Samsung galaxy s7 case material. Samsung Galaxy S7 review: a smartphone without weak points. Not frequent, but stable glitches

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Samsung's flagship smartphones have been one of the main events in the industry for several years in a row, so they don't need any introduction. Samsung Galaxy S7 - new king, presented the day before WMC 2016 in Barcelona in February. This is a smartphone about which the manufacturer repeatedly said during the presentation that it surpassed perfect in all respects Samsung Galaxy S6 . Isn't it true that the presentation is reminiscent of Apple? However, without being sarcastic, we can safely admit that last year’s flagship was indeed close to perfection. And that, against the backdrop of a certain crisis of ideas in the segment, it was not so easy to make a top-end smartphone not only better, but also more useful and desirable. Especially a company from which, like Apple, fans and haters expect technological breakthroughs every year. Let's figure out whether the innovations that the Samsung Galaxy S7 received are so useful for ordinary users and interesting to us - technology fans.

Samsung's flagship smartphones have been one of the main events in the industry for several years in a row, so they don't need any introduction. Samsung Galaxy S7 is the new king, unveiled ahead of WMC 2016 in Barcelona in February. This is a smartphone about which the manufacturer repeatedly said during the presentation that it surpassed the Samsung Galaxy S6, perfect in every respect. Isn't it true that the presentation is reminiscent of Apple? However, without being sarcastic, we can safely admit that last year’s flagship was indeed close to perfection. And that, against the backdrop of a certain crisis of ideas in the segment, it was not so easy to make a top-end smartphone not only better, but also more useful and desirable. Especially a company from which, like Apple, fans and haters expect technological breakthroughs every year. Let's figure out whether the innovations that the Samsung Galaxy S7 received are so useful for ordinary users and interesting to us - technology fans.

Instead of a preface

It so happened historically that reviews of smartphones, in any case, no matter what you call it, consist of traditional sections describing their features: body, screen, performance, battery life, camera, some other features, if any. But since last year, I haven’t lost the feeling that current flagship smartphones are not a set of characteristics of the body, screen, performance, autonomy, camera, etc., but some kind of holistic experience that must be conveyed. If you break a top-end smartphone into parts and examine it under a microscope, you will get something sad - after all, it is often devoid of shortcomings (although Sony this year managed to do something with control keys that still boggles the mind) and differs from its competitors in details that you can always close your eyes to. Well, in the frills of the interface. What about the brand? How do you measure his appeal among audiences on this mediocre scale? After all, it plays one of the decisive roles in choosing a smartphone. And the user experience that gets stuck somewhere between the lines about the delights of the body, screen, performance, battery life, camera and God knows what else?

In general, in this review of Samsung's top smartphone, the Galaxy S7, I would like to deviate from the standards for materials of this format and try to convey a holistic experience from interacting with a smartphone. Moreover, I received it on the eve of a long weekend in March, which I spent doing my favorite thing - traveling. And in emergency situations, which include the road, all the advantages and disadvantages of the device become more tangible and more holistic, or something. But meticulous characteristics, on the contrary, fade into another plane.

For those for whom these characteristics are still damn important, we have detailed news Based on the results of the announcement, a broadcast of the presentation and a bunch of materials about what vicissitudes the newly-made flagship managed to get into (by the way, there are already 45 of them at the time of preparation of the review!). And a tablet with a comparison and description of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, if anything, here it is.

Technical specifications of Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
Model Galaxy S7 Galaxy S7 edge
Dimensions 142x70x8 mm 151x73x8 mm
Weight 152 g 157 g
Android version 6.0 Marshmallow + TouchWiz
Display Super AMOLED, 5.1 inch, 2560x1440, 577 ppi Super AMOLED, 5.5 inches, 2560x1440, 534 ppi
CPU Exynos 8890 Octa (64 bit, 4 cores 2.3 GHz, 4 cores 1.6 GHz), video Mali-T880MP12
RAM 4 GB
Flash memory 32/64 GB + microSD card (instead of the second SIM)
Camera 12 MP (Dual Pixel), f/1.7, 26 mm, video recording in 4K and FullHD with 60fps, front camera 5 MP
Battery 3000 mAh, non-removable 3600 mAh, non-removable
SIM card nanoSIM
Protection class IP68
Communications Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, LE, apt-X, GPS A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, NFC

The declared price in Ukraine is 20 thousand for the regular S7 and 24 thousand UAH for the S7 edge. On sale from March 25th.

The declared price in Russia is 50 thousand for the regular S7 and 60 thousand rubles for the S7 edge. On sale from March 18.

In both countries, you can pre-order a brand new Gear VR.

Acquaintance. In the office

To be honest, the Galaxy S6 was very good. So good that it’s hard to imagine what the next model needs to have in order for it to be better. Our editorial team has slightly different opinions regarding which version of the S6 is more interesting - with straight edges or with curved ones. But still, last year’s flagships won all the hearts there.

