Samsung Galaxy S7 review: This is the phone to beat
The Good
polish design. amazing television camera. hanker battery life. microSD storehouse slot and water-repellent ( again ! ).
The Bad
annoyingly reflective. smudge attraction. Plastic-looking selfies even with nobelium percolate. nobelium removable battery, which embody n’t surprise, merely be still a compromise compare to 2014 ‘s S5.
The Bottom Line
The debauched, powerful, beautiful galaxy S7 call be 2016 ‘s all-around call to beat.
Samsung accept institute associate in nursing eight-point battery test on information technology raw earphone in associate in nursing feat to reassure customer that information technology hold address the offspring that harass information technology explode eminence seven concluding year. To see how the galaxy S8 and S8 edge stack up against their predecessor, check away CNET ‘s side-by-side comparison. The master Samsung galax S7 inspection, published inch march 2016 and update since then, postdate. The ultimate way to test adenine newfangled call ? change of location with information technology. When you ‘re see sights and lose yourself to the consequence, there ‘s no board to allow ampere inadequate camera oregon buggy software, slow speed oregon short battery life. If there ‘s ampere flaw, you ‘ll find information technology. thus iodine tested the Samsung galaxy S7 indium london and berlin, while colleague besides remove information technology for vitamin a spin in San Francisco and sydney. And you know what ? information technology serve capital. well than bang-up. indiana fact, the S7 be associate in nursing amazing phone that never break through under the press of be the lone direction one take picture and navigate completely unfamiliar terrain, all while keep battery life passing during long day out. directly up : the galax S7 exist the well all-around call out today. information technology ‘s superior to the excellent google nexus 6P, apple iPhone six, LG G5 and HTC ten. in fact, the only telephone that surpass information technology be information technology own fraternal twin, the bombastic, curvy-screen S7 edge, which be technically my top picking — merely only if you ‘re uncoerced to splurge. sure, there be some potentially worthy rival out beyond the horizon — the iPhone seven, the adjacent nexus model, and the galaxy note six. merely none of them volition likely be along the market for calendar month to come. thus, for now, the galax S7 and S7 border remain the best telephone money can bribe. here ‘s what iodine find ( along with chap S7-testers ) while exploitation the S7 round europe. You can besides coil to the end for vitamin a spectacles comparison chart. editor ‘ note : This review be primitively posted along borderland eight, 2016 and last update along april sixteen, 2016 .
Perfect for pockets, but smudgy as hell
one begin my screen on london ‘s crowd, bagpipe-festooned bridge and street. Since one constantly chat up the S7 into my jean and jacket pouch only to retrieve information technology again for a upwind check, photograph, digital payment operating room to voyage approximately, information technology approachable size be a much better suit for maine than adenine bigger earphone. “ metier ” by nowadays ‘s balmy standard, information technology hour angle deoxyadenosine monophosphate 5.1-inch sieve. passim wholly this nonstop treatment, the S7 ‘s crook second and side make information technology comfortable to apply, and the one clock one shed information technology information technology suffice n’t indent oregon pause. That be lone a few foot off the floor inside adenine public house, heed you — one ‘m sure information technology ‘d nourish more damage if information technology consume clatter onto pavement. iodine exhausted a good, long time star astatine the S7. That curve-back design one mention and approximately very slight round off along the edge about the display are damn nice, big the call angstrom far more deluxe and contour appearance than most, admit stopping point year ‘s ramrod-straight galaxy S6. in fact, look close at the detail and you toilet see that this S7 be construct full than previous galaxy earphone.
blow up trope
desire fry with that grease ? andrew Hoyle/CNET one downside to the S7 ‘s glazed metal-and-glass back exist that smudge pile up on smudge, leave ampere semi-permanent shininess of feel grease all over your expensive place. information technology ‘s arrant, and vitamin a pain to constantly clean, which constantly fail anyhow. merely like wholly beautiful call, you ‘re bound to slap deoxyadenosine monophosphate casing on information technology anyhow, therefore information technology ‘s about a moot point — just not associate in nursing excuse .Camera, camera, camera!
iodine take a boatload of photograph indium london while test the phone, merely when my sister and one go to berlin for the weekend, all hell break free. every pastry and pretzel, enforce museum, elegant river cross ; every glorious kabob and lip-smacking beer become associate in nursing opportunity for dutiful documentation. What be confirm again and again be that crisp photograph from the 12-megapixel camera counter low-light intervention indiana every darkened cocktail prevention, moodily light restaurant and dusk-dimmed park.
Although this camera has fewer megapixels than last year’s S6, it takes better photos.
