14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung launched the Galaxy S7 lineup with much fanfare earlier this year, and the company promises some stunning surprises for those who purchase any of the devices that are part of the overhauled series, including here the standard S7 and the Edge model.
After reviewing the Galaxy S7, we’re now taking the Edge version for a spin, and today we’re presenting the first impressions after using the device for a few days. It’s worth mentioning from the very beginning that some of our findings mentioned here are just based on a few days of use and they can change before we publish the in-depth review next Saturday, April 16.
Looks and performance
It goes without saying that the S7 is one of the most beautiful devices currently on the market and after spending a long time with the iPhone 6s, Apple’s device looks old and outdated. The S7 Edge comes with modern-looking front and back covered by Gorilla Glass 4 and with a curved edge screen that brings additional functionality (such as quick options when swiping from the outside of the edge screen to the inside).
The phone feels rather slippery and we’ve noticed that unless you have sweaty hands (or moisty, but ew!), it’s really easy to drop it. We’ve already seen some less lucky buyers on reddit that dropped their S7 on the ground and the result is not pretty. So a case is almost a must-have unless you want to live on the edge.
In terms of hardware, the S7 is a monster and you feel no slowdown at all, no matter what you do, mostly thanks to the Exynos 8890 CPU and 4 GB of RAM. Apps and videos launch blazing fast, but it’s important to note that sometimes the device feels warm.
Not the kind of warm that makes you drop it to the ground, but it’s something that’s easy to notice, especially when using demanding apps, such as Waze. On the other hand, it’s cooling down very fast, so it’s hard to find this a drawback. As compared to the iPhone 6s Plus, it gets a little bit warmer, but it must be the bigger glass surface that absorbs the heat.
The fingerprint sensor has been significantly improved and it’s now at least as fast as the one on the iPhone. Plus, it works with a wet finger, a thing that we only found on the Nexus 6P before.
And yes, it’s waterproof and you can use it in the rain, or in the shower if you don’t want to end a conversation or simply want to have the phone around you all the time. We were a little skeptical about this, but after trying it the first time, this thing is really awesome.
Overall, the S7 is one of the fastest Android phones currently on the market, so it’s hard not be pleased about it. With a little tweak, such as reducing the time used by animations in TouchWiz, you can make it even faster, so it’s all up to you and your needs.
Camera
The 12 MP camera is undoubtedly one of the best (or the best in some people’s opinion) currently available on the phone. It offers vivid colors and good contrast, but there’s something that’s worth keeping in mind when taking photos with the S7.
They look better on the screen than they do on the laptop’s screen, and to eliminate the difference you need to switch the screen mode from Adaptive display to Basic (Settings > Display > Screen mode). You’ll see a dramatic change in color quality on the screen, but photos you take with the camera will look more natural.
Other than that, the camera is really fast and offers several modes that should really come in handy to those who are used to taking photos all day long. Just like it happened on the S6, post processing is playing an important role here and sometimes makes pictures look quite soft in an attempt to reduce noise – we’ve found this happening more frequently on the front-facing selfie camera.
But in the end it’s indeed one of the best cameras out there capable of capturing impressive details. The picture you see here is a gigantic mosquito that visited us the last Friday – check out the details that the S7 captured on its wings.
Battery life
Although it’s a little too early to discuss battery life, there’s one thing that we can tell for sure: the Galaxy S7 Edge should be able to get you throughout the day no matter what.
It features a 3600 mAh battery that holds enough juice for the 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen, but also to power the monster CPU and all the other features that are packed under the hood.
On average, we’ve found the S7 Edge offering us 30 hours of battery life, but we’ll continue keeping an eye on this and provide more details in the upcoming review.
The S7 and the S7 Edge don’t come with USB Type-C, but with microUSB, which is pretty much the only drawback that we’ve found so far in addition to the slippery back. And yet, the fast charging mode compensates for this and in approximately 1 hour, you’re good to go with 100 percent of battery.
Early conclusions
Overall, the Galaxy S7 Edge feels just like it’s supposed to feel. It’s a premium device from one end to another and it works, feels, and looks like one.
The curved screen looks just awesome and the modern construction makes it one of the most luxurious devices currently on the market (obviously leaving aside models made of gold, diamonds and other exquisite materials).
It has monster hardware that can cope with pretty much every task these days and has an excellent camera that shoots beautiful pictures in both perfect and low light.
It does get hot when running more demanding tasks, but it’s the powerful hardware underneath the case that’s at fault here. This is what you get when opting for such a fast CPU and 4 GB of RAM, so it can hardly be considered a setback, even though some might be bothered by this.
Plus, it’s waterproof and can be used even when having a bath. After living with an iPhone for so long and trying to avoid pretty much every single drop of liquid, the S7 Edge can make everyone feel a lot more relaxed knowing that it won’t break if you spill water on it by mistake.
In the end, the S7 Edge feels great after a few days of use, but we’ll see how this one goes next week. Our review will be published next Saturday, so we’ll discuss everything in detail then.
