Introduction
All great speeches start with carefully prepared notes. Samsung takes the role of a modern orator and pushes for a return to personal handwriting against the trend of detached digital text.
The S Pen alone faces off with the on-screen QWERTYs and gives the Galaxy Note7 and its predecessors their unique identity. And with this generation, it ventures where most electronics would not dare - in water and in powered-off states.
The Note7 also represents the first major design change in the flagship Galaxy line since the S6 (the S7 was just a thicker version of that). The symmetrical dual-curved design makes the beautiful screen appear borderless while making a big phone feel smaller than it really is.
Key features
- S Pen stylus; 4,096 levels of pressure, 360Hz tracking; works underwater
- Curved 5.7" Super AMOLED display of 1440p resolution; 518ppi; Always On capabilities; HDR
- Gorilla Glass 5 front and rear panels; metal frame
- IP68 certified - dust proof and water resistant (a first for a Note)
- 12MP f/1.7 main camera with dual pixel autofocus, optical image stabilization, LED flash
- 2160p video at 30fps; 1080p@60fps; 720p@240fps; HDR
- 5MP f/1.7 front-facing camera, 1440p video recording at 30fps
- North America model: Snapdragon 820 chipset - quad-core Kryo processor (2x 2.15GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); Adreno 530 GPU; 4GB of RAM
- Global model: Exynos 8890 chipset - octa-core processor with four 2.6GHz Mongoose and four 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores; Mali-T880 MP12 GPU; 4GB of RAM
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow at launch; 7.0 Nougat later
- Iris and fingerprint scanners; Knox and Secure folder; Samsung Pay
- 64GB of built-in storage (~52GB user available); microSD slot up to 256GB (hybrid slot)
- Optional dual-SIM; up to Cat. 12 4G LTE (600Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, ANT+; NFC; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou
- USB Type-C; USB On-The-Go
- 3,500 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging (wired, wireless); wireless charging (Qi/PMA)
- Heart-rate monitor, barometer, SpO2 sensor
Main shortcomings
- Unless you need the S Pen, the S7 edge offers the same specs for less money
- Iris scanner needs you to hold the phone awkwardly close to your face
While the S Pen is undoubtedly the heart of the Note experience, the screen is a close second. The Edge features that debuted with 2014s Note Edge were perfected through the S6 edge and S7 edge of the following years. Even Always on screen was improved, despite being only months old (perhaps it was just waiting for the S Pen, their interaction is the best new feature).
Samsung Galaxy Note7: Onyx Black • Silver Titanium
Some things may not sound particularly exciting, but users have waited a long time for them. The S5 was waterproof, but there hasnt been a waterproof Note before, the Note7 is the first. The microSD slot came back after only a year of absence but to some Note 3 users looki ng for an upgrade that was a year too long.
Then there are features that are completely new to Samsung - the iris scanner, the USB Type-C port, the HDR-capable display. We think at least two of those will become a mainstay of flagship phones.
Samsung Galaxy Note7: Gold Platinum • The new Coral Blue
Perhaps we mentioned the Note5 too often for an intro to the Note7 review. But you have to understand that the 5 was the trouble child of the family and it left a void, especially in Europe, where the S6 edge+ had to replace it.
And it didnt do too good with the Note crowd, they swear by their S Pens. But the dual-curved screen stuck and thats how the Samsugn Galaxy Note7 was born.
Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Note7
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 came in an ink-black box (nature-friendly soy ink, specifically) with glossy embossed letters. The carbon footprint is tracked by the Carbon Trust for extra nature points.
And its a well-stocked box, even without the launch-day freebies that Samsung is offering.
You get an Adaptive Fast charger (9V at 1.67A = 15W), a USB cable (full-size A to Type-C), two adapters (Type-C to full-size A and Type-C to microUSB 2.0), spare S Pen tips and a tool to replace them. If youre looking for the card ejector tool, its in the box of manuals.
The eco-friendly box of the Note7 • Rich content inside
Samsung packaged the snazzy headset that it puts in recent flagship launches (EO-EG920BW). Its a premium headset with canal-type buds, 12mm drivers, tangle-resistant cables and a microphone with wind noise protection.
A closer look at the headset • Two adapters for old-school cables
Sidenote: we mentioned freebies and if we got your attention heres the deal - Samsungs official store and some retailers will offer a choice of several items. In the US, its usually between a Gear Fit2 smart band or a 256GB microSD card (some also offer a year of Netflix). In Europe, it seems that a new Gear VR headset is offered instead of the band or again a 256GB microSD.
Samsung Galaxy Note7 360° spin
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 measures 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9mm, thats taller and thicker than the Note5. And yet, its design makes it feel smaller. Being narrower definitely helps handling.
Samsung Galaxy Note7 (left) and Galaxy Note5 (right)
The phone is barely larger than the 5.5" Galaxy S7 edge (and we know this because we compared them side by side, otherwise you may not notice).
Hardware
Famous sculptors will tell you that beauty lies in symmetry and Samsung heeded their advice. The Galaxy Note7 is symmetrical - its left and right sides are identically curved on the front and back. And in our humble opinion, its the best piece of hardware Samsung has ever put out.
The Note7 shows beauty in symmetry
The screen curves arent as pronounced as those on the S7 edge, they have a smaller radius. Some people were worried that the curves would interfere with the S Pen, but you naturally leave margins as you write, so Note7s small curved sides arent an issue.
These curves are still enough to make the phone narrower than the Note5, it even feels on par with the S7 edge size-wise (its not really, though). The new Galaxy Note7 will win over many people who were on the fence about larger phones.
The curving sides help mask the bezels, which are now almost invisible, a striking appearance. Dont worry about accidental presses, the Note7 knows where your hand is and will not react when not necessary.
The smal lest 5.7" phone weve held
With this much glass, Samsung went with the new, tougher Gorilla Glass 5 to protect the exterior (the Note7 is the first phone to use it).
The glass covers both the front and back, the metal frame is sandwiched between both panes. On the sides, its very thin and its thicker on top and bottom to accommodate ports, slots and other hardware features.
The glass back and thin metal sides surprisingly offer decent grip, but its not the best.
