What was true of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge at its launch in early March remains the case two months later: the Korean giant's new flagship is the best smartphone in the world right now.
The S7 Edge builds on the raw promise of its predecessor, the S6 Edge, delivering a high-end handset with a more luxurious design, larger display, sharper camera and more powerful battery.
The game-changing design of the S6 Edge has been refined even further, with a beautifully curved smooth metal back to accompany the curved edges of the front display. Even this loyal iPhone user has to admit there is no better-designed smartphone in the world.
The S7 Edge sports a 5.5 inch QHD display, a noticeable step up from the S6 Edge’s 5.1 inches (although both handsets are almost the same width), but a little smaller than the 5.7 inches of the S6 Edge+. Videos and images are stunning, with the fantastic contrast and the deep colours we’ve come to expect from Samsung.
With the bigger display comes a larger battery, addressing one of the key shortcomings of the S6 Edge. While its predecessor would often fail to make it through the day, the S7 Edge will happily last more than 24 hours on a single charge, even when you put it through its paces.
Samsung has taken the interesting decision to drop the S7 Edge’s camera resolution to 12MP from the S6 Edge’s 16MP. Despite this, the S7 Edge takes well-balanced, highly detailed pictures and videos in all light conditions, proof once again that megapixels aren’t everything.
The S7 Edge retails from Dh2,799 for a basic 32GB model, Dh200 cheaper than the iPhone 6S Plus but Dh200 more expensive than the (much smaller) iPhone 6S. Not everyone has that sort of budget but if you do, the upgrades in design, battery and camera make the S7 Edge the most compelling smartphone on the market and worth the investment.
And we haven’t touched on the expandable memory and waterproofing yet.
q&a and it comes in ‘pink gold’
John Everington expands on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge’s many attributes:
You mentioned something about expandable memory. Didn’t Samsung have that before?
After dropping the option for the S6 and S6 Edge, Samsung has happily brought back an SD card slot — which doubles as a second SIM card slot – for the S7 and S7 Edge. You can expand the phone’s internal storage from 32GB to up to 200GB. There is also a 64GB version of the S7 Edge, but for some reason it’s not available in the UAE.
And what about the waterproofing? Can I take it on my next scuba diving trip?
It’s actually water resistant rather than fully waterproof, meaning it’s better for pool pics rather than taking pictures of turtles in Fujairah. In my opinion not an essential feature (one that’s been available for years on several Sony devices) but quite fun, and handy for those times when your three-year-old drops your phone down the toilet.
Samsung just announced a rise in profit. Does that mean that the S7 range is selling well?
They would like you to think that, but it’s hard to tell. The S7 range was launched during the first quarter of this year, whereas the S6 range actually went on sale in the second quarter of last year, so it’s not a like-for-like comparison. It will be interesting to see how the second-quarter numbers stack up.
And does it come in pink?
The S7 Edge is available in black, white, gold, silver and yes – “pink gold”.
jeverington@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
