This is not to say that in terms of design, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is fundamentally different from the 5.1-inch screen and glass body make it look like its predecessor. True, there are still noticeable differences, besides, the novelty has become a little thicker and noticeably heavier.

The dimensions of the flagship are 142.4 × 69.6 × 7.9 mm, weight is 152 grams. In terms of dimensions, it is more compact than Huawei Honor 7, but larger and thicker than its predecessor. The smartphone is quite heavy, comparable in weight to the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016). The novelty has become a little thicker, but thanks to the rounded edges of the case, this is practically not felt in the hand. The front and back panels of the device are covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 4, the edges of the smartphone are framed by a metal frame. The device fits comfortably in the hand, but the glass body quickly collects marks and fingerprints. At the same time, it is surprising that it is almost not slippery and lies quite securely in the palm of your hand. From the front, it differs from its predecessor in that the glass on the front panel is more curved at the edges. The side bezels are quite narrow, with a screen-to-surface area ratio of 72%. Directly below the display is the main Home key, which has a built-in fingerprint scanner. It works quickly, but not always the first time, the point here is rather in the geometry of the sensor. For example, in the same Huawei P9 it is square and large, so when you put your finger on the sensor, you will almost certainly hit it with the right part of the pad. And the Samsung Galaxy S7 has a narrow and small area, hence these “extra”, unsuccessful unlock attempts can come from.

Behind are the most interesting changes in terms of design. About a miracle, the camera no longer sticks out of the body and no longer causes aesthetic displeasure. Although for this it is worth saying thanks to the thickness of the phone, which has increased slightly this year. Another change is the shape of the back, in the center it is flat, but closer to the side ends, tapering, smoothly bending. It not only looks impressive, but also very comfortable - thanks to this shape, the phone fits more comfortably in your hand.

There is nothing to say about the build quality, it is at the maximum level. In addition, this year the protection against water and dust, which disappeared after, was returned to the phone. Someone will not like that the phone is non-separable, and the battery is non-removable, but such is the price for a metal case. Despite the protective glass on all sides, the smartphone cannot be called shock-resistant, like the Samsung Galaxy S7 Active.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is available in three colors: Diamond Black (Black), Dazzling Platinum (Gold) and Titanium Silver (Silver).

Screen - 4.6

The display of the Samsung Galaxy S7 is one of the best smartphones on the market today, it is juicy, bright, ultra-sharp and perfectly readable in the sun. True, many colors on it may seem too saturated.

The device received a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels and a density of 577 dpi. AMOLED technology provides excellent sunlight readability, maximum viewing angles and infinite contrast.

The measured brightness range turned out to be very wide - from 2 to 396 cd/m 2 . And if you set auto-brightness and go outside with it, then everything will be 525 cd / m 2. The display is easy to read in the sun, but in the dark it will remain comfortable for the eyes. The color reproduction of the screen is very accurate - the value of the color deviation does not exceed three units. If the screen seems too juicy to you, then in the display settings you can switch to the “Basic” image mode. In it, the color gamut of the device is narrowed from an unusually wide to a narrower sRGB standard.

One of the innovations regarding the display is the Always on Display function - it means an active screen throughout the day. Even if the device goes to sleep, the display will always show information about missed calls, time or date. However, it significantly affects the autonomy of the device, "eating" about 1% of the charge per hour.

The only pity is that there is no separate mode of operation with gloves. Since this is already a flagship that tries to absorb everything that is possible, then we expected to see this feature. I must say that the display is already quite sensitive, but you can only work with it in very thin fabric gloves, and even then it is not very convenient.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy S7 received top-end 12 MP and 5 MP cameras. They can be called one of the best among mobile devices, if not the best.

The company suddenly stopped chasing the number of megapixels (by the way, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S5 had 16 of them), and began to improve the quality of shooting through the use of instantaneous phase detection autofocus and changing the quality of the pixels. So, the physical size of the sensor has not changed - 1 / 2.6", but the size of the pixels themselves has increased from 1.12 to 1.4 microns, which allows you to "capture" more light and brightness even in low light conditions. This indicator is not the highest So, with the same resolution, the Huawei Nexus 6P has a larger sensor - 1 / 2.3 ", and the pixels themselves are slightly larger - 1.55 microns. But the Samsung Galaxy S7 also received an optical stabilization system (which the Nexus does not have) and a wider f / 1.7 aperture to let in more light. For comparison, the LG G5 and Lenovo Vibe Shot have at same, f/1.8 and f/2.2, respectively.

So what does all this mean in practice? In fact, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is one of the leaders in mobile photography. In our opinion, on average it shoots better than phones like Motorola Moto X Force , Huawei P9 or iPhone 6s . It focuses correctly and almost instantly. Because of this, there is even a feeling that everything happens somehow by itself, as a matter of course. The camera shoots with an excellent level of detail, even small fonts or inscriptions that are far from the camera are read in the photo, although some small details are still “blurred”. The smartphone copes well with difficult lighting conditions, and in the dark it “noises” an order of magnitude less than most smartphones. However, sometimes the camera can get a bit off balance with the white balance, producing cool shots or making greens unnaturally saturated. Not that this is a big problem, rather, it's an amateur matter, Samsung phones often embellish reality.

The camera interface is familiar and clear. At the top there is a strip of quick settings, at the bottom there are buttons for taking photos and videos (you can take photos at the same time as videos), go to the gallery of pictures and select one of the many modes. Manual, or shooting "Pro" will please the following selection of adjustable parameters:

• Exposure (-2 to +2)
• Shutter speed (1/2400 to 10)
• ISO (50 to 800)
• White balance (from 2300 to 10000 K)
• Focus (macro to infinity)
• You can add any filter from a small list.

In fact, such a choice is not so wide, for the same LG G4 it was somewhat wider, yielding only in the color temperature range.

The main camera also boasts the ability to record video in 4K resolution and slow motion in HD (1280 × 720 pixels) at 240 frames per second, like the iPhone 6. At the same time, the phone can shoot with the "Hyperlapse" effect (accelerated video with skipping a large number of frames) and in the "Virtual shooting" mode of objects from all sides.

The 5 MP front camera does a great job of taking selfies, they don't look cloudy even indoors. In her arsenal there is a beautification mode, group selfies (mini-panoramas), HDR mode, virtual shooting and even a flash using the screen in the manner of the iPhone SE. It's funny, but the front camera can also shoot video not only in Full HD, but also in QHD resolution (2560 × 1440 pixels).

Photos from the camera Samsung Galaxy S7 - 4.8

Photos from the front camera Samsung Galaxy S7 - 4.8

Samsung Galaxy S7 HDR Feature Comparison

Working with text - 4.0

The Samsung Galaxy S7 uses a proprietary keyboard and we find it comfortable for typing.

It provides continuous text input using strokes (Swype) and a separate row of numbers. True, for most additional characters, including the comma, you will have to call an additional menu every time. But the keyboard has the ability to access the so-called clipboard, which can store many individual phrases or even sentences. If desired, on the smartphone, you can adjust the height of the keyboard or choose the keyboard of the old 3 × 4 format (looks like on old push-button phones).

Internet - 3.0

The browsers in the Samsung Galaxy S7 are convenient and well suited for browsing the Internet. So, the smartphone does not slow down when working with at least ten tabs at once. Initially, Google Chrome and its own Internet browser are preinstalled on it. The first is able to synchronize with the desktop version of Chrome and adjust the text to a pre-selected size. And the proprietary Internet browser does not offer any interesting settings, except for saving pages. Autofit text to screen width or reading mode is not provided.