The front looks slightly differently, due to the addition of an iris scanner on the right of the earpiece, next to the regular selfie cam. Its essentially a second front camera, but it sees infrared light. To help it in the dark, theres an IR LED (left of the earpiece, you can see it light up in a dull red when its active).
Theres a decently-sized notification LED to the left of the infrared LED (its not visible when its off).
The iris scanners LED glows red like a terminator eye when its active
Below the screen is the alternative secure biometric sensor - the fingerprint reader on the Home key. To its side are capacitive keys (App switcher and Back), which are invisible when off and their backlight goes out quickly.
Samsung prefers hardware keys to on-screen ones
T his shows Samsung likes the sleek look of having few buttons, but it refuses to move to on-screen buttons (the fingerprint reader can easily go on the back). We get the practicality of having the buttons fill the otherwise unoccupied lower bezel, but sometimes we wonder if its time to take the plunge and move to virtual keys.
Anyway, three keys we prefer to stay physical are the Power button on the right and Volume keys on the left. They are on the thin side, but are easy enough to find by touch and they offer a solid click.
Right side • Powe r button • Left side • Volume buttons
The top side of the Galaxy Note7 is rather baren - no IR blaster, sorry, theres only a microphone and the card slot. Its a hybrid slot that accepts two cards - nanoSIM and microSD, but on dual-SIM models you can drop the extra storage in favor of another phone line.
Top view of the Galaxy Note7 • One card tray, two cards
With 64GB as base (and so far only) storage option, wed be okay with using two SIMs.
The bottom of the phone is quite busy. The new attraction is the USB Type-C - the reversible connector t hat wears many hats. This is a first for Samsung, well cover the ports functionality (and theres plenty of it) on the next page.
Samsungs first USB Type-C
Also here is the trademark S Pen stylus. You have to push in with your finger so it clicks (like a pen) and the top part sticks out, allowing you to pull it out. Theres no chance it will ever fall out accidentally and you cant insert it backward like you could with the Note5 (which had the unfortunate side effect of damaging the slot).
The redesigned S Pen is more comfortable to use and tougher
Another first for the Galaxy Note line is the waterproofing. The Galaxy Note7 is IP68-certified, officially it can last 30 minutes when its 1.5m deep underwater.
The USB port is left uncovered, but dont worry - the phone will warn you if it detects moisture in the port and will refuse to charge until its dry.
If you do need to charge near the pool, you should invest in the Backpack - a 3,100mAh power bank that uses wireless charging to top up the Note7 battery. Its water resistant, just like the phone itself!
The back is not removable, so you cant access the battery. Thats one feature from the Note 4 that we dont think is coming back.
The camera on the back is almost flush with the back and features Samsungs sports sensors - heart rate and blood oxygen. This is Galaxy S7s excellent camera, but the software has been retouched so we expect some improvement.
12MP Dual Pixel camera on the back, along with sports sensors
Were particularly fond of the new color scheme for the Note family - Coral Blue. Notes started off as business phones and they came in business-friendly colors (aside from the occasional Pink ve rsion for Valentines).
This new one is a dual-tone paint job. The metal parts and certain accents are gold (looks close to Samsungs Rose gold) and the expansive areas under the glass (front and back) are blue. It looks great in person and we hope Samsung will release more like this in the coming months (for those that dont care for the Blue/Gold combo).
Samsung Galaxy Note7 is beautiful in Blue Coral
Display
After the innovative side-curve on the Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung puts its main focus on the Galaxy S line and the Note5 was looked over a bit. This year, the Note is the one getting special treatment and it only comes with a curved screen. If rumors are to be believed, Samsung wants to go curved-only with its flagships going forward, so lets gaze into the (potential) future.
The matrix still measures 5.7" in diagonal, but its left and right sides are curled down. This essentially reserves the sides of the screen for special functions (we explore them on the next page - yes, we filled half a page with just the features based on the screen curve).
Its Samsungs flagship AMOLED matrix with QHD (1,440 x 2,560px) resolution though it seems some tweaking has occurred since the S7 edge.
The screen reaches a higher maximal brightness of around 430nits when set to manual. Auto mode (at its discretion) can drive the brightness even higher, 650nits is the highest we observed.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.00 | 428 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 647 | ∞ | |
| -< /td> | 439 | ∞ | |
| - | 620 | - | |
| 0.00 | 392 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 610 | ∞ | |
| 0.43 | 590 | 1382 | |
| 0.00 | 433 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 371 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 506 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 400 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 427 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 609 | ∞ | |
The color rendering has shifted a bit too - in Basic mode, the one designed for accuracy, it reaches the very good 2.7 average deltaE and 4.4 max. Still, the S7 edge did 0.8 and 1.5 respectively, even last years Note5 did 1.1 and 2.2.
Basic can look a bit plain to the casual users and unless you can name one color profile, we recommend you stick to one of the other three options.
Adaptive display is the default and it tweaks the settings based on screen content. The Red channel gets oversaturated and pushes the max deltaE to 12.3. The Green channel is off too and the white balance shifts slightly towards blue (a common trick to make white appear extra white).
AMOLED photo is the next step, which oversaturates colors and increases contrast, but to a lesser degree than Adaptive display. Then AMOLED Cinema pushes things even closer to the accurate Basic mode. Its a trade-off - these modes are fairly accurate, but still make the image pop.
Theres no color shift when you tilt the display, not even on the curved sides (they do reflect light from a different angle, but the color remains the same). Weve seen some 2.5D displays (flat screen, curved glass on top) create some prismatic effects, but theres none of that here (an advantage of the actually curved display).
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376< /span> - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Huawei P9 P lus
3.956 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Apple iPhone 6
3.838 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - S amsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - Samsung Gal axy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - LG V10
2.744 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - S ony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378 - HTC 10
2.378 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311 - Sony Xperia C
1.283 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 is one of the first mobile devices to support HDR video. Not, not HDR like in the camera. This one has 10-bit color instead of 8-bit, thats four times number of shades. This prevents color banding and enables detailed scenes that feature both very bright and very dark areas.
HDR content is fairly limited at the moment, but Amazon Video and Netflix do have some. Also, the Xbox One S launched recently with HDR video as one of its key selling points, which should help drive demand.
