Samsung galaxy s7 edge review

Introduction
Pushed way out of its comfort zone and into a high-stakes flagship redesign last season, Samsung's back to what it does best -- making itself comfortable at the top of the heap. OK, it sounds like a bold claim but by no means incredible if you've seen the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

Yet, this isn't exactly a galaxy far, far away. The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge looks a lot like its predecessor, and we've heard a lot of people calling it the same device. Can't blame them really - Samsung indeed focused on refinement this time around and if you caught our regular Galaxy S7 review, you'd know we liked what they come up with.

Anyway, the real deal is on the inside. If only you look at the features it brings back, such as water protection and a microSD slot, you may conclude that the Galaxy S7 edge is what the S6 edge should've been.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
But that's not where the hardware novelties end. We paid due attention to the camera in our MWC coverage and the review of the vanilla Galaxy S7 to conclude that the dual pixel autofocus, wider aperture and bigger pixel size more than make up for the lower sensor resolution.

The new flagship wouldn't have done without an engine upgrade - we guess Qualcomm's return as a chipset supplier is another sign of things getting back to normal after the Project Zero coup. The Galaxy S7 pair is powered by either Snapdragon 820, or the latest Exynos 8890, each with 4GB of RAM.

There is a bigger display with an always-on option, and a more robust battery too. The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge runs the latest Android of course, skinned with the latest TouchWiz.

Key features
Curved 5.5" Super AMOLED display of 1440p resolution; 534ppi; Always On capabilities;
Gorilla Glass 4 front and rear panels
IP68 certified - dust proof and water resistant
USA model: Snapdragon 820 chipset - quad-core Kryo processor (2x 2.15GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); Adreno 530 GPU; 4GB of RAM
Global model: Exynos 8890 chipset - octa-core processor with four 2.6GHz Mongoose and four 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores; Mali-T880 MP12 GPU; 4GB of RAM
12MP f/1.7 main camera with phase detect autofocus, optical image stabilization, LED flash
2160p video at 30fps; 1080p@60fps; 720p@240fps; HDR
5MP f/1.7 front-facing camera, 1440p video recording at 30fps
32/64GB of built-in storage; microSD slot up to 200GB
Cat.9 4G LTE (450Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2, ANT+, NFC; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou
Heart-rate monitor, barometer, SpO2 sensor
Wireless charging (Qi/PMA)
3,600 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging
Main disadvantages
Hefty price tag
Sealed battery
No IR blaster or FM radio (except for T-Mobile units in the US, so far)
Samsung did well to bring back two of the most valued features - the microSD slot and water protection but the new design precludes any way of accessing the battery outside an authorized service center. The FM radio and IR blaster are gone for some reason at least in our Exynos version of the handset.

Update: A software update has enabled the FM radio at least on T-Mobile S7/S7 edge in the US. It turns out the FM receiver hardware has always been there and was just not enabled at launch. The T-Mobile units are powered by the Snapdragon 820 chipset, so technically the option is there for all variants running on Qualcomm's chip. Our international unit, however, runs on the Exynos 8890 and so far we haven't heard of FM radio enabling update (if there ever will be one).

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Now, whatever deals there may have been in the debut week - including a free Gear VR headset - the Galaxy S7 edge remains among the most expensive mass-produced phones right now. But if Apple can charge as much, no harm in Samsung trying as well.

So, what is the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge really made of and is it worth the asking price? Read on as we try to find out!

Unboxing the Galaxy S7 edge
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge comes in a cool black box, which holds a fast-charge-enabled AC adapter, a microUSB cable, the new Samsung headphones, and a microUSB-to-USB adapter. The small thingy came as a surprise to us, but we found it quite helpful - it enables USB OTG letting you connect peripherals and even charge other devices.

The retail package contents - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The retail package contents - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The retail package contents - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The retail package contents

The headphones are the same as the ones shipping with the Galaxy S6 edge.

Galaxy S7 edge 360-degree spin
This season's S7 lineup looks pretty much like their predecessors but Samsung's decision to give the edge model more screen real estate makes sense. Users are given a choice between a 5.5" phablet with a dual-edge curved display and a standard 5.1" screen. The identical display size last year nearly defied the purpose of having a pair of flagships competing against each other.

The new Galaxy S7 edge measures 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm. That's 8mm taller and 2mm wider than the S6 edge, and 3mm shorter and narrower than the S6 edge+. These two are a good reference considering the S7 edge sits right between in terms of screen size. The S7 edge weighs 153 grams, which is reasonable for a device of its caliber, yet a good 25g heavier than its predecessor.

