Alcatel OneTouch Idol3 – Inexpensive, but Stylish

Alcatel has had it rather rough over the years, lacking popularity in the smartphone world, but with its newest flagship, the OneTouch Idol 3, it seems that the company has redeemed itself. The Idol 3 gets a very beautiful case, an attractive display, rather good performance and a low price tag. All these make the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 one of the best mid-range smartphones on the market.

CHECK OUT THE FULL REVIEW OF THE ALCATEL ONETOUCH IDOL3

Design and Display
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 attempts to be the most elegant budget smartphone and accomplishes this task with ease. The case, although made of plastic, doesn’t come out as cheap, on the contrary, thanks to its dark grey brushed finish, thin bezels and soft rounded corners, you could easily mistake it for a high-end flagship. Also, we took great pleasure into seeing the level of detail Alcatel has put in the construction and the assembly process, everything is precise and the phone gives the same vibe as a high-quality phone should.

The Idol3 isn’t a bulky, nor heavy phone, it measures 6.01 x 2.96 x 0.29 inches and weighs 4.96 oz. Because the back panel is rather flat, it may not feel as comfortable in the palm of your hand as it would if you held a handset with a curved back. Thinking that its size may be an inconvenience for people with smaller hands (like women), Alcatel created a 4.7-inch variant, that unfortunately is not on par with the 5.5-inch variant in terms of performance. Anyway, we enjoyed the seamless feel and how the buttons were placed, they were easy to reach, but if you want to operate it with one hand, you may want to go with the smaller OneTouch Idol3.

On the left side of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol3 rests the Power button and a SIM card slot and on the right side there’s the volume controller. Because the Idol 3 has a dual microphone setup, the call quality will remain the same no matter how you hold the phone. The top of the handset is home to a microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack and on the bottom, there’s the microUSB port. Alcatel has also equipped the Idol 3 with a microSD card slot which is incorporated into the SIM card slot.
Between the two high-quality JBL speakers, there is the 5.5-inches IPS LCD display, which has a resolution of 1920x1080p, a pixel density of 401ppi and uses the Technicolor Colour Enhance Technology that renders more impactful colours. The viewing angles are really great, the images being sharp and highly detailed. Also, in direct sunlight, the Alcatel Idol3’s display was clearly visible (yes, even on the beach).

Performance and Software
Inside the case you will find a 64-bit Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor (1.5GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 and 1.0GHz quad-core Cortex-A53), backed by an Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB DDR RAM. The base model has 16GB of storage available (you can add 128GB using the card slot).
The processing power is acceptable, as you would expect from a mid-range smartphone. Most of the games will run without stuttering or lag, but openning up multiple demanding apps will slow down the system a lot. So, for light to medium use, it will be fine, but try something more demanding and you will feel the phone’s limitations.

Alcatel OneTouch idol 3 comes with it’s own custom skin, but changes very little from the original Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. The most relevant feature, which is also a key selling point is the reversible interface. It means that even if you hold the phone at 180-degree the interface will fully rotate. Other than that, there can be seen a lot of influence from the Material Design in its native apps and because the interface is stock-like it will satisfy a lot of ‘purists’.

Camera and Battery Life
The OneTouch Idol 3 features a 13-megapixel rear camera, with a Sony IMX214 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, LED flash, 1.12µm pixel size, face detection, HDR and Panorama. There’s also a 8-megapixel front camera. By default, the rear camera only generates 10-megapixel and in order to have 13-megapixel photos, you have to manually upgrade the camera.

In good light, you will be able to get some good shots, pictures being colourful and clear, with a good amount of detail and satisfying colour accuracy. In low-lit scenarios, the camera did reasonably well, especially thanks to the electronic image stabilization, but it sometimes struggled with darker shots, rendering really noisy pictures. But, even though it’s not outstanding, the camera will satisfy if used for casual photos.
The camera interface is heavily inspired by the stock Android app and you get some useful options like HDR, Panoramic, Time-Lapse or Face-Beauty.
In terms of battery life, the Idol 3 has a non-removable 2910 mAh battery that will get you through a full day before you have to recharge on medium use. On heavy use, the phone only got up to 5 hours. You also get the Quick Charge feature.