To me, as a person who loves beautiful picture, but doesn’t know how to create it, what especially struck my soul was the quality of the camera, with which you didn’t have to bother with settings at all, and the bold colors of the body. Therefore, the departure from extraordinary color solutions towards classic black, white and glamorous silver and gold in the Galaxy S7 upset me somewhat.

We received a smartphone with a silver casing for review. Overall, it's stylish. But I didn’t manage to see this right away. According to first impressions, with the lighting that we have in our office (this is a fairly bright and coldish white light), in front of me there was something reminiscent of a tin can without a paper label.

But the whole point is that the color of the Galaxy S7 case is very difficult to describe in words and generally indicate somehow unambiguously. It is complex, it changes depending on the lighting and the objects that surround it. In artificial light it can be light gray, as if cut out of a tin; in warm lighting it takes on a slightly golden color, which is reminiscent of the “golden” Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. But the most fantastic thing is outdoors or indoors with natural light. Then the Galaxy S7 case resembles inner surface oyster shells or mother-of-pearl shells scattered on the sea beach.

Unlike the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, the shiny surface of this smartphone is not mirrored; you cannot see your reflection in it, but you can admire the play of light for a long time by turning the gadget in your hands. Interesting effect. It would be interesting to see the Samsung flagship in other colors, especially black. For the 2016 Galaxy A line, black looks simple. In theory, everything should be more complicated for the flagship.

Yes, and in fairness, I note that not everyone who held this device in their hands found the silver one as unattractive as it did to me at first glance.

The smartphone gets dirty, like other equipment with a glass surface. But there are no problems with scrubbing it to perfect condition.

From the first contact, you get the feeling that the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S7 has become even faster to respond to touches. I don't know if they did this on purpose or by-effect from the presence of moisture protection, which implies that the device can be used with wet hands, but still. There is no separate option to enable glove mode in the display settings menu. Through the fabric, the display recognizes touches, although not very well.

I can’t say anything new about the quality of the screen compared to the previous model - it is excellent in detail and response speed and so-so in calibration. Traditionally, the settings have several color rendering modes (the default is adaptive, the most natural is basic, and the coldest and optimal for bright sun is AMOLED Film).

Color reproduction is poor in all three modes, with this Samsung and their Super AMOED are far from perfect. But due to the saturation of colors, the excessive coldness of the screen is not always noticeable. Most of all on a white background. Thanks to the Super AMOLED matrix, the display has infinite contrast.

Screen brightness in numbers is not impressive in all modes. But there are two nuances: what we had on hand was not the final sample, and there is a high probability that the brightness of commercial copies will be higher; The adaptive display mode in the auto-brightness mode is capable of miracles, that is, in bright sunlight it will most likely be even brighter than in a dark office during testing with a colorimeter. Unfortunately, such bright sun as it will be in summer will not be seen in March. But the display coped well with the first rays of spring.

Basic display mode. Maximum brightness in this mode: 330.728 cd/m2.

Movie mode AMOLED. Maximum brightness in this mode: 307.676 cd/m2.

Adaptive mode. Maximum brightness in this mode: 358.455 cd/m2.

Finally, the last thing I remember about my first meeting with the Galaxy S7 is my impressions of the case itself. The thing is that they don't exist. That is, there is a visual part, which I wrote about above. But it’s difficult to say anything about the body itself as something physical and tangible, because it fits into your hand the way your foot fits into an expensive shoe of the right size. In these shoes you don’t feel the materials, last, heel height (sorry, male readers, this comparison may not be very clear to you) and other nuances, because the little things are worked out so well that you don’t think about the thing itself. It’s the same story with the Galaxy S7; it fits so well in the hand that it’s not perceived by the brain as something foreign that you have to get used to and adapt to. I no longer remember the dimensions of the Galaxy S6, but perhaps it was the same story.

The rounding of the case, which was talked about so much during the announcement, personally did not impress me visually. But I can’t help but admit that at the level of physical sensations from contact with a smartphone, this is an excellent solution. Despite the fact that the smartphone is covered with glass, it does not slip in the hand.

The thickness of the frames around in comparison with Meizu Pro 5.

The arrangement of elements on the body of a Samsung smartphone is standard. Everything is familiar and convenient. There are three keys under the screen: “Home” in the center, a “Back” key and a context menu button at the edges of it. For some reason there is no backlight. On the metal ends there are volume control keys and a button for locking the screen. If we're being picky, we can say that the volume control keys could have been lower.

There is only one speaker and at the bottom, but this does not prevent it from being better than many stereo speakers on other smartphones.

At the top is a microphone and a “locomotive” from the nanoSIM slot and the second werewolf slot, which is familiar with both nanoSIM and microSD.

Judging by the size of the camera module on the front side, it is clear that it should take excellent pictures.