Communications - 5.0

As expected, the Samsung Galaxy S7 received a top set of communications:

• Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac, high-speed and dual-band, there is Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.2, energy efficient, with support for A2DP profile and Apt-X codec
• LTE category 9 support (up to 450 Mbps)
• A-GPS with GLONASS support and Chinese BeiDou
• NFC with proprietary Samsung function pay.

It is not clear where the infrared port, which was the predecessor, has gone. Perhaps he is destined to die again, as it was ten years ago. Also, someone may not like the lack of FM radio. The device supports two NanoSim cards, but the slot for the second is hybrid, it is combined with a microSD card slot. In itself, the presence of a slot for a memory card is another advantage of the novelty (it was not in the Samsung Galaxy S6). But the fact that it is combined with a SIM becomes a “minus to plus”, which annoys many consumers who are faced with the problem of choice. Many probably expected to see the new USB Type-C connector, but instead, the still more common MicroUSB 2.0 is used. Why did the company refuse such an innovation? There are three reasons for this at once - firstly, some accessories (for example, Samsung Gear VR virtual reality glasses) do not support USB type C, secondly, the low prevalence of the new connector on the market affects, and thirdly, the Galaxy S7 is already so fast charging (fast charging is one of the advantages of USB Type-C). Separately, we note that the connector supports USB OTG for connecting flash drives and other peripherals. Moreover, a small OTG adapter is already included with the phone - it's just some kind of unprecedented generosity.

Multimedia - 4.6

The company traditionally pays attention to the issue of supporting audio and video codecs, so the Galaxy S7 can be called almost omnivorous. In tests, he showed himself almost the same as the Samsung Galaxy S6. The phone could not play only audio in AC-3 and DT-S formats, as well as some MPG and RMVB clips.

The Google Play Music music player is preinstalled on the phone, it is equipped with an equalizer with the setting of different frequencies, sound effects and various “improvements”. The branded video player shows subtitles, can only play sound without an image (listen to a movie or video lecture in the background) and show video in a small window on top of desktops and applications. It is also equipped with a simple editor - cropping, adding effects (blur, color filters) and adjusting the sound volume.

Battery - 4.4

Compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy S7 received a more powerful battery, and with it increased autonomy. True, some new features have a negative impact on the operating time, but if you wish, you can turn them off - then you will have enough phone for one and a half to two days of work.

The smartphone has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh (remember, the Galaxy S6 had 2550 mAh). The phone showed almost a record time in video mode - 14 and a half hours of watching HD-video at maximum brightness. For comparison, the large Samsung Galaxy Note 4 lasted "only" 12 and a half hours. In other tests, the time was also at a high level, but not so outstanding. So, in the audio player mode, the Galaxy S7 worked for 85 hours, a little longer than its predecessor, but less, for example, than the LG Nexus 5X. For an hour in games, the battery lost about 16% of the charge, therefore, the phone is able to last about 6 hours, and this is one of the best results. It took only 3% to shoot a 10-minute Full HD video, which is also a kind of record. It is worth noting separately the new Always On Display feature, which we talked about above - if you use it, then it will plant about 1% per hour. Personally, we did not find it so useful, we turned it off and ran all the tests without it. Still, an additional 24% per day is already a solid expense for the battery.

Samsung Galaxy S7 supports the function fast charging Quick Charge 2.0 and wireless charging of two common types on the market - Qi and PMA. It's a bit unfortunate, but the latest type of fast charging (QuickCharge 3.0) is not supported by the phone. But you are immediately given a network adapter that supports accelerated charging. With it, the phone is fully charged in about an hour and a half, which is really fast for a solid battery capacity.

Performance - 4.6

The new flagship received immediately 4 GB random access memory and runs on a fast processor that does a great job with everything that can be puzzled by a smartphone. At the same time, the phone does not overheat and remains cool.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is equipped with a powerful top-end 8-core Exynos 8890 processor (4 cores at 2.3 GHz + 4 cores at 1.6 GHz), which is made using a 14-nm process technology. The phone immediately received 4 GB of RAM, the same amount was, for example, in Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML. Although all the same, up to half of this memory will always be occupied by the system itself. Based on the characteristics alone, we can assume that the Galaxy S7 is an extremely productive device. The manufacturer claims that the computing power of the GPU has increased by 60%, and the central one by 30%. And judging by various tests, this is indeed the case.

The smartphone works quickly and smoothly, copes with any tasks. In addition, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is the first flagship to work with the Vulkan graphics API. It provides better performance, gives you a deep level of access to the hardware and helps you get the most out of it. Although in daily use, you won't notice much of a difference between the Galaxy S7, last year's Galaxy S6, or some other top smartphone. By and large, only synthetic benchmarks see the difference, and in them the novelty showed almost maximum results, again “breaking through the ceilings”:

• GeekBench 3 - 6336 (Galaxy S6 received about two thousand less)
• AnTuTu 6.0 - 129 842 (gets a little more, for example, Apple iPhone 6s)
• 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited - up to 29,036 (Sony Xperia Z5 Premium - up to 26,114 points).

You can rest assured that the Samsung Galaxy S7 is one of the leaders in terms of performance and speed. Only the latest iPhones, for example, work faster. We were a little annoyed that at times, about once a day, the smartphone still manages to “choke” in its own interface and suddenly think just when switching between applications or somewhere in the settings.

We also checked to see if the device overheats while running, like some 2015 Android flagships. It turned out that no, for half an hour of playing NOVA 3 the case temperature did not exceed 37 degrees. In fact, the smartphone heats up more during fast charging, but we don’t take this into account.

Memory - 5.0

So far, a model with only 32 GB of internal memory is presented in Russia. The 64 GB version is still not on sale, it seems that it will not be in our country at all. 32 GB is not that much for a phone with a top-end camera that captures both slow motion and 4K video. But the memory can be increased using a microSD card (up to 256 GB). Apparently, the company listened to the criticism of experts and consumers that hit the Galaxy S6 due to the lack of a microSD card slot, and finally returned it. Indeed, first spoil it, and then return it as it was, so that everyone is happy. True, we were still dissatisfied with the fact that applications cannot be installed on the memory card. Why and why? It is not clear, apparently, the manufacturer does not trust "third-party" cards, after all, they work slower than the flagship's internal memory.

Peculiarities

Smartphone Samsung Galaxy S7 is running the latest Android 6.0 and its own proprietary interface TouchWiz UI.

