1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:09,200
My initial reaction to holding the Galaxy S7 in my hand was, "Oh boy,

2
00:00:06,879 --> 00:00:13,040
another iterative update from a Korean mega

3
00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:19,039
corporation. How utterly uninteresting." But having spent the last couple of

4
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:21,760
weeks using the S7 as my daily driver, I

5
00:00:19,039 --> 00:00:33,120
can confidently say that there won't be any spoilers here. Roll the intro.

6
00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:39,760
The Arya headphones from Phoenix come complete with a cardioid clip mic and

7
00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:44,719
acoustic chambers constructed entirely of Japanese pinewood. Click the link in

8
00:00:42,079 --> 00:00:51,760
the video description to learn more. As dangerous as this may be to say, in

9
00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:54,320
my mind, the S7 is about as good as we

10
00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:57,680
will ever need from a quality of construction standpoint. Which isn't to

11
00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:01,280
say we don't need an active skew for the people who throw their phones around. I

12
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:06,320
mean, sure, with carbon fiber, next generation glass, or other advanced

13
00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:11,119
materials, slight improvements could be made and will be made to the overall fit

14
00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:15,600
and finish, but I've never understood, for example, Apple's obsession with

15
00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:21,600
thinner and lighter just because we can. And apparently, neither does Samsung.

16
00:01:18,159 --> 00:01:24,159
The S7 is unapologetically thicker and

17
00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:30,159
heavier than the iPhone 6s and doesn't suffer for it at all. I mean, the extra

18
00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:32,560
heft to me makes it feel like a premium

19
00:01:30,159 --> 00:01:36,560
piece of machinery. And frankly, I would make the argument that the extra

20
00:01:34,479 --> 00:01:40,640
functionality enabled by the thickness increase, the micro SD expansion slot

21
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:45,840
that's next to the SIM slot on the top, the much larger 3000 mAh battery, and

22
00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:49,640
the hardly noticeable bump over the lightning fast 12 megapixel optically

23
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:55,119
stabilized camera each individually make up for that size and

24
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:59,439
weight increase. And there are other things that I really like about it as

25
00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:03,759
well. Can I be the first to say? I mean, okay, I'm probably not the first, but

26
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:08,319
can I say it anyway that the lock button and volume buttons are great. They're

27
00:02:06,479 --> 00:02:12,560
not directly opposing each other, so it's easy to press one side without

28
00:02:10,319 --> 00:02:17,599
mashing on the other side. And they're big and clicky enough that I can feel

29
00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:21,040
them in my pocket, but not accidentally press them. I mean, I know I've harped

30
00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:26,160
on this a lot in the past, but it's because it's a major annoyance for me.

31
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:31,440
And Samsung has proven now that it's really not that hard, Apple. With that

32
00:02:28,959 --> 00:02:37,040
said, it's not perfect. Samsung opted for a microB USB port for the bottom

33
00:02:34,319 --> 00:02:40,879
instead of a type-C port, though this is somewhat more forgivable thanks to the

34
00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:46,160
S7's inclusion of wireless charging to maintain compatibility with the Gear VR.

35
00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:48,400
and still hasn't managed to deliver a

36
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:53,280
speaker solution that doesn't require me to cup my hands around the bottom of the

37
00:02:50,319 --> 00:02:57,200
device or plug in the 3 and 1/2 mm jack also found there in order to hear

38
00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:01,920
anything. Moving around to the front, we've got a 5.1 in

39
00:02:59,319 --> 00:03:07,040
2560x440 Corning Gorilla Glass 4 topped AMOLED display with a 5 megapixel f1.7

40
00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:12,480
selfie camera that carries forward the S6's very solid low light performance

41
00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:16,879
for a front cam and its wide-angle lens. The latter is a big advantage if you're

42
00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:21,280
trying to get a large group into a shot with you in any sensible venue that's

43
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:26,239
banned selfie sticks without getting a wicked case of uh selfie ARM here. But

44
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:31,920
the flip side is I'm pretty sure this camera makes my nose look big. In terms

45
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:36,799
of inside guts, the S7 represents the best that Samsung can build. And I'll

46
00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:42,959
explain that asterisk in a moment. So, it's got 4 gigs of LPDDR4 RAM, 32 or 64

47
00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:47,599
gigs of onboard storage with that micro SD expansion slot I mentioned before.

48
00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:51,840
Although, by the way, it can only be used as traditional mass storage. No

49
00:03:50,239 --> 00:03:57,200
adoptable storage in spite of the Android Marshmallow OS. It's rocking

50
00:03:54,959 --> 00:04:02,640
bajillion sensors, including a barometer and heart rate monitor. fast charging

51
00:03:59,599 --> 00:04:04,959
for its non- removable 3000 mAh battery,

52
00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:10,000
a significant capacity bump over the S6, by the way, and support for sexy new

53
00:04:07,519 --> 00:04:14,159
Wave 2 AC wireless access points with multi-user MIMO, which theoretically

54
00:04:12,239 --> 00:04:19,919
means lightning fast Wi-Fi like the iPhone 6S, but in practice means still

55
00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:24,960
fast, but not as fast Wi-Fi. This test was done on a symmetric gigabit internet

56
00:04:21,919 --> 00:04:27,199
connection. Now to the asterisk. Samsung

57
00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:33,960
is shipping two versions of the S7. Either with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820

58
00:04:29,759 --> 00:04:38,639
CPU with an Adreno 530 GPU or an Exynos

59
00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:41,600
8890 CPU with a Mali T880 MP12 GPU

60
00:04:38,639 --> 00:04:47,199
depending on the region. They are similar in speed, but different chipsets

61
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:53,040
may have different quirks when it comes to custom ROM installation or even apps.

62
00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:58,639
Also notable is the fact that the camera sensor is being dual sourced similarly

63
00:04:55,440 --> 00:05:01,840
to the S6. So you may get either a Sony

64
00:04:58,639 --> 00:05:03,520
or a Samsung sensor. Not by region this

65
00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:08,800
time, but rather it appears to be pure luck of the draw. Which I guess leads us

66
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:12,240
pretty well to the camera discussion. I

67
00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:14,320
love the S7's camera. Sure, it's got

68
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:19,600
fewer megapixels than the S6, but they're larger for better lowlight

69
00:05:15,919 --> 00:05:22,160
performance. And I absolutely love the

70
00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:25,440
app. It launches nearly instantly with a double tap of the home button, which if

71
00:05:23,919 --> 00:05:29,919
you're trying to capture the cute antics of kids or pets, is half the battle, and

72
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:33,680
autofocuses, then snaps a picture either with the on-creen buttons or with the

73
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:39,280
volume buttons, or even a metric whack of them in burst mode. By the way,

74
00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:41,199
almost as fast. Photo and video capture

75
00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:45,680
can be started from the same window. Photos taken while recording video are

76
00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:50,960
again lightning fast and look really good. And unlike the iPhone 6S that I

77
00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:55,120
was using with my roaming sim on my recent trip to New York while finishing

78
00:05:52,720 --> 00:06:00,560
up this review, by the way, the S7 lets you under the hood with downloadable and

79
00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:04,880
rearrangeable camera modes, including a pro mode that allows adjustments to

80
00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:10,319
white balance, shutter speed, ISO, focus, and even a RAW shooting mode that

81
00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:14,880
should tickle shutter bugs pink. While there are other phones with great

82
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:21,120
cameras out there, it's the usability that makes the S7 such a killer for me.

83
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:24,240
And now that all of this extra stuff in

84
00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:26,639
Samsung's camera app actually works well

85
00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:32,080
rather than being weird halfbaked add-ons like they always seemed to be in

86
00:06:28,479 --> 00:06:34,880
the past. I think Apple finally needs to

87
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:38,960
respond. Which leads me to my thoughts on general usability and the experience

88
00:06:37,039 --> 00:06:44,160
of switching to the S7 as my daily driver for the last couple of weeks.

89
00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:46,400
TouchWiz is in my mind officially a

90
00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:49,840
non-issue. Whether we're talking about split screen or their integrated phone

91
00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:55,440
directory service that attempts to help you filter out useless spam, the things

92
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:58,720
that it adds no longer hurt the Android

93
00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:01,759
experience in my eyes. And there isn't

94
00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:04,560
really much that I care about that they

95
00:07:01,759 --> 00:07:09,280
take away. Performance of the phone was without fault, and while frequently

96
00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:14,479
switching between it and the iPhone 6S on my recent trip, I never felt like I

97
00:07:12,319 --> 00:07:18,560
was missing a beat, which is high praise indeed. Snapdragon 810's thermal issues

98
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:23,039
don't seem to have made another appearance here, with the S7 only losing

99
00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:28,080
about 10% of its performance after 10 minutes of continuous Geekbench 3 CPU

100
00:07:25,599 --> 00:07:32,039
benchmarks. And it's not quite an A9, but it's still very solid. And the

101
00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:38,080
screen, while guilty of some oversaturation, managed some fantastic

102
00:07:35,039 --> 00:07:40,240
usability from nighttime to broad summer

103
00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:45,039
daylight. If I had to give some feedback to Samsung, I would ask respectfully

104
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:50,080
that they give me the choice to use onscreen buttons instead of the hardware

105
00:07:47,599 --> 00:07:54,639
ones. I find it hard to hold devices with capacitive buttons horizontally. I

106
00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:58,240
bump back while reaching to the far left of my keyboard when I'm using it

107
00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:02,080
one-handed. And I often find myself mashing the home button while taking the

108
00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:05,440
S7 out of my pocket. Remember, the headphone jack is on the bottom. So,

109
00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:09,599
that's the part of the phone that you're going to have to grab. I'd also love to,

110
00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:13,440
while I'm giving feedback, have the fingerprint sensor on the lock button

111
00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:17,280
instead of on the home button. It's amazing. I never realized what a great

112
00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:21,919
idea this was until I started using the Xperia E5 Compact. I'd like the lock

113
00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:26,080
button to take me to the notification screen and the home button to take me to

114
00:08:23,919 --> 00:08:32,000
my main desktop when I have a smart lock Bluetooth device connection. And while

115
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:33,680
I'm at it, Motorola's ambient display

116
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,599
where you can actually interact and preview notifications is much better

117
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:46,080
than just being able to see the time, the date, and battery life. But with all

118
00:08:41,599 --> 00:08:48,240
that feedback in mind, that's it. I made

119
00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:53,600
it to the end of almost every day with 30% battery or more. And the S7 was such

120
00:08:51,839 --> 00:08:58,480
a pleasure to use that I found myself browsing more, taking more pictures, and

121
00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:04,240
taking more videos. And this is without mentioning that Samsung brought back

122
00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:06,720
waterproofing. So, the S7 is a winner,

123
00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:12,640
and it's overthrown my previous king, the Z5 Compact, by merit of its much

124
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:15,839
faster and better camera. The only thing

125
00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:18,480
that the Z5 still drives me crazy with

126
00:09:15,839 --> 00:09:23,480
even after the Marshmallow update. So, there it is. Seven generations in. You

127
00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:28,800
finally got me, Samsung. You finally got

128
00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:32,959
me. And you know what else has got me?

129
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:35,120
DR, makers of the matte black vinyl skin

130
00:09:32,959 --> 00:09:41,200
that was featured in the B-roll for the Galaxy S7 throughout this video. and not

131
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:44,959
only looks good but also actually in the case of this phone improves the

132
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:49,200
functionality of the device because I was reading and watching other people's

133
00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,480
reviews and everyone's going like oh yeah the F7 is so

134
00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:59,760
slippery yeah not actually if you replace the backing with that matte one

135
00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:03,120
or with one of the carbon fiber ones of which I actually have two examples here

136
00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:07,440
this is a limited edition orange one they did a while ago and here is the

137
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:12,399
regular black carbon fiber that they usually send us. So, Dbrand skins in a

138
00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:17,760
nutshell, they're affordable, they're easy to apply, they fit perfectly, and

139
00:10:15,839 --> 00:10:22,320
they protect your device from incidental scrapes and scratches while making it

140
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:27,120
look better. And you're not stuck with matte black or carbon fiber or other

141
00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:30,880
carbon fiber. You can actually choose any finish you want using their

142
00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:34,640
configurator. And you can even mix and match if you want something different on

143
00:10:32,399 --> 00:10:39,519
the front or the back. Or hey, maybe you just want something completely

144
00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:44,399
psychedelic. They can do that, too. So, check them out at the link in the video

145
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:47,760
description. So, thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know

146
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:51,200
what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or

147
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:54,240
even consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code to shop at

148
00:10:52,399 --> 00:10:57,279
Amazon. Instructions up there, buying a cool shirt like Oh, no. I'm not wearing

149
00:10:55,680 --> 00:11:01,360
my LT shirt today. Okay. Well, not like this one, like a different shirt that I normally wear. Or with a direct monthly

150
00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:05,279
contribution through our community forum. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering,

151
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:09,920
hm, what should I watch next? So, click that little button in the top right corner to check out our channel Super

152
00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:14,640
Fun video where we do the thing that we're presumably showing you that we do

153
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,640
right now.