The Note7 brings another picture-enhancing toggle - Video Enhancer. This one works only in video apps (even third-party ones) and brightens the image and makes colors more vivid (it simulates HDR video). Note that this option also enhances audio.
Video enhancer creates HDR video out of regular video
Connectivity, an ode to USB Type-C
The Galaxy Note7 is the first Samsung phone with a reversible USB Type-C port. Even so, the company is unwilling to break away from USB 2.0 and has included two adapters - one Type-C to full-size USB 2.0 and one to microUSB 2.0.
The big adapter lets you connect any USB access ory with the ubiquitous port. The other is more useful for charging and data transfer to a computer in places that dont have a Type-C cable (i.e. not at home, the adapter is tiny and fits in your wallet). We couldnt connect a flash drive through it.
Note that both adapters work at (relatively) slow USB 2.0 speeds (even the big one).
Unlike older USB standards, Type-C has an official TV-out standard - DisplayPort. You find DisplayPort on many discrete GPUs and high-end monitors. Some have just DVI and VGA, though, like ours in the office so we couldnt try it out.
The wired connection can also be used in your car - if its head unit supports MirrorLink. This standard mirrors the phones screen (including touch input) onto the head unit. From the settings, youll easily find an alternative launcher with big, easy to hit icons (the CarmodeStub we saw on the Galaxy Note5 too).
MirrorLink
Another interesting connection is a wired transfer your old phone to the new Note7. It uses the full-size USB adapter plus whatever cable works with the old device (likely microUSB).
Wired connections aside, the Samsung Galaxy Note7 offers blazing wireless Internet speeds. It varies by region, but you may get LTE Cat. 12 (or Cat. 10 or 9). Honestly, your carrier will be the bottleneck, not the Note7s modem.
Wi-Fi is fast too - with 2x2 MIMO and 802.11ac it can reach speeds up to 620Mbps. Again, it may turn out that your router is slowing down the Note. The latest Bluetooth 4.2 with LE and ANT+ are available as well. Global positioning is handled by GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou.
Samsung Pay works over modern NFC and old-school MST - what magnetic credit/debit cards use (more common in the US than Europe).
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 has a sealed 3,500mAh battery. Thats a 500mAh upgrade over the old Note5, but 100mAh short of the Galaxy S7 edge.
Weve seen excellent performance from Samsungs screen and chipset (Qualcomms Snapdragon too), so we expect solid results.
Samsung has designed a new Power saving system too, which is powerful and flexible. It has two modes - Mid and Max - and each shows an estimate on how long the phone will last.
They are fully customizeable. You can limit brightness and performance, also prevent background Internet usage (both mobile data and Wi-Fi). You can also reduce the resolution to 1080p or even 720p to reduce the load on the chipset. This way you can have the best of both worlds - the sharpness of a QHD screen and the power efficiency of a low-res screen.
Power saver: Options • Mid • High • Customizations
The Game tools have a separate Power saving feature. When its off, games get the full resolution and target 60fps. Save power mode drops the resolution (to 1080p, we guess). Save maximum power drops the resolution further (720p? its not explicitly stated) and caps the frame rate at 30fps.
Game Launcher power savings
Were very impressed by Samsungs new power saving features. They have good defaults, but their customizability gives Power users the chance to optimize battery life completely. Even var ious tricks that require root arent this extensive and they certainly dont come with such a nice, easy to understand interface.
Note that we tried an old fast charger, one with a microUSB 2.0 cable, and the small Type-C to microUSB 2.0 adapter from Galaxy Note7s box didnt interfere with its work in any way.
Even without resorting to power saving features, the Galaxy Note7 is a great performer. We measured 90h Endurance for the Exynos 8890 version and 81h for the Snapdragon 820 one (the two S7 edge models showed similar scores). The Always On screen cuts off about 30% of the total Endurance time on both versions.
The scores are slightly worse than what the Galaxy S7 edge managed. The bigger screen is the bigger cause for this, the 100mAh difference in battery size couldnt have changed much.
The Exynos model proves more efficient, beating the Snapd ragon model by about an hour and a half in the Web and Video tests and by three hours in the Talk test.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case youre interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones weve tested will compare under your own typical use.
S Pen
In a world where people rarely use actual pens, Samsung is asking them to use a digital one. And many say yes!
The S Pen has been updated to feel more natural. The tip is much thinner to simulate a ballpoint pen. The button has been moved up to prevent accidental presses.
The stylus is more accurate tha n before too. It can detect 4,096 different levels of pressure (double compared to its predecessor) and its position is tracked 360 times a second.
With each iteration, Samsung adds new features but we think this is the best update yet.
The most eye-catching trick is that you can write underwater. Not that youd ever need to, but its a cool demo and you have the certainty that a wet screen will not interfere with what youre doing.
The most useful trick, however, is the Screen-off memo. Just pull out the S Pen while the phone is locked and start writing. Tap Save and it goes into your Samsung Memo app. The process is so natural, soon youll use the Note7 just like a regular notepad.
You can pin a note to the Always on screen so its visible without having to unlock the phone (again, like a regular notepad!). The unintuitive and hard to discover part is that to actually see the note, you have to double tap the tiny icon that appears.
Air Command menu • Writing a note
Anyway, the S Pen has other tricks. It can help reading comprehension by serving as a magnifying glass for text (so its easier to read) and even translating it from one language to another (but only one word at a time).
Magnify • Translate • Making a GIF
It can do other things too - scroll just by hovering over an edge, capture screenshots (even if you have to scroll), creating animated GIFs and more.
These are launched from the Air Command menu. It can be launched from a small, translucent icon on that sits at the edge of your screen or by tapping the S Pens button. You can add shortcuts to any app you want, so youre not limited to Samsungs stuff.
Always on screen
S7s Always on screen was somewhat limited and while the Note7 doesnt add new functionality, it adds variety. You get to choose from 13 clock styles, two calendar styles or four images that can be shown on the screen. Third-party apps still cant show notifications, though.