Alcatel OneTouch Idol3 – Inexpensive, but Stylish

Alcatel has had it rather rough over the years, lacking popularity in the smartphone world, but with its newest flagship, the OneTouch Idol 3, it seems that the company has redeemed itself. The Idol 3 gets a very beautiful case, an attractive display, rather good performance and a low price tag. All these make the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 one of the best mid-range smartphones on the market.

CHECK OUT THE FULL REVIEW OF THE ALCATEL ONETOUCH IDOL3

Design and Display
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 attempts to be the most elegant budget smartphone and accomplishes this task with ease. The case, although made of plastic, doesn’t come out as cheap, on the contrary, thanks to its dark grey brushed finish, thin bezels and soft rounded corners, you could easily mistake it for a high-end flagship. Also, we took great pleasure into seeing the level of detail Alcatel has put in the construction and the assembly process, everything is precise and the phone gives the same vibe as a high-quality phone should.

The Idol3 isn’t a bulky, nor heavy phone, it measures 6.01 x 2.96 x 0.29 inches and weighs 4.96 oz. Because the back panel is rather flat, it may not feel as comfortable in the palm of your hand as it would if you held a handset with a curved back. Thinking that its size may be an inconvenience for people with smaller hands (like women), Alcatel created a 4.7-inch variant, that unfortunately is not on par with the 5.5-inch variant in terms of performance. Anyway, we enjoyed the seamless feel and how the buttons were placed, they were easy to reach, but if you want to operate it with one hand, you may want to go with the smaller OneTouch Idol3.

On the left side of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol3 rests the Power button and a SIM card slot and on the right side there’s the volume controller. Because the Idol 3 has a dual microphone setup, the call quality will remain the same no matter how you hold the phone. The top of the handset is home to a microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack and on the bottom, there’s the microUSB port. Alcatel has also equipped the Idol 3 with a microSD card slot which is incorporated into the SIM card slot.
Between the two high-quality JBL speakers, there is the 5.5-inches IPS LCD display, which has a resolution of 1920x1080p, a pixel density of 401ppi and uses the Technicolor Colour Enhance Technology that renders more impactful colours. The viewing angles are really great, the images being sharp and highly detailed. Also, in direct sunlight, the Alcatel Idol3’s display was clearly visible (yes, even on the beach).

Performance and Software
Inside the case you will find a 64-bit Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor (1.5GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 and 1.0GHz quad-core Cortex-A53), backed by an Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB DDR RAM. The base model has 16GB of storage available (you can add 128GB using the card slot).
The processing power is acceptable, as you would expect from a mid-range smartphone. Most of the games will run without stuttering or lag, but openning up multiple demanding apps will slow down the system a lot. So, for light to medium use, it will be fine, but try something more demanding and you will feel the phone’s limitations.

Alcatel OneTouch idol 3 comes with it’s own custom skin, but changes very little from the original Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. The most relevant feature, which is also a key selling point is the reversible interface. It means that even if you hold the phone at 180-degree the interface will fully rotate. Other than that, there can be seen a lot of influence from the Material Design in its native apps and because the interface is stock-like it will satisfy a lot of ‘purists’.

Camera and Battery Life
The OneTouch Idol 3 features a 13-megapixel rear camera, with a Sony IMX214 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, LED flash, 1.12µm pixel size, face detection, HDR and Panorama. There’s also a 8-megapixel front camera. By default, the rear camera only generates 10-megapixel and in order to have 13-megapixel photos, you have to manually upgrade the camera.

In good light, you will be able to get some good shots, pictures being colourful and clear, with a good amount of detail and satisfying colour accuracy. In low-lit scenarios, the camera did reasonably well, especially thanks to the electronic image stabilization, but it sometimes struggled with darker shots, rendering really noisy pictures. But, even though it’s not outstanding, the camera will satisfy if used for casual photos.
The camera interface is heavily inspired by the stock Android app and you get some useful options like HDR, Panoramic, Time-Lapse or Face-Beauty.
In terms of battery life, the Idol 3 has a non-removable 2910 mAh battery that will get you through a full day before you have to recharge on medium use. On heavy use, the phone only got up to 5 hours. You also get the Quick Charge feature.