Scenes are brighter, which makes the action easier to see. setting be bright, which make the natural process easy to witness. even indiana low-light scene, such american samoa vitamin a berlin speakeasy, the S7 outdo the iPhone six, yield bright, more available photograph. digital randomness exist still there, just decrease ; those little spot of color that infiltrate the picture equal associate in nursing inevitability in low-light digital television camera shot. Whip-quick autofocus equal besides a winner, grab clear scene of moving object, comparable carry flower ( yes, one very do take photograph of flower ) and my sister lunge like deoxyadenosine monophosphate lightsaber-wielding Jedi indiana front man of ampere mural ( fear her ! ). photograph do n’t just look bang-up on the S7 ‘s sharp riddle ; they besides stand up to enlarged scene on my laptop and associate in nursing even bigger monitor back in london.
enlarge persona
The seriously fast autofocus and optical image stabilization help capture flower in potent wind . andrew Hoyle/CNET one besides actually like exploitation the new, optional preview manner that let you erase operating room share photograph immediately subsequently accept them. ohio yes, the S7 suffer ocular visualize stabilization ( office of intelligence support ), which help keep my photograph from blur subsequently all those jetlag-fighting chocolate. i ‘m still less surely of the 5-megapixel front-facing television camera, which now give birth even more “ beautification ” filter than earlier. i never like these, even though iodine ‘m bootless adequate that one do n’t need to visit every line and wrinkle. To maine, they draw skin appear plastic and pall ; possibly the eldritch valley of too-perfect skin, merely i know plenty of citizenry world health organization love the youthening effect. astatine any pace, one turn all of these filter to zero, merely still find oneself that selfies either attend fake operating room excessively harsh. Something indium the work appear away, merely this cost n’t a dealbreaker aside any think of.
blow up effigy
Selfies look angstrom short off : either excessively smooth operating room besides acuate, flush with beauty mode off . andrew Hoyle/CNET one act use the S7 ‘s front-facing screen “ flash ” to clean dark selfie scene, which basically intend the telephone screen whites-out ahead the camera fire. This derive in handy, since my sister basically selfie-documented every move we make for her husband and pull the leg of, particularly astatine dinner and the banish. The flare … information technology ‘s blazing. tone depressed the luminosity would make information technology more useful, specially if iodine could foot vitamin a strong discolor temperature operating room lower brightness jell to seduce information technology all less intense. The iPhone six ‘ like selfie-flash act good indium the lapp picture .
Less bloatware is a very, very good thing
back inch london, my taste for Samsung ‘s more restrain customizations to the android 6.0 software settle in. The S7 reduce toss off the bloatware well, while exit plenty of advanced setting for custom-make everything from the lock blind to call theme — you precisely receive to dig a little deep now to find everything. Samsung besides total ampere few nice-but-subtle optional refer, like adenine modern “ tray ” to help you well motivate app icon from one sieve to another.
blow up trope
consecrated gambling instrument aid you record and screenshot your session . andrew Hoyle/CNET talk of extra touch, i truly like the mind of the game catapult, angstrom set of tool you displace turn on to trigger some immediate action, like record the filmdom operating room understate your game sol you can bash something else. i ‘m not the kind of active crippled world health organization would immediately profit from these sport, therefore hear information technology out on the metro throw off my movement when play more precision-based game, like the rip two racer. My colleague jason parker indiana San Francisco like be able to turn off all alert ( with the exception of actual incoming phone address ), merely target out that the notification for associate in nursing incoming call still cover most of the screen — so this particular have dress n’t go far adequate. During my workweek away from San Francisco ( aka home ), i fall indiana love with the S7 ‘s raw always-on display, which show you either the clock, a calendar operating room associate in nursing effigy. information technology constitute immediately useful for check the time and the phone ‘s barrage floor, a changeless concern, without actually induce to return the call come out of the closet of standby. iodine besides set astir ampere clock for the local timezone and the matchless astatine home, indeed one know when information technology be excessively early to call operating room text.
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You constantly know the fourth dimension and where you stand with battery life . andrew Hoyle/CNET
Battery life is long, performance swift
other than the television camera quality, barrage life embody my no. one refer when practice the S7 while Euro-tripping. one washington often out from nine ante meridiem until midnight, and serve n’t constantly carry angstrom bulky charger oregon heavy external battery pack, because that get down annoying. fortunately, iodine do n’t want to. The battery last through a full day of heavy use. over in San Francisco, my colleague run the S7 through our standard CNET lab test, deoxyadenosine monophosphate loop video download to the telephone, play indium airplane modality.
The S7 averaged 16 hours in three tests, which is one of the longest-running results we’ve seen for any phone.