The features of this phone are a cart and a small cart, perhaps it is generally one of the most special on the market. Returned moisture and dust protection. She returned - because she was already on the Samsung Galaxy S5, but disappeared on the Galaxy S6. By the way, now the protection has been updated to the IP68 standard. We would not recommend swimming with it, but if you accidentally spill liquid on it or use it in the rain, then it will not suffer. The phone received an unusual case - it is made of metal and covered with glass on both sides, curved at the edges (2.5D) on the front panel. Even the shape of the back is not simple - it gradually tapers closer to the side ends. Perhaps the most unusual is the abundance of sensors - a fingerprint scanner, a heart rate monitor, and even a blood oxygen level meter. Yes, the Galaxy S6 had all this, but it did not become some kind of familiar routine a year later. The only sad thing is that the last two can only be used in the S Health application, that is, a person who does not know and does not use this software may never stumble upon such functions in his phone. Also, as features, one can name an extremely, even unnecessarily clear display, as well as a number of chips like an always-on screen (although this does not weakly drain the battery in a day), fast wired and wireless charging, and top-end performance. In addition, we note the extended package - the manufacturer did not spare you a charger with support for fast charging, good headphones and even a USB OTG adapter for connecting peripherals. Samsung is actively promoting an expensive ecosystem in addition to the device - VR virtual reality glasses, Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch and Gear S360 camera. We think that these are nice bonuses, but they belong to separate categories of goods. Still, the smartphone is self-sufficient without them.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are the most popular Android releases of 2016. The manufacturer did not make any breakthroughs in the development of these models in terms of design, but made many noticeable changes that helped them rise above previous phones. Galaxy series.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Reviews

If you're familiar with 2015 Samsung Galaxy devices at all, you know exactly what to expect from the Galaxy S7. This year, even more refined.

The S7 has a sleek, sporty design with a brushed metal frame and 3D glass back and front. The design improvement has also affected the camera on the back of the case, which still protrudes, but about twice as much as last year's model.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 has a 5.1-inch flat AMOLED display that is the envy of any other smartphone. Thanks to the soft curve of the back, S7 is very comfortable to hold in the palm of your hand. It's nearly identical in size to last year's Galaxy S6 (and Galaxy S5). All in all, this model is a comfortable size unless you're into small phones like the old iPhone 5S.

Always On and Android Marshmallow

Following in the footsteps of innovation, Samsung and LG this year added Always-On mode to the screens of their flagship devices. For example, the Galaxy S7 always shows the clock when the phone is in sleep mode. This feature should be turned off as soon as the smartphone is in your pocket. You can also replace the clock display with a calendar.

The manufacturer did not add many innovations in terms of software to the Samsung Galaxy S7. Samsung made this model of the phone on Android 6.0 Marshmallow (Marshmallow), but at the same time retained the bubbly, colorful TouchWiz interface and the old menu from the S6. The interface is easy enough to use, but a bit resistant to change. For example, Samsung smartphones still don't have a navigation button on the screen, instead they have tactile buttons on either side of the "Home" under the screen, the location of which can also be called an outdated option, unless of course you are an iPhone user. Competitors such as the Xperia Z5, LG G5 and Nexus 6P have found better places to put the home button.

Battery, video camera, and more

The battery capacity of the Galaxy S7 has been upgraded to 3,000 mAh this year, a few hundred mAh more than the S6, but battery life is still no longer than a day.

Samsung provides its own battery holder for the Samsung Galaxy S7, which can increase battery life by about 3,100 mAh. Since the battery is non-removable, this portable charger is the best option for those days when you need an extra charge.

In addition to the battery, Samsung has upgraded the main camera lens body with an amplifier (Olloclip type) and upgraded the wireless charging pad, which can charge the Galaxy S7 at a fast speed.

This is a powerful and pleasant smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone is powered by a new 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core processor, but the manufacturer will vary depending on the region where the chip is sold. In the United States, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor is used, while in the rest of the world, Samsung uses the Exynos chip, which is its own design. Samsung claims the new processors are about 30 percent faster than the Galaxy S6 and the integrated GPU is 64 percent faster.

One of the features of the Samsung Galaxy S7 is that it is noticeably warm in most cases, despite the new cooling system.

In addition to the processor, the Galaxy S7 is equipped with 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory and a Nano SIM tray, there is also a Micro SD card slot that can accept a card of any capacity (up to 200 GB). Samsung even made a deal that the S7 and S7 Edge are the first phones to work together with the Vulkan API to help develop high-quality games.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Improved Camera

The Samsung S7 has a 12-megapixel rear camera, which is faster thanks to its F1.7 lens (compared to last year's F1.9), and focuses faster thanks to its "two-pixel" hardware. Samsung claims that each pixel in the lens also acts as a focus, a first for smartphones.

In direct sunlight, low light, and dark conditions, the S7 outperformed the iPhone 6S in photo quality. The Samsung camera was able to capture sharper images in the dark by lighting up areas that the iPhone couldn't. The focus speed also helps it capture great shots of moving scenes.

However, the Galaxy S7's camera isn't perfect. Photos taken with the new Samsung smartphone often come out warmer (more yellow and orange) than in reality and than on the iPhone.

Selfies on the S7 come out just as good or as good as competing phones.

Warranty

The Samsung Galaxy S7 has a standard one-year limited warranty that covers the device and battery, unless they have been damaged. Samsung, at its sole discretion, may replace or repair the device if it is found to be defective from the factory.

Outcome

The Galaxy S7 looks fantastic and is more comfortable to hold than last year's Galaxy S6. The main advantages of this model are a new camera from Samsung, increased battery capacity, accessories and a waterproof case, add to this an AMOLED screen and a more powerful processor.

The biggest concern is its fragility. The Samsung Galaxy S7 has more curved glass than any other model, so in case of damage, glass replacement can be very expensive. Therefore, when purchasing this smartphone, do not forget about the cover, which also protects against annoying fingerprints, and also allows you to block some of the heat generated by the smartphone.

If its fragility bothers you, you can buy the Galaxy S7 Active instead. It has all the same features but in a more durable case that can survive a drop without breaking. In addition, Active is equipped with a larger battery. However, the Active's external design is nothing compared to the stylish Galaxy S7.

At the moment, the Galaxy S line is represented by two current models of smartphones. Flat and not too big, the S7 is positioned as a classic smartphone for everyone. The screen diagonal of 5.1 inches does not cause problems even when held by miniature female pens, and the absence of any specific bells and whistles in the design does not scare away the audience accustomed to the standard form factor.

Phablet S7 edge, on the contrary, acts as a sophisticated older brother for the sophisticated. It is not only 0.4 inches larger, but also offers a special case design with a screen that is rounded on the sides.

The Galaxy S7 doesn't really feel big, especially compared to other modern smartphones. Look, it's noticeably smaller than even the not-so-great Nexus 5X, and definitely doesn't deserve to be called a shovel.

We are sure that if you gather a hundred people and ask them to choose between S7 and S7 edge, then the classic will win unconditionally. Few will dare to buy a larger, more expensive, and questionable device.

Execution and quality

It's very easy to fall in love with the Galaxy S7. Really. Just take it in your hand, and you yourself will immediately understand everything. Feel the Galaxy S7 and your criteria for build quality will change dramatically. A smartphone does not look like something consisting of hundreds of parts, and is perceived solely as a whole, monolithic, skillfully polished piece of glass without a hint of sharp corners and lines, with a neatly fused metal layer in the middle. There is no need to even talk about backlash and squeaks. Everything is fitted perfectly. He is so neat and smooth that you want to lick him.

Galaxy S7 is made in accordance with the IP68 standard, that is, it is not afraid of dust at all and is friendly with water. Please note that such a high moisture resistance does not require any removable plugs and other nonsense. The smartphone can withstand a 30-minute submersion in water up to 1.5 meters deep with an open USB port and a headphone jack. We did not test the water resistance in practice, as there are already enough videos on YouTube confirming the level of water protection claimed by Samsung.

Samsung's decision to move away from plastic is perhaps the best thing that has happened to the flagship Galaxy lineup. Plastic, even high-quality, is necessarily associated with something cheap, but metal and glass look and feel luxurious. For the flagship - it's the most. In the case of the Galaxy S7, a fashionable way of processing glass, which has received the marketing name "2.5D glass", is added to the premium set of materials.

