The Samsung Galaxy S7 that was launched in India is powered by Samsung Exynos Octa Core processor loaded with 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. S7 is a dual SIM handset sporting a 5.1 inch Super AMOLED screen and running Marshmallow out of the box, is this premium handset worth it?
Galaxy S7 Unboxing
Box pack contents : handset, user guide, warranty card, SAR Info, other guides, SIM tray ejector pin, data cable, USB adapter, travel charger (fast charger 9V / 1.67A) and premium quality earphone. SAR : 0.322 W/Kg head.
Design
The S7 looks beautiful, it is a perfect blend of metal and glass. Galaxy S7 is using a metal frame surrounded by glass on the front as well as on the back. The glass is also well protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. Weight with non-removable battery is 151 grams and dimensions are 69.52 x 142.25 x 7.88 (mm).
Galaxy S7 is IP68 certified – dust and water resistant. Will survive immersed in water for up to 30 minutes up to 1.5 meters depth.
Build quality and the finishing is so good that when you move your finger from glass to metal you hardly feel the difference, it is so smooth. Though the handset sports a 5.1 inch screen it feels smaller in size, fits comfortably in your hand and that makes it easier to operate.
Power button is on the right, volume rocker on the left, SIM tray+ Secondary mic on the top and audio jack, micro USB port, mic and speaker out vent is at the bottom. S7 front screen is flat and the rear side is curved.
This is a dual SIM handset – SIM 1 is a nano SIM slot and SIM 2 is a hybrid slot. You can either use nano SIM or a micro SD card (200GB max) in SIM 2.
There is LED notification and following sensors – accelerometer, light, proximity, gyro, barometer, magnetic and hall.
Display
As mentioned the Samsung Galaxy S7 sports a 5.1 inch super AMOLED screen with corning gorilla glass 4 protection and supporting 2560 x 1440 pixels (Quad HD) resolution. The screen is using always on technology that hardly consumes any battery juice. Colour reproduction, viewing angles and touch response are excellent.
Memory, Storage and OS
There is 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage space, you will get around 1.9GB free RAM and 20 GB free internal storage on the first boot. Apps are getting installed on internal storage by default; there is no option to move them to external storage. OTG is supported.
This handset is running Touch WizUI over Marshmallow Android 6.0.1.
Performance
S7 Indian version is powered by Exynos 8890 64 bit octa core chipset clocked at 2.6GHz and coupled with Mali T880 GPU. This smartphone is using liquid cooling technology that helps reduce heat buildup. This smartphone hardly heats with heavy usage, max temperature I encountered was 38 degrees.
S7 Benchmark
- Quadrant – 50704.
- Antutu (64 bit) – 88506 | 3D score – 19487
- Antutu (64 bit) version 6.1.2 – 127192 | 3D score – 37654
- Nenamark 2 – 58.6fps
- Internal storage Speed – Read (332MB/s), Write (139MB/s)
- Multi Touch – 10 Point.
Gaming
I played Asphalt 8 (the latest version that got installed on internal storage). I played this game is high visual quality mode. The S7 also comes with some advance features that includes gaming. When enabled you will get an icon on the left side during game play. If you tap that icon you get option like no alerts during gaming (this will block all notifications etc so you don’t get disturbed when playing games), screen shot, lock back and recent keys and record option.
The best part is that when you tap this icon and you get the menu – the game that you might be playing will not pause, you can select option while playing the game. This feature does not have any impact on the gaming performance, when using it you will not notice any lags.
Galaxy S7 Camera
S7 houses a dual Pixel 12MP Samsung make camera packed on the rear and 5MP camera on the front. Rear camera comes with LED flash support and can shoot max 4K videos. Some new modes have been added (food/ hyperlapse). Both front and rear cameras come with f/1.7 aperture.
This dual pixel technology (professional graded dual pixel sensor) captures excellent shots in low light conditions. Focusing is really fast and accurate.
Camera quality is excellent, do check the sample images and videos and don’t forget to check the video shot using the Gimbal.
S7 rear camera sample
Front camera sample
4K video sample
Video shot using S7 Edge with Zhiyun Smooth-C Gimbal
Others
There is build in heart rate sensors on the back and finger print sensor on the front (home button). You can unlock the phone directly using finger print sensor, but you will need to press the button once and keep your finger on the button for about a second.
Loudspeaker sound is loud and clear, in call sound is also great. No issues found with networks. 4G, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and NFC worked well without any issues.
S7 Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S7 houses a 3000 mAh non-removable battery with fast charging capabilities (with fast charger or wireless charger). Battery performance is very good you can expect 4 to 7 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage on a single charge.
I got one and a half day of battery backup with normal to moderate mixed usage – with always on screen enabled.
Battery Performance (time / battery % drop / battery temperature)
- Running Benchmark app – 10 minutes / 4% / 38 degrees
- Played Asphalt 8 – 20 minutes / 6% / 36 degrees
- 4K video playback with full brightness (WiFi /4G on) – 21 minutes / 5% / 35 degrees
Handset charging (wall charge using fast charger) – 1 hour 12 minutes from 16% to 100%.
Verdict
Galaxy S7 is the best handset in the premium category. If you have the budget, go ahead. The handset is available in 3 different colour options and priced decently at ₹48,900. A very good premium buy for this price tag, but if you can spend some extra better opt for the S7 Edge.
Rating : [4.5 out of 5] – cannot use decimals in rating box below.
Samsung Galaxy S7 is available for ₹48,900.
Recently purchased S7 from Flipkart during BBD in 24k after exchange of old phone and bank discount.
I found camera to be fast. Images are sharp and detailed. But colours are very poor and faded in any lighting conditions. Even raw files lack of colour contrast. Images are not upto mark and seems all hype are fake or biased. Now I am analyzing images taken by Gogi ji and they also seem to be lacking good colour contrast. Look at kalash photo taken. It has faded red colour. I have used many other phones in past like Cool1 dual, redmi 2 prime, Zuk z2 plus etc. But they all seem to take better coloured(but not as detailed as s7) attractive looking images than S7. The reason might be use of ISOCELL camera sensor which is used in Indian variant of S7. I personally find Coolpad Cool1 dual @9k more value for money then S7@30k. Cool1 pics are just awesome as shared by gogi ji in his reviews.
Am I the only one to feel so?
Gogi ji whats your opinion?
Yea Bro, U r probably the first person who are comparing Samsung S7 camera with Coolpad Cool 1… I have also bought S7 during BBD and I found this camera Awesome, both front and back. Video quality is also too good…. Also it is water resistant and dust proof.. I have literally washed my S7 with water many times and that’s too under the tap water for 2-3 minutes and it’s running like a charm. Music quality is also good both thru speaker and headphone….
There is one more problem with camera is that, when you transfer images taken by S7 to PC or other mobile, it will look tilted. We need to manually rotate image to view it correctly. Not sure why Samsung did it? Try it with your phone. I am sure you will also face same problem.
Please advise. I’m confused between one plus 3 and Samsung S7.
If you can afford go with Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge otherwise go with OnePlus 3T.
s7 gpu scores 37000 on antutu as they post on facebook right after adreno 510 and you posted only 18000
Sorry I mean adreno 530 on apple a9 chip not 510.
Hi Gogi why are you getting low scores on antutu in s7 (89k) mine got 131k ?
Maybe due to variant difference u have sd820 or exynos
Nope its exynos indian version and I have checked even other reviewers are also getting the same scores like mine don’t know whats wrong with gogi’s model may be a battry saver mode was on ?
Power saving is disabled. Which antutu version you are using. I used 6.0.1.
Yes it is 2k screen aka quad HD.
The one you are referring is 4K (Xepria z5 premium)
Very confusing naming system it is…
Hey gogi please confirm if the s7/s7 edge can play 10 bit videos by default, i.e on h/w acceleratation?
I tried does not work in H/W but works in S/W mode using MX player.
-4K 10 bit videos was way too laggy no good.
– 1080p 10 bit was smooth.
Thanks Buddy 🙂
You’re doing a great job! Reviews have gotten much better if we look down the memory lane!
Wowww .super phone .
1st of all u know it HD means 720p. 2nd thing is ‘qHD’ means quater high definition, that is 960X540 and ‘QHD’ means Quad High Definition, that’s also known as 2K.
Why they are pricing like SD820 but performing like SD652 :/ itn’t this is a cheating , i don’t think even this gpu is as good as Adreno 510 🙁
Hey gogi can you please confirm if either s7 or s7 edge can play 10bit videos by default, or on h/w acceleration?
Camera seems to be very good
RAM management not so Good.
I did not faced any issues as such regarding low RAM.
No bro, they have improved ram management significantly compared to s6
What about F.M.radio?
There is no FM option.
1440p display should be called 2k diaplay instead “quad hd” quad hd mean 720*4=2880p when we consider hd as 720p isn’t it?
720p is 720 X 1280 pixels. If we multiply both with 2, we get 1440 X 2560; means we are multiplying HD resolution with 4. So it is called quad HD.
That’s right…
Thank you so much,Then what is 2k display?
It not just lenth it’s like Area :/ it’s like 2560×1440 / 720×1280 = 4
Gogi,
Which one will be good among Snapdragon/Exynos versions?
I have not checked the Snapdragon version, but I think the reason why they are not bringing the Snapdragon is to control the price. Exynos is Samsung home made.
Control the price ? Nope if mi can bring SD820 under 20k then why sammy can’t under 50k ? Actually they are fooling indians by selling their homemade garbage to earn more more profit .
obviously snapdragon 820 as benchmark says exynos are far behind moreover they save money by using home grown processer and india is dumpyard for them they use exynos yet dosn’t matter both are goodenough to do anything!!
Eventhough benchmarks say snapdragon 820 is better., app loading times, ram management, reloading time is considerably better in exynos. Says-gsmarena
That was the reason why I asked this question. It could be false info to boost their sales. In the video, they have not shown us the initial Ram.
What is the maximum charging speed You got while charging this phone? Also, how is cooling technology? Does it affect gaming performance?
Check battery section. And Liquor cooling has nothing to do with performance just keeps the heat up under control.
Iut off 32 gb available only 20 gb and 12 gb for os, unbelievable..