The screen can be scheduled in case you dont need it all day. You can have it switch out for the Night clock - its dim and unobtrusive even in a pitch black room. Note that if both are active, the Night clock takes precedence and disables the Always on screen. This way you can only schedule the Night clock, it will automatically hide the bigger and brighter Always on screen.
Night clock
Edge screen
Edge screen is a very convenient shortcut to many features. You pull it out by swiping from the right edge of the screen (you can switch that to the left).
By default it has four panels you can swipe through: Apps edge (recent and favorite apps), People edge (favorite contacts), Tasks edge (various shortcuts, e.g. Take selfie or Create event) and My places. Tha latter lets you customize the content of other panels based on location - Home, Work or Out an d about.
You can deactivate Edge panels you dont want and enable others (including downloading additional panels). We quite like the Calendar, which puts an agenda for the day always in reach.
Edge Panels
Edge panels work on the lockscreen, but not while the screen is off. For that you have the Edge feeds.
Edge feeds are activated by "rubbing" the edge of the phone. Two are pre-installed: notifications and S Health. The notifications feed does show ones from third-party apps, almost making up for the fact the Always o n screen doesnt.
You can flip between feeds with a swipe, especially useful if you use more than one (you can download additional ones, but currently only CNN and RSS feeds are available).
Edge Feed
The third and final Edge screen feature is Edge lighting. Its a prettier, easier to notice notification light. It works when the Galaxy Note7 is face down and uses the sides of the screen to create a colorful aura around the phone.
Iris scanner and security
Samsung isnt the first to put an iris scanner on a phone (Microsoft did it and now wants it on PCs too), but we suspect it will be the first to popularize it (Lumias are rarer than unicorns these days).
The iris scanner fills much the same niche as t he fingerprint scanner, in fact soon the two may be used interchangeably. This means securing the lockscreen, Samsung Pay and Knox, the new Secure folder, even web logins.
The iris scanners are presumably more secure - fingerprints can be "lifted," irises cant. And they work even when your fingers are wet and pruney.
Its not without its downsides. We most miss that its not always on - you can unlock the phone with the fingerprint scanner in one motion, but not with the iris scanner. It needs you to wake the phone first, then swipe to unlock and only then line up your eyes to be scanned.
That last bit is tricky too, as you have to hold the phone relatively close to your face and the positioning is done in fairly narrow margins, which slows things even further.
For now, we predict the fingerprint scanner will continue guarding the lockscreen. The added benefit of iris scanning (if its used at all) will be reserved for more sensitive areas - like the Secure folder.
What is the Secure folder, anyway? It does what it says - a special folder on the device that can securely hold files, memos and apps. Its locked independently from the lockscreen - one can use a fingerprint, the other an iris.
Secure folder
You can even install two copies of an app - one in plain sight and one in the Secure folder. And you can hide the folder too, so people can snoo p all they want and will not find anything suspicious.
Samsung says Secure folder is like having a second phone. You can launch the camera from here and photos you take go straight into the secure gallery. There are secure Contacts too, calls to them do not show up in the regular call log.
By the way, it took us a while to figure out where our screenshots of the Secure folder UI went - well, in the Secure folder, of course! Samsung has gone to great lengths to ensure things stay locked up.
User interface
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 runs a TouchWiz-skinned Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. An update to the soon to be released v7.0 Nougat is already planned, it should take a few months.
The fingerprint reader used on the Note7 is the same as the one on the Galaxy S7. It recognizes a finger in under a seco nd - very fast, though not the fastest weve seen. All it takes to unlock the phone is to press the Home key and leave your finger for a moment longer while the fingerprint reader does its thing. Then theres the iris scanner too, when you get used to it, its as fast as the fingerprint reader.
The lockscreen • Fingerprint protection
The Galaxy Note7 brings some changes to the TouchWiz interface, but its a collection of minor tweaks rather than a major redesign.
Homescreen • Homescreen • App drawer • Homescreen settings
Depending on where you are in the world, your leftmost homescreen would be either the Flipboard-powered Briefing or Upday (this is the one we got on our international unit). The two do pretty much the same thing - they aggregate news according to a pre-defined list of interests.
Upday in action
The Notification area has a revamped layout. The screen brightness slider is no longer visible on the first swipe. Instead it has been moved next to the quick toggles.
Also here is a new search field. This isnt Google Nows search, instead, it searches for local files and apps as well as nearby devices for wireless connectivity.
Notification area • Brightness slider moved, new search field • Modifying the notification area
The Galaxy Note7 user interface is fully themeable. We only got one theme pre-in stalled, but the Theme Store has many more to download. By the way, there is an option to disable the app drawer, so you may want to give it a try.
Split-screen multitasking is supported on the Note7, and the 5.7" screen was born to do it. Even at half a screen, apps get plenty of room (Material design likes a lot of padding though). As always, only supported apps can work in split-screen (youll recognize them by a button in the app switcher, next to the X). Also, Samsungs implementation is the most widely supported.
Floating app windows are supported for some apps, too. The precision allowed by the S Pens tip (compared to your finger) makers using apps even in this downscaled state a breeze. Some hover features are a great help too, like hovering near the edge of an app scrolls its window in that direction (great for using a minimized web browser).
App switcher • Split-screen mode • Floating window
Some cool gestures are available for the Galaxy Note7 - you can flip the phone for mute, swipe your palm for screenshot, double-tap the Home key for quick camera access, quick call, among others.
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 comes free of bloatware, but has a few Microsoft apps pre-installed (MS Office, OneDrive with 100GB for 2-years, Skype). You can disable them, but not completely delete them.
Samsung Cloud
At the Note7 event, Samsung unveiled the Samsung Cloud and this is the first phone to support it. Basically, you get 15GB of cloud storage dedicated to backups.
The TouchWiz software can natively stash away Contacts, Calendar events, S Pen creations from Samsung Note and some other things into the cloud.
Photos, videos and stories from the gallery are saved too (though 15GB might be a tight fit if you shoot a lot of 4K video). Browser tabs (for the Internet app, not Chrome) are synced too.
Samsung Cloud stores 15GB worth of backups for free
You can selectively force certain content to be synced over Wi-Fi only. This means that small calendar notes can always be up to date, but big gallery files will not eat up your data allowance.