The rear camera was made slightly less protruding compared to the previous model. But to be honest, this whole story about the fact that in some smartphones the camera sticks out and the guard seems far-fetched to me. The camera sticks out in the Nokia Lumia 1020, yes. And everything else is baby talk.

The first day. On the road

Samsung Galaxy S7 became my faithful companion on a 900-kilometer journey across Ukraine. With the roads of Ukraine, the potholes of Ukraine, the beauties of Ukraine, the foggy March of Ukraine, regional hotels of Ukraine, where sockets are the ultimate dream. Not always within reach.

As I already wrote in a separate article, when traveling with a smartphone, three things are important to me when traveling with a smartphone (I think that if you travel a lot and use an average or above-average smartphone, then for you too): camera, performance and battery life. The latter - insofar as there are portable batteries. And if the device charges quickly enough, then you can revive the battery during a quick snack in roadside cafe. According to Samsung, the smartphone battery gains the first 83% of its charge in half an hour (the rest takes about another hour). On the road, constantly charging my smartphone and portable batteries, I did not feel this advantage, although in conditions of longer use this advantage would have made itself known more loudly.

In general, my impressions of the Galaxy S7 battery were twofold. On the one hand, at maximum load - with several hours of screen, full camera, navigation and 3G - the device lasts more than eight hours. This is cool, it seems to me that my Meizu Pro 5 would have given up earlier in such a situation. On the other hand, with a minimum load, the Galaxy S7 with its 3000 mAh battery, 5.1-inch display, processor and matrix, which should consume energy very sparingly, lasts for about a day - even representatives of this year’s junior line bypass it. The battery life test in PCMark shows a little less than eight hours of operation (during this time, let me remind you, the battery loses 80% of its capacity, the screen does not go dark, but shows some pictures from the test). This year's Samsung Galaxy A5 and Samsung Galaxy A7 have about the same number, but they last about 50% longer under light load. It looks like there is a great chance to see better autonomy in commercial firmware. But for now it is, that is. By the way, I really liked that while charging the smartphone shows how much time is left until the procedure is complete.

For those who want to know more

Benchmark results with a beautiful graph.

And this is how the battery behaved on the road under load.

The camera, as I wrote in the same article about the ideal smartphone for a traveler, matters only if it is a flagship camera that takes really cool pictures, that is, as an exception rather than as a rule. But Samsung smartphones have good cameras, so we are talking about an exception.

On my trip, we had several smartphones with us (but we only shot on the Galaxy S7), a decent point-and-shoot camera, and a DSLR, which we didn’t really know how to use and didn’t always take with us.

An obvious fact: the camera has become better than even the previous generation Galaxy S. Perhaps even better than the iPhone 6s camera (we haven’t had the opportunity to make a direct comparison yet, so excuse the doubts). Here's last year's gallery of just about anything shot on the Samsung flagship in the first half of 2015 (link to the gallery on Torba with pictures in original resolution).

Here are a few random shots taken with the camera of the 2016 flagship (they are also on Torba in the original resolution).

Some of them (the ones with the fidgety cat and the cart on the road) were made in the car while moving. The cat, of course, was shaking and swaying, and the cart was rapidly approaching the car. But the camera is fast, so fast that in my memory these are the first shots taken on a smartphone where the cat doesn’t look like a blurry blur.

In a room with the same lighting (in original resolution).

This was filmed in a very poorly lit room. It is clear that the pictures are “noisy” and generally not ideal. But seriously, it’s almost complete darkness and a smartphone. And these are precisely those moments where it’s hard not to appreciate the advantages of the Galaxy S7 camera (in original resolution).

Night city. In some places – as well as not on a smartphone at all (in the original resolution). Do you know what is most valuable to me in these shots? The fact that I didn't have to stand still for a long time, the camera focuses and shoots as fast as it does in daylight.

The main competitor of the seventh iPhone, which entered the market a little earlier - the Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone - is very often cited by opponents of Apple technology as a standard. But is he really that good? Both the authors of articles on well-known testing portals and many users in reviews do not agree with this. Let's listen to their arguments, brought together in our review.

Disadvantages of the Samsung Galaxy S7, which are written about in reviews and tests

Stainless and fragile body

New design of Samsung Galaxy S7 , In addition to visual advantages, as it turns out, it also has disadvantages. The back panel is made of glass, which turns any drop of the smartphone into a potential headache with serious expenses. And if the device falls onto the asphalt with the screen down, get ready for very large expenses: repairing the screen can cost half the cost of the gadget.

At the same time, the glass body is constantly grabbed by your fingers, which also does not add to a good mood.

Non-removable battery


Photo: tutmobile.ru

You can’t take your new Samsung with you on a trip to places where there is no electricity. To the mountains, for example, or on a long hike through the forests. Or rather, you can take it, but the charge is only enough for one time, there is no replaceable battery here. You won’t be able to urgently reboot the device if something happens; you won’t be able to increase the charge by installing a more capacious battery.

