Samsung Galaxy S7 review ? Still Worth it ?

PROS

• Stunning looks
• Great camera experience
• microSD slot and IP68 water resistance
• Glorious display

CONS

• Fingerprint magnet
• TouchWiz still has some quirks
• Poor speakers

KEY FEATURES

• 5.1-inch, quad-HD display
• 3,000mAh battery
• 12MP camera
• Fast and wireless charging
• MicroSD
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• 4GB RAM
• 5MP selfie camera
• Exynos 8890 processor
• Manufacturer: Samsung
• Review Price: 4800 MAD / 500$.

WHAT IS THE GALAXY S7?

To use a tired cliche, Samsung has had a year of two halves. After the release of both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, things were looking strong. It had a phone that was better than the HTC 10, better than the Huawei P9 and it’s still better than the iPhone 7.

But then the exploding Galaxy Note 7 landed and Samsung took a bit of a hit. Is it enough to make you think twice about buying a Samsung device?

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – DESIGN

After the massive, and much needed, change in design direction Samsung took with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in 2015, all rumours pointed to things staying pretty much the same for the Galaxy S7.

Well, it’s not like Apple, HTC or Sony make drastic changes to their industrial design every year.

And that’s exactly the case here. Place the Galaxy S7 next to the S6 and you’d be hard pushed to instantly pick which one is which. Frankly, this doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The S6 was already one of the best-looking phones around, and the Galaxy S7 follows suit.

Both the front and back are covered in Gorilla Glass 4, while a metal rim snakes in between. Two volume buttons sit on one side, with a lock/standby switch on the other. It’s a clean look, with the back free from any markings aside from a Samsung logo.

The camera lens now sits just about flush with the glass body too. This might seem a small change, but it makes a big difference. I can now tap out an email with the phone flat on my desk without it jumping and rocking from side to side.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – DISPLAY

Close to perfection. That’s the best way to describe the display on Samsung’s Galaxy S7.

Not much has really changed from the outgoing S6, but this still holds up as the best screen on a smartphone.

It’s still a 5.1-inch QHD panel with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, and just like every Galaxy flagship so far, it uses Samsung’s Super AMOLED tech, rather than the more common LCD.

AMOLED displays are a lot better at showing off blacks than LCDs. Instead of looking slightly grey and washed out, the blacks here are inky deep. Some say AMOLED screens produce colours that are too oversaturated, so reds will look way brighter than they should, but that isn’t much of an issue here. And if you really prefer things toned down, there’s a picture setting for that.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – ANDROID 6.0.1 MARSHMALLOW, TOUCHWIZ AND SOFTWARE

There was a time when stock Android, the way Google intended it to be, was ugly. It was basic, lacked sheen and it paled in comparison to Apple’s iOS. Also, phone makers wanted to stamp their own identity on their handsets, rather than have them all appear alike, so they decided to spruce Android up a bit by adding their own ‘skins’. These are layers that sit over the operating system and change how it looks, along with adding some extra features.

The thing is, Android is no longer ugly. In fact, Android Marshmallow is the sleekest, most polished mobile operating system out there. But these skins are still commonplace.

Samsung’s version is called TouchWiz, and while it’s far less overbearing than Huawei’s EMUI or the skin used by LG, it still alters a lot of Android. Icons are different, there are multiple apps that do the same thing – there are two browsers, for example, and two music players – and Samsung’s exclusive features are pushed front and centre. It’s far from the mess it was a few years ago, but it can still look a bit childish and overly colourful.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – PERFORMANCE

After ditching Qualcomm and its Snapdragon line of CPUs for last year’s Galaxy S6, Samsung has decided to change its mind this time around. Well, sort of.

Snapdragon’s 2015 flagship chip, the 810, had a tough time with overheating, while the Exynos 7420, the Samsung-made silicon that powers the S6, soared to the top of our performance tables.

There are two versions of the Galaxy S7. In Europe, including the UK, it’s again powered by a Samsung Exynos chip. This time it’s the 8890, which consists of eight cores, with four running at 2.6GHz and the other four at 1.59GHz. It’s paired with a Mali T880 GPU.

In the US and a few other territories, it comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820. Both are seriously powerful chips, so don’t be concerned about which one you’re getting.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – CAMERA

I love the camera on the Galaxy S7, and not just because it takes stunning photos.

Let’s think for a minute – what do we use the cameras on our phones for? Printing out massive, poster-sized prints? No. Zooming in and cropping? Hardly.

They’re used for capturing the moment, sharing it and keeping it stored away. This is what the Galaxy S7 does well.

Yes, the megapixel count has dropped from 16-megapixel to 12-megapixel, but those pixels are now much larger – Samsung calls them Dual Pixels – and it helps the autofocus lock onto your target faster and more accurately than before. This is the best autofocus I’ve ever used on a phone. It’s lightning-fast and moving from one focus point to another doesn’t stump the sensor and cause jarring as it does on so many competing devices.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – BATTERY LIFE

My biggest issue with the Galaxy S6 was the battery life. Some felt it was fine, but it would barely ever get me through a full day of use. That’s just not acceptable.

Thankfully, that isn’t an issue this time around. Samsung has upped the battery to 3,000mAh – from 2,600mAh on the S6 – and it makes a huge difference.

Now, don’t go thinking you’re going to get phablet-like stamina here. This is still certainly a charge-every-night device, but you won’t get to six o’clock in the evening and start having to frantically search around for the charger.

OVERALL SCORE

SCORES IN DETAIL

• Battery Life8
• Calls & Sound9
• Camera10
• Design10
• Performance10
• Screen Quality10
• Software9
• Value8

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