Samsung has officially unveiled its newest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge, ahead of the 2016 Mobile World Congress.
Looking to claim the top spot in the Android smartphone market, Samsung packed the devices with powerful specs and a variety of features to entice users to purchase the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge.
For customers that were hooked by Samsung's unveiling and have decided to purchase the company's newest flagship device, the last question remaining is, which model between the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge to acquire.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Samsung's newest smartphones, which will be hitting the market on March 11.
Similarities
First, let us list down the similarities between the two models. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are both powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, with a pair of Kryo cores clocking in at 2.15 GHz and another pair clocking in at 1.6 GHz. There will also be variant of the smartphones that will be powered by Samsung's own octa-core Exynos 8890.
Both devices also feature 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage, along with the return of microSD card support which was notably missing in the Galaxy S6 line of devices. Users will be able to expand the storage of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge by up to 200 GB.
The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge both have a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and an improved autofocus system, along with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
The devices have also received an IP68 waterproof design, which means that they will be able to survive being completely submerged under water. Another shared feature is an always-on display setting, which will allow the screens of the smartphones to continuously display the time, date, or any other information as set by the user.
That is all for the similarities. Now, let us move on to the differences.
Display
The Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch quad HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels for density of 577 pixels per inch.
The Galaxy S7 edge, on the other hand, has a slightly bigger version of the same display, measuring 5.5 inches, along with a slightly lower density of 534 pixels per inch. Of course, the Galaxy S7 edge also features the dual edge screen that gave the device its name.
Battery
The Galaxy S7 has a 3,000 mAh battery, which offers users a decent amount of battery life. The Galaxy S7 edge, however, has an even larger battery with a capacity of 3,600 mAh.
Functionality
As mentioned, the Galaxy S7 edge has its namesake dual edge screen that provides users with additional real estate on their displays. The feature on the Galaxy S6 edge recently received improvements with the launch of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, and these improvements will surely be available on the Galaxy S7 edge as well.
Some of the improvements include the ability to expand the width of the edge display by more than double, additional edge panels for customization, improvements to the People edge panel, the introduction of the new Tasks edge panel and the addition of Quick tools to the edge display.
Price
Preorders of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge begin on Feb. 23, and as expected, the price of the Galaxy S7 edge is higher compared to the Galaxy S7.
The different carriers in the United States offer different prices for the smartphones, with the 30-month scheme of AT&T for the devices pegging the value of the Galaxy S7 at $695 and the Galaxy S7 edge at $795, while the 24-month scheme of T-Mobile puts the price of the smartphones at $670 for the Galaxy S7 and $780 for the Galaxy S7 edge.
The gap of about $100 in price for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge continues across all the carriers.
Verdict
The Galaxy S7 edge is hands-down the better smartphone of the two, due to the larger display, battery, and the added functionality of the dual edge screen.
However, for certain reasons such as users wanting a slightly smaller display or budget constraints, the choice of going with the Galaxy S7 is understandable. That is not a bad thing though, as the Galaxy S7 is still an excellent smartphone worth owning.
