Samsung S7 Edge Review Malaysia - The Good and The Bad!

2:09:00 PM

Finally, after 3 years I've finally decided to change my phone. When I first bought the Samsung Galaxy S4 3 years back, I told myself that if I'm ever gonna change, I will have to wait 3 generations - which is either the Samsung S7 or iPhone 7/7s. So yeah, I managed to pull through the final year of lag and battery depletion and got myself a S7 Edge. 



Fortunately, I was able to get the 2nd batch of Pre-order from Samsung Malaysia which entitles me to 15% off along with a free 64gb micro-sd card. The first batch was horrible as I wasted 3.5 hours of my life, from 12am just trying to get into the damned website. The amount of rage when they announced all 1000 units have been sold, I almost went for iPhone before they announced the 2nd batch of pre-order. All and all, I paid roughly RM2650++ (RRP3099), which I believe is pretty good deal.


As there are already plenty of other reviews out there, I will try to keep this short and focus more towards the pros and cons of the phone. So without further ado, lets start with some quick basics. 


The phone come encased in a nice navy metallic box, where the phone shines upon opening.


This is prertty much what you'll get inside the box (excluding the memory card). The box, phone, adapter, USB cable and charger with Quick Charge capabilities, manual with sim card pusher, earphones and earbuds. Pretty standard. 


Aesthetically, I love the phone. I went for the Platinum Silver which I believed was the best out there. Simply because the Gold felt temporary and the black was a little boring. Hence my ideal colour for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge would be the Platinum Silver.

So the general rundown of the specs are:

  • Exynos 8890 Octa (which is much faster than the Snapdragon 820 variant in the US)
  • 5.5" QHD Display (1440x2560 pixels with a 534ppi)
  • Dual Pixel 12MP (F1.7) back, 5MP front
  • IP68 Water and Dust resistance
  • Micro SD Card support up to 200gb
  • 3600mah Battery
  • Android 6.0 Marshmallow fresh from the box
  • 32gb internal storage
It is indeed a top of the line phone with the highest possible specs - as expected from Samsung's Flagship device. 



The peeling of the front and back plastic, which felt great! I think many of you might have already know that the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is a fingerprint magnet - both front and back. It is also incredibly slippery and with such thin bezels, the phone slides of your hands easily. 


Booting up!


Not bad.


Edge function, which has been improved with more usability. However, I still find it difficult to adapt and have thus turned it off. 


Pretty standard Touch Wiz layout. As messy as ever and comes packed with Samsung bloatwares - those that you can't uninstall.


Sim ejector.


You can opt for 2 sim cards, or 1 sim card and a micro-sd card. Appreciate the versatility of it.


Size comparison to my former S4, which quite surprisingly, isn't much of a difference. So getting used to the phone over the past 2 weeks wasn't difficult.

So I've pretty much covered the general aspects of the phone, now onto the Pros and Cons of it. What I love and hate about Samsung's new flagship device.

Pros:
  • Design - It is without a doubt that the design of the phone is gorgeous. With an all glass front and back, encased in aluminum 7000, the premium feeling of the phone is great! 
  • QHD Display - The display is without a doubt the best in the market, with vivid and eye-popping colours and contrast. Beautiful to the touch! 
  • Speed - The speed of the phone is unmatched as of now, though opening apps might still be slower than the iPhone 6s. However, it is the fastest Android in the market so far. 
  • Capacitive Keys - Yes, this may sound odd but I do enjoy the back button and task manager button on the bottom of the screen. Gives it a little more versatility when it comes to browsing and what not. 
  • Camera - Camera in the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge is undeniably the best in the market. Several test has been done and it is currently the smartphone with the best camera out there. Not to mention its unparalleled quality under low-light conditions. They also offer 4K Video capabilities with Optical Image Stabilization!
  • Battery life - this phone comes with a huge 3600mah battery, which could last me the whole day with intensive usage and an average of 5 hours screen on time. There are days where I manage to get 6 hours and 45 minutes of screen on time!
  • Touch Wiz - Okay, I'll admit. This is a bit of a contradiction. I believe that Touch Wiz is great, with all the eye-popping logos and versatility, but I just hate the bloatwares. Apart from that, I actually quite like the skin, or perhaps I got used to it on my previous S4.
  • Quick Charge - Although there isn't any USB-C, the quick charge works fairly well. With just about an hour +, my phone is fully charged.