LG G Flex 2 – Beautiful and Unique

The curved LG G Flex 2 is a rather unique smartphone and this says a lot in a world where you have to look at the logo to tell apart two different handsets. This isn’t LG’s first try into this non-conventional design, but, while LG G Flex captured a lot of attention,it also had quite a few shortcomings. With Flex 2, LG tried to fix all of its mistakes with its previous model, by making the phone smaller, increasing the display resolution and by giving it some more horsepower.
Apart from that, the Flex 2 also has a unique feature, the self-healing coating on the rear and it has improved its Gorilla Glass screen protection, making it a lot tougher. So, the LG G Flex 2 is less an experiment and more a full-fledged Android smartphone that tries to make a name for itself in a over-saturated market.

Design and Display
It’s obvious that we chose this phone mainly for its design, being rather provocative and more feminine than the usual rectangular handset. This phone has attracted the most attention in public so far (even more than the iPhone 6S or Samsung S7 Edge), simply because it’s so uncommon and gorgeous (especially with the Flamenco Red colour). The curvature is not dramatic, being only 23 degrees, but it’s quite enough to be aesthetically pleasing, reminding us of the curved TVs.

But is the curve more than a design gimmick? Yes, it’s not just for aesthetics, it also has a lot to do with functionality. The phone is not small, measuring 5.8×3.0x0.3-0.4 inches and weighing 5.36 oz, but unlike any other 5.5-inch smartphone, the LG G Flex 2 is tougher than flat handsets, managing to absorb a lot more shock (thanks to its shape), it delivers a better multimedia experience (better sound and video while watching movies and during calls) and it’s very comfortable to handle. Any scepticism is understood, because 5.5-inch and above phones aren’t really known to be operated with one hand, but, because of it’s shape, it’s easier to reach some parts of the screen with your thumb and it sits very comfortable in your palm (the Galaxy S7 took note). At the same time, it may not feel as comfortable if put in a pocket (a purse will do just fine).

Is it a rugged phone? How does it react to physical punishment? It’s not a rugged handset, but it is rather tough, withstanding a lot of stress. You can step on it or press it with your thumb and it will gain a straight shape, but after you release it, it will return to its initial form without damages. Also, LG has added a special coating on top of the Gorilla Glass 3 and a self-healing coating on the rear panel. This doesn’t mean it will recover if you cut it with a knife, but it will get rid of the occasional scratches (if they don’t go below the coating).
Note: The phone is not indestructible and you should use a case.

If you are accustomed to search buttons on the top or on the sides of a smartphone, you won’t find any on the Flex 2, simply because LG has crammed all of them on the rear panel. So, the Power button rests inside and in-between a large volume controller. One thing we enjoyed is the textured feel on the volume controller, making it easily distinguishable from the Power button. On the bottom, you will find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro-USB port and if you want to access the microSD card slot you will have to peel off the rear panel.

On the front of the LG G Flex 2 you get a 5.5-inch FullHD P-OLED display, having a resolution of 1920x1080p and a pixel density of 403ppi. It was a really good decision from LG to ditch the old 720p 6-inch display in favour to a more sharper and rich in details screen. Overall, it’s not as crisp as a 1440p, but, while the human eye can easily distinguish between a 720p panel and a 1080p one, it will be a lot harder to notice a difference between a 1080p and a 144p display. Regardless, we get deep blacks, vibrant colours, the whites do have a bluish tint, but the viewing angles are excellent.
The curved screen will make a difference if the screen is large, but on a small 5.5-in smartphone not so much. You do get better sound though.

Performance and Software
Is the G Flex2 all about style and less about substance? Absolutely not. Under the hood you get an octa-core Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 processor (with a 1.5GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 and a 2.0GHz quad-core Cortex-A57), backed by an Adreno 430 GPU and either 16 GB storage and 2 GB RAM or 32 GB storage memory and 3GB RAM. The processor is very speedy, but it has the known overheating problem.