No Dual SIM

A common disease of all top smartphones of our time. The owner has to choose: either a lot of memory or two SIM cards. A common slot for a SIM card and microSD significantly saves space inside the gadget, but such savings can hardly be considered justified.

You cannot use microSD as built-in memory

It would seem that you are pairing two slots, so let the user at least enjoy expanding the smartphone’s memory to his heart’s content! But no. Galaxy 7 does not have the ability to use microSD cards as internal memory. This function was used in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but for some reason they didn’t want to include it in the seventh Samsung model. Unfortunately, you won't be able to install games on a microSD card. And this significantly limits the functionality of the basic models, where out of a modest 32 GB of internal memory, only 24 GB is available to the user, the rest is occupied by the operating system and God knows what else.

MicroUSB connector instead of USB-C


Photo: www.techwire.co.ke

Let’s say right away that this is a drawback only for fans of new technologies. USB-C, like the Lightning connector on the iPhone, allows you to insert the plug in any direction and transfers data at hellish speed. But in the new model, the Koreans decided to remain conservative in this sense. The reason is simple: too many accessories produced by Samsung are tied to microUSB, and users are not yet ready to just drop everything and start using the new interface.

Excessively power-hungry Always On feature


Photo: cdn03.androidauthority.net

This function looks beautiful, nothing to say. Its essence is that in sleep mode, part of the display is active - notifications and a clock or calendar are displayed on it. It is both convenient and functional. Press releases from Samsung stated that the technology takes up no more than 1% of battery capacity per hour. As it turned out, it was a marketing ploy. Authors of the review on hi-tech.mail.ru calculated: in different conditions disabling the Always On function saves from 20% to 30% of the smartphone's charge.

Fast charging restrictions

Compared to the seventh iPhone, the Galaxy S7 has fast charging. However, when compared with the Galaxy S6, no major breakthroughs were noted. Still the same Quick Charge 2.0 Qualcomm. Meanwhile, after the release of Quick Charge 3.0 (charging up to 80% in just 35 minutes), it was logical to assume that Samsung would also use this technology in the Galaxy S7. But that did not happen. Fast charging is still intended only for emergency situations, and not for full-fledged operation if necessary.

Disadvantages of the Samsung Galaxy S7, which are written about in reviews

Glass is susceptible to scratches

Gorilla Glass does not delight users. And most of the complaints are about susceptibility to scratches. Owners of the new Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone compare it with previous models and come to a disappointing conclusion: the S7 is less resistant to external influences, for example, than the S5 by two or more times. And in the case the “seven” looks rather poor.

Fingerprint scanner errors


Photo: www.icover.ru

Apple, after suffering, finally brought to life the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. But Samsung decided not to strain itself and used last year’s module in the new Galaxy S7. Users immediately noticed that the unlocking speed was no different from the Galaxy S6, and the number of errors when scanning a fingerprint even increased. In some cases, the smartphone requires significantly more time to process biometric information.

Bad headphones included

“They fall out of your ears”, “it’s impossible to move with them”, “cheap and unreliable”, “disgusting sound transmission” - these are just a small part of the complaints about the standard headphones that come with the Galaxy S7, which buyers indicate in reviews of the Samsung Galaxy smartphone S7. Marketers of a Korean company should think: maybe none is better than these?

Inconvenient interface for switching SIM cards

In cases where users use not a microSD, but a second SIM card, they are simply indignant: why, why did the manufacturer decide to change the convenient SIM card switching algorithm used in the S6? Now, in order to switch from one SIM card to another, you have to delve into the menu and constantly remind yourself and the Korean engineers that the best is the enemy of the good.

Is it really that bad?


Photo: img.tyt.by

A reader who has not held a Galaxy S7 in his hands may get the impression that this is some kind of terribly inconvenient unit. Of course not. The "seven" has a lot of advantages. The Super AMOLED screen gets better with each generation. In S7 its resolution reached 2560x1440 pixels. The 12 MP camera is good because the size of each dot in it is 1.4 microns (the S6 had 1.2 microns). Therefore, the aperture ratio has increased significantly, and improved optics have further enhanced this effect.

Let's add here a fresh eight-core Exynos 8890 processor, Mali T880 M12 graphics and as much as 4 GB of RAM, of which 1.5 GB is always available to the user.

The battery capacity has increased noticeably: in the regular Galaxy S7 it is 3000 mAh (the same as in the top-end “six” with a 5.7″ diagonal!), in the Edge - 3600 mAh.

And just a huge advantage of the new smartphone from the Korean company is the minimum of third-party software.