Look at the front and back panels of the Galaxy S7. Glass on them is rounded to the edges. The screen under the glass is absolutely flat. The meaning of such processing is to increase the streamlining of the body at the junction with the side panels. The transition becomes smooth, sharp corners dissolve, smear and are replaced by what is called conjugation in drawing.

In addition to smoothness, 2.5D glass adds a very beautiful optical effect, which is further enhanced by the dark matte surface around the screen and on the back of the smartphone.

Take another look at the photos of the device. Do you notice some color unevenness, as if in some places the smartphone is lighter, with a grayish tint? This refracts the light that hits the surface through uneven glass, and when you turn the device, the glare jumps around the body like sunbeams.

Unfortunately, 2.5D glass also has its downsides. With excessive lighting and especially under the sun, you can always position the flat screen so that the light does not reflect into the eyes and the contents of the screen can be seen. In this case, glare is almost impossible to avoid. The rounded edges will still shine, which is noticeable even in photos of a smartphone under artificial lighting, and the blinding summer sun will certainly exacerbate the situation.

The second objective disadvantage of glass is its soiledness. The case is quickly covered with fingerprints, and although they are quickly and easily removed, the device will have to get used to the permanent sagging of the device.

Design and equipment

It seems that Samsung still found the perfect location for the control buttons and other external elements smartphone. Sound, power, speaker, headphone and USB jacks are in the same place as their predecessor.

Only the SIM card slot has moved to the top side panel, and there is a reason for that.

Yes, the Galaxy has a microSD slot again, which is great. No more guesswork and suffering regarding the optimal amount of internal storage.

Do you need another 32 GB for the built-in 32 GB of memory? We put a card and rejoice. Need 128 GB? No problem. Drives up to 200 GB are supported. A memory card is incomparably cheaper than older smartphones with increased internal storage.

If additional space is not required, a second SIM card can take the place of the microSD card. Simultaneous operation of the second SIM and a memory card is not provided.

The fingerprint sensor located in the Home button has become noticeably faster and more accurate in recognizing fingerprints, and the button itself is now flush with the body. There will be no more false positives when the smartphone is accidentally clipped in your pocket.

The Galaxy S7 comes with a power adapter, a USB cable, standard earbuds with interchangeable earplugs, and a microUSB adapter designed to quickly and completely transfer data from an old smartphone through the built-in Smart Switch utility.

Screen

Displays have always been Samsung's strong point, and the Galaxy S7 continues to hold its own. The smartphone is equipped with a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD display (resolution 2560 × 1440) with a density of 577 pixels per inch. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 4 with anti-reflective coating.

The most interesting innovation is the Always On mode, in which the display shows user-selectable information in a locked state without any noticeable effect on battery power. This is possible thanks to the autonomous power supply of each pixel of the AMOLED display. Energy is spent only on the illumination of working pixels. The rest of the screen area is black, in this place the pixels are disabled and do not consume battery power. If desired, Always On is disabled in the settings.

Other indicators of the Galaxy S7 screen do not differ much from its predecessor. It is just as bright and sometimes overly juicy, it adapts a little better to excess or lack of light, but in general it is still the same cool display inherent in Samsung, which is criticized only for excessive color saturation.

cameras

If before the Galaxy S7 it may seem to you that your smartphone takes pictures quickly and cool, then after the Galaxy S7 any other camera suddenly becomes slow and “not very good at all”.

Samsung chose the right path, and instead of a stupid marketing race for megapixels, the company worked hard on the quality, functionality and, which is also important, the speed of operation and focusing (Dual Pixel technology - two photodiodes for each pixel of the matrix) of the camera module. At the same time, the camera module itself has become more compact and practically does not protrude from the body.

Focusing and photographing happen literally instantly, and after a tiny fraction of a second, the smartphone is already ready to take the next shot. No delays, no friezes and slowdowns during shooting. You can depict manual multi-shooting mode and scribble clear frames without stopping at all.

To improve the quality of images in low light, the Galaxy S7 uses a combination of a fast f / 1.7 lens and an individual pixel size of the matrix increased to 1.4 microns.

Some will think that 12 megapixels is somehow not enough for the flagship of 2016. In fact, this resolution of the main camera is enough for any task. All the same, the vast majority of photos are mercilessly squeezed and settled in social networks, and therefore, for the end user, quality and additional features that are easily applicable in practice are more valuable than the original size of the image. The Galaxy S7 camera offers as many as 10 shooting modes.

By default, the standard automatic mode is launched, when the smartphone adjusts everything itself, and the user only selects a filter (unless, of course, he wants) and presses a button.

As opposed to automation, there is a professional mode with the ability to fine-tune each shooting parameter manually.

Selective Focus allows you to take an interactive photo with variable focus.

Need to make the main object clear? Select "Near Focus" from the bottom.

Want to see the background? Tap "Far Focus".

Among other shooting modes, “Live Broadcast” also deserves a separate explanation. It allows you to connect your YouTube account and stream what is happening on the screen simultaneously with the picture from the front camera. Trendy mobile YouTuber gamers will definitely appreciate this feature.

The last mode worth mentioning is "Virtual Shooting". We catch the object of interest to us in the center of the lens, start shooting and go around the object in a circle. The resulting animation is tied to the smartphone's gyroscope and allows you to re-examine the captured object from any angle.

Other photo modes such as slow motion, slow motion, panorama, video collage, and food are quite popular and self-explanatory.

The Galaxy S7 can shoot Full HD video at 60 fps and 4K video at 30 fps. Stabilization is supported in all modes.

The front camera does not differ in exciting characteristics.

The standard 5 megapixels, combined with adjustable face lighting and correction tools, do their job and give great selfies.

Filling and performance

Versions of the Galaxy S7 for Russia and Europe are equipped with a 14-nm process technology 8-core Exynos 8890 processor (4 proprietary Samsung Mongoose 2.3 GHz cores and 4 Cortex-A53 1.6 GHz cores) and Mali-T880 MP12 graphics.

The top processor combined with 4 GB of fast LPDDR4 memory effortlessly cracks down on the heaviest 3D applications. The AnTuTu Benchmark 6.0.1 test showed the following results:

In addition to the current types of communication, Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S7 with a Wi-Fi repeater function. In this mode, the smartphone can pick up any available WiFi hotspot and distribute the Internet through yourself.

System

Out of the box, the Galaxy S7 runs on Android, on top of which the proprietary TouchWiz shell is installed.

There is a pre-installed basic set of applications from Samsung, a full set of applications and services from Google, social networks and a set of software from Microsoft.

Uninstallable applications, of course, go to the disadvantage of the device from the position of optimization, but if you don’t want to spend a certain amount of time searching for and downloading applications from Google Play or the Samsung app store, then a large set of pre-installed software is even useful.

The transition to the two-window mode of operation occurs through a long hold of the "Menu" button.

In addition to some changes in the interface associated with the transition to , a new game center attracts special attention, accumulating all the user's games in one interface and optimizing the gameplay. You can turn off any notifications while the game application is running, block the system buttons, prevent the game application from unloading from RAM when minimizing, and force a decrease in the resolution and number of frames in the game.

Working hours

Galaxy S7 is equipped with a non-removable 3,000 mAh battery with fast charging function. Obviously, depending on the intensity of use and other factors, the battery life can vary significantly, and in our scenario, the results turned out to be quite acceptable.

