Tech Tools review: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

The Samsung S6 Edge was always going to be a tough act to follow. The phone, which was unveiled last year alongside the more run-of-the-mill S6, was a bit of a surprise hit for the phone maker, with the curved screen proving to be a bit of an attention grabber.

But the smartphone industry moves fast and if Samsung isn’t churning out another phone to outdo the S6 Edge – or its larger sibling, the S6 Edge+ – it will quickly be overtaken.

The S7 Edge is, really, more of the same. The curved screen is still there, the design is still eye-catching. The improvements that Samsung has made to the phone are subtle, but welcome. The screen, for example, has been bumped up from 5.1 inches to 5.5 inches, giving you more screen space to play with without things feeling too bulky thanks to the curved edge.

The back of the phone has been rounded too, which adds a little extra to the phone making it 7.7mm thick instead of 6.9mm on the S6 Edge. You don’t really feel it though, because the curve on the rear of the phone make it more comfortable to hold than its predecessor, removing some of the tendency towards serious butterfingers. It also removes some of the sharpness that the S6 suffered from, although it’s still a fingerprint magnet.

The Micro SD slot makes a welcome return, which means you won’t be stuck with the capacity you buy initially – 32GB or 64GB – as does the waterproof rating the S6 ditched. While I still wouldn’t be confident of going completely case-free, it’s nice to know it’s a little more durable than before.

On the inside, the phone comes with a bumped-up chip, and 4GB of RAM. In Europe, that chip will be the the Exynos 8 Octa, an octacore 64-bit chip that Samsung claims is at least 30 per cent faster than the one in the S6.

The return of the memory card is welcome, but it’s also limited. Android Marshmallow allows phones to use memory card as adoptable storage, meaning the card can be treated as part of the phone’s internal storage and used as such. However, Samsung has opted to keep the card as external storage. There’s pros and cons to this. The benefit, which Samsung is touting, means that the card can be removed and the files – photos, videos, media files – can be transferred to another device. If the card had been adopted as part of the device’s internal storage, that can’t happen. The downside is that it’s not a cheaper way of expanding your phone’s internal storage for more critical things. Samsung is betting that this won’t bother too many people.

The camera of the S6 Edge was a good performer, and the S7 Edge is hoping to keep that up with a 12 megapixel sensor, and larger pixels and a wider aperture that grab more light and improve the performance in low light. Side by side with the S6 Edge, there’s a definite improvement, and the S7 Edge also focuses more quickly.

The good

The battery life improvement is certainly a welcome development, with the S7 Edge noticeable better than its predecessor, but the return of the MicroSD card slot and the IP68 rating will probably rank equally highly for users.

The not so good

The Edge screen, while having some uses and adding some more options over the S6 Edge, is still under-utilised. And since you’re paying for that feature: the S7 Edge is also a little more expensive than its S7 sibling, you might want to see more features there.

The rest

The Samsung S7 Edge also supports fast charging and can be powered up wirelessly, which all adds up to less time tethered to a cable and more time using your phone. It can also work with the company’s Gear VR headset, so you can dip your toe in the virtual reality world if it interests you.

Verdict

Evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but it’s an important leap forward.

samsung.com/ie