Samsgung Galaxy S7

Technical specifications:

The smartphone is powered by a homegrown Exynos 8 Octa 8890 processor. This is a quartet of ARM Cortex-A53 processors clocked at 1.6 GHz and a second Exynos M1 quartet clocked at 2.3 GHz. Added to this, 4 GB of RAM and a Mali-T880 MP 12 iGPU with 12 processing units.

The storage capacity is 32 GB expandable using the microSD card slot. And yes, this is the great return of this port so coveted by users!

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and 4G LTE (cat 12/13 at 600/150 Mb/s). Another returning feature is the IP 68 validation making the smartphone water (and dust) resistant up to 1.30 meters deep for 30 minutes.

Design and ergonomics:

The Galaxy S7 loses very slightly in height and width and emphasizes curved edges giving the appearance of thinner contours than the previous model. In addition, the screen occupies slightly more space on the front surface (72.7% against 71% last year).

The grip is good, the smartphone does not slip and access to the entire screen with one hand is possible.

The rear panel has a new design with curved glass that provides a better grip and better fits the palm of the user's hand. The glass is also worked because less slippery and the metal contours are pleasant to the touch and gives a resistant aspect in case of falls.

The positioning of the volume, home and unlock buttons remains unchanged. The home button also has a fingerprint reader slightly more responsive.

The return of waterproofing is welcome, the S7 is validated IP68 making the smartphone resistant to water (and dust) up to 1.30 meters deep for 30 minutes. It will accompany you in the rain or in the pool without any problem. No hardware protection is provided for the various microSD, mini-jack or USB ports, each component is directly water resistant.

The curved edges of the smartphone allow access to shortcuts, applications and contacts through predefined gestures.

The cooling is properly controlled and the temperature of the smartphone does not exceed 33 ° C on the surface when running demanding video games. A great technological achievement that we appreciate.

Accessories dedicated to the device such as cases are available and allow to take full advantage of the Always On Display feature. This feature keeps certain notifications lit on the screen such as messages, calls, emails and the time.

Screen:

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is not compatible with 4K, we settle for Full HD here.

However, the foundations are solid, we continue on a Super Amoled slab of 5.1 inches in WQHD definition (2560 x 1440 px) with a resolution of 576 dpi. Except for virtual reality, this definition is largely up to the different types of use (videos, reading, video games ... etc.).

The OLED screen offers an almost infinite contrast ratio with deep blacks and an incalculable color palette. The maximum brightness climbs to 6,400 cd/m² making visibility perfect in bright sunlight. Glare is kept under control with a light reflection rate of only 7%, the best in this smartphone range.

The touch delay goes from 35 ms (Galaxy S6) to 63 ms. Do not worry, it remains quite fluid and remains in the average of the field.

Multimedia:

Watching images and videos is a real pleasure on this screen. The videos in Full HD are perfectly decoded and fluid. We only regret that the Samsung player does not read the AVI format. Third-party applications such as VLC can be a good alternative in this case.

On the audio side, the mini-jack socket is available, you can also connect a headset or Bluetooth headphones. The sound is well reproduced even in speaker. This is positioned on the bottom edge and offers stereo sound with the help of the speakers at the bottom of the smartphone.

The Mali-T880 MP12 graphics chip is well used and offers good rendering in video games. The most demanding contents are perfectly fluid and with a level of detail quite impressive.

The Galaxy S7 changes display mode when launching a game, we notice an excess of color saturation and contrast. This does not prevent an excellent display.

Photo:

Samsung has chosen to increase its main sensor to 12.2 MP against 16 previously. It should be noted that the number of megapixels is not representative of quality. People tend to believe that the more megapixels there are, the better the quality of the photo. Think again, there is also software optimization, the focal length to capture more light and other points to consider.

The lens has a mechanically stabilized f/1.7 aperture and a Dual Pixel AF system. The latter allows a better responsiveness, the focus is instantaneous. The image is therefore quickly clear, photos can be taken almost instantly.

In a lit environment, the renderings are very beautiful and detailed. In low light, the S7 is quite satisfactory.

The front sensor is 5 MP with a rather good quality overall. The smoothing is still a bit too pronounced but the front sensor will seek enough light to avoid noise.

Battery life:

The Galaxy S6 was not very enduring, the S7 is announced as better. Indeed, the battery climbs to 3 000 mAh, against 2 550 mAh for the S6.

With a "classic" use, internet, SMS, calls, video games and streaming, the smartphone lasted 13 hours, a good day and a half of endurance. By limiting ourselves a little, we can largely hold the 2 days. The smartphone is making good progress here, something we appreciate.

A full charge takes only about 1h10min using the fast charge.