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

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 our 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 a medium screen diagonal - smaller than in the Galaxy S6 Edge+, but larger than in the Galaxy S6 Edge. At the same time, the resolution remains ultra-high (2560×1440). And visually the screen really makes a great impression. Instrumental testing of the display was carried out by the editor of the “Projectors and TV” section, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Below is his conclusion.

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

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is slightly darker (photo brightness is 103 versus 111 for the Nexus 7; glare from the curved edges of the tested screen is excluded) and does not have a pronounced tint. The ghosting of reflected objects on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge screen is very weak, indicating that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. Due to the smaller number of boundaries (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 the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. On the outer surface of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than in the case of regular glass.

When the white field was displayed 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 brighter 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 at a fairly good level. The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. Automatic brightness adjustment works based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). You can make adjustments to the operation of this function by moving the settings slider. Below, for three conditions, we present the screen brightness values ​​for 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 - after adaptation of the eye it may be normal), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 400 lux) brightness is set to 1.6, 130 and 405 cd/m² (dark - just right - bright, which corresponds to the specified correction), in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20000 lux or a little more) - increases to 520, 540 and 540 cd/m². These values ​​are greater than the maximum for manual adjustment and this brightness should definitely be enough for the image on the screen to be clearly visible in any natural conditions. In general, the result of the automatic brightness adjustment function is as expected. Note that even with automatic brightness correction disabled in a dark environment, the smartphone does not allow you to set the brightness above 190 cd/m². At any brightness level there is 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 brightness, the modulation amplitude is not very large, and 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 a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may 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 microphotograph:

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

In the fragment above you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), and by repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without breaks or overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer calculates the screen resolution based on the green subpixels; based on the other two, it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this version is close to the case of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S4 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 unevenness of contrast borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the very high resolution, they have a minimal impact 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 simply 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, identical 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 forced to switch to 6500 K. White field:

We note the excellent uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field (with the exception of darkening and changes in hue towards the curved edges). And a test picture (profile Basic):

Color rendition is good, the colors are moderately saturated, the color balance of the screens varies slightly. Note that in this case, the image occupies the height (at this screen orientation) of the entire area available for image display and extends onto 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 on the entire screen. And even the picture of films with an aspect ratio of 16:9 bends, which greatly interferes with watching movies. The photo above was taken after selecting 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 output image and environmental conditions, which is obtained by selecting the two remaining profiles shown below.

Movie AMOLED:

Saturation and color contrast are noticeably increased.

Photo AMOLED:

Saturation is still high, but 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 Movie AMOLED). White field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed has been increased compared to previous photographs), 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 from at least 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 the Samsung at an angle is noticeably higher. Switching the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the switching edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back:

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 clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

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

For profile Movie AMOLED The gamma curve has a pronounced S-shaped character, which increases the visible contrast of the image, but in the shadows the distinguishability of shades remains.

Let us 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 generally light images. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely slightly does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

Color gamut in the case of a profile Movie AMOLED very wide, it almost covers the Adobe RGB gamut:

When selecting a profile Photo AMOLED coverage is adjusted to Adobe RGB boundaries:

When selecting a profile Basic coverage is compressed to sRGB boundaries:

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

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

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, without appropriate correction, the colors of regular images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated. Hence the recommendation - in most cases, watching movies, photographs 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 Movie AMOLED, despite the name, is the least suitable for watching movies or anything else.

The grayscale balance is good. Color temperature in profile Movie AMOLED noticeably above 6500 K, in the remaining two - close to 6500 K, while in a significant portion of the gray scale this parameter does not change very much, which improves the visual perception of color balance. The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) across most of the gray scale remains below 10 units, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, and also does not change very much:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring 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 acceptable (and in bright light it is necessary) to use a 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 us remind you about the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), excellent uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than that of LCDs, and a drop in image brightness when viewed at an angle. Disadvantages include modulation of screen brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. However, overall the screen quality is very high. Separately, we note that from the point of view of image quality, curved edges are only harmful, since this design discovery introduces very noticeable distortions of the color tone and reduces the 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 .

Playing video

We did not find the MHL interface, like 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 “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various 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 the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

File Uniformity Passes
4K/30p Fine No
4K/25p Fine No
4K/24p Fine No
1080/60p Great No
1080/50p Great No
1080/30p Great No
1080/25p Fine 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 in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the device itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. 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 experimentation, you can switch to the one-to-one mode by pixel; there will be no interpolation, but the features of PenTile will appear - the vertical world through the pixel will be in a grid, and the horizontal one will be slightly greenish. This is only true for viewing test worlds; the described artifacts are absent in real frames. The brightness range displayed on the screen actually corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows and highlights, only a couple of shades merge with black and white, respectively.

The experience of using the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has shown that the curved edges do not in any way harm the image when watching a movie - you soon forget about them completely, and the headphones do an excellent job of outputting sound: even in conditions of road noise at low volumes, the speech of the characters is intelligible, while your neighbors they don't hear the film.