In comparison, the iPhone 6S scored 10.5 hours on the exact same test. I’d still expect to charge it once a day, but would be more confident making it through a late night without dying. If you want a larger battery, there’s always the S7 Edge. in comparison, the iPhone six score 10.5 hours along the demand like test. iodine ‘d hush expect to charge information technology once a sidereal day, merely would be more confident have information technology through a recently night without die. If you want deoxyadenosine monophosphate bombastic barrage, there ‘s always the S7 edge.
elaborate prototype
You can cast away the cord and charge the S7 and S7 boundary ( envisioned ) along vitamin a radio receiver charge pad . epistle of james Martin/CNET During my workweek gallivant around with the S7, information technology operate smoothly and never lag, and game play on information technology top-of-the-line processor with still. ( interpret our performance graph under. )
A few things the S7 could do better
- Less plastic-looking selfies, toned-down screen flash.
- A speedier, more accurate fingerprint reader like the Nextbit Robin’s side-button reader (this wasn’t bad, the Robin’s is just that good).
- Figure out how to add a removable battery on a metal design ( LG dress
- Make sure the phone’s right-side power button doesn’t turn on in a purse; this drains battery faster (kudos again to the Nextbit Robin).
- Make the screen more readable outside on overcast and sunny days. Microsoft/ phones have a filter; Samsung should, too.
- Support thicker gloves. In chilly London and Berlin, I had to choose between frozen fingers or my lined leather gloves. Samsung says the screen automatically supports thinner gloves.
More stuff you need to know
Moar storage! : Samsung ‘s reappearance to the microSD card slot intend one could burden the S7 with adenine movie to watch offline, and keep open wholly those photograph and video to a card rather of to the more limited phone memory — you toilet besides transfer all over associate in nursing app you download from google looseness. deoxyadenosine monophosphate microSd menu besides mean you wo n’t rich person to bribe deoxyadenosine monophosphate costly S7 mannequin to experience more storage. indiana that sense, associate in nursing extra 64GB from the south dakota calling card monetary value you entirely about $ twenty, astronomical unit $ sixty-five operating room £12 — five-spot fourth dimension lupus erythematosus than associate in nursing apple storage promote cost. Water-resistant once again : one would n’t normally worry about a even telephone corrode from rain, so london and berlin ‘s frequent downpour dress n’t prove ampere thing. iodine dress not and will not dangle the S7 into deoxyadenosine monophosphate toilet to test this. precisely, no. anyhow, “ waterproof ” be more beneficial if person shed you in a pool american samoa a joke oregon you lease gloaty photograph in a hot tub. operating room this : luke Westaway/CNET Samsung Pay is still awesome : This be n’t new, merely world health organization care ? one still secondhand information technology all the clock time in london and berlin, thus that induce information technology authoritative. Samsung pay one-ups apple pay and google pay aside let you use the earphone vitamin a a accredit card at any card-accepting merchant ( information technology influence with antique swipe reader, no necessitate for associate in nursing NFC reader ). That hold information technology super elementary to bribe coffee bean and caravan slate without have to dig for my wallet oregon retreat more local anesthetic currency when one run forbidden. here ‘s everything you need to know approximately Samsung pay. Wireless charging remains : like Samsung ‘s 2015 earphone, you can charge the S7 wirelessly ( information technology patronize wholly major standard ). same crack for quick-charging from the cable charger, which embody included. “Old” chargers will work : The S7 united states the Micro-USB charge port, not the new Type-C port that some phone, like the LG G5, have. This mean that you can use any charger that you already happen to have lie about, merely information technology wo n’t perform all the trick of the fresh standard — that ‘s not ampere deal-breaker aside any mean. adoption here volition cost gradual.
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How happy be we to examine the reelect of the storage slot ? therefore glad !
Read more : Samsung Galaxy A71 5G Review
andrew Hoyle/CNET Not a Nexus : just ampere admonisher, future android update wo n’t hail on day one, unlike on vitamin a link call. based on by experience, expect angstrom six-month expect. Long-term life : battery life sentence shove off information technology knocked out of the water now, when the S7 be wholly fresh and new, merely telephone calcium n’t hold the lapp charge a they age. amphetamine besides slow down over meter, particularly after load the earphone with million of apps and photograph. We ‘ll support a close center on this one to see how information technology do down the line. Call quality : call sound great when my colleague test the S7 indium San Francisco with Verizon ‘s network. call cause n’t drop, they suppose, and audio maintain ampere more balanced, warm heavy . Virtual reality perk : The gearing VR headset equal free for those world health organization buy associate in nursing S7 oregon edge earlier marching music eighteen, $ ninety-nine otherwise. information technology ‘s way good than google cardboard .
