Samsung Galaxy S7 review
The best Android phone you can buy
Samsung knows exactly how to make a top-end Android phone, and with the Galaxy S7 it's just pulled another marvel out of the bag. Read our Galaxy S7 review to find out why Samsung's S-series still offers the best phone money can buy.
Full phone specifications
| NETWORK | Technology | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
|---|
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2016, February |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available. Released 2016, March |
| BODY | Dimensions | 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm (5.61 x 2.74 x 0.31 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 152 g (5.36 oz) | |
| Build | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel | |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| - Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified) - IP68 certified - dust proof and water resistant over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes |
| DISPLAY | Type | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.1 inches (~72.1% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 | |
| - Always-on display - TouchWiz UI |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 Exynos 8890 Octa | |
| CPU | Dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo Quad-core 2.3 GHz Mongoose + quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 | |
| GPU | Adreno 530 Mali-T880 MP12 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 200 GB (dedicated slot) - single-SIM model microSD, up to 200 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) - dual-SIM model |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 32/64 GB, 4 GB RAM |
| CAMERA | Primary | 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash, |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 1/2.6" sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, simultaneous 4K video and 9MP image recording, touch focus, face/smile detection, Auto HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, HDR, dual-video rec., | |
| Secondary | 5 MP, f/1.7, 22mm, dual video call, Auto HDR |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | |
| - 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | v4.2, A2DP, LE, aptX | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | microUSB v2.0, USB Host |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2 |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM | |
| Browser | HTML5 | |
| Java | No | |
| - Fast battery charging: 60% in 30 min (Quick Charge 2.0) - Wireless charging (Qi/PMA) - market dependent - ANT+ support - S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - OneDrive (115 GB cloud storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264 player - MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+/FLAC player - Photo/video editor - Document editor |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Talk time | Up to 22 h (3G) | |
| Music play | Up to 62 h |
| MISC | Colors | Black, White, Gold, Silver, Pink Gold |
|---|---|---|
| SAR US | 1.40 W/kg (head) 1.59 W/kg (body) | |
| SAR EU | 0.41 W/kg (head) 0.62 W/kg (body) | |
| Price group | 9/10 |
| TESTS | Performance | Basemark OS II: 2004 / Basemark OS II 2.0: 2128 Basemark X: 32345 |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal), 4.376 (sunlight) | |
| Camera | Photo / Video | |
| Loudspeaker | Voice 66dB / Noise 62dB / Ring 66dB | |
| Audio quality | Noise -92.5dB / Crosstalk -92.7dB | |
| Battery life |
Endurance rating 80h
|
PRICE WHEN REVIEWED
The prices on amazon are too high, starting from $848 for normal S7 and goes up to $990 USD for S7 Edge. All four colors are available.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 REVIEW: THE BEST PHONE YOU CAN BUY
Samsung knows exactly how to make a top Android phone, and with the Galaxy S7 it's just pulled another marvel out of the bag. Read our Galaxy S7 review to find out why Samsung's S-series still offers the best phone money can buy. Also see: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge reviewand Samsung Galaxy S7 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
It’s early days to decide which is the best phone of 2016, of course, but right now the Galaxy S7 is unbeatable, and we struggle to see which phone might be able to take it on. Even the LG G5 (which goes on sale later this week) and the HTC 10 (to be announced next week) can't hold a candle to Samsung's flagship. We really think Samsung’s cracked it with the Galaxy S7.
It's worth pointing out the Galaxy S7 is a twin, and its sibling - the Galaxy S7 edge - is also a very capable Android phone with a unique dual-curved-edge screen. But it's not for everyone. Meanwhile the Galaxy S7 is a great all-rounder that has managed to improve on the already brilliant S6. Samsung has improved on its winning formula in the most important way: by listening to what consumers want. And, since it's Samsung, it's also piled on even more performance.
