect an added boost from App Standby which stops the gradual drain from those seldom-used apps.
Of course, the gains made through these clever innovations are all for nothing if you decide to take advantage of Samsung's new Always-on display.


In short
If the S7 Edge was big, brash and bold, the S7 is the sensible, quieter sibling. We love the small design details like the slight tapering of the screen and gentle sloping edges that make it a joy to hold. These elements alone are more nuanced than anything found on the flashy Galaxy S7 Edge.
Speaking of the S7 Edge, it's the same phone through and through. Everything from the camera optics, to the fingerprint sensor and powerful Exynos processor. Did we mention that gorgeous screen?
So if you liked the sound of the Edge, but perhaps prefer your handset more understated and less like a piece of jewellery, the Galaxy S7 is the perfect choice. ยต
The good
Sumptuous screen, fast and powerful, great camera, impressive battery, microSD storage, accurate fingerprint scanner, subtle design flourishes, Android Marshmallow.
The bad
Limited to 32GB model, mono speaker, 5.1in screen may be too small for some.
The ugly
Nothing.
EGY - Tech's score
9/10 

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