Samsung Galaxy S7: Exynos Variant

Samsung's S6 was a good smartphone, but with some blunders that made the device a pure deal breaker for many. One of them being the missing memory card slot. Now Samsung's got the successor to the S6- the S7 in India. Let's have a look how well it fairs, and whether it is yet another debacle.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch QHD OLED panel. It is this small screen size which makes it a really handy device. More on that later. The overall layout is very Samsung like- with the power button to the right and the volume rockers to the left.

We also have the SIM card tray on the top, which now is a hybrid SIM tray, and allows you to either use the smartphone in a dual-SIM mode or you can sacrifice a SIM slot for a memory card. This is one of the most noteworthy inclusions that the S6 lacked, making it near to perfect. Also at the top is a secondary microphone.

At the bottom is the primary mic, speaker grille, micro USB charging port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. At the back is the 12MP camera module with LED flash and a heart rate sensor. The device comes with a glass back, which does feel and look premium, at the same time is a smudge magnet.

The S7 is water resistant and dust resistant with IP68 rating, making this flagship even better.

Display

The display is one of the strong points of the S7, as mentioned earlier, it's a 5.1-inch QHD OLED panel, with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 and a pixel density of 577 ppi, slightly higher than the S7 Edge, thanks to a smaller display.

This is by far one of the best displays on a smartphone today. The overall panel has a wide color gamut with stunning clarity, deep blacks- Thanks to the Super AMOLED panel, and wide viewing angles. The 2.5D curve at the edges adds convenience while switching pages, while looking beautiful.

Performance

This device is a true perfomer. Unlike the global variant which comes with the Snapdragon 820, this comes with Samsung's own Exynos 8890 octa-core processor, paired with 4GB of RAM and Mali T880 GPU.

PC Mark Work Performance: 5260

Basemark OS II: 2580

Antutu Benchmark: 128176

The device, even with an Exynos chipset, is an amazing performer. The device didn't stutter or lag in normal usage and Even while gaming with titles like Asphalt 8, Dead Trigger it didn't break a sweat.

We experienced slight heating of the device, but it cooled down quickly, and not causing any annoyance whatsoever.

Camera

The Galaxy S7 comes with a 12MP primary shooter and a 5MP selfie shooter, both with f/1.7 aperture. This device has the best camera on any smartphone till now. It comes loaded with a very fast AF technology, which makes instant clicks a breeze.

Moreover the device has no shutter lag, making the overall experience even better. Samsung's camera app is simple to use, however it does bump up the sharpness and saturation on the images by default, resulting in vibrant-over sharpened images.

Daylight shots on the S7 were perfect with accurate exposure and quick focussing by the sensor, however, the 12MP sensor can do some insane low light shots, and the results have very minimal noise. Although the low mega-pixel count does hurt, 12MP shots are more than enough for sharing on social media. The rear camera can also do 4K video recording.

The 5MP front facing selfie camera really comes in handy for some amazing selfies and groupies, due to its wide angle nature. The front camera can shoot QHD videos too.

The overall camera app too is easy to use with various modes to play with, including the manual mode. All in all a fun camera that compliments the S7.

Practical usage

The 5.1-inch form-factor of the smartphone is a boon for multi-taskers who like a handy smartphone and don't want to use bulky phablets, which require use of two hands rather than one. The device has minimal bezels and curved back, making single handed usage pure bliss. Sure the glass at the back makes up for a very smudgy smartphone, using a skin or a case would surely fix that.

Battery

The Samsung Galazy S7 is powered by a 3000mAh battery. On PCMark work battery test, it scored a decent 7 hour 4 minutes. Moreover with quick charging you can get a quick fill-up in less than two hours. On a not-so-heavy usage it lasted a full day with 30 percent of battery left out. Overall an average battery life, which won't disappoint.

Verdict

This is by far one of the best smartphones one can buy today. Sure the battery life isn't the best, but it excels in all other segments, be it the display, handling, premium build quality, practicality, and also comes with a hybrid SIM card slot where second slot can be used for a microSD card. All in all it truly justifies the pricetag of Rs 48,900 and definitely worth buying.

Source: Samsung Galaxy S7: Exynos Variant