After a very successful flagship in 2015, Samsung continues its momentum by proposing what looks like an evolution of the Galaxy S6. However, we find a slightly redesigned design, more power, a few features that are eagerly awaited, and above all a brand new photo sensor.
At first glance, hard to differentiate the Samsung Galaxy S7 from its predecessor. Metal and glass are still on the agenda, but while last year's camera was perfectly flat on both sides, the back of the new flagship is slightly curved. And in terms of handling, it changes almost everything. In addition to its visual appearance far from unpleasant, this finish allows the smartphone to much better hold in hand. Broken and broken insurance should be less essential this time, especially for those who do not want to protect their device with a hull.
Always a perfect screen
At the back, the camera is much less protruding than the S6. Samsung has managed to reduce the size? Certainly. The manufacturer may also (very) slightly cheated by adding a small layer of thickness to the smartphone (just 1 mm extra). The S7 is also a little heavier than the S6 with 152 g against 138 g. In the hand, this is not disturbing. In general, we have to face the facts. This is certainly the best Android smartphone on the market, the Galaxy S7 Edge aside
Despite a screen size - 5.1 inches - similar to the previous model, Samsung has managed to offer a significantly smaller and lower camera. So there is even less room around the Super AMOLED Quad HD panel. The screen does not differ substantially from that of the Galaxy S6 but after all, why change something already close to perfection?
Without much surprise, the image is superb, very detailed and especially very colorful. The infinite contrast ratio and brightness of up to 600 cd / m² make optimal comfort even when it comes to reading or watching videos in direct sunlight. Although it is not a very big format, the Galaxy S7 should also convince the big consumers of videos, rather prone to the phablettes
Players have something to see
On the other hand, there is a change on the processor side. In France, we are entitled to a new Exynos 8890 at 2.3 Ghz coupled to 4 GB of RAM, against an Exynos at 2.1 Ghz with 3 GB last year. Samsung boasts of offering a device 30% faster than its predecessor, with a gain of 64% in graphics power. Since we have to speak numbers, we compared the AnTuTu benchmarks. With the key an increase of the general score of 32%, and 53% in 3D. So we can say that the manufacturer was rather realistic in his estimates.
With such a level of performance, we will not be limited to Candy Crush Saga. Moreover, the device is clearly thought for the game with its new Game Launcher that allows to group all its games in one place. Under Epic Citadel, we are familiar with 60 images per second. Results finally very close to those of the Galaxy S6. Gourmet titles like Real Racing 3 or Asphalt 8 will run without any hitch. It will certainly take months - or years - before the S7 is too limited to play a game in good conditions.
All these high-end components obviously make the user experience a real pleasure, as the menus are fluid and responsive. RAM allows you to take full advantage of multitasking without any slowdown. The only - very slight - downside comes from the fingerprint sensor. After the arrival of devices like the Nexus 5X or the Honor 5X, we expected an almost instantaneous unlocking once the finger placed on the Home button. However, we always observe a slight delay, without being able to explain it.
The three good surprises of Samsung
On the other hand, Samsung has booked real surprises in terms of equipment Galaxy S7. The return of sealing, and even its improvement with the IP68 standard that allows immersion under 1.5m of water for 30 minutes. Without going to take a shower with his smartphone, we have enough to face the rain showers.
Autonomy has also been reworked, including a battery that goes from 2550 to 3000 mAh. The results of our measurements are up to this gap. When the Galaxy S6 was 8h33 in versatile autonomy, we now go over 10h. In video playback, the last model is 16:30 against 13:30 for its predecessor. As for web surfing, we approach the 20h against 17:30 for the S6. With these advances, Samsung is hitting hard in one of the areas that arouses the most expectation from users.
The third nice surprise comes from the return of the microSD port which allows to add up to 200 GB of additional storage. With an offer that is confined to a model of 32 GB of storage - 7 of which are taken by the operating system, this is not a luxury. Samsung did not integrate the Adaptive Storage offered by Android Marshamallow. An option to merge microSD storage with internal storage and thus install applications directly on the map. The brand justifies its decision by fearing that users will inadvertently remove important data from their device. We would have appreciated the choice, especially when we consume a lot of music and we like to download Spotify or Deezer content to listen offline.
The software overlay also comes close to the previous model, with a version of TouchWiz based on Marshmallow. We regret that Samsung continues to impose its design, too far from the spirit Material Design Google. There is also the option Always On which allows to permanently display certain elements on the screen, even when it is locked. Without being revolutionary, the software overlay offers some interesting progress, which we treated in more detail during a dedicated test
A little disappointment in the photo
If we had to remember one thing from the press conference held by Samsung - except the arrival of Mark Zuckerberg in rockstar, it is certainly the change of course in the photo. From 16 megapixels to 12 megapixels, the brand made a strong choice, that of reducing the definition to bet on larger photosites and a better aperture (f / 1.7). All in order to offer the best possible result in low light.
After our photo tests, the result is not convincing. If the photos are actually brighter in a dark environment, we lose slightly in details. Finally, the good overall quality remains at the rendezvous, with defects of different types.
When the scene is well lit, the smoothing done by the software is sometimes too pushed, offering a less natural rendering than on a Samsung Galaxy S6. There is also a slight loss of quality around the image. Regarding the smoothing, it is hoped that this defect, certainly related to software processing, will be corrected later. In conclusion, the Galaxy S7 is excellent in photography, certainly among the best. But it seems that the photos taken in good conditions suffer very slightly from the efforts made to manage the dark environments. Finally, as announced by Samsung, the development is done with impressive speed. But these few tenths of a second earned are worth the candle? To find out, we compared the camera of the last Samsung with the competition in a dedicated test