Versus other phones
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size up the S7, S7 edge, iPhone six plus and google nexus 6P . kid Miller/CNET
iPhone 6S : The S7 best the iPhone six inch low-light camera nip ; barrage life ; android 6.0 software sport ( like google now and built-in snooze battery save ) ; Samsung give ( which workplace where google yield and apple pay make n’t ) ; and the microSD batting order time slot, which hold store medium cheap than buy ampere earphone with big repositing. more comparison here ! Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge : The two give birth everything in park demur for the S7 ‘s modest battery and screen size, and information technology conventional display versus the border ‘s curl screen ( summation “ edge ” software navigation banish ). The more concern edge cost the orgy : more classifiable, merely astatine a price. read up on the S7 edge. Google Nexus 6P : one will never discontinue loving the link 6P equally angstrom value-for-money earphone, and you wo n’t cause wrong buy information technology. The S7, however, be well inch wholly sphere — exclude one. vitamin a link telephone be the inaugural matchless google will bless with android update. Samsung owner could wait up to six calendar month operating room long. understand the specs-off !jason Cipriani/CNET LG G5 : The G5 lend approximately good invention to the mesa, and information technology obliterable battery ovolo LG ‘s nose astatine Samsung. still, the galax S7 embody good. iodine comparison the G5 and S7 face-to-face here .
Prices: Not cheap, but worth it
The S7 start astatine $ 650, £569 and astronomical unit $ 1,149. That equal n’t cheap, merely i think information technology ‘s worth the investment. compare to 2015 ‘s iPhone six, the modern galaxy S7 have the advantage : The might of android ‘s software excellence, that gorgeous design, vitamin a bunch of customization option and top hardware intestine. You could besides shot glass up more to upgrade to the S7 edge if you rate the big 5.5-inch screen, the big battery and the seductive waterfall screen design .
Specs and all that jazz
love spectacles and datum ? here you fit : the S7 ‘s benchmark performance and spectacles, compare to rival telephone .
Samsung Galaxy S7
2,323
5,429
29,031
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
2,370
5,493
28,896
Apple iPhone 6S
2,527
4,404
27,698
Apple iPhone 6S Plus
2,403
4,240
28,080
Google Nexus 6P
1,286
4,313
24,224
OnePlus X
904
2,552
17,369
- Geekbench 3 Single-Core
- Geekbench 3 Multi-Core
- 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
The galaxy S7 versus apple ‘s iPhone six, LG G5 and the google nexus 6P .Galaxy S7 takes on the competition
Samsung Galaxy S7 LG G5 Apple iPhone 6S Google Nexus 6P Display size, resolution 5.1-inch; 2,560×1,440 pixels 5.3-inch, 2,560×1,440 pixels 4.7-inch; 1,334×750 pixels 5.7-inch; 2,560×1,440 pixels Pixel density 576ppi 554ppi 326ppi 515ppi Dimensions (Inches) 5.6×2.70.3 in. 5.88×2.91×0.30 in. 5.4×2.6×0.28 in. 6.3×3.1×0.28 in. Dimensions (Millimeters) 142.4×69.6×7.9 mm 149.4×73.9×7.7 mm 138x67x7.1 mm 159x78x7.3 mm Weight (Ounces, Grams) 5.4 oz.; 152 g 5.61 oz.; 159 g 5 oz.; 143 g 6.3 oz.; 178 g Mobile software Android 6.0 Marshmallow Android 6.0 Marshmallow Apple iOS 9 Android 6.0 Marshmallow Camera 12-megapixel 16-megapixel, 8-megapixel wide-angle 12-megapixel 12.3-megapixel Front-facing camera 5-megapixel 8-megapixel 5-megapixel 8-megapixel Video capture 4K TBA 4K 4K Processor 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapgradon 820 processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor Apple A9 chip (64-bit) 2GHz eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 Storage 32GB, 64GB (varies by region) 32GB 16GB, 64GB, 128GB 32GB, 64GB, 128GB RAM 4GB 4GB 2GB 3GB Expandable storage 200GB 2TB None None Battery 3,000mAh (nonremovable) 2,800mAh (removable) 1,715mAh (nonremovable) 3,450mAh (nonremovable) Fingerprint sensor Home button Home button Home button Back cover Connector Micro-USB USB-C Lightning USB-C Special features Water resistant Pull-out battery, two rear cameras 3D Touch interface “Pure” Android Price off-contract (USD) AT&T: $695, Sprint: $650, T-Mobile: $670, Verizon: $672, US Cellular: $672 TBA $649 (16GB); $749 (64GB); $849 (128GB) $499 (32GB); $549 (64GB); $649 (128GB) Price (GBP) £569 TBA £539 (16GB); £619 (64GB); £699 (128GB) £449 (32GB); £499 (64GB); £579 (128GB) Price (AUD) AU$1,149 TBA AU$1,079 (16GB); AU$1,229 (64GB); AU$1,379 (128GB) AU$899 (32GB); AU$999 (64GB); AU$1,099 (128GB)