We’ve heard several critics slam the Galaxy S7 for not featuring a whole lot of new stuff. And while everyone is allowed their own opinion, we think they’re wrong - as you’ll read below. But the analogy of the Galaxy S7 being like an iPhone ’S’ upgrade is most certainly fair comment. Indeed, if you're looking to upgrade from the Galaxy S6, you're probably better off staying put until the Galaxy S8 is released in early 2017 - unless the new features we'll talk about below are especially important to you.
New in the Galaxy S7 is the headline always-on display. It shows you a bunch of useful information on screen in standby mode, such as the time, date, battery percentage and whether you have any missed calls or texts. But actually we don’t think this innovative feature is the most important change. Also see: Samsung Galaxy S6 review and Samsung Galaxy S5 review.
When Samsung announced the Galaxy S6 fans were divided. Finally the S series had thepremium design it so rightly deserved, ditching that awful pimpled plastic and replacing it with a metal frame and gorgeous glass front and rear. But in doing so Samsung removed several features that helped make it such a great phone: waterproofing, expandable storage and a removable battery. Also see: Best MiFi 2016.
The first two return in the Samsung Galaxy S7, while battery life has improved no end with a higher-capacity cell inside. It’s easy to brush these off as old features removed from the Galaxy S5, but they are the three things fans cried out for in the Galaxy S6, and saw them threatening to go elsewhere. So their return is quite a big deal, to say the least.
As you would expect from Samsung it’s also upgraded the processor, and in our performance benchmarks the Galaxy S7 retakes its spot at the top of our charts - for raw processing power this is absolutely the fastest phone you can buy today.
The camera has improved, too, although it might not sound like it on paper, and is now better-suited to taking photos in challenging conditions such as low light. Samsung offers a ton of interesting shooting modes for photo and video - and that’s not the only software highlight. If you’re a mobile gamer you’ll appreciate the new Game Launcher, and all users will be able to find a use for its excellent multitasking- and privacy features, among others.
The Galaxy S7 is a great phone, but Samsung still has room to improve in its Galaxy S8 for 2017. Sound is strong, but not as good as it was in the Galaxy S6, for example. The latest connectivity standards USB-C and Quick Charge 3.0 are missing in action, as is the IR blaster. And there are some little niggles throughout, such as the ease with which it picks up fingerprints and the fact it still doesn’t feature a removable battery. Overall, though, the Galaxy S7 is a fantastic phone, which we’ll look at in much greater detail below.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 REVIEW: DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY - WHAT’S NEW IN GALAXY S7?
If you read some early reviews of the Galaxy S7, you might have been led to believe not much has changed in the S7’s design over the S6. But while the S7 still follows Samsung’s familiar design blueprint, the company has made several tweaks to the device’s appearance - and though the Galaxy S7 is still a stunner, not all its changes are aesthetic. Also see: Samsung Galaxy S7 vs Samsung Galaxy S6.
Most obviously, out of the box, is that the Galaxy S7 is thicker and heavier than its predecessor, which is primarily due to the fact it houses a higher-capacity but still non-removable 3,000mAh battery. It’s not a huge difference, with the S7 7.9mm thick and 152g and the S6 6.8mm thick and 138g, but enough for you to feel the change if you’re used to handling the Galaxy S6. We love the fact the rear camera no longer protrudes so far, which looks a lot nicer and stops the S7 rocking on the desk when your fingers prod at the far edges of the screen.
The Galaxy S7 has not only gained some weight but some beautiful curves, and now features curved glass at the front and tapered edges at the rear. The metal frame is thinner on the left- and right sides, without the S6’s chiselled edge, and the glass rear wraps around further toward the front. Samsung has tweaked the phone’s colouring too, and our black review sample seems to change with the lighting, rather than the flat black of before. (The S7 is also available in gold.)
Given that the Galaxy S6 was criticised for its slippery glass case, the tweaks Samsung has made in the Galaxy S7 add up to a phone that feels less easy to snap, more comfortable in the hand, and much easier to grip. The Galaxy S7’s contoured edges even make it easier to pick up in a hurry, and they do say it’s the little things that count. Also see: Best phones 2016.
