Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review: Stargate

14 March, 2016
Pushed way out of its comfort zone and into a high-stakes flagship redesign last season, Samsung’s back to what it does best - making itself comfortable at the top of the heap. OK, it sounds like a bold claim but by no means incredible if you’ve seen the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

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bought one after much thought...
i don't know what to think of it...
beware this post is long and boring..read through it if you need a user's opinion on s7 edge
this is my 5th "smartphone" starting in order
1.nokia n8(my mom uses it now, music, photos, phone calls, nearly indestructible, with unbelievable realtime battery life)
2.sony z1(the screen cracked after a belt buckle fell on it...though it was about a 15cm fall the pointed tip did the phone in, sony refused to repair it and said they would replace the phone with a refurbished one at half MRP of Z1, which within the warranty period was ridiculous)
3.asus zenfone 6(my replacement for the z1, budget flagship if i can say so, a joy to read ebooks, not a joy to hold, camera quality was surprisingly good, my brother took it and shattered the screen)
4. zenfone 2(the intel underdog price rivalling nexus and moto phones, has started getting ghosttouches..prbably due to a warped screen)
and finally the s7 edge...
i used to think the sony xperia design(of my old z1) was cool, but the s7 edge is such a piece of beauty..too bad i have to enclose it in an ugly case(don't argue, the iphone gets really cool cases)...my old nokia n8 is still running around naked..hehe..can't blame sammy though..its a battle of scratchproofing vs shatterproofing and scratchproofing won..hard glasses tend to resist scratches but become more brittle...now back to the phone...its a gorgeous piece to hold and behold, it feels very dense and you feel justified paying nearly $800 for it
somehow its already using up 50% of the 4gb after i loaded it with the exact set of apps that took around 1.5gb in my asus zenfone2 (2gb model)..and i have to say the puny zenfone does a better job at ui than s7 at onethird the cost(the screen warped in my pocket though and its getting ghost touches now..so...there ends the advantage)..touchwiz has improved and its loads better than my old z1, but there are certain elements you miss(although i can't really figure out what)..that said the phone is blazingly fast and ran though the day using only 80% after really heavy use of video watching and donwloading all those apps
i keep double tapping the phone to wake up..a bad habit from the zenfone..
phonecall quality is good..can't say the same about the audio quality in videoplayback...its most prominent in mxplayer(now don't tell me to use the stock player..mxplayer rocks)..there is a metallic character to the sound especially through headphones, though i'm hearing new notes in my songs suddenly...sound quality improves with headphones used and over ear headphones(philips oneil stretch) sound good.
i'm using the international version, so i don't really know the compatibility of hevc video.. it runs ok in SW in mxplayer..but sammy is impatient about slightly corrupted files that usually run ok in the pc vlc player or the zenfone 2 mx player and usually the player just stops working..and talking about the MX player, holding the edge wrong will cause sudden seeks or volume change in mx player..the edge provides a good way to get to frequently used apps and get ram details..more development and support for 3rd party widgets will be nice other wise its no better than the modularity of g5
has anyone seen the notification light on the n8? its only 1 color but, that was just awesome, it was called a breathing light, and the effect was just superb, my purple whatsapp notification light is an abrupt dot with half blue and half red merging into violet in the centre..
for some reason the s7 charges ok with all my usb cables but on the pc it only recognizes its official usb cable(though to be fair, my cables are about 6 months old)
the screen is a joy to use and colors come out nicely..
camera is good, i have not tried night samples, but indoor lighting does provide good results..they are not spectacular, in a studio setup they may work better, but those people will be wielding dslrs, the photos are good for a 4x6in printout or for a facebook upload, most imperfections are removed after we add in filters anyway...
now this is my initial assessment after 3 days use.. i'm currently keeping the phone on a pillow till my case arrives...i'm missing somethings that i had gotten used to on the zenfone like the autostart manager(but s7edge has 4gb so...)
as with any device it takes time getting used to it, remembering that the powerbutton is on the right and not the top, and the headphone jack is at the bottom...some tweaking is needed..but hopefully no adjustment from my part...
now anyone who read through this may feel that i'm trashtalking about the edge...no i love it, these are the problems you'r probably going to face depending on your previous phone, thats all.
for anyone out to buy a flagship, i would recommed this or the htc10 blindly(personally not a fan of htc sense)
powerusers maybe left better of with a nexus(or the note 6 when it comes out, not saying s7 isn't one but with nexus you'll get the raw android)
photoenthusiasts may like htc10 better unless samsung releases an update for the camera