This means that the phone will handle any demanding tasks you throw at it, be it games or apps, but as soon as it gets too warm, the performance will slow down. Take a short break and you can run the demanding games again. Regardless, Asphalt 8: Airborne ran really well, without stutter and lags, but not for a prolonged period of time. The 2GB variant had some problems with opening too many apps at once, but it seems that adding an extra GB did wonders, the LG G Flex 2 handles things now a lot easier (as expected).
Note: The Flex 2 also packs an accelerometer, a compass, a proximity sensor and a gyroscope. In terms of connectivity, you get the Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and the WiFi standards a/b/g/n/ac.

Out of the box, the LG G Flex 2 comes with its own custom interface, which runs on top of Android 5.0.1 Lollipop (it is upgradeable to 5.1.1). The interface is clean and simple to navigate, but if you like the bare Android experience you will be disappointed because LG has added some of its apps, although the amount of bloatware has been kept to a minimum.
Among the changes from the last LG Flex we name the Glance View (which allows you to swipe down from the top to see notifications, while the screen is locked), the Knock Code (personalized pattern to unlock the handset), the Knock On (double tap to wake) and some fitness apps (accessed by sliding left on the screen). There’s also the Dual Window feature, which allows you to view two apps in split screen and simultaneously use them (similarly to how Samsung handled things, so it won’t have to wait for the native multitasking feature of Android Marshmallow).

Camera and Battery Life
The LG G Flex2 features a 13-megapixel rear camera, with f/2.4 aperture, OIS, laser autofocus, dual-LED flash, HDR and panorama. Also, there’s a 2.1-megapixel front camera for selfies or conference calls. The autofocus is rather sharp, the shutter reacts quickly and it’s responsive and the OIS reduces the motion blur that you get if you don’t keep the camera steady.

In good light, the camera manages to capture a good amount of detail in photos, although the colours did seem a bit muted and washed out. In low-lit scenarios, the Flex 2 manages to deliver good shots, especially thanks to the OIS, there is some amount of noise, but the camera does the best to keep it at a minimum and not erasing some important details. Overall, it’s a good camera, suited for most, but photography enthusiasts might want something better.
The camera app is very simple, LG keeping only three modes, the Auto, Panorama and Dual (for picture-in-picture images). Also, while taking a picture, you won’t see any settings on screen, all you can do is just tap to shoot.

The 2.1-megapixel front camera is not the best you will find on a smartphone, but it can make some decent selfies, if the light is good enough. There’s also the beauty mode, that should reduce blemishes, but you may end up with a plastic-like appearance.
One interesting feature address people who like to use the selfie stick. The camera can sense when it’s being lowered by a stick and displays a preview of the previously shot photo. If it senses that it is being raised again, it will switch back to camera mode.
In terms of battery life, the LG G Flex2 packs a non-removable Li-Po 3000mAh battery (the previous model had a 3500mAh battery). During our tests, the battery lasted for about 9 hours of continuous video looping, which isn’t a lot by any means, but LG claims that you can quickly recharge your phone, so you can get from 0 to 50% in just 40 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy S7 – Overall, The Best Smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy S7 can be considered the best smartphone on the market right now, having a stylish design, a lot of horsepower and some new features (that should have been there since the days of Samsung S6).
Yes, Samsung has learned from its mistakes and took the successful formula fromSamsung Galaxy S6 (which it got them a lot of recognition) and mixed it with some great features that made the Samsung Galaxy S5 a classic in the smartphone world. The result is definitely promising.

Design and Display
There haven’t been many drastic design changes with any flagship handset since last couple of years, most of them have found a winning formula and went along improving some minor shortcomings. The same happened to Samsung Galaxy S7, you almost can’t tell it apart from the Galaxy S6 but this is not a bad thing. Samsung Galaxy S7 has reused some materials from the Galaxy S6, but in a better way. You get an almost full-glass case, with an aluminium frame between the two glass pieces that are seamlessly integrated so you won’t notice where one part ends and the other begins, delivering an uni-body feel.

