Samsung Galaxy Note 7 versus S7 Edge: Which phone to buy

You love their curvaceous screens but aren't so sure about the S Pen stylus. Let me help.

Note 7 or S7 Edge? Both Samsung Galaxy phones have a lot in common, especially those wraparound screens that look awesome and are home to special shortcut software. Both phones share similar specs, including a sharp-shooting 12-megapixel camera and the same speedy processor.

There are slight variations, but the biggest differences come down to the:

• Note 7's S Pen stylus
• Note 7's higher price
• S7 Edge's slightly longer battery life
• Note 7's 64GB of onboard storage versus the Edge's 32GB
  

While the Galaxy Note series and the Galaxy S line have typically featured some separation in the past, things have been a lot more similar in terms of design and build quality since Samsung introduced their new direction in this regard. Like its predecessor and corresponding Galaxy S smartphones, the Note 7 comes with a metal and glass unibody construction, with glass on the front and rear panels, and a metal frame with rounded corners and tapered edges.

Both the Galaxy Note 7 and S7 Edge feel extremely solid, and are very comfortable hold. They are both also huge fingerprint magnets, but that is no longer surprising, and has become a predictable characteristic of any smartphone that is made predominantly of glass.

While Samsung introduced a separate Galaxy S6 Edge Plus last year – which brought the curved edge setup to a larger device – Samsung has decided to introduce this feature to the Galaxy Note series itself, with the Galaxy Note 7 featuring a display with curved edges on both sides. It’s not quite as drastic as what is seen with the Galaxy S7 Edge, but you can definitely tell that it is there. However, the metal rails are thicker on the Galaxy Note 7, so issues with accidental presses with your palm or fingers that you may faced with the thinner Galaxy S7 Edge shouldn’t be as much of a problem this time around.

Speaking of the display, both smartphones feature standard Super AMOLED screens with Quad HD resolutions, with the Galaxy S7 Edge featuring a slightly smaller 5.5-inch display, compared to the 5.7-inch one of the Galaxy Note 7. Both displays are extremely sharp, bright, with a lot of contrast, and vivid, and offer everything that we’ve come to expect from Samsung.

With the Galaxy Note 7 offering a larger display, it is obviously also going to be the larger of the two smartphones, but not by a large margin, with the device still feeling extremely manageable in one hand. In fact, while the phone and its predecessor feature the same display size, the Note 7 is actually a couple of millimeters narrower, which may not seem significant, but does help make the handling experience that much better.

The buttons and ports are all in the same positions, with the headphone jack and single speaker unit found at the bottom, but with the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung has finally made the jump to USB Type-C, while the Galaxy S7 Edge comes with a microUSB port. Of course, the Note device also comes with the signature S-Pen that is found nestled into its slot next to the speaker.

The camera setup is also identical, with both smartphones coming with a 12 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front-facing shooter. Considering the fact that the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge feature some of the best cameras in the smartphone game right now, we can certainly expect that to be true with the Galaxy Note 7 as well.

Where things have changed is the camera software. While it still has the same features and functions that were seen with the Galaxy S7 Edge, the updated camera app has been revamped with a slightly different look, and Samsung has made it a lot easier to navigate, using swipe gestures. Now, you can swipe to the left to get to the camera effects, to the right to access all the different camera modes, and finally, swipe down to switch to the front-facing camera.

So, there you have it for this quick look at the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs the Galaxy S7 Edge! Both devices do share a lot of design elements and features, but the latest Galaxy Note device does have a few tricks up its sleeve, including the improved S-Pen, an easier to use camera app, more streamlined software experience, and an iris scanner.

Does the Galaxy Note 7 bring enough to the table to separate itself from Samsung’s other flagship smartphones though, or is it essentially a Galaxy S7 Edge with a S-Pen? Do share your thoughts in the comments section below, and stay tuned us