Before testing, we did a full reset to the factory settings with clearing the memory, left automatic adjustment of the display brightness. The smartphone offered to carry out the initial setup, updated the applications and downloaded the Android 6.0.1 update.

In total, for the first intensive hour of work, which included performance analysis through AnTuTu, the battery lost 15% of its charge. Then standard operations were carried out: photographing, filming, checking all types of communications, the operation of applications and branded Samsung chips. Thus, it took about 20% of the battery charge. According to the built-in battery monitoring tool, in this mode, the smartphone would have lived for 8 hours, which is very good. In passive mode with working Wi-Fi and the Always On screen, the smartphone lost about 13% of the charge per day.

Partially, power consumption is optimized due to the built-in utility, but in total, after almost a day and a half of operation, the battery retained 41% of the charge.

Conclusion

Lifehacker thanks Samsung for providing the device for testing. We really enjoyed. In terms of performance and specifications the Galaxy S7 can't be faulted. The build quality and materials are great. The design is pleasant. The screen, as always, is on top, and even shows the right things without draining the battery. The camera is fire. The battery is durable. Power is overkill, performance is over the top. The system is up to date, there are pre-installed applications. You can list the pros for a long time, the flagship has no weaknesses. But it is worth touching on price issues, as problems begin. Paying 50 thousand rubles for a smartphone is difficult, very difficult. What do you think?

In principle, everything is as usual. Galaxy S7 has got the largest 3000 mAh battery in the history of the line, while hardly increasing its dimensions. However, the extra charge went to ensure the operation of a faster processor - so the autonomy of the novelty is no better than that of its predecessor. In general, it can be rated as very good, and if you take into account the resolution and brightness of the screen, high performance, it will turn out to be almost a record.

As always, most of the energy is spent on screen-on tasks, and especially on 3D games. A lot more is spent on surfing over the cellular network. The Galaxy S7 is no surprise in this regard.

There is also an extreme power saving mode, when the interface is simplified and becomes as black as possible - again, a feature of OLED technology is used.

In total, the Galaxy S7 proved to be the fastest smartphone at the time of release, along with excellent autonomy.

Games on Galaxy S7

It is not difficult to guess that problems with games on the Galaxy S7 are not expected.

• Riptide GP2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Asphalt 7: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Asphalt 8: noticeable delays are visible;

• Modern Combat 5: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• N.O.V.A. 3: some delays are visible;

• Dead Trigger: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Dead Trigger 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Real Racing 3: some delays are visible;

• Need for Speed: No Limits: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Shadowgun: Dead Zone: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Frontline Commando: Normandy: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Frontline Commando 2: noticeable delays are visible;

• Eternity Warriors 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;
• Eternity Warriors 3: not in the Play Market;

• Eternity Warriors 4: some delays are visible;

• Trial Xtreme 3: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Trial Xtreme 4: excellent, the game does not slow down;
• dead effect: not in the Play Market;

• Dead Effect 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Plants vs Zombies 2: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• Iron Man 3: excellent, the game does not slow down;

• dead target: excellent, the game does not slow down.

Actually, what was required to be proved - nothing slows down on the Galaxy S7 and should not, by definition. And the memory is enough to record a decent number of games.

ON

As usual, the flagship Samsung Galaxy S7 gets the latest software. Of course, the company used Android 6.0. Someone began to resent that the unexpectedly early presentation of Android N, which will be renamed in the summer of 2016, is not on the top smartphone. But waiting for it is completely stupid due to the fact that at the beginning of 2016 this is nothing more than a beta version for developers. And over time, Android 7.0 for the Galaxy S7 will undoubtedly be released, and possibly even Android 8.0 - the Korean manufacturer updates its flagships for a long time.

Time goes by, but Samsung's TouchWIZ never disappears. And should it? This shell is well thought out and familiar to the owners of South Korean pipes. But, of course, in the edition for the Galaxy S7, she received a couple of new features. Including Always On - theoretically, this can be done on previous flagships, but why compete with the new product?

So in the theme settings, the ability to select a 5x5 grid is now available, while 4x4 is active by default. That is, you can turn on the mode, as on large phablets with a screen of 5.5".

From here, the theme store is also called. There are both paid and free themes.

Notification panel recolored White color which did her good. You can still pull it down and see a lot of quick settings icons.

Task Manager hasn't changed much. Here, tabs display all open applications, there is a button to clear the list, and some tabs have the option to display in half the screen.

Now let's go through the settings - here are the very "chips". For example, in the section about the screen there is a Smart shutdown item. Activating the mode keeps the display on while you look at it.

There was a whole section “Additional Features”, where everything that is small and does not deserve its own section is grouped. For example, take a screenshot with the palm of your hand.

They also hid "One-handed control" here. For a 5.1-inch smartphone, this may not be very relevant, but the number of possibilities is impressive. This is not just “for show”, everything is grown-up.

Pressing the Home button three times will activate this mode. And then you have an on-screen keyboard optimized for one-handed operation, and the entire screen can be reduced.

NFC is no surprise today, especially Samsung with its Samsung Pay.

Smart Manager, a utility for monitoring memory consumption, battery and device security, is no longer a separate application, but has become part of the settings.

It was the first time I saw something called Game Tools. They write that these are gaming features that improve the gaming experience by turning off all notifications (how they got it!), Blocking the touch buttons under the screen. From here you can simply minimize the game while saving its state, take a screenshot and even record a video. True, a small nameplate on top of the game is annoying - what to do with it, huh, Samsung?

Now let's go through the applications. But first, I note that in addition to the installed ones, there is also a Galaxy Essentials section in the Galaxy Apps store - the corresponding link is placed on one of the desktops. Here are collected programs that can be useful, but do not clutter up the smartphone's memory if they are not needed.

And so among these applications you can find the Kids mode, text recognition, S Note note taking program, S Translator translator, music synthesizer, video editor, OneDrive client with a 100 GB subscription for 2 years, and so on.

Thanks to the competent organization, all programs were able to fit on one screen. Some of them are sorted into folders, including proprietary utilities from Samsung, Google and Microsoft.

This is my first time seeing the Galaxy Care app. It provides help on the smartphone, and at the same time provides a link to the support service. It can be a useful device, but it cannot be called something new - I have seen it for a long time on the same Lenovo handsets.

Samsung has finally thought about transferring data from other devices to their smartphones. The Smart Switch Mobile utility is designed for this.

The S Health activity diary is also in place. Here, among other things, you can measure your pulse.

Other utilities are typical and do not provide interest: a clock, a calendar, a file manager, and so on - all this has been seen before, but there is nothing new here.

In general, the Galaxy S7 in terms of software is a good balance between useful features and applications. There are a lot of things that come in handy, and some of this is taken out to the cloud, from where you can download what you need specifically to your smartphone for free.

Output

Once again, Samsung has not blundered - its new flagship Galaxy S7 resembles old, well-worn slippers that were recently returned from repairs. Everything seems to be the same convenient and comfortable, but it has become better. Galaxy S6 was a good smartphone, but there were certain shortcomings in it, the main of which is the lack of a slot for a memory card.

Galaxy S7 not only got support for microSD cards, but got a more comfortable body shape, while maintaining a stylish look and the same materials: metal and glass. It is still impossible to disassemble the phone, but is it necessary so often? But Samsung managed to fit a more capacious battery and moisture protection into the case, only increasing the thickness by only 1 mm.