The phone is now a lot more compact, measuring 5.61×2.74×0.31 inches and weighing 5.36 oz, so it’s a little bit larger and thicker than iPhone 6S, but at the same time more comfortable. It may come as a surprise, but indeed, Samsung managed to make a 5.1-inch metal and glass smartphone comfortable to hold. This has been achievable by slightly curving the rear panel, so now, the S7 just slides softly in your hand and doesn’t give the impression that it may fall at any second. It’s also very easy to operate with one hand and easy to pick up from a table.
Another thing we really liked is the clean look the handset manages to deliver, by cutting the camera sensor protrusion to 0.01 in and by lacking the metallic rim around its Home button (which doubles as a fingerprint sensor), rendering it almost invisible. It looks good, the only problem being the fingerprints, you will have to clean it a lot to not look really messy.

The buttons are placed in the usual way, on the right side of the handset you can find the Power/Lock button and on the left, the Volume controller. At the top is where things get interesting. You have a nano-SIM tray, a microphone and a microSD slot (Samsung listened to the user complaints and added a card slot to the S7, while the S6 lacked this feature). Along the bottom, there a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro-USB port and another microphone. I know there have been a lot of speculations, but no, Samsung decided it’s too early to use a USB-C port and it may have been a good call (although it will not be future-proof).
Other interesting features are the heart rate monitor and the IP68 water resistance. This means that you will be able to put the Samsung Galaxy S7 under 3 feet of water and leave it for a maximum of 30 minutes without damaging it. The micro-USB is waterproof, but if the phone detects water inside the port, it won’t charge it.
Note: We know that the S7 Edge is sexier, but also a lot larger, being 5.5-inch, so it may not be suitable for women in the sense of handling and manoeuvrability, but, if you still fancy it, take a look here.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 comes in black, gold, silver and white.
On the front of the Galaxy S7 you get a 5.1-inch QHD SuperAMOLED display, having a resolution of 2560x1440p and a pixel density of 577ppi. This means that while theGalaxy S6 had the best display on a smartphone, the S7 is even better. The screen is 24% brighter, better whites, true blacks and colours are sharp and less saturated. All these will deliver a sublime experience when watching movies or videos, as well as when watching pictures and playing games. The display is close to perfection.
An interesting new addition is the Always On feature, which uses the way an AMOLED displays work, meaning some individual pixels will always remain on the screen, without draining the battery by much. So, you can keep the time, calendar and any other type of data always on the screen.

Performance and Software
Under the hood, Samsung has two variations of processors, depending on the region. If you’re in North America, you will find a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SM-G930 chip (for LTE), backed by an Adreno 530 GPU. Otherwise, if you reside in Europe and the rest of the world, you will get the octa-core Exynos 8890 SM-G930F processor, backed by Mali-T880 MP1. Both setups feature 4 GB of RAM. Although the Exynos is more powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon, you won’t really notice any major difference and the awesome thing is that both hardware variants top the competition.
The 4 GB of RAM are a welcomed addition, you get the best multitasking experience (even two demanding apps can be opened side-by-side without causing any stuttering), any games you wish to run, will run without problems, lags or artifacts. As expected from a flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is fast and can handle a lot of punishment.

In terms of software you may be a bit sceptic and you have the right to be, because Samsung has become well known for its bloatware. But it seems that some things have changed. The TouchWiz interface built on top of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow feels a lot lighter and faster and it’s with less bloatware. Sure, this won’t satisfy ‘purists’ (you should check out Google Nexus 5X), but one cannot deny that it’s still a really good looking custom interface.
Among the new and improved features, we name the Game Launcher (which organizes all your games, as well making screenshots, minimize your games, so you can attend to other tasks) and Upday (a news app that allows you to add your own sources). Both of these apps can be disabled if not used. The Galaxy S7 also allows you to change the grid layout from 5×5 to 4×5, if you feel that your apps crowd the screen.
In the near future, Google plans to release the new Android N and it will most likely be available for Samsung Galaxy S7, but, since the S7 already has the split-screen multitasking capability implemented, there won’t be any major differences between the old and new iterations of Android.

