Setting a new benchmark

> The sleek Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is everything smartphone users ask for and more

THE SAMSUNG Galaxy S7 edge addresses almost every gripe that we had with its predecessor, and improved what we thought was great, like the curved screen design that made the S6 edge so popular and desirable.

While it looks almost identical to the S6 edge, the S7 edge is slightly taller, to accommodate the bigger 5.5in quad HD display.

The back is slightly curved on both sides, so it’s “softer” to hold but because of the added dimension, it is still a hassle to handle. But that’s just us getting a little tired of phones getting too big.

Otherwise, this is admittedly the sleekest and most solid Samsung smartphone we’ve held so far.

The S7 edge now has an external microSD card slot, which is a hybrid slot that accommodates a second SIM. So it either takes a microSD card (up to 200GB) or a second SIM at any one time.

Besides that, the new flagship also comes with an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.

In terms of photography, the S7 edge’s camera setup is a testament that megapixels don’t dictate a camera’s ability.

Even though it has only a 12MP count in its sensor, as opposed to the S6 edge’s 16MP, pictures taken on the S7 edge are just as stunning if not better.

The S7 edge’s camera employs a Dual Pixel setup, which is common in DSLRs that deliver brighter and sharper images.

Together with a wider aperture (f/1.7), shutter speed and autofocus that are swift and accurate even in low-light conditions, the photos turn out brighter, more vibrant and natural.

You can also easily and quickly access the camera app by double clicking the Home button.

Speaking of the Home button, the only gripe we had with it was how its built-in fingerprint sensor couldn’t always read fingerprints, because the phone is a grime magnet.

One other noteworthy new feature introduced on the S7 edge is the Always-on display, which Samsung claims will help you save battery by showing you the time, date, calendar (if you wish), and notifications so you don’t need to turn on the whole screen.

To be honest, it doesn’t do what it’s intended because it does not support third-party apps that we use more, like Gmail, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger.

In the end, we still had to fire up the screen when the phone buzzed.

For avid mobile gamers, the S7 edge’s Game Launcher would be a great companion. You can disable it at any time but if you don’t, you can turn off all alerts during gaming, lock the Recent and Back keys, take screenshots and even record your gameplay.

Besides that, there are more added functions for the edge screen this time around.

There’s Apps edge where you can add up to 10 apps for quicker access, Tasks edge where you can access specific tasks in an app, People edge for a list of favourite contacts, and many more that you can customise to add more edge panels.

The S7 edge also comes with 3,600mAh battery that is capable of fast charging, both wired and wirelessly.

It still isn’t ground-breaking but considering its horsepower (Exynos 8890 Octa-core 64bit 14nm processor and 4GB RAM), the battery does well to keep up with moderate to intense use.

Although Samsung claims to have an internal cooling system, the device tends to get heated up, especially while we were gaming or on Waze.

Having said that, the S7 edge truly excels in many ways, and may have just raised the bar again for other Android phone manufacturers.

Other specs include 32GB ROM, LTE Cat.9 ready, NFCenabled, five-megapixel frontfacing camera, Dual-SIM, USB 2.0, Bluetooth v4.2, and Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is currently available at a recommended retail price of RM3,099 and it comes in black onyx, silver titanium, and gold platinum.

For more, visit the Samsung website.