With the Galaxy S7 announced, it has become a pattern that sometimes what is announced in the iPhone will be available in the next Galaxy flagship. But this time, Samsung went ahead of the competition with their smashing innovations or rather refinement in the Galaxy S7 for the smartphone world.
Meaning the Galaxy S7 might look nothing much changed in comparison with the Galaxy S6, but we assure you it is not. For starters, they really listened to consumers in what is needed more in the Galaxy S7. So here is our full review of the Galaxy S7.
Less reasons to accidentally drop
The Galaxy S7 is now friendlier to touch as compared to the Galaxy S6. Now with smoother and less protruding edges, this makes it a more comfortable phone to hold. On top is the Sim tray bay that can accommodate either two nano sims or one sim can be used as a MicroSD slot for up to 200GB of addition storage.
One good improvement can be found on the back, the camera is less protruding making it more friendly in laying it flat. Plus the back glass is now curved, making it more easier to hold in one hand.
Unfortunately in one of our gripe, if you got big hands or hugging the phone…your palms will definitely “accidentally” touch the back or recent apps button. This is one annoying point we always encounter, especially on a 5.1″ smartphone paired with its small footprint.
Gorgeous screen
The 5.1″ Super AMOLED Quad HD screen is very pleasing to the eyes. Viewing photos, videos or simply browsing can spoil you of the quality. We really loved how videos are more vibrant and alive when viewing.
A camera that can be mistaken as a DSLR
Everybody loves a snappy camera that can keep up with you, even with the Galaxy S6 before this was the case. But thanks to the improvements of Samsung, their new dual pixel technology delivers fast auto focus.
The dual pixel technology is thanks to an algorithm that takes advantage similar to our eyes, one left and one right to focus faster. In end result, photos are faster to focus even on low light. Since the camera’s megapixel is downsized to 12mp, photos are less strained in catching light and combined with the better f.17 aperture delivers an overall low-light condition.
On the light side of note, we love taking food and Instagram worthy shots using the Galaxy S7. Here are some shots
Android Marshmallow = iPhone-ish interface.
With the new Android Marshmallow 6.0 OS built-in, you’ll definitely be pleased at the same time annoyed as it takes the same security policy found on iOS. Technically all apps are needed to have permissions to use the phone’s interface such as Camera, Video, Contacts, Microphone, Gallery and even GPS. Making this phone similar to the iPhone in terms of interface.
Though we loved the clean drawer in the Galaxy S7, you won’t have to juggle with too much apps especially curated by Samsung as there are now less confusing apps pre-installed in the phone. On the other side, this is also a good sign of bigger storage for your phone.
Lastly is it’s capabilities to multi-task. With apps that are capable of multi-window mode, you can view multiple apps in one view and minimize the app into an icon similar to the floating head we see in Facebook messenger. Though the 5.1″ screen isn’t the most friendly to view multiple windows, it still beats the scenario in apple where you have to transfer from screen to screen just to check and reply to notifications
Performance = Trust us…it’s fast
Technically right now even the processors from last year are fast enough to keep up with today’s demanding apps. But Samsung welcomed the S7 with a beefier 4GB RAM and an improved Samsung Exynos 8890 64-bit processor, we think this is more fitted more on the future of VR use rather than answering today’s problem in apps management.
In early benchmarks, we can see a score of 125k+ in Antutu version 6.0. In comparison, this is already more than enough for a performance for demanding users. From juggling apps, camera, multitasking to multiple contacts and even playing music on the background, it’s all covered.
Battery Life = Just be conscious
Though the Galaxy S7 is now powered by a 3,000mAh battery, our experience was still short as we can only get up to around 7 hours of battery life. This is even conservative enough of using the power saving mode and a modest brightness in the screen.
Though 7 hours might not be satisfying, we really welcome the fast charger for quick charging of up to 1 hour and 10 mins to fully charge.
Finally waterproof with no hesitations
Galaxy S7 Edge Submerged underwater
We had the Galaxy S5 before, but we weren’t really satisfied with it’s waterproofing technology. Now moving forward the Galaxy S7 takes on a better methodology in being waterproof as all components exposed are less protected and only focuses on the inside.
The IP68 rating gives the Galaxy S7 another layer of assurance especially when raining, accidental spills or the once in a lifetime drop your phone in the kitchen sink scenario.
Virtual Reality is the next big thing
Apple’s force touch in the 6S wasn’t really “tempting” to make it a factor for people to change to the 6S. But with Samsung, they focused more on what is more tempting for people. Video is currently the fastest rising content in the world, with Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and especially Snapchat kicking into the scene. With this Samsung is banking on virtual reality with their Gear VR, partnered with Facebook to provide a faster dispatch of oculous based content like games, videos, interactive scenes and even more.
In our experience, playing videos gives you scenarios to view in a place like a home theater, cinema, ant world, in the moon or even into the void space of nothingness. Aside from it, other means of entertainment is available such as playing games, watching facebook 360 videos and even entertainment videos made specifically for virtual reality.
One major advantage of owning a Gear VR is you can download exclusive exclusive contents from the Oculus store only available using the Gear VR. Plus the Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy device will definitely add vibrance to your viewing experience. Technically the higher the resolution of the device, the better is the quality. A bit of warning though, we experienced several occasions of overheating unit in the S7 which inhibits our experience for not more than 30 minutes in average. Just make sure you’re in a well ventilated and cool area when using the VR.
Verdict : Almost perfect and nothing fancy
While in the Galaxy S7 you won’t see any modular type concept, Samsung definitely focused more on customer experience this time. With the phone being faster, better in camera and definitely bringing the much needed stuff like waterproofing and expandable memory. Though we were a bit sad that the IR blaster is nowhere to be found and so is the 3D touch…it’s still one of the most…almost perfect phones you can buy today.
The Galaxy S7 is priced at Php34,990 which isn’t definitely bad for a flagship of Samsung. If you need a bigger buddy, the 5.5″ Galaxy S7 Edge is available for Php39,990 with just the same specifications. Lastly for the Galaxy S7 to succeed, we believe Samsung should be proactive enough to provide enough content for virtual reality, or else we are looking for Samsung and even Facebook carrying a heavy burden if the VR plans should fail.
Also for as low as 1,999 monthly, you can also get the phones via postpaid plans in Globe MyLifestyle Plan & Platinum plans and also via Smart.
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