Samsung Galaxy S7 edge First Impressions. For whatever it’s worth; here’s my impression so far. And, of course, your mileage may vary…
After several years with the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4; I skipped the S5 and S6.
Couldn’t stand the fake chrome edges of the S5 and wasn’t willing to give up both the removable battery and expandable storage on the S6.
I have been with LG (G3 and G4) for the last 2 years.
The LG G4 is a great device. Leather is hokey, but not offensive. Battery life worked for me. Screen is great. Camera is awesome.
On to the S7 edge.
The positive:
Best industrial design from Samsung yet.
Best fit and finish from Samsung yet.
Water resistance done right. This really should be standard on all mobile devices by now.
Battery life has been good enough that I don’t really worry about not being able to change it out. More on this later.
The fingerprint reader seems to work pretty well.
Best built-in speaker this side of HTC.
The silver color is pretty snazzy, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Always on display is actually handy.
Expandable storage is a must for me. Pictures, music, movies, video of the kids latest whatever and I would fill a 32GB phone on the first day.
The negative:
Glass back seems outdated and fragile. We all know screens will break when dropped just so. Why add this risk to the back of the phone?
I never fully appreciated the term “fingerprint magnet” until now. The oils from my hands really stick to the back of this thing, enough to annoy me.
I find myself having to hold it carefully so I don’t activate things on the left and right curved screen sections. And even if I don’t accidently open things I don’t actually want open; if I’m touching either edge then I can’t get the “edge panels” to open. It just scrolls through home screen pages.
Obviously, a case would help with all of the above. I’m currently rock’n the Spigen Neo Hybrid Crystal. I was hoping to go caseless on this beautiful phone, but there are just too many issues.
Screen really is over-saturated and I don’t see anywhere it can be adjusted. LG offered this.
Usage notes:
My experience with LG confirmed I like a “larger” phone. So I chose the edge version of the S7 for the bigger screen.
The curved edges are a gimmick. They look super cool, but they’re actually more trouble than they add to the functionality of the device. I don’t see why the “edge panels” couldn’t be added to a regular/flat screen phone.
As mentioned above; battery life has been good. I picked up the Verizon “fast charge bundle”, which includes: Samsung wireless fast charge stand, Samsung fast charge 10,200MaH external battery, and Verizon fast charge vehicle charger. All for $99. I think the combination of a decent size internal battery and quick charge/wireless fast charge works. I know Samsung tried to convince us this was the case on the S6, but this time I think it works. Most days the internal battery holds up fine. For a longer day or heavier usage I can top up quickly either in the car or on the train/plane. An external battery has long been part of my travel kit anyway. Now I have a fast charge version so it’s more convenient.
I’m using the wireless fast charge stand on a nightstand. It’s working well, but the light is too dam bright. Some electrical tape should fix this as soon as I get around to it.
The camera:
Too early to tell.
I like the attention paid to low light performance. It surprises me how important the camera has become to me. The LG G4 camera was the first I was really happy with. Time will tell if this will surpass that experience.
So far, I’ve noticed it focuses really quickly.
I wish it was 16x9 at full resolution. I realize 4x3 is the historical “picture” ratio, but almost all screens we view our pictures and videos on are some version of “widescreen” these days and I rarely print pictures anymore.
I am concerned about the drop in resolution (megapixels). I recognize the megapixel war has not always resulted in better images. However, the lack of optical zoom on phone cameras means cropping/digital zoom is the only option to “zoom in” and more pixels are helpful here. I think the increased pixel size in the new sensor is a great idea and combined with the 1.7 lens and optical image stabilization, the indoor/ low-light results are really good. I think these sensors just need to get physically larger to take camera phone photography to the next level.
Volume up button is a handy camera trigger. Power button might be a handy option too. Not sure how that could be implemented.
Front camera:
I don’t use these much, but… Samsung’s palm trigger for taking the shot works better than LG’s version.
Samsung: hold palm up, once it recognizes it starts count down automatically. LG: hold palm up, once it recognizes, close palm to start countdown. I seem to move the phone and mess up the shot during this step with the LG.
Software:
In my opinion; this is the best version of touchwiz yet. The customizations and themes are appreciated. They just don’t go far enough. I haven’t made the switch yet, but it looks like I’ll be going back to Nova soon. I miss the expandable/ scrollable dock. I really don’t care if a manufacturer’s launcher comes with an app drawer or not. I can add it if I want one. However, I hate that Samsung has locked to the rightmost spot on the dock. I would rather use that spot for other things.
I actually like Samsung’s button layout. I have no idea why they’ve stuck with a physical home button, but I don’ mind it. I also don’t mind on-screen or below-the-screen buttons. Either work for me. I use their back arrow all the time. I think they should allow customization here too! Custom functions for press, long-press and double tap for all 3 buttons would be great.
Gallery app organized by date is helpful.
Samsung’s keyboard is really good. I’ll keep it a while before I switch back to SwiftKey.