Camera and Battery Life

Samsung Galaxy S7 features a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash, 1/2.6″ sensor size, 1.4µm pixel size, and can record 4K video. The 5-megapixel front camera also has f/1.7 aperture and Auto HDR. It may seem peculiar why did Samsung decide to downgrade from the 16-megapixel of S6 to the 12-megapixel sensor, but surprisingly the camera is actually better. This is because of the dual pixel technology which helps the autofocus to operate really quick, allowing you to snap clear shots of objects in motion and dramatically improving the overall quality of your photos.

In good light, the camera has a stellar performance, similarly to the S6, but the real selling point is how it shoots photos indoors and in low-light and it’s clear why. The aperture size was increased from f/1.9 to f/1.7, so there’s more light while indoors, the optical image stabilizer helps with shaky hands and the fast autofocus will deliver sharper, brighter shots (while there’s still some digital noise, it is seriously diminished).

Besides the usual photo shooting, Samsung has also added some cool features for you to play with, like Motion Picture and Motion Panorama. Similarly to iPhone 6S’ Live Photos, the Motion Picture captures a short video before you press the shutter button, not before and after, like on the iPhone.
On the front, the 5-megapixel camera is again with the beautification feature, that can be turned off and will give your face a plastic appearance.

In terms of battery, Samsung has been criticised from time to time for its stubbornness into adding a better, if possible removable battery. Well, they took the advice on the first part.

Samsung Galaxy S7 has a non-removable 3000mAh battery that will last up to 24 hours on heavy use (up to 18 hours of video looping!).
The charger can fill the battery in under 90 minutes and you also get the wireless charging option (similarly to Galaxy S6).

Samsung Galaxy S7 – Overall, The Best Smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy S7 can be considered the best smartphone on the market right now, having a stylish design, a lot of horsepower and some new features (that should have been there since the days of Samsung S6).
Yes, Samsung has learned from its mistakes and took the successful formula fromSamsung Galaxy S6 (which it got them a lot of recognition) and mixed it with some great features that made the Samsung Galaxy S5 a classic in the smartphone world. The result is definitely promising.

Design and Display
There haven’t been many drastic design changes with any flagship handset since last couple of years, most of them have found a winning formula and went along improving some minor shortcomings. The same happened to Samsung Galaxy S7, you almost can’t tell it apart from the Galaxy S6 but this is not a bad thing. Samsung Galaxy S7 has reused some materials from the Galaxy S6, but in a better way. You get an almost full-glass case, with an aluminium frame between the two glass pieces that are seamlessly integrated so you won’t notice where one part ends and the other begins, delivering an uni-body feel.

The phone is now a lot more compact, measuring 5.61×2.74×0.31 inches and weighing 5.36 oz, so it’s a little bit larger and thicker than iPhone 6S, but at the same time more comfortable. It may come as a surprise, but indeed, Samsung managed to make a 5.1-inch metal and glass smartphone comfortable to hold. This has been achievable by slightly curving the rear panel, so now, the S7 just slides softly in your hand and doesn’t give the impression that it may fall at any second. It’s also very easy to operate with one hand and easy to pick up from a table.
Another thing we really liked is the clean look the handset manages to deliver, by cutting the camera sensor protrusion to 0.01 in and by lacking the metallic rim around its Home button (which doubles as a fingerprint sensor), rendering it almost invisible. It looks good, the only problem being the fingerprints, you will have to clean it a lot to not look really messy.

The buttons are placed in the usual way, on the right side of the handset you can find the Power/Lock button and on the left, the Volume controller. At the top is where things get interesting. You have a nano-SIM tray, a microphone and a microSD slot (Samsung listened to the user complaints and added a card slot to the S7, while the S6 lacked this feature). Along the bottom, there a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro-USB port and another microphone. I know there have been a lot of speculations, but no, Samsung decided it’s too early to use a USB-C port and it may have been a good call (although it will not be future-proof).
Other interesting features are the heart rate monitor and the IP68 water resistance. This means that you will be able to put the Samsung Galaxy S7 under 3 feet of water and leave it for a maximum of 30 minutes without damaging it. The micro-USB is waterproof, but if the phone detects water inside the port, it won’t charge it.
Note: We know that the S7 Edge is sexier, but also a lot larger, being 5.5-inch, so it may not be suitable for women in the sense of handling and manoeuvrability, but, if you still fancy it, take a look here.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 comes in black, gold, silver and white.
On the front of the Galaxy S7 you get a 5.1-inch QHD SuperAMOLED display, having a resolution of 2560x1440p and a pixel density of 577ppi. This means that while theGalaxy S6 had the best display on a smartphone, the S7 is even better. The screen is 24% brighter, better whites, true blacks and colours are sharp and less saturated. All these will deliver a sublime experience when watching movies or videos, as well as when watching pictures and playing games. The display is close to perfection.
An interesting new addition is the Always On feature, which uses the way an AMOLED displays work, meaning some individual pixels will always remain on the screen, without draining the battery by much. So, you can keep the time, calendar and any other type of data always on the screen.