Gone is the silver chrome trim around the home button/fingerprint sensor, speaker, camera, flash and heart-rate sensor, and even the back- and recents soft-button legends have been toned down so as to not detract from the Galaxy S7’s sleek new look. If you’re concerned that all this makes the S7 look boring, think again: the new customisable always-on display now heads up Samsung’s design roster, and is all the ‘something extra’ it needs. (See screen quality and always-on display for more detail.)
The SIM tray has moved from the Galaxy S6’s right edge to the top of the Galaxy S7, and there’s a good reason for the relocation: there’s more space up here, and Samsung has extended the tray to include a microSD slot. And that is probably one of the most exciting changes for Samsung Galaxy S-series fans - Samsung took heavy criticism for removing expandable storage from its Galaxy S6. Also see: Best Android phones 2016.
It’s a great sign when a company actually listens to what its customers want, and the other big change in the Galaxy S7 is another example of this (and, again, something that had been removed in the Galaxy S6). The Galaxy S7 carries IP68 certification, which means it is resistant to dust and water, and can survive a 1.5m dunk for up to 30 minutes. Pleasingly, Samsung has been able to achieve this by surrounding the inside of the Galaxy S7’s ports and connections with rubber and applying an anti-corrosive coating to the metalwork, which means it hasn’t needed to revert to the nasty port cover flaps we saw in the Galaxy S5. There’s also a short-circuit protection mechanism inside the Micro-USB port, which prevents any accidents happening when you mix water and electricity to charge the phone.
Yes, that’s right, we did say Micro-USB and not the new reversible USB-C connection standard. We have to admit the inclusion of Micro-USB came as a surprise, and Samsung’s reasoning at the time seemed weak: it told PC Advisor at MWC that people don’t have the accessories for it just yet. But having last week spent a good hour scrambling around for a USB-C cable to charge a phone, we're coming around to its way of thinking: USB-C is convenient, but until we have as many USB-C cables and accessories lying around as we do Micro-USB cables and accessories, it just isn’t as convenient as Micro-USB.
Something else that’s stayed the same is the speaker, which still sits on the Galaxy S7’s bottom edge (jump to audio performance). But you’ll notice that the phone’s dual-mics have been moved toward the phone’s screen and now sit closer to your face when making a call. And the IR sensor is gone.
We’re mentioning this last, since it’s not something we can ‘see’ (not with Mobile Fun expecting our handset back in any case), but the Galaxy S7 is said to feature liquid-cooling technology to help it to deal with the heat generated when gaming or using a lot of processing power. We still found the Galaxy S7 became warm, particularly during our benchmarks (jump to Galaxy S7 benchmarks) or wireless charging, but not as finger-burningly hot as does the Galaxy S6 on occasion. (We should mention that all metal-framed phones will get warm in use.) See all smartphone reviews.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 REVIEW: SCREEN QUALITY AND ALWAYS-ON DISPLAY
Samsung introduced a Quad-HD (2560x1440) display in the Galaxy S6, and that hasn’t changed here. It’s still 5.1in on the diagonal, which is just the right size for a useful screen area for playing games and watching media without the handset being too unwieldy, and it still has that crazy 577ppi pixel density, which basically means images and text are super-sharp. While full-HD is sufficiently clear, Quad-HD offers an amazing experience - if you haven’t seen the difference for yourself we urge you to do so in-store.
Samsung is well known for its Super AMOLED displays, which in comparison to the more typical IPS panels offer rich, saturated colours and great contrast, with deep blacks and ‘Vanish’ whites. It’s also more energy-efficient, with no backlight required.
Even with the curved screen viewing angles are every bit as good as they are in the Galaxy S6 (which is pretty good), and it’s incredibly bright, which makes viewing even in direct sunlight easy. The Galaxy S7 handles auto-brightness with a new feature called Personalised Automatic Brightness Control. This remembers your preferences at various levels of ambient light, then ties those settings to the current reading from its ambient light sensor.
the best phone ever !!
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