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    • AnonD-2869
    • bJB
    • 06 May 2016

    Anonymous, 04 May 2016An awesome mobile with 12 dual pixel camera with low light ... moreYeah before the beastly Galaxy Note 6 :P

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 7tB
      • 04 May 2016

      An awesome mobile with 12 dual pixel camera with low light capture. Probably the best phone in the world.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • ij4
        • 27 Apr 2016

        abuhamza, 26 Apr 2016I bought this phone in KSA from Extra one month before, but... moreCould you have accidentally played with / activated the Colour Adjustment feature in the Accessibility settings? It's made to tweak the display for colour blind people.

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          • abuhamza
          • LiC
          • 26 Apr 2016

          I bought this phone in KSA from Extra one month before, but early morning i found the phone screen colors are mixed. went to Samsung company for checking but still from last one week in lab waiting for some parts.

          phone physically looks good, i used to use Samsung cell phones since long time but first time this incident happens.

          please advise if someone have any solution for other users if it happens.

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            • AnonD-2869
            • bJB
            • 17 Apr 2016

            Man, I got the 64Gb Exynos Ver. from amazon and what can I say, though this is my first Samsung phone its OS interface is smooth af, I have tried note 5 and S6,and they hindered a bit here and there but this one doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I use iphs also but this S7 edge just blew others out of water. It has high price tags and glossy glass back,but what can I say, gorgeous screen, god damn good battery life and really nice camera and water and dust proof is a plus for me. Now this has successfully become my daily driver. F*ck cloud saving to suck my money and drain my freakishly weak iph battery which I need to carry power bank like a dumb person,and I can't get internet all the time to fetch the data whenever I need. But it all ain't matter now as I can store all my sh*t in one place with 200 GB class 10 SD card. Well done on this one Sammy. Well done! Keep up the good work!

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              • AnonD-519241
              • ije
              • 11 Apr 2016

              Aaron , 07 Apr 2016I have moto x previously, i also owned iphone 6s plus, s7 ... moreYes it destroys not the way like l1020 or 808 destroyed cameras ... They remained king for many years

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                • AnonD-317618
                • 61E
                • 09 Apr 2016

                I facing problem with display GAP,... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai_3_2ZGsRE - If you have another colour please help me to make a video (on Bezel upside LED notification) when LED notification is on. It look like worse build quality on GOLD version

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                  • Aaron
                  • v0q
                  • 07 Apr 2016

                  AnonD-519241, 27 Mar 2016My review of s7e This thing is a beauty to behold! The ed... moreI have moto x previously, i also owned iphone 6s plus, s7 edge destroys all what you were saying about it, seriously? It is not just this site it's almost all over the tech site!

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                    • AnonD-522538
                    • X{q
                    • 04 Apr 2016

                    Excellent phone in a nutshell.
                    *Great battery backup, Best camera available on a smartphone.
                    *Gaming/Fingerprint/Multi-tasking/Pop-up view works flawlessly and glad to use those.
                    *Best Display just like it's predecessor.
                    *Extended Edge features just make your life much more easier.
                    *Fast charging and wireless charging is one of the best part of my s7 Edge.
                    **Specially the more curved design is the best part, now it's more easy to hold and use with one hand.

                    #Using SM-G935F, Exynos Duos Global Version. Loving it. Will obviously reffer to everybody who is looking for a unique yet all-rounder smartphone.

                    ##Cons - No IR Blaster, No Removable Battery(for being water-resistance) and No stereo Speaker.
                    ->But those aren't any major game-changer for me so this is the best Smartphone till date for me.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • uub
                      • 03 Apr 2016

                      Gooooood love it

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                        • AnonD-190634
                        • JE7
                        • 27 Mar 2016

                        Overpriced. And I rather buy nexus 6p. But I think nexus 6p is also slightly overpriced too !
                        Only if xiaomi had good software and were available in my country :(

                        I wish s7 edge had an google play edition like one m7 and galaxy s4!