Note that Samsung Cloud isnt (yet) a competitor to Dropbox or Google Drive. Its focused on backups and theres no option just to lob a random file in there are share it with other devices/people.
Game Launcher
The Game Launcher shows just how serious Samsung is about dominating the mobile gaming market. It groups all your games in one place so they dont get lost in the busy app drawer.
But thats just convenience, the Game Launcher has some life-saving features. You can disable notifications during a game and lock the App switcher and Back keys - no more interuptions or switching ouf of a game at the wrong moment!
Game Launcher • Power Saving modes
This is done through the Game Tools key, a small floating virtual key you can position pretty much anywhere on the screen. Once tapped, it reveals a menu very similar to the Air Command for the S Pen.
Game Tools within a game • Recording settings
These days, many people watch others (streamers) play games. The Galaxy Note7 cant livestream gameplay, but it can record it for you. And it can add the video feed from the selfie camera, as is standard on Twitch and other places where game playthroughs are shared. Naturally, it can record your commentary thorugh the microphone too (you can disable both features if youre shy).
The Game Launcher also offers Top Charts and Featured Videos tabs, where you can see check some nice game stats, and find videos of gameplay based on what you have installed.
Game Launcher related Charts • Game Launcher related videos
Performance
Samsung is building two versions of the Galaxy Note7 - the international one with an Exynos 8890 chipset and one for North America and China with Snapdragon 820. Both come with 4GB of RAM. Thats right, theres basically no improvement since the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.
We have both versions to test. They promise similar performance though they do differ in a few places. Its not enough of a difference to be worth importing the version not available in your region. Also, note that China is getting a ve rsion with 6GB of RAM (and 128GB storage), but so far there are no plans to bring that to the international market.
Last year Samsung easily claimed the performance crown - as Qualcomm Snapdragon stumbled, Exynos ruled the land. This year the Snapdragon 820 is excellent and many phones use it, so the Note7 will not enjoy a performance lead like the Note5.
In the opening salvo, the Moto Z Droid and OnePlus 3. The OnePlus does have 6GB of RAM, but thats probably not it - both it and the Moto have lean versions of Android.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
151619 - OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
141764 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
134660 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
132849 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
130111 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
129229 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
97392 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
64591
Basemark OS 2.0 shows the Moto Z Droid as maintaining a very narrow lead. It seems to like the Exynos version of the Galaxy Note7 a lot more than it did the S7 edge (Exynos). Samsung definately tuned things under the hood - some benches arent affected by that, but others show signs of improvement.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Moto Z Droid (Snap dragon)
2690 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
2676 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
2432 - OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
2365 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
2352 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
2099 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
2050 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
1529
So far Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 Galaxy Note7s perform fairly evenly. Digging into details reveals some differences.
The Exynos wins in multithreaded tests - it has eight cores to Snapdragons four. The Huawei P9 Plus also has eight cores and they run at higher clock speeds than Note7s so it claims the top place here.
The 820 isnt out yet, it takes back a point in single-core tests - the individual Kryo cores are faster than even the custom Mongoose cores in the Exynos.
Chipset trivia: Mongoose is Samsungs answer to Cortex-A72/A73. The Exynos 8890 has four of those in a big.LITTLE setup with four standard A53 cores. Kryo is a fully custom core designed by Qualcomm.
So thats the trade off - few big cores or many smaller ones. In practice, you may not notice a difference outside of synthetic tests.
GeekBench 3 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
6660 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
6600 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
6311 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
5566 - OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
5520 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
5420 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
5391 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
4759
GeekBench 3 (single-core)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
2383 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
2345 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
2345 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
2344 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
2151 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
2143 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
1892 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
1466
The one place the Snapdragon 820 clearly has the upper hand is graphics. Qualcomm has its in-house Adreno team to call on and the 530 is a little beast. Samsung meanwhile relies on ARMs Mali division and Exynos 8890 has 12 cores of Mali-T880. Compare that with the Huawei P9 Plus, its Kirin 955 has only 4 cores.
The differences mostly show up in 1080p offscreen tests than full QHD on-screen tests but those matter too . Remember that from the Game Launcher you can force any game to a lower resolution - 1080p or even 720p.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
32 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
32 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
32 - OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
31 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
29 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
28 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
10 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
9.3
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
30 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
18 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
16 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
16 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
15 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
15 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
11 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
9.1
The most recent GFX Bench test - Car scene - shows a pretty big difference even in the onscreen test.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
20 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
19 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
18 - OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
18 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
16 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
15 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
6.2
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
18 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
12 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
11 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
10 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
8 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
7.8 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
6.8
A different game engine might show different results - the Exynos chipset tops the Snapdragon in the Basemark ES 3.1 Metal test.
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
- Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
733 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
727 - Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)648
- Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
629 - OnePlus 3 (Snapdragon)
625 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
624 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
253 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
214
Settings matter too, Exynos is faster than Snapdragon in Basemark X, but only when it is set to medium graphics.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
36322 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
33520 - OnePlus 3 ( Snapdragon)
32715 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
32648 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
32160 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
28480 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
15290 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
15058
Basemark X (medium)
Higher is better
- Moto Z Droid (Snapdragon)
42493 - Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
41845 - Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos)
40998 - Galaxy S7 edge (Snapdragon)
36554 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
35194 - Huawei P9 Plus (Kirin)
27158 - Galaxy A9 (S652)
26081
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 is one of the fastest phones on the market, consistently sticking close to the top of charts. There is plenty of competition with Snapdragon 820 out there, however, so this year the Galaxy Note doesnt completely dominate the field.
We dont think theres a big difference if you get a Snapdragon or Exynos powered Note7. Yes, the Snapdragon puts out a few frames per second more in some games, but in others the Exynos is better. Dont fret it.
Telephony and loudspeaker
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 is available as a single-SIM phone (like the unit we have), but there is a model with dual-SIM support with a hybrid slot too.
The dialer and the phonebook are pretty much the usual TouchWiz deal. There are no special dialer-specific tricks that the S Pen can do, but its still quite useful for taking notes during a call.
