SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7
Available to pre-order on a Vodafone Red 12GB Bundle for £57 per month (£20 upfront cost)
There once was a time when the Galaxy Note series’ main novelty was its size. Now, in an age where most mainstream smartphone screens measure in at over 5in, you’d be forgiven for questioning whether there’s an actual need for Samsung’s latest flagship “phablet”.
Such scepticism becomes even more acute upon the realisation that the Note 7 shares almost design-identical stylings with its curved screen and similar innards to Samsung’s recent Galaxy 7 Edge.
Thankfully, the Note has a few unique features and refinements over its little brother that while not exactly gamechanging do at least separate it out from the current pack of big phones.
Boasting a 5.7 display (The 7 Edge screen comes in at 5.5in), the new Note’s defining feature now comes in the form of its S-Pen stylus, which has had an update of its own.
Tidily sliding into the bottom of the handset, no matter which way you put it in this time, the S Pen now has a much smaller and accurate nib, facilitated by a more sensitive screen that’s noticeably more precise when jotting notes or doodling. Handily, you can now also take down notes on the lock screen.
Much has been made of the phone’s reinforced glass back, and it undeniably exudes class and sturdiness.
Apple regularly gets all the props for industrial design, but Samsung deserves particular credit for what it’s pulled off here – despite the Note’s large display, the edge-to-edge design means its footprint is smaller than most 5.5 screen devices and it’s also surprisingly light.
The AMOLED screen itself is similarly impressive with its 2560 x 1440 resolution, meaning it’s up to the job of 4K video playback. Better still, its high brightness levels allow it to be the first handset to support HDR video.
While it’s not the first to sport the feature (Microsoft’s Lumia 950 got there first), the Note 7 also boasts an iris scanner for unlocking the device. Aside from the odd issue in direct sunlight, it works impressively well. As cool as it is, however, the handset’s built-in fingerprint scanner is noticeably quicker to react and generally more convenient to use.
The Note 7 has the same dependable 12mp rear camera that impressed so much on the S7 with its fantastic lowlight performance, giving it perhaps a slight edge over what the iPhone 6S is capable of.
There’s an overriding feeling of refinement with the Note 7, offering enough genuine improvements over the preceding S7 beyond the stylus and larger screen to make its higher asking price palatable, and bragging rights as the current premium phone, hard to beat.