Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review

How Samsung Galaxy S7 edge stack against iPhone 6s Plus, Nexus 6P

Samsung introduced the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge in India on Tuesday, at a price of Rs 48,900 and Rs 56,900 respectively. We compare the Galaxy S7 edge against Nexus 6P and iPhone 6s.

Samsung introduced the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge in India yesterday, at a price of Rs 48,900 and Rs 56,900 respectively. Samsung has tried to sweeten the deal for those pre-booking the smartphone and will offer a Rs 8,200 Gear VR headset free till March 17; the phones go on sale March 18.

While the Galaxy S7, S7 edge follow the same design philosophy as their predecessors, what Samsung has improved on drastically is the camera. Also, both phones are water and dust-resistant.  Out of the two, the Galaxy S7 edge is much more interesting as Samsung has shown that the dual-edge display can be used for a lot more now.

Given the premium pricing of Rs 56,900 (if you’re pre-booking, you’re technically paying Rs 48,700 if one considers the free Gear VR headset), we take a look at how it compares against the other two competitors in the category: Apple’s iPhone 6s Plus and Huawei Nexus 6P.

Samsung S7 edge specification compare with iPhone 6S plus and Nexus 6P

Below is a chart showing the specs, pricing of all the three smartphones

Here’s a quick look at the top stand-out points of the three smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge: For starters, the dual-edge display from Samsung is a unique feature that we’ve not seen in other devices. Samsung has increased the display space for edge display as well, and it basically provides a quick way to access notifications, call up contacts, etc. With the new Galaxy S7 edge, Samsung shows that the edge display is no longer a gimmicky feature.

Samsung also included a Concierge service geared for India. S7 customers will get to jump the queue at around 400 service centres, and will also have pickup and drop facility with the option of getting a standby device if needed.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S7 edge phone is also water and dust-resistant, a major point in its favour.
The S7 edge’s camera comes with dramatic improvement as well. Samsung might have reduced camera resolution from 16 mp (in S6 edge) to 12 megapixels, but the quality of low-light pictures has improved drastically.

Samsung says the new Galaxy S7, S7 edge come with ‘Dual Pixel’ technology that works like a human eye, and that 100 per cent of the pixels are used to focus, allowing for a faster focus while taking a picture.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge’s standout points so far are: Improved camera, dual edge display and the water and dust-resistance.

Apple iPhone 6s Plus: The comparison with the Apple iPhone 6s Plus is inevitable; even Samsung, in its launch, was keen to highlight just how much faster and better their camera is, compared to Cupertino’s big-screened smartphone.

The Apple iPhone 6s Plus which was launched at Rs 72,000 is now retailing close to Rs 55,000 online for the 16GB version, while the 64GB is available for Rs 66,000.
Apple iPhone 6s Plus might not have 4GB RAM, but when it comes to performance, it’s pretty solid. It’s a premium-looking device and it seems buyers are willing to spend that money for Apple. A recent IDC report says Apple has a 42.1 per cent share of the above $300 smartphone market in India, which is huge.

iPhone 6s Plus camera supports features like 4K recording and the phone doesn’t heat, no matter how long you continue recording in that resolution. It has a decent battery back-up. Plus there’s the 3D Touch Display to peek and pop into apps without opening them. Live Photos in Apple’s iPhone 6s Plus are another feature unique to this device.
Apple iPhone 6s Plus’ biggest advantages are: super smooth performance, and a top-notch camera option.

Huawei Nexus 6P: When it comes to Android, the world is torn between pure Android lovers, and those who like customisation. Nexus devices represent the pinnacle of what the Android OS can do, because, well its just Android. This year, the Huawei Nexus 6P is the new premium pure Android smartphone.

What we loved about the Nexus 6P was its vivid 2K display, the super-low performance of the camera and the battery life. In our own use case, the Nexus 6P lasted a full day. The camera itself is fast, it works brilliantly in low-light, and a lot of reviewers will probably end up comparing this one to the Galaxy S7 edge camera. The only concern with the Nexus 6P was the heating issue.

For Nexus 6P, the biggest plus is the pure Android experience, and the assurance that the phone will get the next update soon. The camera is also of superb quality and technically this is the cheapest ‘premium’ phone out of the three.

In picturesSamsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge out for India: Specs, price and free Gear VR till March 17.

How to Get a Free Samsung Galaxy S7

The British government’s “snooper’s charter” appears to go against major European judgements that forbid mass surveillance, according to the United Nations’ top expert on privacy, Joseph Cannataci.

Cannataci, the UN’s “special rapporteur” on the subject, issued a report on Wednesday that said the U.K. government seemed not to appreciate “the serious and possibly unintended consequences of legitimizing bulk interception and bulk hacking.” He urged the government to step back and set a better example to other countries.

The Investigatory Powers Bill would force British Internet service providers to keep logs of all the websites people visit and all the calls they make. It would allow the government to hack many people’s computing devices at once, force organizations to hand over bulk datasets on their customers, and make tech firms remove encryption on their products when asked to do so.

The judgements Cannataci referred to were those of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the Schrems case, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the Zakharov case.

The Schrems judgement is pretty well known—that was where the EU’s highest court struck down the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor data-transfer agreement, partly because of the U.S. PRISM mass surveillance program. In the ruling, the ECJ said any non-targeted surveillance program giving authorities “generalized” access to people’s data must by definition violate the right to privacy.
The Zakharov ruling, which came through in early December, is perhaps less well-known. It concerned Council of Europe member Russia, which runs a deeply intrusive surveillance apparatus called SORM that gives the authorities direct access to everyone’s communications.

The ECtHR ruled even more explicitly than the ECJ, declaring the illegality of any system that gives the security services and police the “technical means to circumvent the authorization procedure and to intercept any communications without obtaining prior judicial authorization.” Such systems are open to abuse, the court said.

The British government took into account reports from three parliamentary committees on its draft Investigatory Powers Bill, before producing the finished product this month. According to Cannataci, those proposals still “fail the benchmarks” set by the ECJ and ECtHR.

Cannataci encouraged the parliamentary committees to “continue, with renewed vigor and determination, to exert their influence in order that disproportionate, privacy-intrusive measures such as bulk surveillance and bulk hacking as contemplated in the Investigatory Powers Bill be outlawed rather than legitimized.”

The rapporteur also praised the governments of the U.S. and the Netherlands for rejecting the use of backdoors, which would allow deliberate ways through encrypted communications techniques for the benefit of investigators and intelligence agencies.

He also backed up the intervention of the United Nation’s high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in the case of the FBI versus Apple. Zeid said the authorities risk opening a “Pandora’s Box” if they succeed in forcing Apple to make a special version of the iPhone software to help investigators access a locked phone that was used by San Bernardino killer Syed Farook.

“It is encouraging to note the latest comments made by US defense secretary Ash Carter when he declared ‘that strong encryption is essential to the nation’s security’,” Cannataci wrote.