Dialer • In a call • Contacts • Call log
The Do Not Disturb mode can be put on an automated schedule. When its on, only priority notifications can get through and you decide what counts as "priority" - it can be anything from calls from select cont acts to reminders from key apps.
Do not disturb • Priority notifications • Exceptions
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 scored a Good mark on our loudspeaker test, beating its predecessor (Average) and matching the Galaxy S7 edge. The single speaker produces clean sound even at full volume and performs evenly across different types of audio - music, hands-free calls, ringtones.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing | Over all score | |
| 65.8 | 65.1 | 64.6 | Below Average | |
| 65.5 | 72.2 | 65.2 | Average | |
| 65.3 | 64.6 | 73.5 | Average | |
| 70.0 | 69.1 | 71.8 | Good | |
| 62.4 | 71.0 | 77.8 | Good | |
| 69.7 | 69.9 | 72.3 | Good | |
| 66.9 | 70.0 | 76.9 | Good | |
| 71.7 | 73.7 | 81.3 | Very Good | |
| 74.9 | 75.7 | 84.3 | Excellent |
Text input
Writing on the Galaxy Note7 naturally features the S Pen. You can just leave your handwriting as-is or if you want to share your thoughts with others and youre worried about legibility, you can rely on the handwriting recognition instead.
The Galaxy Note7 also features the latest version of the Samsung Keyboard. Its quite feature-packed, with a dedicated numbers row, a row above that for word suggestions and additional characters on each key (accessible via long-press).
Even when typing, the S Pen can be useful - you can move the cursor and select text with the accuracy of a mouse (doing the same with your finger is quite inaccurate).
Keyboard
If that seems too tall, you can scale the keyboard down (or up, if you want bigger keys). The Space key used to be cramped on the S7 and even the bigger S7 edge, but its big and easy to hit on the Note7.
Keyboard size: Smallest • Default • Biggest • High-contrast mode
Additional typing tools inclu de swipe input, My Hot Keys (predefined phrases that can be typed by long-pressing a number key) and voice dictation.
Other apps
Samsung continues to bundle the Microsoft app package that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Skype.
Microsoft app package
Google Drive is pre-installed, however, the actual document editors are not (they are a free download, though).
The Samsung-customized web browser features Web sign in - a feature that works as a password manager secured by your iris or fingerprint. This makes log-ins as simple as unlocking the phone and people cant peek over your shoulder to see your password.
With the Samsung browser, your fingerprint is your password
S Health is on board and it can fully utilize the heart rate and blood oxygen sensors. It also tracks walking/running/cycling and y ou can manually input water and coffee intake and so on.
S health
Smart Manager has been renamed Device maintenance. It still offers the same features and takes care of battery, RAM, Storage and Device security. This gives you tools to track down apps that drain the battery, use too much RAM and clean-up unnecessary files. There are buttons to do this one by one but also one big Optimize now button to do it all.
Device maintenance • Cleaning up the storage • Cleaning up the RAM
The Device Security tab lets you activate Knox (protects the phone and OS from hacking but makes for longer boot times) and scan for malware. The My Knox app lets you separate work and corporate apps and access by creating a secure, isolated space on the phone, which becomes inaccessible as soon as Knox detects an unauthorized change in the OS.
Knox security manager
The My F iles app is the default file browser. It features Google Drive integration, but no Samsung Cloud (again, thats for backups, not files). You can ZIP folders to make them easier to share as a single file.
My Files
Finally, theres Galaxy Apps, Samsungs own app store. Galaxy Essentials is a good place to find great tools (like Kids Mode), but for general app shopping, you would probably be better off with Google Play.
Galaxy Apps • Media apps no longer pre-installed • Galaxy exclusives
Gallery
The TouchWiz Gallery has been touched up to bring more focus to Stories. Stories are shared, collaborative albums - that means your friends can add their own photos from the party or just a Story on a shared theme (e.g. sunsets).
TouchWiz Gallery
For friends without a Galaxy (if you can call them that), Stories are shared over SMS with a link to SamsungCloud.com. A simple (and not very secure) verification is used - the person who receives a link has to type the last four digits of their phone number (not the senders number). Anyway, from here people can download the Story, but not add to it.
Stories • Adding to a Story • Sharing a Story
Several image editing tools are available - from basic cropping, to collage making, to a more capable editor (which supports image correction, effects and drawing).
Viewing an image • Image details • Sharing options • Powerful editor
Using the S Pen, you can create short GIFs. You select a portion of the screen and hit record. You can record anything - part of a video or just the phones UI. This can be used for good (showing a friend how something is done) or for the silliest meme you can think of.
Creating a GIF with the S Pen
Google Play Music enhanced by Samsungs AQ features
Google Play Music is the default player for your tunes on the Galaxy Note7. It can play your local files, as well as stream music from the cloud and its backed by Samsungs extensive sound enhancements.
They include the SoundAlive tool, which has an intuitive interface to tuning the equalizer. Presets and two simple dials are available for basic users, a manual 7-band equalizer for more advanced users.
Google Play Music
Adapt Sound is even simpler. It tunes the EQ to your hearing and your particular pair of headphones by playing multiple frequencies and asking how well you hear them. Smart Volume automatically adjusts the volume of tracks from multiple sources.
UHQ sound resolution enhancer is available, Surround sound emulation and Tube Amp Pro simulator are onboard, too.
Equalizer and other settings
If you truly miss Samsungs player, its still available in the Galaxy Apps store (look under the For Galaxy tab).
Video player
There is no video pl ayer app pre-installed and the Gallery handles the videos by default. Like with the music player, you can grab the traditional TouchWiz app from the Galaxy Essentials collection in Galaxy Apps (the Video Editor is there too).
Anyway, the Gallery is more than enough. It has full subtitle support with advanced features to modify their appearance. The app lets you play only the audio (if you just want to listen to a music video) and to play the audio via Bluetooth (if you have a BT-enabled speaker handy).
Video player
You can download third-party video players and they can tap into the Video enhancer feature as well, y ou dont need to do anything but enable it. We tried VLC, MX and BS Player and they were all recognized correctly.
Video enhancer supports any app that plays video
This feature tries to make up for the relative lack of HDR content and digi-magically enhances SD video to HDR (it does the same for audio as well).