Performance and Software
Under the hood, Samsung has two variations of processors, depending on the region. If you’re in North America, you will find a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SM-G930 chip (for LTE), backed by an Adreno 530 GPU. Otherwise, if you reside in Europe and the rest of the world, you will get the octa-core Exynos 8890 SM-G930F processor, backed by Mali-T880 MP1. Both setups feature 4 GB of RAM. Although the Exynos is more powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon, you won’t really notice any major difference and the awesome thing is that both hardware variants top the competition.
The 4 GB of RAM are a welcomed addition, you get the best multitasking experience (even two demanding apps can be opened side-by-side without causing any stuttering), any games you wish to run, will run without problems, lags or artifacts. As expected from a flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is fast and can handle a lot of punishment.

In terms of software you may be a bit sceptic and you have the right to be, because Samsung has become well known for its bloatware. But it seems that some things have changed. The TouchWiz interface built on top of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow feels a lot lighter and faster and it’s with less bloatware. Sure, this won’t satisfy ‘purists’ (you should check out Google Nexus 5X), but one cannot deny that it’s still a really good looking custom interface.
Among the new and improved features, we name the Game Launcher (which organizes all your games, as well making screenshots, minimize your games, so you can attend to other tasks) and Upday (a news app that allows you to add your own sources). Both of these apps can be disabled if not used. The Galaxy S7 also allows you to change the grid layout from 5×5 to 4×5, if you feel that your apps crowd the screen.
In the near future, Google plans to release the new Android N and it will most likely be available for Samsung Galaxy S7, but, since the S7 already has the split-screen multitasking capability implemented, there won’t be any major differences between the old and new iterations of Android.

Camera and Battery Life

Samsung Galaxy S7 features a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash, 1/2.6″ sensor size, 1.4µm pixel size, and can record 4K video. The 5-megapixel front camera also has f/1.7 aperture and Auto HDR. It may seem peculiar why did Samsung decide to downgrade from the 16-megapixel of S6 to the 12-megapixel sensor, but surprisingly the camera is actually better. This is because of the dual pixel technology which helps the autofocus to operate really quick, allowing you to snap clear shots of objects in motion and dramatically improving the overall quality of your photos.

In good light, the camera has a stellar performance, similarly to the S6, but the real selling point is how it shoots photos indoors and in low-light and it’s clear why. The aperture size was increased from f/1.9 to f/1.7, so there’s more light while indoors, the optical image stabilizer helps with shaky hands and the fast autofocus will deliver sharper, brighter shots (while there’s still some digital noise, it is seriously diminished).

Besides the usual photo shooting, Samsung has also added some cool features for you to play with, like Motion Picture and Motion Panorama. Similarly to iPhone 6S’ Live Photos, the Motion Picture captures a short video before you press the shutter button, not before and after, like on the iPhone.
On the front, the 5-megapixel camera is again with the beautification feature, that can be turned off and will give your face a plastic appearance.

In terms of battery, Samsung has been criticised from time to time for its stubbornness into adding a better, if possible removable battery. Well, they took the advice on the first part.

Samsung Galaxy S7 has a non-removable 3000mAh battery that will last up to 24 hours on heavy use (up to 18 hours of video looping!).
The charger can fill the battery in under 90 minutes and you also get the wireless charging option (similarly to Galaxy S6).