Camera

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

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

However, the 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 maximize the auto mode, and the built-in converter often works much more adequately than third-party ones, so in most cases it is more advisable to use it for shooting.

However, in difficult lighting, problems with white balance may arise, which can be solved by manually setting the temperature.

RAW will also be a nice bonus for those who like to tinker with processing, but don’t 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 using other modes.

The camera has well-implemented panoramas. Moreover, the power reserve during wiring is enough for more than 360 degrees. In addition, in panorama mode you can get interesting compositions if everything you would like does not fit into the frame. However, it is worth considering that panoramas are less clear than simple pictures. 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 (we will tell you more about our overall impressions of using the smartphone in extreme conditions below). 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, and 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 was “desalinated” after swimming in sea ​​water had to in the snow. He endured all these actions with dignity.

Examples of underwater photography

Since we are talking about convenience, it is worth noting the problems when shooting with one quite standard hand. Since we were using the Edge modification, we had to be careful with sensitive edges. (In general, these “edges” often create some discomfort when using, although if you want, you can get used to them for the sake of design.) If you grasp the smartphone as you have to do with most tablet phones, your fingers often “occupy” the sensor and the shutter button stops responding to presses.


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 across the remaining third of the display. In vertical orientation, problems arise with the fact that part of the index finger periodically ends up in the corner of the frame.

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

Good sharpness across the field of the frame, and car license plates are distinguishable in such twilight hours.

Good sharpness in distant shots.

There is not much noise in the shadows, although the work of the noise reduction is visible.

The camera pays attention to small details.

The camera does macro photography well.

The camera copes well with details in fairly complex scenes.

The camera copes well with night photography, but only in manual mode.

The sharpness across the frame is not always uniform, but the area of ​​blur at the top in this case can be attributed to composition problems.

In addition to testing in real conditions, we tested the camera on a laboratory bench using our method.

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

As can be seen from the graph, in terms of resolution the camera is almost at the level of its predecessors, but the overall quality of the images has undoubtedly increased, although not much.

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

I would like to note video shooting separately, since this time its implementation in a smartphone really does not raise any questions. The rolling shutter effect and other artifacts are practically absent. The image is stable, sharp, without twitching or ripples, despite only 30 fps. Focusing when shooting video is as fast as when shooting photos.

The smartphone features a slow motion mode that allows you to record in 720p format 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 with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera are presented below in the gallery.

Photo gallery

Software and communications

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

By and large, there is nothing new here compared to previous Edges, and, frankly, we still think 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 regular screen.

A much more valuable innovation is the updated file manager. Now you can easily transfer files from your smartphone to a flash drive and back; unnecessary files can be deleted both from a flash drive and a microSD card.

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

We also note that the smartphone supports two SIM cards. At least that's what Samsung claims, but we couldn't 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, this should be attributed to the peculiarities of the engineering sample. But if you buy a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge at a dealership, ask a consultant to show you how and where to insert the second SIM card.

Autonomous operation and heating

The smartphone is equipped with a significantly larger battery than the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge - 3600 mAh versus the previous 2600 mAh. Even the larger S6 Edge+ has only 3,000 mAh.

Of course, such an increase had the most positive effect on battery life: the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is one of the leaders in this regard, and it is capable of operating on battery power even with moderate active use for much longer than the standard time of one day.

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

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

As you can see, the less stressful the scenario, the better the smartphone performs. Thus, in the gaming scene it is inferior to the iPhone 6s Plus in terms of operating time, but in video playback it is superior. And finally, let's pay attention to the excellent results in reading mode. By the way, among the Android smartphones that we have ever tested, in this scenario the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has no competition!

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

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

Separately, it is worth noting the charging speed of the smartphone. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge supports QuickCharge fast charging technology and, when using the included power supply (9 V 1.67 A), 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 conditions, 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 charge your smartphone, but you only have 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 in extreme conditions). Based on the results of studying the device, we can safely admit that this moment This is the real pinnacle of smartphone technology. The device combines innovation, practicality and uncompromisingness in almost all respects. For the fourth model in the Edge line (and the third among the S Edge), Samsung found an almost ideal 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 use, of course, still remain controversial points (for the convenience of everyday use this is more of a minus than a plus), but one cannot argue with the fact that this feature makes the Samsung smartphone unique, which is perhaps truly valuable in our time of clones. And advanced photo capabilities and high performance make the new product an ideal choice for enthusiasts. Of course, all this could not but affect the price: the 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, this 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 our main impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and clearly demonstrate some of its features (including water resistance).

P.S. For the excellent combination of appearance and design functionality (above all, the implementation of water resistance), we award the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge our editorial Original Design award:

The mid-size flagship of the Japanese company came out controversial. The display resolution was left old-fashioned, the proprietary moisture protection only implies “exposure to light rain” and no underwater photography, as in Sony advertising, and the Snapdragon 810 processor, although it began to overheat less, still does not work ideally in this model.