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                          • AnonD-519241
                          • uv4
                          • 27 Mar 2016

                          My review of s7e
                          This thing is a beauty to behold!
                          The edge curve makes it look like you've got something from space ;p
                          The battery does not live upto the expectations standby is not good when the phone is idle still the battery decreased by 5 to 6% in an hour ... Why? Moto x play lasts twice compared to s7e with both having almost same amount of battery
                          -The system is not as fluid / reponsive as my old moto x play, just doesn't justify the system has 4 gb ram and latest processor
                          - camera a big disappointment the image quality doesn't even comes close to my brother's lumia 1020 i just wonder what Nokia could've done with f1.7 / 1.4um when they managed so good with f2.2/ 1.12um pixel size ... Some +ve of s7e : focusing is crazy fast and so is post processing you can just go on clicking there is just no lag at all in clicking pics, pro mode is too good better than the lumia 1020 with shutter speed ranging from 1/24000 to 10 seconds, manual focus incorporates zoom the tech found in sony's
                          Video is superb in daylight but in room lighting / indoors lots of noise here i think the f1.7 factor should have come in but it doesn't help again the lumia 1020 managed a better low light vide than s7e with noise level kept low and details high

                          For those buying for camera, 'please don't' it's not that the camera is bad infact camera hardware is top notch f1.7/ 1.4um / 1/2.6" sensot it's the best camera in a smartphone but it doesn't justify the price you get it for, only Samsung to be blamed for not getting it right with perfect hardware

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                            • Blankman
                            • nGT
                            • 26 Mar 2016

                            I love this phone. For those saying the curved display is a gimmick....one thing.....bezels.

                            Battery life is back to what we were getting with larger phones back in 2014, although I've yet to compare it with my HTC One M8 which lasted for 2-3 days.
                            I questioned GSM Arena's decision to rate the S5 higher than the M8, because apart from the camera, that one was so good. And still is, but this phone is probably the best I've owned.
                            What DID surprise me was just how we are now getting advances in Smartphone tech which are so little compared to 2 years ago. Yes this phone is great, but the gap is getting smaller, and it's now beginning to feel like Android phones have reached their peak.
                            My only disappointments are with the mono speaker and lack of FM Radio, which is still very relevant.

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                              • AnonD-517593
                              • nea
                              • 22 Mar 2016

                              I can just say the geegbench 3 results you guys have posted there, are kind of wrong. Look at their official website. The iphone 6s is faster than the s6 in multi core performance but slower than ghe s7. The s6 edge has an average multicore result of 4520 not 5095. and the edge+ has around 4100 not 5100.

                                olaivo, 21 Mar 2016Whats is the theme / background on the picture? (The pictur... moreIf you are talking about the thumb/header picture - it's an official live photo from Samsung, with a Stargate photoshopped on top of the plate.

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                                  • Woopwoop85
                                  • nw}
                                  • 21 Mar 2016

                                  Anonymous, 21 Mar 2016Oh so youve never used a mobile before. Maybe you should tr... moreLol its a troll Jim but not as we know it hahahaha

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                                    • olaivo
                                    • Msb
                                    • 21 Mar 2016

                                    Whats is the theme / background on the picture? (The picture with the grey s7 edge with dark background)

                                    http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7_edge-review-1409.php

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                                      • AnonD-491426
                                      • vxk
                                      • 21 Mar 2016

                                      AnonD-413292, 18 Mar 2016I have S7 and S7 edge live demo in my store. What I notice... moreWant my thoughts on the matter? OK, here it comes: YOU; ARE SIMPLY A TROLLER!

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                                        • AnonD-491426
                                        • vxk
                                        • 21 Mar 2016

                                        AnonD-515607, 17 Mar 2016Have the Exynos 8890 and don't get your issues. wounder if ... more"wounder if its cpu related?" or, have you not consider the great possibility that (GS7 EDGE UNIMPRESSED) is perhaps, just one of the more-or-less than 50% of the trollers who are surely present here. Isn't it?

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