And the changes don't end there. The Korean company was able to come up with something else useful and unique that can be added to its next top product. In particular, this is the Always-On function. It seems that the idea is not unique, and it could have been done much earlier, but I haven’t seen it on other smartphones for a long time, but here it’s simply impossible to refuse it!

It is the combination of these little things that makes the Galaxy S7 one of the best devices on the market in early 2016. It de facto has no competitors, although in any case, let's see what other companies have to oppose to the Samsung flagship.

Galaxy S7 price

You can buy Galaxy S7 for 50 thousand rubles. The price is exactly the same as that was set on the Galaxy S6 in 2015, although the dollar has grown somewhat since then. Of course, not cheap, but believe me, it's worth it.

LG G5 in April 2016 we did not sell, but it should appear on sale. Moreover, LG managed to do something interesting and unique, namely all these interchangeable modules that are inserted along with the battery. The smartphone has an unusual design and has its own interesting feature. It makes no sense to compare the characteristics with the Galaxy S7 - they are extremely close, even if the handset from Samsung is better in some moments.

The HTC 10 is another belated flagship that came out a month after the Galaxy S7. Also an interesting tube in many respects, with good design, made of metal, finally with a decent camera. Can it compete with the Galaxy S7? In frontal definitely not, but the phone is not devoid of its own charm and at least deserves attention.

Huawei P9 is positioned as an alternative to the Galaxy S7, including the price. As it turned out, there is a separate class of consumers who want to buy a flagship, but that it was not Samsung or Apple. And the P9 model is quite interesting from this point of view: stylish, with a fast processor and a good camera.

And, of course, the 16 GB iPhone 6s. This costs 53 thousand rubles, that is, more expensive than the Galaxy S7. Instead, it offers a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1334x750 pixels, a dual-core A9 processor and a full set of Apple's rake: iTunes, no memory card slot, noticeably less capacious battery, worse camera, and so on. Objectively, this smartphone is worse than the Samsung flagship and only plays on the strength of the brand.

Pros:

• metal case;
• excellent build quality;
• improved case shape compared to the Galaxy S6;
• moisture protection according to the IP68 standard;
• Super AMOLED screen with excellent color reproduction and high WQHD resolution;
• always-on function;
• the best characteristics at the beginning of 2016;
• very high performance;
• excellent rear camera with support for 4K video recording;
• good 5-megapixel front camera with support for WQHD-video;
• fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor;
• lightweight TouchWIZ shell on top of Android 6;
• good autonomy;
• many branded accessories;
• built-in support for wireless charging;
• fast battery charging;
• small weight and dimensions for a 5.1-inch smartphone;
• brought back support for memory cards;
• USB adapter included.

Minuses:

• non-separable body;
• black versions may peel off the paint from the speaker;
• a lot of weight for its size.

Part 2: Examining the screen, camera, battery life and other features in detail

We continue the story about the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. In the first part of the article, the performance of the device was tested in detail, and its design was also described. Now we will study other key aspects, first of all, the quality of the screen and camera, battery life. And finally, we will share with you the experience of using a smartphone in extreme conditions.

Screen

As we already noted in the first part of the article, in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, the manufacturer decided to rely on the average screen size - less than in the Galaxy S6 Edge +, but more than in the Galaxy S6 Edge. At the same time, the resolution remained ultra-high (2560×1440). And visually, the screen really makes an excellent impression. Instrumental testing of the display was carried out by Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the "Projectors and TV" section. Below is his conclusion.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the screen of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the off screens (on the left is the Nexus 7, on the right is the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is slightly darker (the brightness of the photos is 103 versus 111 for the Nexus 7, the glare curved edges of the tested screen are excluded) and does not have a pronounced tint. The ghosting of reflected objects on the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. Due to the smaller number of borders (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, screens without an air gap look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, better than Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

When displaying a white field in full screen and with manual brightness control, its maximum value was 410 cd/m², the minimum was 1.6 cd/m². You also need to take into account the fact that in this case the smaller the white area on the screen, the lighter it is, that is, the actual maximum brightness of the white areas will almost always be higher than the specified value. As a result, readability during the day in the sun should be sufficient good level. The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device without any problems even in complete darkness. Automatic brightness control works according to the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). You can make adjustments to how this function works by moving the adjustment slider. Next, for the three conditions, we present the screen brightness values ​​for the three values ​​​​of this setting - for 0%, 50% and 100%. In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness decreases to 1.6, 7.9 and 7.9 cd / m², respectively (the first is too dark, the second and third can be normal after adaptation of the eye), in an office lit by artificial light (approximately 400 lux) brightness is set to 1.6, 130 and 405 cd/m² (dark - just right - a little bright, which corresponds to the specified correction), in a bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20000 lx or a little more) - rises to 520, 540 and 540 cd / m². These values ​​are greater than the maximum with manual adjustment, and such brightness should definitely be enough for the image on the screen to be well distinguished in any natural conditions. In general, the result of the automatic brightness adjustment function is as expected. Note that even with automatic brightness correction turned off in a dark environment, the smartphone does not allow you to set the brightness above 190 cd / m². At any level of brightness there is a significant modulation with a frequency of approximately 60 or 240 Hz. The figure below shows brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis) for several brightness settings:

It can be seen that at maximum and close to it, the modulation amplitude is not very large, as a result, there is no visible flicker. However, as the brightness decreases, modulation with a large relative amplitude appears. Therefore, the presence of such modulation can already be seen in the test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with a rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, such flickering can cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses a Super AMOLED matrix - an active matrix on organic light emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphoto:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

On the fragment above, you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), while repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without gaps and overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer considers the screen resolution based on green subpixels, on the other two it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the sub-pixels in this variant is close to the case of the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen and some other newer Samsung devices (and not only) with AMOLED screens. This version of PenTile RGBG is better than the old one with red squares, blue rectangles and stripes of green subpixels. However, some uneven contrasting borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the very high resolution, they have minimal effect on image quality.

The screen has excellent viewing angles. True, the white color, when deviated even at small angles, alternately acquires a light blue-green and pinkish tint, but the black color remains just black at any angle. It is so black that the contrast setting is not applicable in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is excellent. For comparison, here are photos in which the screens of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (profile Basic) and the second comparison participant, the same images were displayed, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to approximately 190 cd / m², and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K. White field:

Note the excellent uniformity of brightness and hue of the white field (with the exception of darkening and changing hue towards the curled edges). And a test picture (profile Basic):

The color reproduction is good, the colors are moderately saturated, the color balance of the screens is slightly different. Note that in this case, the picture occupies the height (with this screen orientation) of the entire area available for displaying the image and goes to the curved edges of the screen, which leads to darkening and color distortion. Also, in the light, these areas almost always glare, which makes it even more difficult to view images displayed in full screen. And even the picture of films with an aspect ratio of 16:9 comes to bends, which greatly interferes with watching movies. The photo above was obtained after choosing a profile Basic in the screen settings, there are four of them:

Profile adaptive display differs in some kind of automatic adjustment of color rendering to the type of displayed image and environmental conditions, which is obtained by selecting the two remaining profiles shown below.

AMOLED movie:

Saturation and color contrast are markedly increased.

