Home Tech Reviews Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Hands-on Review

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Hands-on Review

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It’s time, yet again, for a Galaxy Note update and that’s what we just got with much fanfare from Samsung loyalists. It’s the latest top-dog phablet to hit the market and we take a close look at this shiny new device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

Before you go rushing to the comments section, no, we didn’t get the number wrong, we’ve asked Samsung why skip the Note 6 and they said that: “to not have any confusion with the premium Galaxy brand,” they unified all their latest flagships into the same series – in this case, the number 7.

Design and build

At first glance, our review unit seemed like a shiny sticker was slapped on the device with its metallic gold finish. Even from a distance. Samsung could’ve chosen a less reflective color to deter would-be snatchers from identifying a Note 7 a mile away.

The entire phone is covered in Gorilla Glass 5 that curves towards its tapered metal frame giving a slippery but comfortable hold. The tired ports, bells, and whistle placements of an old Galaxy Note’s design are found here with the addition of an iris scanner – we’ll get to that in a bit.

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Despite having a 5.7-inch screen, Samsung managed to make the entire thing easy to hold. Yes, there will be a lot of finger gymnastics in reaching far corners of the device but that’s where the one-handed use mode comes in handy.

The curvature of the front panel didn’t impede in handling the phone with accidental touches and cues unlike the Note of old that kept calling up my side panel after making sure I was securely holding the device.

Overall, design refinements of a tired Galaxy look.

S-Pen Features

The latest add-on for the Korean giant is in the form of an iris scanner for a security feature. It’s basically an infrared blaster that throws beams forward to scan your irises. How this works is, after setting up your lock screen, you have swipe up, make sure the phone is within a proper distance from your face, and the scanning will commence.

It’s fast when ideal conditions are met indoors, not in direct sunlight, and no, a photo will not work because it scans for depth, not pattern.

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The S Pen has been improved making it smaller for more control. The tip has been adjusted to recognized pressure that makes drawing easier for the talented if that’s what you need the Note 7 for.

From a locked screen, releasing the S Pen cues up a pad you can write stuff on to save for later. While immersed in the phone, a floating toggle will call up other functionalities like translate or make GIFs out of videos.

And no, the S Pen does not return to its cave tail-end first to avoid snapping the fragile tool. Trust us, we’ve tried.

Software UI and screenshots

Dual Edge Display and IP68 waterproofing

The Galaxy Note 7 has a dust and water-resistance rating of IP68 meaning it can be submerged in water at a depth of 1.5 meters or 5 feet for 30 minutes and it will survive. We tried using the phone underwater but it will only work with its water resistant S Pen, not with fingers. No real-life usage unless you want to play Pokemon Go under a downpour, or set-up shop inside a filled swimming pool.

Aside from those, there hasn’t been much of change in the Galaxy lineup. A 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display outputs in your face reds and yellows to images with really high saturation, a fingerprint scanner – when and if the iris scanner doesn’t meet ideal conditions. The tactile home button flanked by non-customizable capacitive keys.

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Hardware and benchmark

Samsung chose to stick with their own processor the Octacore Exynos 8890 with Mali-T880 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 64 GB of onboard storage. Supports dual SIM and dual LTE capabilities with the option to expand memory to 256GB.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Antutu Benchmark Test Philippines
Antutu Benchmark test vs OnePlus 3, Xperia X Performance, HTC 10, Galaxy S7, Xiaomi Mi 5

Camera

The 12MP main camera is the same as its smaller S7 and S7 Edge counterpart, high saturation, and overexposed shots. The 5MP front-facing selfie camera with over-the-top “beautification” modes like “slim face” and blemish removal.

Selfie photos

Extra features

The “productive” slide from the edge to call up some preset tools or apps. The slide from the right edge to view Flipboard widget.

The S-health module which took forever to determine that I’m feeling neutral at the moment.

A streamlined notifications slider, a cleaner settings menu, the same old tired Samsung Galaxy design. It’s eye catchy, handy for its target market, and expensive. That’s about it.

Battery and charging

The juice tops up an hour and 40 minutes to fill the 3500maH non-removable battery with about 30.7 hours of endurance and 4.5 hours of screen-on-time with the always on screen edge function. We’ve tested how much power the always-on notification edge consumes and we got about a 2% drain after 2 hours of staring at it. (Dedication, we know.)

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Battery Rating Life Endurance Charging Review
Battery Endurance Life and Charging Time Rating

Speaker and audio

The speakers are loud and crisp if it’s not being covered by your hands in landscape mode. Also, supports high-res 24bit audio playback.

Pricing and Verdict

There’s no denying the Samsung Galaxy feels premium, looks reflective and shiny and holds securely in the hand.

The features and other trinkets are nice to have but don’t scream hyper-productive use nor does it say I’m your next and only phablet until my manufacturer “improves” me with a faster processor next year and makes me drop resistant to 5 meters. (Maybe?)

Perhaps the only good thing about the Note 7 is its water-resistance.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will retail in Philippine shores at P39,990 or $850 US price or available for pre-order at Globe with PHP 8,400 cash out under plan 2499 with 2 year lock-in period or PHP 12,000 cash out under All-In plan 2500 for Smart subscribers.

What do you think about the Galaxy Note 7? Let us know the comments section below.

Pros and Cons of Samsung Galaxy Note 7

+ IP68 waterproof and dust-resistance
+ S-pen feature
+ Edge display
+ Premium design
– Expensive
– Bland photos and selfies
– Iris scanner needs some getting used to

http://www.youtube.com/embed/B62d9qfpy4c?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Full specs, Official price, Release date in the Philippines

  • Display: 5.7-inch Quad HD 2K Super AMOLED, 518 ppi
  • Design: Glass and metal Dual Edge curved Gorilla Glass 5, IP68 waterproof, Stylus S-Pen
  • Size: 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9 mm, 169g weight
  • CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip with quad-core processor, 2.2GHz speed or Exynos 8890 octa-core
  • GPU: Adreno 530 graphics or Mali T880 MP2
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Memory: 64GB internal storage, microSD up to 256GB (dedicated or hybrid)
  • Camera: 12MP f1.7, 4K video, LED flash, Color Spectrum Sensor
  • Selfie: 5MP f1.7 wide angle front-facing, 1440p video
  • Connectivity: 4G LTE Cat 12 / VoLTE, dual-SIM or single, GPS, WiFi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, FM Radio
  • Ports: USB Type-C reversible version 3.1
  • Security: Fingerprint scanner, Iris scanner
  • Battery: 3500mAh, Fast Adaptive Charging, Wireless Charging
  • OS: Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, upgradeable to Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Colors (Dual Tone): Blue Coral, Silver Titanium, Black Onyx, Gold Platinum
  • Price: estimated official price at P39,990 or $800+ USD
  • Release date: August 20 2016 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 availability in the Philippines

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