Top-notch audio output
Unsurprisingly given Samsung’s track record in the area, the Galaxy Note7 delivered seriously impressive audio output. The phablet aced the first part of our test mixing very loud output with impeccable quality â€" nothing to frown at really.
Plugging in a pair of headphones caused next to no dist ortion either â€" even the hike in stereo crosstalk was hard to notice without dedicated equipment. And just to one-up its predecessor this time volume didn’t drop at all here, for a flawless overall showing.
And here go the results.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| Samsung Galaxy Note7 | +0.01, -0.04 | -92.8 | 92.7 | 0.0029 | 0.0075 | -92.9 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note7 (headphones attached) | +0.04, -0.02 | -92.4 | 92.4 | 0.0088 | 0.059 | -81.2 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note5 | +0.0 4, -0.01 | -93.6 | 93.5 | 0.0024 | 0.0076 | -94.7 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note5 (headphones attached) | +0.02, -0.05 | -93.1 | 93.2 | 0.0023 | 0.030 | -84.1 |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -97.8 | 99.1 | 0.0054 | 0.0087 | -97.3 | |
| +0.02, -0.09 | -97.3 | 97.9 | 0.015 | 0.078 | -81.3 | |
| +0.03, -0.01 | -94.7 | 90.0 | 0.0029 | 0.010 | -94.3 | |
| +0.02, -0.20 | -96.2 | 83.2 | 0.041 | 0 .147 | -37.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.08 | -91.6 | 91.7 | 0.0035 | 0.012 | -89.3 | |
| +0.48, -0.07 | -90.4 | 91.5 | 0.011 | 0.293 | -55.6 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -95.9 | 89.6 | 0.0034 | 0.012 | -95.5 | |
| +0.11, -0.40 | -95.6 | 80.7 | 0.0057 | 0.227 | -55.2 | |
| +0.04, -0.04 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0013 | 0.0064 | -72.0 | |
| +0.10, -0.04 | -94.0 | 93.9 | 0.0016 | 0.087 | -64.1 |
Samsung Galaxy Note7 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Camera
Samsung designed a completely new camera for the Galaxy S7 and the same hardware is used in the Note7, except with fresh new software.
The camera features a 12MP camera sensor (4:3 aspect ratio) with the impressive Dual Pixel autofocus tech. Its faster and more accurate than any other system that came before it. It also packs Optical Image Stabilization for better low-light performance (helped by the bright f/1.7 aperture) and reducing handshake in videos.
The most visible change is the interface that has been streamlined. The Mode and Effect buttons are gone, replaced by swipe right for shooting modes and left for photo effects. Swipes up/down flip between the main and the selfie cameras.
Shooting modes • Photo effects
The shooting modes are the same as before, including the Pro mode. It gives you manual control over the cameras settings. Motion photo is available in the settings menu, it captures a 3-second video from before you pressed the shutter key (its a separate MP4 file, easy to share).
Pro mode
Samsung has touched up the camera internals too so we think it offers slightly better image quality than the S7 duo (well, until a firmware update brings them up to par).
The photos from the Galaxy Note7 camera are very detailed with little to no noise. Samsung has tuned to processing to make punchy images - contrast, color saturation and sharpening are all a bit stronger than we would have liked them to. Sure, this makes the image pop even on regular screens (ones that are not Super AMOLED), but we would have liked an option to tone those down.
Sharpening especially, it makes the images look overprocessed when you zoom in. The Note7 seems to have a slightly better dynamic range compared to the S7 duo.
Samsung Galaxy Note7 camera samples
We took several shots after dark. In such conditions its best to be careful and snap a couple of photos for safety and tapping on the screen to explicitly focus where you want. We had to toss a few soft photos (focus was in the wrong spot), but where the Note7 got things right, the image quality is quite impressive.
Galaxy Note7 samples: low-light
Thanks to the wide dynamic range of the camera, the Auto HDR mode rarely triggers (you can force it on if you like). It does a great job at restoring detail to highlights, but it slightly affects image quality - thin lines develop jaggies and moire effects appear.
Galaxy Note7 HDR: off • on
Panoramas shot with the Note7 are huge - close to 4,000px vertically and rich with detail. The dynamic range handles the shadows and highlights well and stitching is excellent.
Galaxy Note7 panorama
While Samsung is conservative with the resolution of the selfie camera, but the quality is very good. Photos are detailed, but youll want to leave Auto HDR on as the cameras dynamic range isnt as good as on the main camera.
Galaxy Note7 selfie: HDR off • HDR on
Heres how the Galaxy Note7 camera performs in our Photo quality comparison tool against some other recent cameras.
Samsung Galaxy Note7 in our Photo quality comparison tool
Samsung has produced a Lens Cover for the Galaxy Note7. It comes with two lenses - Telephoto (2x zoom) and Wide-angle (110°). They are high-quality lenses that work great for both photos and videos. We tried them out and walked away impressed.
Lens cover • Screwing in a lens • Two lenses are included •
Video camera
Th e Samsung Galaxy Note7 can shoot 2160p @ 30fps videos, of course, but it also does 1080p @ 60fps. The extra framerate makes motion appear smoother, an effect visible even in the viewfinder. If you really want to slow down fast motion, though, the 240fps mode is the right pick (it shoots at 720p resolution).
The 5MP camera does pretty well and can shoot videos at QHD resolution (2,560 x 1,440px), while most competitors are capped at 1080p.
Videos shot at the top 4K resolution are rich in detail and offer the same image processing as the still camera - slightly over the top when you zoom in. Still, you are a lot less likely to zoom in on a video than a photo, so this isnt such a problem here.
The 1080p @ 60fps videos are worth your considerations too - not as much detail in pixels, but motion becomes noticeably more fluid. Yo u can also do 1080p @ 30fps if you want to save some space (60fps videos are shot at 28 Mbps, 30fps at 17 Mbps), but theres no perceptible change in image quality.
Heres a still frame from Note7 video in controlled conditions against some of the 4K competition.
Samsung Galaxy Note7 in our Video quality comparison tool
Final words
Some say you shouldnt buy the first generation of anythin g - cars, TVs, gadgets - as the factories that make them are still warming up. The "facelift" will iron out any issues that slipped by in Gen 1.