Photo AMOLED:

The saturation is still high, but the color contrast is closer to normal. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen (profile AMOLED movie). White field:

The brightness at an angle on both screens has noticeably decreased (in order to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed is increased compared to previous photos), but in the case of Samsung, the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since you often have to look at the screen of a mobile device at least at a slight angle. And a test picture:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of Samsung at an angle is noticeably higher. Switching the state of the elements of the matrix is ​​\u200b\u200bpractically instantaneous, but there may be a step at the front of the inclusion of about 17 ms wide (which corresponds to a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz). For example, the dependence of brightness on time looks like this when moving from black to white and vice versa:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing behind moving objects. However, dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high definition and even some “twitchy” movements.

For profiles Photo AMOLED And Basic the gamma curve constructed from 32 points with equal intervals over the numerical value of the gray tint did not reveal any blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power function is 2.14, which is slightly less than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma - the curve slightly deviates from the power dependence (in the captions in parentheses are the exponent of the approximating power function and the coefficient of determination):

For profile AMOLED movie the gamma curve has a pronounced S-shaped character, which increases the apparent contrast of the image, but in the shadows the distinguishability of shades is preserved.

Recall that in the case of OLED screens, the brightness of image fragments dynamically changes in accordance with the nature of the displayed image - it decreases for images that are generally bright. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely does not correspond slightly to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential grayscale output almost on the entire screen.

Color gamut in profile case AMOLED movie very wide, it almost covers Adobe RGB coverage:

When choosing a profile Photo AMOLED coverage is pressed to the borders of Adobe RGB:

When choosing a profile Basic coverage is compressed to sRGB borders:

Without correction, the spectra of the components are very well separated:

In the case of a profile Basic with the maximum correction, the color components are already noticeably mixed with each other:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut without proper color correction, normal images optimized for sRGB devices look unnaturally saturated. Hence the recommendation - in most cases, watching movies, photos and everything natural is better when choosing a profile Basic, and only if the photo was taken on an Adobe RGB setting does it make sense to switch the profile to Photo AMOLED. Profile AMOLED movie, despite the name, is the least suitable for watching movies and anything else.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good. Profile color temperature AMOLED movie noticeably higher than 6500 K, in the remaining two it is close to 6500 K, while in a significant part of the gray scale this parameter does not change very much, which improves the visual perception of the color balance. The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) remains below 10 units for most of the gray scale, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, and also does not change very much:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale in most cases can be ignored, since there the color balance does not matter much, and the measurement error of color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is permissible (and in bright light it is necessary) to use the mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works quite adequately. The advantages of the screen include a good oleophobic coating, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB and an acceptable color balance (when choosing a profile Basic). At the same time, let's recall the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected on the screen), excellent white field uniformity, noticeably smaller than that of LCDs, and a drop in image brightness when viewed from an angle. The disadvantages include modulation of the screen brightness. Users who are particularly sensitive to flicker may experience fatigue as a result. However, overall the screen quality is very high. Separately, we note that from the point of view of image quality, curled edges are only harmful, since this design find introduces very noticeable color tone distortion and reduces brightness at the edges of the picture, and also leads to inevitable glare along at least one long side of the screen in ambient light conditions .

Video playback

We did not find the MHL interface, as well as Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video signal playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output frames of video files with different parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In tests, we used the MX Player video player in Hardware mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

File	Uniformity	Passes
4K/30p	Okay	No
4K/25p	Okay	No
4K/24p	Okay	No
1080/60p	Great	No
1080/50p	Great	No
1080/30p	Great	No
1080/25p	Okay	No
1080/24p	Great	No
720/60p	Great	No
720/50p	Great	No
720/30p	Great	No
720/25p	Great	No
720/24p	Great	No

Note: If both columns Uniformity And Passes green ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and dropping frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with the playback of the respective files.

According to the criteria for displaying frames, the quality of playing video files on the screen of the device itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be displayed with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without frame drops. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, going to the bends. The clarity of the picture is high, but not ideal, since there is no escape from interpolation to the screen resolution. However, for the sake of experiment, you can switch to the one-to-one mode by pixels, there will be no interpolation, but PenTile features will appear - the vertical world through the pixel will be in the grid, and the horizontal one will be a little greenish. This is true only for viewing test worlds; the described artifacts are absent on real frames. The brightness range displayed on the screen actually corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows and in the highlights, only a couple of shades merge with black and white, respectively.

The experience of using the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge showed that the curved edges in no way harm the image when watching a movie - you soon forget about them altogether, and the headphones do an excellent job of outputting sound: even in the conditions of road noise at low volume, the speech of the heroes is legible, while your neighbors the film is not heard.

Camera

On the occasion of the release of the new flagship, Samsung decided to gather journalists and take them to the "nearest suburbs" so that they can appreciate the smartphone in harsh conditions, without being distracted by work, social networks and other machinations of dark forces. However, the nearest Moscow region, corresponding to the required harsh conditions, turned out to be the Karelian coast of the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea - in fact, the Arctic. There, our editor of the "Digital Photo" section, Anton Solovyov, tested the smartphone's camera. Below is his detailed report.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has been updated with a camera module as part of a general consumer improvement program, as is the case with many other features of this model. The lens now has an aperture ratio of 1:1.7, the pixels on the sensor have become even larger and have reached a size of 1.4 microns (you can even remember the “famous” HTC ultra pixels), while each has become double for faster focusing. The number of pixels was reduced to 12 million, which is the golden mean in such a form factor (suffice it to recall the history of the development of compact 1 / 2.3 ″ cameras).

However, hardware innovations had little effect on the camera menu.

An interesting feature of the camera is the presence of a manual mode, in which it is possible to shoot in RAW. In general, manual mode, like RAW, on a smartphone are far from essential tools. Moreover, the manufacturer tries to hone and bring the auto mode to the maximum, and the built-in converter often works much more adequately than third-party ones, so in most cases it is more expedient to use it for shooting.

However, in difficult lighting conditions, white balance problems can occur, which are solved by manually setting the temperature.

RAW will also be a nice bonus for those who like to tinker with processing, but do not forget that to get it, you need to turn the corresponding toggle switch in the camera settings, which is active only in Pro mode and is periodically reset after walking through other modes.

Panoramas are well implemented in the camera. Moreover, the power reserve during wiring is enough for more than 360 degrees. In addition, in the panorama mode, you can get interesting compositions if everything you would like does not fit into the frame. However, it should be borne in mind that panoramas are less clear than simple shots. Unfortunately, the HDR mode does not work when shooting panoramas, but it would be very nice.

Keeping IP68 protection in mind, you don't have to worry about your smartphone if it falls into snow or water. And although the manufacturer does not offer to shoot underwater, it would be a shame to miss such a chance, because we tested it not just anywhere, but on the shores of the White Sea (more on our overall impressions of using a smartphone in extreme conditions will be discussed later). There were a lot of problems when shooting with a smartphone underwater: the sensor starts to go crazy, the volume buttons set to release are not very conveniently located, but the water is cold and salty. The first problem was solved by turning on the display after lowering it under water or by partial immersion, the second and third had to be endured, and the smartphone had to be “desalinated” after swimming in sea water in the snow. He endured all these actions with dignity.

Underwater shooting examples

Since we are talking about convenience, it is worth noting the problems when shooting with one quite standard hand. Since there was an Edge modification in use, sensitive edges had to be handled carefully. (In general, these "edges" often create some discomfort when used, although if you want, you can get used to them for the sake of design.) stops responding to pressure.