Cons:

  • The Edge - Yes, you've heard that right. I do not like the edge as much and I'll break down in a few reasons below.
  1. Some text shown on screen tend to curve both ends, which makes it really odd to read.
  2. Accidentally pressing on the side of the screen using 1 hand, which kinda screws up the experience as a whole. (I'll post a photo at the bottom)
  3. The function of the Edge isn't as great as I'd expect to be, or perhaps I'm just the only one. 
  4. My Instagram photos too tend to curve to the side, which makes it look really weird.
  5. Taking flat-lay photos is also quite difficult, due to the curve, it is hard to get a straight photo.
  • Thin bezels - I know companies are trying to make their phones slimmer and sleeker, but in this case, it doesn't work. The thinness of the bezels makes it really hard to hold when I'm laying by my bed trying to watch Youtube. Coupled with the Edge display, I tend to accidentally press onto it, or worst, drop it because it's both slippery and thin. The grip isn't as great and only a casing could solve this issue.
  • Volume Rockers and On Button - This is actually a problem after the thin bezels. Because I have to put a casing, the buttons become really hard to press. In which I have to use more force, or my fingernails to get it to work. 
  • Fingerprint sensor - I'll admit, the fingerprint sensor isn't as great as the iPhone and there are several times where the phone can't read my fingerprints. I would say, the fail rate is about 30-40% while the iPhone's fail rate is about 10%. 
  • Speaker - Contrary to popular beliefs, I actually prefer my speaker to be on the back, simply because I can use my palm to divert the audio back. Right now, it's located on the bottom and I tend to cover the speaker hole when I'm watching Youtube on my bed.
  • Screen protector - There are no screen protector on the market that currently support the phone with a casing. It is an either option. I'll post a photo below.
That is all I can think of as of now, after using the phone for about 2 weeks. Most of the Cons were on a personal level, and may not be a design flaw of Samsung. Everyone uses their phone differently, and that is what I felt after using it for 2 weeks. 


Here is a photo of the base of my thumbs, touching on the edge display. If say I was scrolling through 9gag using my right hand, I would always press on the 'Profile' key on the bottom right hand side of the app, if I'm using my right hand. 


The volume rockers is stucked quite deeply into the casing, making it really hard to press. Perhaps I might have to get a new casing. 


If you look closely, on the top right, you can actually see the screen protector coming off. This is because the screen protector is a rubber-type, similar to a condom, encasing your phone. The issue is that the screen protector is a perfect fit, which contradicts the shape of the phone casing, causing them to clash. 

There might be screen protectors that I'm not aware off, but that is one of the struggles of the phone that I face.

As for the quality of the camera, here are some shots taken purely with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, without editing. 


There are a lot more, but I'll just show a few. I will also be doing most of my reviews using the camera of my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and will provide a verdict on whether or not it can replace my DSLR, which is bulky and heavy as hell. 


Video recording - 1080p at 60 FPS

Conclusion:

Overall, I really enjoy using Samsung's new flagship. What made it even better is the fact that I got 15% off for it, thought it would have been much better if I got 20% instead. But oh well. The phone is fast, camera is great and the design is gorgeous. Of course, the cons of the phone are quite minor in comparison, but yeah, loved it!

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6 comments

  1. Dude. Awesome review. Stumbled upon ur page when I googled s7 edge review by locals. Have you done anymore reviews on the phone recently? Again, great job. Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello,

      Thank you for the kind reply. Haha. Anyway, I have not done a review after several months of using it, but thank you for reminding me that I should haha!

      Cheers!

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good review. The best Screen on Time I can get on S7edge is (exactly) 5 hours. Mostly it's 2-3 hours. There are some reviews saying 7-8 hours. Do you keep your WiFI n data turned off while not in use n long sync time for apps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, thank you for the comments. No, my wifi and/or data is usually turned on even if i'm not using.

      Delete
  4. The life expectancy of your IoT devices' SIMs is an imperative figure to be beyond any doubt, as supplanting a SIM can be troublesome - if not outlandish - depending on how your gadgets are deployed.

    ReplyDelete