But in terms of the quality of the body materials, convenience operating system and the camera's sophistication, Sony's flagship remains an attractive model to this day. The Z5's automatic shooting modes aren't perfect, but in manual mode you can squeeze some amazingly high-quality images out of the Z5's camera. The autonomy of the smartphone is seriously inferior to the results demonstrated by the top Samsung, but the iPhone 6s will soon retire (like the quickly outdated HTC One M9 Plus), the LG Nexus 5X, already on sale, is much less powerful and not so prestigious, and beyond these models there are thoroughbred flagships of moderate the dimensions just run out.

conclusions

Attitudes towards the Galaxy S7 change as you use the smartphone. The first impression is a “restyling” of last year’s flagship with a new sauce, but then you add up the number of innovations and realize that improvements of this magnitude in the iPhone would be considered a revolution, and every Apple fan would be delighted. Only Samsung did not release the S6 Super/Ultra/Neo, but released the S7, which divided brand connoisseurs into two camps.

Current owners of the Galaxy S6 admit that the smartphone has become “better in everything,” but they see no point in replacing existing models with new flagships. Those who are watching the price drop for the “morally outdated” S6 series are also in no hurry to take an extra 15 thousand rubles out of their pockets. There remains an audience that acquires a “new cool Samsung” with each new generation of the model, and those who are disappointed in other flagships / do not want to wait for manufacturers to release more breakthrough superphones.

However, what other “breakthroughs”? In the class of “less than 5.5 inches” of truly sophisticated smartphones, the cat cried. If it weren’t for the example of the iPhone 6/6s, the rest of the manufacturers would rush to produce “shovels” without options for the buyer. In this sense, the Galaxy S7 (just don't laugh) is a living exotic, because the class of 5-inch flagships is slowly dying out.

But the release cycle according to the principle “modernized version - revolutionary version” is already quite Apple’s way, comrades. And even though we are unfamiliar with the conventional two-year cycle from the evolutionary to the revolutionary Galaxy S, such changes will benefit both those who like to “wait until cool models”, and everyone who sells an old smartphone to buy a new one, “with changes and additions.” We can only hope that such tactics will not “sink” Samsung and that the Koreans know what they are doing.

A couple of months ago I bought a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge new for 30 thousand rubles. Although this is not the latest, it is still quite a relevant flagship. And for such a price, this is generally an excellent offer. 2 months have passed since then, I sold my “gnusmas” and breathed a sigh of relief. And that's why.

We've been updating for a year, no more

IN Once again I was convinced that OS updates can be installed while you have the company’s most current gadget in your hands. As soon as I came out new flagship and you receive another update - we begin to partisan. This firmware will not bring anything good.

My S7 Edge is mercilessly slow. Applications, menu sections, switching between tasks - a smartphone is ALWAYS thought of! I feel like I’m using some kind of Redmi 3S, and not a top-end device from the global electronics giant. A shame!

What I mean is that while the gadget was relevant, that is, throughout 2016, it did not slow down, everything worked as expected. And with the latest updates, everyone has forgotten about optimization. And I'm sure no one is doing this on purpose (it's not Apple). Simply optimizing software for last year’s devices is a matter of “whatever happens.” If we have time, it’s good; if we don’t have time, it’s even better. The user swears, suffers and goes to the salon to buy a current flagship. He’s “so used to Samsungs.” There is no need to step on the same rake, let’s use our brains.

Brief summary of my experience:

  • If you have a current flagship from Samsung, then we stop updating immediately after the release of the new generation.
  • If you have an iPhone in your hands latest generation, then you can update +1 year after the release of the new generation. You can't go any further.

Thus, the normal operation period of devices from Samsung is 1 year, from Apple – 2 years. This is also confirmed by depreciation.

Bought for one price, sold for another

The golden rule of the secondary gadget market. I bought the device new, left the store with it, sell it as used, subtracting 25% from the price of the new one.

It works great with iPhone and even Samsung. It’s just that an Apple smartphone holds its price for the first six months, while a top-end device from South Korea lasts a maximum of a couple of months.

For example, adequate offers for sale on the secondary market began to appear only in February after the September release. With the official price of 53 thousand rubles, on some Avito you could get a seven for 35 thousand.

After the release on March 29, with a price tag of 55 thousand rubles, already in early July you could get it for the same 35 thousand rubles. There are plenty of offers and they are not in demand. The thing is that the price tag for gray versions starts from 38 thousand rubles apiece. For the new flagship. What's the point of buying it used?

Are device owners who bought them at full price upset? And how!

What's wrong with my S7 Edge? Nothing. I can't sell it even for 25 thousand. No one needs it at all, and this is against the backdrop of the fact that the iPhone 6S can easily be sold for the same money.

Brakes. Anytime and anywhere!

I thought the device was slowing down in energy saving mode. Well, this is when you reduce the standard resolution to Full HD, background processes are limited, Always On Display does not work, and so on. I turned on full power, but left the resolution low: fewer pixels - more speed. It's logical. Whatever the case!

The smartphone is still slow. And nothing can be done about it. Although no, you can do a hard reset every month, constantly transfer files to your computer, and then, maybe, if you’re lucky, the smartphone will start working as expected.

But wait! Why did I spend 30 kilo rubles on all this pandemonium? I could buy a Xiaomi Redmi 4 Pro for 8 thousand rubles and, most interestingly, not have such problems. And this despite all the gluttony of their proprietary MIUI shell.

Not frequent, but stable glitches

For example, just a couple of days ago the following happened. I went to Google Play Market to update all applications on the smartphone (auto-update is disabled), but I could not do it. Why? The "Update All" button simply didn't work.

Of course, I thought it was some kind of store glitch, I went to the main screen and killed all the processes. Did it help? Not even once!

Now the Play Store icon on the desktop has stopped clicking. But this is not the end.

I rebooted my smartphone, re-opened the store, was about to click on the “Update all” button and guess what happened. Nothing! She didn't press again. The video below is proof.

Disgusting signal quality

The S7 Edge only lives near the windows in my house. So the signal, at least a little, passes through the walls.

Yes, the walls are not the thinnest, but wait. I still have the same question. Why does a gadget for 500 bucks work the same as some Cubot for 80 from China and without normal support for LTE frequencies?

All this could be attributed to the fact that I have a gray device intended for the UAE market. However, I went to the official website of Samsung in the Emirates and there is full support for all the frequencies I need. Even more than necessary. However, the smartphone still catches the network extremely poorly.

Further more. I left the house, Wi-Fi turned off, in theory the smartphone should switch to cellular data and, of course, it does. True, only EDGE lights up on the screen. In order for the seven to switch to 4G in the city center, where the coverage is ideal, you need to move away from all buildings and stand on the street for 3-4 minutes. Then the system will realize that the cellular network coverage is reliable and you can safely switch to at least H+.

And then I go to Pyaterochka, go to the cereal department, which is located deep in the building, and the situation repeats itself. Rebooting or turning on/off flight mode helps. I do this at least twice a day. Every day! For your 500 dollars.

Second SIM card for the view

Not only does the device have a weak cellular network signal, but there is practically no cellular network on the second SIM card. As soon as you enter the room, the smartphone falls into a deep vacuum. And it doesn’t accept calls, and it only takes a few minutes to make a call from it.

Thank you that at least the first SIM card works on EDGE. But we must pay tribute, the system honestly shows the complete absence of sticks in the notification line.

Oleophobic coating - none

I once read another article by Eldar Murtazin, where he talked about how the oleophobic coating wears off after a month, so there’s no need to have any illusions about this. I thought this was completely stupid, because I had never encountered anything like this. On any smartphone, even a budget one, oleophobia lasts for at least six months. That's what I thought until I started using a Samsung smartphone.


Really! The protective coating on the glass of my S7 Edge peeled off after three weeks. In three! Weeks! Karl!!!1

And in your opinion, this is a flagship smartphone, which last year was sold for 50 thousand rubles apiece?

But there are also advantages...

What's good about the S7 Edge is its cameras. He still shoots great! Very cool!

It was only in 2017 that many manufacturers caught up with the quality of photography and video that Samsung had already had for a year. This is what I remember primarily about Huawei and them. By the way, it’s a good device for such and such a price. Unless, of course, the design bothers you.

Moreover! Many competitors from the Chinese market still cannot match the photo quality of our seven. Including Xiaomi with their Mi6, and, oh my God, even . Yes, now I will cause righteous anger among fans of the brand, but this is true.

And it is not just words. Look at the photos I was able to get from the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera.

The only ones that beat my smartphone are Google Pixel and . In the latter case, again Google intervened. This is not advertised anywhere, but I am sure that the Taiwanese, without Google, would not be able to make such a camera, or rather, write such advanced software for it.

I also really like Samsung Pay. The contactless payment system works even with old terminals, which no competitor can boast of. Well, maybe... True, there is one BUT - the service only works in South Korea and even then, not everywhere.

All! This is where the advantages of the smartphone end.

Brief summary

Let's summarize what I wasn't happy with about the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge:

  • he slows down
  • buggy almost the same as the “Chinese” for 150 bucks
  • Poor cellular signal
  • has a very poor oleophobic coating (erases after 3 weeks)
  • quickly loses value - then you won’t sell it

All these disadvantages greatly outweigh one single advantage - the excellent quality of photo and video shooting. That's why I sold my S7 Edge. Now again “in active search”.



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