An example of a standard one-handed grip

For such cases, you can use the volume buttons in the settings and use them as a shutter button. However, they are located in such a way that it will not be very convenient for right-handers, and it is difficult to compose a frame on the remaining third of the display. In vertical orientation, there are problems with the fact that part of the index finger periodically falls into the corner of the frame.

The last option: turn the smartphone over, taking it by the top so that the volume button is under the index finger. However, this is inconvenient from the point of view of general use - you still have to connect your second hand to turn it over. In addition, the smartphone is too thin and tends to slip out with such a grip, and the fingers of the right hand constantly fall into the lens.

	Good sharpness across the field of the frame, and the numbers of cars are distinguishable at such a twilight time.
	Good long-range sharpness.
	There is not so much noise in the shadows, although the work of the noise reduction is visible.
	The camera pays attention to small details.
	Macro photography is good for the camera.
	The camera does a good job of capturing details in fairly complex scenes.
	With night shooting, the camera copes well, but only in manual mode.
	The sharpness across the field of the frame is not always uniform, but the blur zone at the top in this case can be attributed to composition problems.

In addition to the test in real conditions, we tested the camera on a laboratory bench according to our methodology.

The camera turned out to be quite flagship, although a little raw, which, I would like to believe, will be fixed in serial firmware. First of all, quite obvious sharpening and the presence of blur zones in very unexpected parts of the frame are embarrassing. In addition, a slight soapiness is noticeable, which, however, we are already accustomed to with Samsung smartphones. Otherwise, the camera behaves very decently and allows you to take pictures at the level of a good compact, both from the technical side and from the artistic side.

As you can see from the graph, in terms of resolution, the camera is almost at the level of its predecessors, but the overall image quality has undoubtedly increased, albeit not by much.

Focusing in a smartphone is implemented so well that you stop paying attention to it. Double pixels, in fact, implement the principle of phase focusing, and their presence on the entire sensor area ensures good accuracy. It's hard to say if the camera focuses much faster compared to other smartphones, but there were no problems with searching for sharpness, waiting for focus, and misses during testing. In any case, in this regard, the use of the camera did not cause discomfort, so we can say that focusing is fast enough.

I would like to note video recording separately, because this time its implementation in a smartphone really does not raise any questions. There is practically no effect of "rolling shutter", and other artifacts. The image is stable, sharp, without twitches and ripples, despite only 30 fps. Focusing in movies is as fast as it is in stills.

The smartphone has a slow motion mode that allows you to record in 720p at 240 fps with sound. When viewing, you can slow down a certain fragment. Below is a video made up of various recordings taken on a smartphone during testing.

More examples of shooting on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera are presented below in the gallery.

photo gallery

Software and communications

The smartphone runs on the latest version of Android OS - 6.0.1. On top of it, a proprietary Samsung shell is installed, optimized specifically for the Edge modification. We are talking about an auxiliary menu that can be pulled out from the right side, as well as the ability to use curved edges for color alerts.

By and large, there is nothing new here compared to previous Edge, and, frankly, we still feel that all these features are more of an artificial attempt to justify the presence of curved edges and make this design find at least somewhat useful, rather than really useful features. After all, hypothetically, the same thing could be done with a conventional screen.

A much more valuable innovation is an updated file manager. Now you can easily transfer files from your smartphone to a flash drive and back without any problems, you can delete unnecessary files both from a flash drive and from a microSD card.

As befits a flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge supports all the most modern technologies and connectivity standards including Wi-Fi 802.11ac 5GHz, LTE Cat.9, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, NFC, ANT+. The latter is valuable because it allows you to connect your smartphone with various fitness accessories (for example, chest heart rate monitors) using an energy-efficient protocol.

Also note that the smartphone supports two SIM-cards. At least that's what Samsung claims, but we haven't been able to verify it. In our copy (engineering sample), the slot did not allow inserting a second Nano-SIM, the space for it was slightly less than necessary. Apparently, it is necessary to attribute this to the features of an engineering sample. But if you buy a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in a showroom, ask a consultant to show you how and where to insert a second SIM card.

Autonomy and heating

The smartphone is equipped with a significantly more capacious battery than the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge - 3600 mAh versus the previous 2600 mAh. Even the larger S6 Edge+ has only 3000 mAh.

Of course, this increase has had the most positive impact on battery life: the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is one of the leaders in this regard, and it is able to operate on battery even with average active use much longer than the standard time of one day.

With active photo and video shooting in one busy day, the smartphone sat down by about 50%, working in “airplane” mode and with automatic screen brightness. Under the same conditions, watching an MP4 movie loaded into the built-in memory drains the battery by about 10% every hour.

In addition, we tested the battery life of the smartphone according to our method, with the brightness set to 100 cd/m².

As you can see, the less stressful the scenario, the better the smartphone performs. So, in the gaming scene, it is inferior to the iPhone 6s Plus in terms of battery life, and in video playback it is superior. And finally, let's pay attention to the excellent result in the reading mode. By the way, among the Android smartphones that we have ever tested, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is unrivaled in this scenario!

Below are thermal images of the back surface obtained after 10 minutes of running a battery test in the GFXBenchmark program (the lighter, the higher the temperature):

It can be seen that the heating is strongly localized above the center and close to the right edge, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 44 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is above the average value in this test for modern smartphones.

Separately, it is worth noting the speed of recharging the smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge supports QuickCharge fast charging technology and when using the supplied power supply (9V 1.67A) is fully charged in about an hour and a half. The device charges up to 50% in 40 minutes, half an hour is enough to fill the battery by 38%, and 15 minutes - by 22%.

During charging, both the smartphone and the power supply heat up noticeably, but this does not go beyond comfortable values, that is, you won’t burn your hands.

In general, despite the situation with load modes, we can recognize the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge as one of the best (if not the best) Android smartphone in terms of battery life. And, of course, the charging speed is a very big plus compared to the iPhone, since there are cases when you urgently need to recharge your smartphone, but you have only a few minutes - especially when traveling or if you forgot to charge your smartphone at night.

conclusions

Well, we carefully got acquainted with one of the main smartphone innovations of this year, tested it both in the laboratory and in real life (and under extreme conditions). Based on the results of studying the device, we can safely admit that at the moment this is the real pinnacle of “smartphone construction”. The device combines innovation, practicality and uncompromisingness in almost all respects. By the fourth model in the Edge line (and the third among the S Edge), Samsung found an almost perfect ratio of screen diagonal and body size, equipped the smartphone with support for memory cards and two SIM cards, and was also able to implement full-fledged moisture protection without sacrificing the dimensions of the device or external view (no plugs - hello Sony!). On top of that, the battery capacity has increased significantly, and now it is one of the best smartphones in terms of battery life.

The curvature of the screen and its functional application, of course, are still controversial points (for the convenience of everyday use, this is more of a minus than a plus), but one cannot argue with what this feature does Samsung smartphone unique, which is perhaps really valuable in our time of clones. And advanced photography capabilities and top performance make the new product an ideal choice for enthusiasts. Of course, all this could not but affect the cost: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with a price tag of 60 thousand rubles occupies the highest price category. However, it is also cheaper than the iPhone 6s Plus, even with the smallest amount of internal memory. And therefore, it is a very, very formidable competitor to the flagship of the apple company.

Finally, we bring to your attention a video review, where we share the main impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and clearly demonstrate some of its features (including water resistance).

P.S. For the perfect combination of looks and design functionality (above all, the implementation of water resistance), we award the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with our Editorial Original Design Award: