Hey guys, I’m Roland the Techusiast and today we’re going to find out if the Samsung
Galaxy S7 Edge is worth buying in 2018?
So, I’ve upgraded my sister to the Galaxy S9 – and got this nearly brand new S7 Edge
off her.
I’ve used the S7 Edge as my secondary device in the past 3 weeks, so I am fairly certain
that my experience with it is solid and will reflect a real life use scenario.
This video is clearly to highlight how this device has aged in its 2 years of life cycle,
and to give you a good idea if it’s still worth getting this in 2018 – now that the
Galaxy S9 has been out for over 2 months.
If you like my reviews and the content I provide, please help me out by subscribing to my channel
– and all that said, let’s jump to the review – Hope you enjoy!
So, as you all know by now, the design is beautiful, but you can clearly tell, the design
has aged very noticeably.
With the top and bottom chins you can tell that this phone is a couple years old – but
needless to say, it’s still a great looking phone to say the least.
Both the display and the rear panel has a curved glass design, making the overall look
stylish and comfortable – and very similar looking to Galaxy S8 and S9 series.
There isn’t much to brag about, It has an IP67 certificate against water and dust, the
curved display feels comfortable in the hand – even if it’s not my favourite to use
on a daily basis, it’s very nice and comfortable to hold.
The palm rejection works surprisingly well too – which was one of my main worries.
The hardware packs a lot power, even by today’s standards.
I do not want to get too much into the specifications as you should very well know this by now,
but for those who forget, here are some details:
It has a 5.5” QHD curved display It uses Samsung’s own Exynos 8890 chipset
with 4GB of RAM 32GB of internal storage with an expandable
MicroSD slot The OS is upgradable to Android 8.0 Oreo – although
I am yet to receive it here in the UK.
It has NFC, Bluetooth 4.2 a 3.5mm headphone jack and of course the good old MicroUSB port
During my usage, I did experience a few hiccups here and there, but overall it was smooth
and very usable.
I was able to play a few graphics intensive games and then jump out, navigate and use
my favourite applications such as twitter or YouTube.
Multitasking or using multiple applications at once has worked surprisingly well, making
this a perfect device for those who require to use 3 or more applications simultaneously.
Surprisingly, I had a couple issues with the fingerprint placement.
I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t used to its placement or attempt to press
it too lightly or incorrectly, but sometimes unlocking the device would take multiple attempts
or would just be slow – compared to todays flagships.
It’s worth mentioning that when done correctly, unlocking the device is fast and smooth.
The display is vivid and the colour saturation is extreme – at least to my likings.
Luckily there’s an option in the settings to change the colour and saturation to your
likings, but I found that even the “Basic” option hurts my eyes and causes eye strain.
Viewing angles and the overall experience is amazing, so other than the colours – which
is a personal preference – I personally can’t complain much – most of you will
likely love it due to its saturated colours and sharp display.
Watching movies and playing games is a joy on the Galaxy S7, but for everyday use, I
personally wouldn’t recommend it due to its curved bezels.
I feel like the curved glass was much improved on the Galaxy S8 and now on the S9 – and
the S7 was still an experiment for Samsung at the time.
Using the curved edges on the side still doesn’t provide any benefits other than better aesthetics
and a very few features that only a few will take advantage of.
One thing that surprised me about the performance is the fact that sometimes scrolling would
become sluggish and it wouldn’t be as fluid and smooth as on other devices.
[SHOW DEVICE IN-USE, IN-HAND & ON TABLE] But, I was shocked by the fact a 2 years old
Samsung Galaxy flagship would run so smoothly without any major issues.
The last time I’ve used a Galaxy flagship, it was an S4, and oh boy, you really don’t
want me to start telling you my stories – it would be a long and a very interesting video.
I’m happy to see that Samsung has kept its promises and implemented new techniques to
change the way they way operate and maintain their services and older devices.
