Samsung Galaxy S7 review: Plans | Pricing | Specs

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Samsung was busy as it brought the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge to market. They were announced at Mobile World Congress 2016, prior to general pre-orders and availability from 11 March 2016.

Given the market tussles between Apple and Samsung, who between them command the lion’s share of mobile sales both internationally and in Australia, the Galaxy S7 has a lot to live up to.

If you're more interested in the curved screens of the Edge model, you can read our full Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review.

Design

• The return of expandable storage is much appreciated.
• Doesn't differentiate itself drastically from the Galaxy S6.

• Read more on the Samsung Galaxy S7 design

  There’s not a huge style difference between the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Samsung Galaxy S6, so it’s easy to see where the design DNA of the latter has bled through into the former. The slightly rounded back does make it easier to hold in the hand, which is a common issue for full metal body phones. The Samsung Galaxy S7 feels very solid in the hand, which is exactly what you’d want from a premium device. That said, while Samsung made big design changes for the Samsung Galaxy S range in 2015 with the Samsung Galaxy S6, with the S7 it has fundamentally played it safe. If you wanted a phone that was a radical departure from the S6’s design or some genuinely new form factor, this isn’t it.

  One neat feature Samsung has integrated is a handy lock screen clock. This isn’t a unique trick, the LG G5 also features an (optional) "always on" display screen for clock or calendar with a claimed low power draw. That was certainly our observation during testing. If you’re the type who consistently pulls their phone out of their pocket to check the time or date, this could be a godsend.

  Though the return of expandable storage is much appreciated, it comes with a notable caveat: individual models of the Samsung Galaxy S7 can have either a microSD card slot or a slot for a second SIM card, but not both. This is a common story for phones with a single SIM/microSD card slot. You can opt for dual SIM (although not with 4G connections on both), or you can add storage via microSD. The Australian official model opts for single SIM with microSD, but it's likely direct importers may offer the dual SIM variant at a later stage.

  While the overall design of the S7 is smoking, Samsung may have taken the notion a little too far: the phone literally gets hot to the touch if you push it too hard. Samsung has integrated water cooling in the S7 in the same way that Sony did with the Xperia Z5, but the results are also similar. Push the S7 heavily with gaming, VR or video and you’ll feel it heat up in your hand. Not to scorching levels, but it is noticeable.

  It's also worth mentioning that the Galaxy S7 became a magnet for fingerprint smudges during our testing. This may have been a specific quirk of the silver Samsung Galaxy S7 we were sent for review, but it’s not one that we can ignore. After only a short period of time, the shiny silver back and front bezel of Samsung Galaxy S7 were utterly covered in very obvious fingerprints. A big draw for a premium phone is that it looks good and the Samsung Galaxy S7 generally does, except when it’s covered in fingerprints.

Camera

• Improves on the Galaxy S6's camera with extra features and a larger sensor.
• Some features are incompatible with each other, preventing combinations like HDR and Full HD capture.

• Read more on the Samsung Galaxy S7 camera

  For a long time, Samsung’s weak point for its premium phones was the quality of its camera. The Galaxy S6 dealt with much of that and the shift to a lower megapixel but larger sensor size 12MP rear camera on the S7 simply improves matters. Low-light performance is good, although predictably if you do push it too hard you can end with very noisy pictures. Focus tracking and video stabilisation likewise work well if used appropriately.

  Samsung’s camera app works well and offers a lot of features, but some features are exclusive to particular resolutions, or shooting modes, so for example if you want focus tracking, you have to do without video stabilisation. You can’t take burst shots in RAW mode and you can’t use HDR in UHD, QHD or FHD (60fps) modes. With patience and correct usage you can mostly overcome these to get the shots you want, but there’s a distinct learning curve here.

Performance

• Maintains Samsung's penchant for top-of-the-line performance.
• Fast and responsive, both in benchmarks and real-world testing.