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 is that facelift - its a Galaxy S7, but with the rough edges sanded down, new ideas implemented. Not just that, its the premium version too, adding features that the Galaxy S line will not see until the S8 (the iris scanner and USB Type-C).
But even that is a limited way of looking at the Note7 - the S Pen is so vital to the experience, yet it has no analog in the phone segment. You have to look at a Microsoft Surface Pro or an Apple iPad Pro to get a similar stylus experience.
Samsung initially used an asymmetric design - flat screen with curved back and curved screen with flat back. With the Galaxy Note7, it decided that symmetry is best and we agree - the phone looks better and feel s better for it. Heres what else we thought of the Note7.
Samsung Galaxy Note7 key test findings:
- Easily the most beautiful phone by Samsung, feels smaller than it really is
- First Galaxy Note to be waterproof, first Galaxy with iris scanner, first Galaxy with USB Type-C; iris scanner may not replace fingerprint reader in day-to-day operation
- The dual-curved display has great image quality, the curves enable Edge features (panels and feeds); they dont interfere with the S Pen
- The Always On feature has been improved, we especially like Screen off memo; it does reduce battery life, though
- Plenty of storage out of the box, dual-SIM phones have hybrid slots but with 64GB you can get by without a microSD card
- BATTERY LIFE
- Samsung is moving towards fewer TouchWiz apps by extending proprietary enhancements to other apps - any music player with Samsungs sound enhancements, any video player with Samsungs Video enhancer, etc.
- Great performance from the two chipsets, but without a clear lead against other flagships
- The loudspeaker has improved since the Note5, matches the Galaxy S7 edge at Good rating
- Great audio quality even with headphones, volume remains high
- The 12MP camera has a refined interface; the image quality is among the best though photos can look overprocessed if you zoom in; very good selfie camera
- 4K videos are packed with detail; 1080p @ 60fps videos are smooth, AF issues from the S7 edge have been ironed out
No one quite has a direct competitor for the Samsung Galaxy Note7. Apple dipped its toes into styluses, but thats only one iPad and theres no indication that the iPhone Pro will support a stylus. Other mainstream makers have no answer either - not LG, not HTC, not Sony.
So put away the stylus. The Motorola Moto Z has a beautiful AMOLED screen - 5.5" QHD - and we can live with it being flat. Its metal build is super thin (5.2mm!) and you get proper Snapdragon 820 power. The 13MP camera features OIS and f/1.8 aperture, the 5MP front camera with big pixels. The battery is kind of small, though, 2,600mAh.
The Moto Z Force (so far US exclusive), has a 3,500mAh battery (matching the Note7) in just 7mm of thickness. It also upgrades the main camera to 21MP (keeping the OIS and f/1.8 specs). Both phones are modular, but were waiting to see if the whole concept takes off.
Motorola Moto Z • Motorola Moto Z Force
Since the US is getting the Note7 first, lets look at another phone that launched there recently. The ZTE Axon 7 also has a flat 5.5" AMOLED screen, QHD resolution. It measures up quite we ll to the Moto - Snapdragon 820 chipset, 20MP camera with OIS and f/1.8 lens, 3,250mAh battery, stereo speakers too. The Axon 7 is also available in China with 128GB storage (similar situation to the Note7, the US is only getting 64GB).
ZTE Axon 7
The Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe does have a 128GB option, but thats merely the middle child. The top specced model comes wtih 256GB (and a microSD slot) plus 6GB of RAM. Both are hooked up to a Snapdragon 820 chipset driving a 5.5" Super AMOLED display (with only 1080p resolution, though). The main camera features a 23MP sensor, OIS and f/2.0 lens.
Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL
Huawei has the P9 Plus - an upscaled version of the P9 with a 5.5" Super AM OLED screen (1080p) and Kirin 955. The Plus model has the trademark dual 12MP camera setup - one in full color and one in Black & White (with Leica branding and camera software). It has a 3,400mAh battery in its 7mm thick body (for comparison, the Note7 is 7.9mm thick).
Then theres the upcoming Huawei Honor Note 8. A real beast with its 6.6" Super AMOLED screen (proper QHD resolution this time too) and big 4,500mAh battery. The camera is one-eyed this time, a 13MP shooter with OIS, but the phone still uses the same Kirin 955 chipset.
Huawei P9 Plus • Huawei Honor Note 8
OnePlus 3 launched to much fanfare and positive reviews and is one of the cheapest phones on this list yet it offers the same features. 5.5" 1080p AMOLED (by Samsung) - check. 16MP camera w ith OIS - check. Snapdragon 820 chipset - check. It doesnt have a microSD slot (and the only storage option is 64GB), but it runs a mostly pure Android version and it has 6GB of RAM - more than most.
OnePlus 3
Then we go into slightly more exotic solutions like the vivo Xplay5 Elite. It has the smallest screen here - 5.43" - but it is a dual-curved Super AMOLED with QHD resolution. Inside is a Snapdragon 820 nestled next to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (theres no microSD slot, but we dont think it matters). The main camera is similar to the OnePlus - 16MP with OIS and f/2.0 aperture.
vivo Xplay5 Elite
While the vivo is the only one to match the dual-curved screen, not it nor the others have proper w aterproofing (the Moto Zs are water resistant but not proof) or things like the dual-standard fast wireless charging. Theres just no single phone that combines features equivalent to Samsungs flagship.
So we have no doubt that Samsung has a winner on its hands with the Galaxy Note7. We do wonder, though, will it be gamers or business users that end up buying the most Note7s.
VR has finally cracked the consumer market and Samsungs solution is both one of the most affordable and one of the most popular ones (it helps that Gear VRs are handed out for free with each Galaxy flagship).
On the other hand, the Secure folder is unmatched in the way it creates a completely separate area in the phone - its like apps live on a completely different phone. And the gate is locked by iris and fingerprint scanners. The new S Pen features and their interactions with the Always On screen will quickly work their way into your daily routine too.
Few devices manage to combine business and pleasure as completely as the Samsung Galaxy Note7 does.
! ( hope useful)
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