Now that Samsung has finally hammered the final nail into the Galaxy Note 7’s coffin, it’s time to move on. The handset’s super high-resolution display and the most sensitive S-Pen ever are gone. However, the phone won’t be forgotten, even if it’s for all the wrong reasons. So have you thought about a replacement yet? If you haven’t, we’ve done the work for you; here are five Note 7 alternatives.
Which Note 7 alternative will you choose?
The unthinkable has finally happened, and the handset that we wrote about for months is gone. Samsung has decided to cease all production and has instructed those with a Note 7 to return it. So if you have one, even if it has not crashed and burned yet, you may be forced to place it in its box and say goodbye.
If you haven’t thought about that, it’s a real possibility, but you will be entitled to a full refund, depending on how you purchased one, via payment upfront, contract or some other means. You will have to choose a new phone again, so while there isn’t a handset out there with the S-Pen that could woo you, there are plenty of other handsets from 2016 that have specs that are comparable to the Note 7. So here’s our list of Note 7 alternatives.
iPhone 7 Plus
If you want to run away from anything remotely like the Note 7, maybe you should consider the iPhone 7 Plus. True, it’s not Android, but why not use this calamity to change not just your handset but the OS too.
While you won’t find many handsets out there with the Note 7’s 5.7-inch display, the iPhone 7 Plus comes pretty close at 5.5 inches. Additionally, if build quality is important to you, switching to an iPhone gives you that premium feel.
One huge plus to switching over to the iPhone 7 Plus is its dual-lens camera technology. There are two 12-megapixel sensors on the rear, one wide-angle and the other telephoto, which allow for some great (probably the best via a phone) images to be taken. There’s also a 7MP front-facing camera.
Finally, there’s the very latest in iOS 10, and the handset is splash proof and has a fingerprint sensor, plus stereo speakers and up to 256GB in storage capacity.
LG V20
If you’re looking for something of comparable size to the Note 7, the LG V20 has a 5.7-inch display. However, that’s where the similarities end because this device, although good-looking, was built to be rugged.
As the successor to the V10 phablet, it keeps what made that handset so popular: a secondary display, impressive audio, excellent camera capabilities, and its toughness. However, it has improved looks, camera, and battery life and a much more powerful chipset in the V20. As for looks, it’s considered to be on par with the Note 7, with its lightweight aluminum alloy body. The LG G5 flagship inspires its shape, but there’s no modular option available here.
Google Pixel XL
The new phone on the block is the Google Pixel XL, along with its sibling the Pixel. They were launched just a couple of days before Samsung announced its Note 7 decision. Like the now defunct handset, it runs on Android. In fact, the Pixel XL is the very first phablet to carry the Google name.
It offers a 5.5-inch AMOLED display with 543ppi resolution, meaning that it is super sharp and protected by Gorilla Glass 4, plus it has the Snapdragon 821 chipset. This means that this handset has the best CPU available in an Android handset right now. Additionally, and to back up the screen size and chip, it has 4GB of RAM, which means this phone is quick.
Finally, there are two storage options, 32GB and 128GB. For cameras, the rear has a 12MP sensor and the front an 8MP sensor, which Google claims can take on the iPhone 7 Plus.
Galaxy S7 Edge
If you upgraded from the S7 Edge to the Note 7, we apologize for this addition. However, you could always switch back to what is a great smartphone. Why is this handset here? As far as we know, there has not been a single report of the S7 Edge exploding, and it has all the features required to make it a flagship device.
With a 5.5-inch display, its resolution matches the Google Pixel and is slightly better than the Note at 534ppi. As for its processor, depending on where you live, it could come with the Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890, both of which offer super fast processing speeds of around 2.3Ghz. The phone also has 4GB of RAM.
OnePlus 3
After two previous handsets that were good, but not quite good enough, the OnePlus 3 has hit the big time, thanks to its gorgeous looks and amazing specs. Seriously, if you’re looking for a handset that can more than match the Note 7 on paper, read on…
It has a 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display which has 401ppi, plus protection from Gorilla Glass. It has a Snapdragon 820 chip supported by a massive 6GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
Unfortunately, what lets it down is the single 64GB storage option, which cannot be supplemented due to the lack of SDcard support. The rear-facing camera is 16MP, while the front sensor is 8MP.
Final thoughts
So, those are your five possible Note 7 alternatives. These are the handsets that anyone wanting a new phone will have to choose from probably until 2017. While they all differ in price, they can all be considered to be flagships, and as such, all are worthy of consideration.
Which will you choose as your Galaxy Note 7 alternative?