This S7 even has the April security patch and its due to receive Android 8.0 Oreo – sure,
it will not receive any more updates, but even after the Oreo update, it should stay
a pretty strong and solid device for those who do not want the latest stuff – but something
that gets the job done and allows you to complete all of your tasks.
The battery is large at 3600 mAh – which in theory should provide an outstanding performance
– and it does.
I’ve noticed that with my general usage, it could survive a full day – though power
users might find themselves looking for a charger to go through a full day.
Using apps like Twitter, Youtube and few games here and there and surfing the internet – I
was comfortably using the phone for a full day without any issues.
The software part is where this gets interesting.
I personally like Samsung’s own custom User Interface, but if I have to pick – I’ll
always go for stock Android for its simple and clean UI.
Using the Samsung theme engine, you can luckily customise the S7 to your likings and make
it look like a stock Android device – or sort of like it.
I’ve downloaded a Pixel theme and installed Nova Launcher and never looked back.
With its simplistic and clean looks, this is the winner for me – but thanks to Android,
you can pretty much customise your device the way you like it – even without root
nowadays – giving you more choice and opportunity to have your own design that suits you the
most.
The built-in bloatware was disabled and hidden on day one I got the device.
I’m sad to see Samsung still loading their devices with a lot of bloat and not allowing
us, the users to completely uninstall them – unfortunately you can’t do much about
it.
If you start to run out of space, at least you can easily pop-in an SD card and enjoy
your new high storage at low prices nowadays.
The S7 edge comes with 12MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture and OIS, as well as a 5MP Selfie
shooter.
Comparing the camera to the S9, the S9 is clearly the newer and better device – but
in my opinion the S7 edge is still a very capable one.
The S7 Edge has less vivid colours, it’s less smooth and has more soft edges – but
overall its still great.
While it might not be as sharp as the new S9, it’s worth mentioning that it’s more
than enough to capture moments and take your selfies and other moments on the go and upload
them straight to Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
The OIS optimisation is understandably much better on the S9, but the S7 is still pretty
good – considering its age.
Where the camera doesn’t shine too well is in low-light situations.
The S7 will struggle to focus at times and will produce a lot of noise and soft edges
on images, but it’s not too bad.
It’ll definitely allow you to capture moments, especially if you are willing to use the Pro
mode and perhaps a tripod.
I’ll let you judge the still and the video footage as you will, but in my opinion – the
S7 Edge proves itself a worthy device at its price point and functionalities.
So, who is this for?
Well, It’s not that hard to tell.
It’s for those who want to save money and don’t expect or want to see the latest gimmick
and maybe a few useful features on their devices.
It’s for those who want to save money but still get the job done on a solid device that
still runs fine – even if the battery and the performance may not be up to the latest
standards – but still accomplishes everything beautifully.
The S7 Edge performs great under load, but you should expect a few slowdowns here and
there.
Multitasking is still good and its better than even on some mid-range devices thanks
to the powerful Exynos 8890 chipset.
The camera and the battery are both great and it can definitely capture your moments
and run you for a full day without the need of a charger.
For average and moderate users, this will be a great choice – though gamers and power
users might need a little juice for a full day of use.
If you have a bit more money, I’d recommend to go for the Galaxy S8 or other 2017 flagship
devices, but if you only need something that allows you to keep you up to date without
spending much, stay with the S7 Edge.
If you want the latest software, the S7 is definitely not for you as it will not receive
any more major updates from Samsung, maybe not even security patches.
So, here’s what I think.
If you currently own the S7 edge, you could look into upgrading to the S8 or other 2017
flagship devices and only spend a little by selling your S7.
On the other hand, if you’re happy with your S7 or If you own an older flagship or
mid range device and looking to upgrade – you should either keep your or S7 or go for it
– you won’t be disappointed and it will be a great and cost effective choice for you
as it will still get the job done.
All that said, I would like to thank you for watching this video – if you’ve enjoyed
it and found it helpful, please leave a like on this video and don’t forget to subscribe
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Let me know your thoughts about the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in the comments down below
and all that said – thank you for watching, I’ll see you next time.