The Galaxy S7 Edge is one of the best-selling handsets of all time, and the iPhone 7 is the new pretender to its throne, mainly thanks to Samsung’s issues with the Note 7. But how do they compare? Today I am going to take a look at both handsets, their design, performance, displays, and the cameras, in a bid to discover which one comes out on top.
design
For many years Apple was accustomed to being ahead of Samsung in the design stakes. It seemed that its attention to detail and making sure its handsets came with beautiful finishes were the norms. However, with the S6, Samsung upped its game and began to challenge Apple’s superiority in this field.
So now we have an iPhone 7 that is available in two new stunning colors: Matte Black and Jet Black. However, there phone also comes in Rose Gold, Gold and Silver. The iPhone 7 is a little thinner than the Galaxy S7 Edge, just half a millimeter, which is a tiny amount but relevant in a comparison. However, the iPhone 7 is smaller in every aspect when compared to the S7 Edge, and because of that, it is also lighter.
Many have called the Galaxy S7 Edge the most beautiful smartphone ever created, but if the thought of an all-glass body which attracts fingerprints scares you, beware! That being said, the handset is a work of art, and I believe it beats the last-generation looks of the iPhone 7 hands-down.
performance
At the iPhone 7’s unveiling, Tim Cook unequivocally stated that the A10 chip inside it is the best mobile chip ever. Featuring a quad-core architecture, the CPU has two cores which do the heavy lifting, while the remaining cores deal with tasks that require less power.
The problem with comparing Android-based handsets with Apple’s devices is that it does not use Snapdragon chips like most others. However, from a pure specs basis, it can be done. Unlike the iPhone 7, the Galaxy S7 Edge comes with an octa-core Exynos 8890 chip or a Snapdragon 820 chip. As of yet, there have been no benchmark tests pitting the two chips against one another, but we would expect Apple to come out slightly on top.
display
Disappointingly, the iPhone 7 has not received the display many had hoped for. Instead, it has the same 4.7-inch Retina HD screen seen on the iPhone 6s, meaning that the overall resolution is 750 x 1334 pixels, which equates to 326ppi.
The Galaxy S7 Edge has a much larger 5.5-inch dual-edge Super AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, which is 534ppi. So even though Samsung has the older handset in this comparison, it is still far in advance of the iPhone.
Concerning protection, the iPhone 7 has Apple’s Ion-strengthened glass, but yet again, the Edge beats it with Gorilla Glass 4.
camera
As with design, for a long time, Apple was the go-to handset for a quality camera. However, yet again Samsung has raised its game in the last few years.
While the iPhone 7’s design and display may offer nothing new, its camera certainly does. Apple has redesigned it with a 12MP rear-facing sensor with an aperture of f/1.8 and phase detection. For the very first time on an iPhone, there is optical image stabilization.
The camera on the Galaxy S7 Edge is almost identical that on the iPhone 7, except for a smaller aperture, although the difference is only f/0.01. What this means is that the Samsung may be able to let in more light, which in turn could mean that the images taken by it are better.
For the front-facing camera, the iPhone 7 has a 7MP sensor, while the Galaxy S7 Edge has a 5MP sensor. The iPhone has an aperture of f/2.2, and the Edge has an aperture of f/1.7. This means that the Apple handset will be capable of creating brighter images in low-light situations. However, the Samsung will more than likely produce over-saturated images.
At this moment, it’s hard to determine a winner, but having seen the low-light performance of the iPhone 7, I believe it would win in a nighttime shoot.
iPhone 7 vs. Galaxy S7 Edge: specs compared
price
In the United States, both handsets are available to purchase now, depending on stock levels.
The 32GB iPhone 7 starts at $650 unlocked; however, if you want a Jet Black version, you will have to pay $100 more. The Galaxy S7 Edge starts at $780, which is a whopping $130 more than the iPhone, but the problem with this scenario is that if you did not preorder your iPhone 7, you likely won’t be able to get one for weeks due to its popularity.