That’s all I can think of and I’m tired of typing. Thanks for reading. Best of luck with whatever shiny new device you choose.
After several years with the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4; I skipped the S5 and S6.
Couldn’t stand the fake chrome edges of the S5 and wasn’t willing to give up both the removable battery and expandable storage on the S6.
I have been with LG (G3 and G4) for the last 2 years.
The LG G4 is a great device. Leather is hokey, but not offensive. Battery life worked for me. Screen is great. Camera is awesome.
On to the S7 edge.
The positive:
Best industrial design from Samsung yet.
Best fit and finish from Samsung yet.
Water resistance done right. This really should be standard on all mobile devices by now.
Battery life has been good enough that I don’t really worry about not being able to change it out. More on this later.
The fingerprint reader seems to work pretty well.
Best built-in speaker this side of HTC.
The silver color is pretty snazzy, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Always on display is actually handy.
Expandable storage is a must for me. Pictures, music, movies, video of the kids latest whatever and I would fill a 32GB phone on the first day.
The negative:
Glass back seems outdated and fragile. We all know screens will break when dropped just so. Why add this risk to the back of the phone?
I never fully appreciated the term “fingerprint magnet” until now. The oils from my hands really stick to the back of this thing, enough to annoy me.
I find myself having to hold it carefully so I don’t activate things on the left and right curved screen sections. And even if I don’t accidently open things I don’t actually want open; if I’m touching either edge then I can’t get the “edge panels” to open. It just scrolls through home screen pages.
Obviously, a case would help with all of the above. I’m currently rock’n the Spigen Neo Hybrid Crystal. I was hoping to go caseless on this beautiful phone, but there are just too many issues.
Screen really is over-saturated and I don’t see anywhere it can be adjusted. LG offered this.
Usage notes:
My experience with LG confirmed I like a “larger” phone. So I chose the edge version of the S7 for the bigger screen.
The curved edges are a gimmick. They look super cool, but they’re actually more trouble than they add to the functionality of the device. I don’t see why the “edge panels” couldn’t be added to a regular/flat screen phone.
As mentioned above; battery life has been good. I picked up the Verizon “fast charge bundle”, which includes: Samsung wireless fast charge stand, Samsung fast charge 10,200MaH external battery, and Verizon fast charge vehicle charger. All for $99. I think the combination of a decent size internal battery and quick charge/wireless fast charge works. I know Samsung tried to convince us this was the case on the S6, but this time I think it works. Most days the internal battery holds up fine. For a longer day or heavier usage I can top up quickly either in the car or on the train/plane. An external battery has long been part of my travel kit anyway. Now I have a fast charge version so it’s more convenient.
I’m using the wireless fast charge stand on a nightstand. It’s working well, but the light is too dam bright. Some electrical tape should fix this as soon as I get around to it.
The camera:
Too early to tell.
I like the attention paid to low light performance. It surprises me how important the camera has become to me. The LG G4 camera was the first I was really happy with. Time will tell if this will surpass that experience.
So far, I’ve noticed it focuses really quickly.
I wish it was 16x9 at full resolution. I realize 4x3 is the historical “picture” ratio, but almost all screens we view our pictures and videos on are some version of “widescreen” these days and I rarely print pictures anymore.
I am concerned about the drop in resolution (megapixels). I recognize the megapixel war has not always resulted in better images. However, the lack of optical zoom on phone cameras means cropping/digital zoom is the only option to “zoom in” and more pixels are helpful here. I think the increased pixel size in the new sensor is a great idea and combined with the 1.7 lens and optical image stabilization, the indoor/ low-light results are really good. I think these sensors just need to get physically larger to take camera phone photography to the next level.
Volume up button is a handy camera trigger. Power button might be a handy option too. Not sure how that could be implemented.
Front camera:
I don’t use these much, but… Samsung’s palm trigger for taking the shot works better than LG’s version.
Samsung: hold palm up, once it recognizes it starts count down automatically. LG: hold palm up, once it recognizes, close palm to start countdown. I seem to move the phone and mess up the shot during this step with the LG.
Software:
In my opinion; this is the best version of touchwiz yet. The customizations and themes are appreciated. They just don’t go far enough. I haven’t made the switch yet, but it looks like I’ll be going back to Nova soon. I miss the expandable/ scrollable dock. I really don’t care if a manufacturer’s launcher comes with an app drawer or not. I can add it if I want one. However, I hate that Samsung has locked to the rightmost spot on the dock. I would rather use that spot for other things.
I actually like Samsung’s button layout. I have no idea why they’ve stuck with a physical home button, but I don’ mind it. I also don’t mind on-screen or below-the-screen buttons. Either work for me. I use their back arrow all the time. I think they should allow customization here too! Custom functions for press, long-press and double tap for all 3 buttons would be great.
Gallery app organized by date is helpful.
Samsung’s keyboard is really good. I’ll keep it a while before I switch back to SwiftKey.
That’s all I can think of and I’m tired of typing. Thanks for reading. Best of luck with whatever shiny new device you choose.
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