• Read more on the Samsung Galaxy S7 performance

  The Samsung Galaxy S7’s octa-core processor should logically be a top-range contender, because that’s exactly what you’re paying for in a premium smartphone.

  In straight testing, the S7 is extremely responsive, whether you’re using the fingerprint sensor to unlock, launching the camera app or running applications.

  In benchmark terms, the Samsung Galaxy S7 performed exceptionally well. Here is how it stacked up against a number of current premium handsets:

  Handset	Geekbench 3 Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 3 Multi Core (higher is better)
  Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2169	6446
  Samsung Galaxy S7	2156	6240
  Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+	1492	4893
  Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge	1324	4626
  Google Nexus 6P	1251	4597
  Samsung Galaxy S6	1347	4569
  Apple iPhone 6S	2540	4410
  Apple iPhone 6S Plus	2491	4391
  Sony Xperia Z5	1358	4134
  LG G4	1190	3313
  Google Nexus 5X	1188	3198

  The only device that compares with the Galaxy S7 in benchmark terms is its close sibling the Galaxy S7 Edge.

  Samsung made considerable noise at launch about the S7’s graphics prowess, so we tested that using 3DMark’s Ice Storm Unlimited test. To give it some comparative weight, we ran the same version of the test across a number of other Android handsets.

  Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
  Samsung Galaxy S7	28903
  Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	28402
  Google Nexus 6P	24703
  Sony Xperia Z5	19197
  Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus	17981

  Again, benchmarks aren’t the be-all and end-all of phone performance, but the Galaxy S7 acquits itself well here and in actual usage.

Battery life

• A massive improvement over the Galaxy S6.
• Outlasts nearly all competing handsets, including the iPhone 6S Plus.

• Read more on the Samsung Galaxy S7 battery life

  Samsung upped the battery capacity on the Samsung Galaxy S7 to 3,000mAh from the S6’s 2,550mAh, so you’d naturally expect a bit of a performance bump when it comes to battery life.

  The Samsung Galaxy S7 didn’t so much have a bump as a full-on pole vault over every premium phone we’ve tested to date. It was briefly the phone with the longest battery life we’d seen using Geekbench 3’s battery life test, right up until we tested its sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Still, with more than ten hours of battery life and a solid battery score, the Samsung Galaxy S7 does not disappoint.

  Handset	Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration	Geekbench 3 Battery Score
  Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	11:55:00	7150
  Samsung Galaxy S7	10:01:20	6013
  Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+	8:24:10	5041
  Apple iPhone 6S Plus	7:48:10	4681
  Samsung Galaxy S6	6:51:30	4115
  Google Nexus 5X	7:14:20	4062
  Google Nexus 6P	6:39:20	3754
  Sony Xperia Z5	5:41:30	3414
  LG G4	5:27:50	3224
  Huawei P8 Lite	4:39:40	2768
  Apple iPhone 6s	3:52:10	2321
  Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3	5:42:00	2276

  While the Galaxy S7’s battery is a formidable creature and the fast charging capability is excellent, that doesn’t alter the fact that you can’t actually change the battery out. A couple of years down the track the chemistry of any battery means that it holds less charge and that will be true for the Galaxy S7 as well.

Verdict

• Improves on the Galaxy S6 in almost every regard.
• Reinforces Samsung's position at the top of the Android market.

• Read our full Samsung Galaxy S7 verdict

  The Samsung Galaxy S7 is best suited for those who fancy a premium Android phone and it's an easy recommendation for those upgrading from older Samsung phones, including the Galaxy S6, simply because of the inclusion of waterproofing and microSD storage expansion.

  Samsung prices the Samsung Galaxy S7 at a premium level and that means that it has plenty of competition at its price point. In the Android space, you could consider the Google Nexus 6P, Sony Xperia Z5 Premium or the LG G5. If you were happy to switch operating system camps there’s always the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.

Pricing and availability

• Price: ~$300
• Where to buy: eBay

Specifications

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