Samsung Galaxy's new phones have fizz: Review
NEW YORK — Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy are the Coke and Pepsi of smartphones. The ongoing debate is “Who’s got the fizz?”
The latest to sparkle are the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices that I’ve been testing for the past week or so. The phones hit U.S. stores Friday at starting retail prices among North American carriers of around $650 and $750 for the S7 and S7 edge, respectively. Of course, various monthly installment pricing deals requiring no money down are available.
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The new phones are handsome and bear a strong resemblance to last year’s praiseworthy S6 and S6 Edge devices. Improvements this time around center around features Samsung brought back (after removing them on the S6s), notably water resistance and expandable storage. And Samsung managed to restore the features while maintaining the thin-metal and premium-glass aesthetic of the S6s. Rival iPhones aren't water-resistant and don't have expandable memory.
Apple has catch-up to do vs. Samsung
*The basics: I like the way both Galaxys feel. The back is smooth, almost slippery, but comfortable to hold. The bezels are narrow. The rear camera barely sticks out.
One significant drawback, though: The rear surface is prone to smudges and reveal fingerprints.
Speaking of fingerprints, the fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone worked well. You can also use the fingerprint sensor to verify purchases through Samsung Pay.
*The displays: The 5.36-ounce S7 has a brilliant Quad HD 5.1-inch display, the same size screen as the S6. The Edge weighs a bit more and has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display. That’s the same screen size as the iPhone 6S Plus, despite the fact that Samsung’s phone is considerably smaller than Apple’s phablet.
Edge is so named because of the customizable secondary edge screen that with a swipe of your finger cascades along the curved right side of the phone. Samsung devotes more space to the edge display on the new model, and I found it more useful for accessing frequently used apps or glancing at headlines and stock quotes.
You can also set the Edge screen to light up when you get a call or receive notifications if the phone is turned over. Once or twice, however, I inadvertently summoned the display.
There’s also an “always on” display feature that shows you the clock, your calendar and notifications for missed calls over a dark background. Samsung claims no discernible hit on the battery. LG promises a similar feature on its upcoming G5 phone.
*Battery life: Both Samsung phones come with 32 GB of internal storage, the only option in the U.S. But you can expand that capacity by adding an optional microSD card, which is concealed inside the device on the same tray that holds the phone’s SIM card.
What’s missing in the new Galaxys though — and this applies, frankly, to all the major smartphone players, not just Samsung — is any kind of giant leap in smartphone innovation.
Smartphone innovation hits a wall
Indeed, the feature leaps here are evolutionary not revolutionary. Here are the major ones:
*Water resistance. This means you can carry it in a torrential downpour or inadvertently drop it in a puddle or toilet, which for testing purposes I did. Fortunately the auto flush didn’t gobble it up and the phone survived. Better still, there's no longer an awkward protective flap covering the USB port as was the case on the water-resistant Galaxy S5.
For the record, Samsung says the phones can withstand up to 5 feet of water for up to a half-hour. The phones are said to be resistant to dust, too.
*Camera. The S7 and S7 Edge boast first-rate camera systems that let you automatically focus on a subject really fast, certainly quicker than the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. Samsung has also bolstered the ability to shoot in low light, resulting partly from a dual pixel sensor that the company says has been borrowed from DSLR cameras. A new front-flash feature in which the screen momentarily lights up when you’re taking a selfie copies a similar feature on the latest iPhones.
I was generally very pleased with the quality of the pictures (and videos) that I shot in auto mode. Serious photographers can manually change the shutter speed, ISO and a number of other camera settings.
*Battery. As with the S6 and S6 Edge, the batteries inside the latest devices cannot be removed by the user, a bummer for some. But the latest phones boast a much larger battery than on earlier models, promising to last longer.
The phone charges quickly, too. In my tests, I powered up from zero to a 47% charge on the S7 in 30 minutes and reached 88% in an hour. On the S7 Edge I got to 41% in a half-hour and 77% in an hour. You can take advantage of fast wireless charging, too, Samsung says, but you’ll have to supply an optional charger, and the fast charging won’t be quite as zippy.
*Worth noting. The phones have regular USB connectors, rather than the versatile USB-C standard that is slowly emerging but still on only a few handsets.
Samsung has been making a big push into virtual reality. A 360-degree camera is on the way. And the new phones are compatible with Samsung's Gear VR virtual-reality headgear. In fact, through a temporary promotion, S7 and S7 Edge buyers can get Gear VR for free.
The phones run the Marshmallow version of Android. Good as the hardware is, you have to weigh whether you prefer Android or would rather go with the iOS software in the iPhones.
Along those lines, rumor has it Apple will be unveiling a smaller-display iPhone in a few weeks, but more than likely the next major iPhone upgrade won’t come until September. Until then, the new Galaxys are the phones with extra fizz.
I dropped a $672 Samsung Galaxy in the toilet
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter
The bottom line
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
$650 on up for S7, $750 on up for S7 Edge
www.samsung.com
Pro. Handsome phones boast big batteries, brilliant displays, expandable storage, excellent cameras, water-resistant, always-on display.
Con. Lacks USB-C. Battery is not removable. Body attracts smudges and fingerprints.