Samsung Galaxy S7 And Galaxy S7 Edge Review: Hot Android Hardware
Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge Introduction And Specs
When it comes to technology, especially the fast-paced advancement of mobile technology, design cycles are often based on either innovation or iteration. Sometimes it's a blend of both, but often times, like Intel's tick-tock silicon design process, it makes perfect sense to innovate one design cycle and then iterate and perfect on the next. It's a common practice that Samsung's chief smartphone rival, Apple is well known for as well. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones are definitely iterative product designs, but my how iteration has served Samsung so very well on these two new flagship devices.
Last year's Samsung Galaxy S6 And Galaxy S6 Edge, as well as the larger follow-on Galaxy S6 Edge+, were break-out designs for the Korean smartphone powerhouse, with build quality, material choices and mechanical design innovation that offered consumers a very premium Android smartphone alternative in a saturated market. They are great devices, even by today's standards nearly a year later. Samsung's new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are refreshes of the original S6 designs, though this year's Edge is larger with a 5.5-inch display. Samsung went through almost every major area of last year's product and updated it with newer, better platform technologies and tossed in a few new key features as well.
As a result, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are two highly refined, powerful smartphones. We'll dig in and take a good look at some seriously hot mobile hardware, but first, let's let Marco give you a quick hands-on demo, doing what has been referred to as his best "Jeff Goldblum." Long story, but you'll notice the channeling...
A quick scan of the high level specs for both phones shows the new GS7 and GS7 Edge are powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, a full 4GB complement of DDR3 RAM and Qualcomm's new Adreno 530 graphics. The other major notable here is that both phones now sport larger batteries and the Galaxy S7 Edge specifically is backed by a very healthy 3600 mAh power plant.
It's unnatural to watch, but the Galaxy S7 & Galaxy S7 Edge handle submersion with no aversion.
Last year's Samsung Galaxy S6 And Galaxy S6 Edge, as well as the larger follow-on Galaxy S6 Edge+, were break-out designs for the Korean smartphone powerhouse, with build quality, material choices and mechanical design innovation that offered consumers a very premium Android smartphone alternative in a saturated market. They are great devices, even by today's standards nearly a year later. Samsung's new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are refreshes of the original S6 designs, though this year's Edge is larger with a 5.5-inch display. Samsung went through almost every major area of last year's product and updated it with newer, better platform technologies and tossed in a few new key features as well.
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| Model Name | Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge |
| Display | Galaxy S7: 5.1 inch Display (1440 X 2560 Resolution, ~577 ppi pixel density) (Super AMOLED, Force Touch with TouchWIZ UI) Galaxy S7 Edge: 5.5 inch Display (1440 X 2560 Resolution, ~534 ppi pixel density) (Super AMOLED, Force Touch with TouchWIZ UI) |
| Processor | Snapdragon 820, 64bit Quad-Core Processor |
| Dimensions | Galaxy S7: 5.61” x 2.74” x 0.31” Galaxy S7 Edge: 5.85” x 2.85” x 0.30” |
| SIM | Nano SIM, Samsung Pay |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 IP68 Water & Dust Resistance - Up to 30 min in up to 5 feet of water |
| GPU | Adreno 530 |
| OS | Android v6.0 (Marshmallow OS) |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Storage/Memory | 32 / 64 GB Micro SD up to 200 GB |
| Camera | 12 MP f/1.7 primary camera, 26 mm 5 MP Front facing camera with Dual Video call |
| Networking | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, HSPA, GSM support v4.2 Bluetooth, NFC, USB2.0, Wi-Fi, GPS, GLONASS |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Barometer, Fingerprint, Gyro, Geo-magnetic, Hall, HRM, Proximity, RGB Light |
| Battery | Galaxy S7: 3000 mAh Non-Removable Battery Galaxy S7 Edge: 3600 mAh Non-Removable Battery |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, White |
| Price | $99 - $299 w/ 2 yr contract - $680 - $782 Unlocked At Amazon Also available on AT&T: Samsung Galaxy S7 | Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. And on Cricket Samsung Galaxy S7 is available as well. |
A quick scan of the high level specs for both phones shows the new GS7 and GS7 Edge are powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, a full 4GB complement of DDR3 RAM and Qualcomm's new Adreno 530 graphics. The other major notable here is that both phones now sport larger batteries and the Galaxy S7 Edge specifically is backed by a very healthy 3600 mAh power plant.
It's unnatural to watch, but the Galaxy S7 & Galaxy S7 Edge handle submersion with no aversion.
And of course both devices are now IP68 water and dust resistant. Specifically, if you decided to go for an impromptu dip, for example, and forgot the phone was in your pocket, you could actually stay fully submerged in up to 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes without damaging the phone. And as you'll see on the pages ahead, Samsung achieved this without blocking up the phones' headphone, mic or microUSB synch and charge ports with external caps or gaskets.
Samsung also bundles a relatively well-equipped kit of gear to go with these new devices. You get the requisite lit pack and AC adapter charger with microUSB to USB synch and charge cable, along with a pair of decent sounding Samsung ear buds. They're not Bose SoundSport or IE2 quality, but sound every bit as good or better than any bundled set of buds you've ever plugged into.
You also get the standard issue SIM extractor pin tool, along with a microUSB to USB adapter. It's perhaps an interesting nod to the fact that the Galaxy S7 series of smartphones does not come with a USB Type-C port, unlike newer generation devices like Google Nexus 6P. Whether or not this is a major shortcoming is up for you to determine, but we'd offer that most folks currently won't miss this port upgrade from what is otherwise essentially a dream list, top-shelf mobile platform setup.
Speaking of which, let's look closer at the hardware, next...
You also get the standard issue SIM extractor pin tool, along with a microUSB to USB adapter. It's perhaps an interesting nod to the fact that the Galaxy S7 series of smartphones does not come with a USB Type-C port, unlike newer generation devices like Google Nexus 6P. Whether or not this is a major shortcoming is up for you to determine, but we'd offer that most folks currently won't miss this port upgrade from what is otherwise essentially a dream list, top-shelf mobile platform setup.
Speaking of which, let's look closer at the hardware, next...