Design and build quality
So, Samsung is in a way giving the Galaxy S7 edge more responsibilities than to just be the cooler S7 sibling. The 5.5" phablet is giving the S7 series more depth (different user bases) and the regular Galaxy S7 will probably have more breathing space than the S6 last year. That said, Samsung will probably skip the edge+ this time around.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
With a metal frame bordering the curved 5.5" Super AMOLED screen, and a sheet of curved Gorilla Glass 4 either side, the Galaxy S7 edge is, upon a casual glance, a scaled up S6 edge.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (5.5 Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (5.5 Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (5.5 Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (5.5
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (5.5") flanked by the S6 edge+ (5.7") and S6 edge (5.1")

But why change, when the Galaxy S6 edge is still one of the best looking devices in the market. The Galaxy S7 edge benefits from some minor touches, mostly in how the contour of the frame and the screen curves feel against your fingertips.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

So, yes, it's last year's design but still gorgeous - and this year's onyx black flavor certainly helps appreciate it even more.

The S7 edge next to S6 edge and iPhone 6s Plus - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The edge phones do stand out - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The S7 edge compared to S6 edge+ - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The backs are similar - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The S7 edge next to S6 edge and iPhone 6s Plus • The edge phones do stand out • The S7 edge compared to S6 edge+ • The backs are similar

If you passed on the S6 on account of the missing water-proofing, the Galaxy S7 edge is IP68-certified, which means it can survive at 1.5m deep for up to 30 minutes. Even without extra flaps, both the audio jack and the microUSB port are waterproofed. The charging port has moisture detection however and won't let you charge the phone if the pins are wet.

The ports have no flaps - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The mics are also water-proof - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The SIM/SD slot is protected by rubber - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The ports have no flaps • The mics are also water-proof • The SIM/SD slot is protected by rubber

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is a stunner but this comes at a price. The dual glass design calls for handling with extra care and any sort of a protection case will inevitably cost some style points.

It's the handling though that raises a little more concern, especially with the bigger screen - and therefore bigger overall footprint. The phone can be quite hard to pick up from a table because of its dual edge design - glass on the sides has hardly any grip.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Worse yet, it seemed our unit needed, at the very least, some tweaking of the palm rejection algorithm. With a hand wrapped around the phone, the S7 edge occasionally detected the palm against the sides rather than taps on screen when trying to make a call, or hit links in the browser. This was particularly aggravating at the few occasions when we needed to pick up the phone and answer a call for example.

This could've been only our unit but other than that, the feel of a curvy, smooth and cold Galaxy S7 edge is almost unrivaled.

Handling the S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Handling the S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Handling the S7 edge

Now, that's something you'll lose if you opt for a bumper case, which however will surely pay off in the long run. We're sure the slightest damage inflicted on a beautiful device like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge would be bitterly regretted.

Controls
If you are familiar with the Galaxy S6 or S6 edge, there will be no secrets on the S7 edge for you, as all the controls are pretty much identical.

Most of the front is occupied by the 5.5" display, which has even less bezel than the S6 edge's screen. Up above is the earpiece, with the familiar bunch of sensors, a status LED, and the 5MP selfie camera.

Above and below the screen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Above and below the screen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Above and below the screen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Above and below the screen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Above and below the screen

Below the screen is the familiar button layout: the hardware Home Key/fingerprint reader combo, surrounded but the capacitive Back and Task Switcher keys.

The metal Power/Lock set is on the right while the volume keys are on the left.

The right side - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The Power Key - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The left side - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The volume keys - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The right side • The Power Key • The left side • The volume keys

The top has the second mic and the card slot. The latter accommodates both nano-SIM and microSD cards and is secured with rubber gasket.

There is no IR blaster this time around, so no remote control duties on the S7 edge.

The audio jack, microUSB port, the primary mic, and the loudspeaker are all at the bottom.

The top of the S7 edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The nano-SIM and microSD beds - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The bottom - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The microUSB port - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The top of the S7 edge • The nano-SIM and microSD beds • The bottom • The microUSB port

Finally, the new 12MP camera is on the back, still accounting for a small hump, but a lot less conspicuous than on the previous generation. Its companions are, as usual, a single LED flash and a heart-rate sensor.

The camera hump is much smaller now - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review The camera hump is much smaller now - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review

Display
The Super AMOLED screen is now bigger at 5.5", but the dual-edge design and minimal bezel keep the illusion of a much more compact handset. In fact, just put it next to the iPhone 6s Plus, which also has a 5.5" screen diagonal and you'll see the amazing difference in footprint for yourself.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The curve on the side is fairly minor, and the left and right edges of the screen remain mostly usable. The bezels are about 2mm thinner than we left them on the S6 edge, which is nice.

The Quad HD (1,440 x 2,560) resolution may have looked like an overkill on the Galaxy S6 series, but it's a mandatory feature for the S7 lineup. Samsung's push toward VR certainly needs every pixel available so Quad HD is perhaps the meaningful, if not the minimum, screen resolution for a pleasant experience with the Oculus-powered Gear VR headset.

Using the Galaxy S7 edge with a Gear VR is quite an impressive experience especially at first, and will get better with more and relevant content. Right now, there are plenty of photos, videos, and movies available for you to explore, and quite a few games. To be fair, however, individual pixels were visible in spite of the Quad HD resolution and the high 534ppi. Optical focusing issues seem to be another issue with some users at this stage to the point where they are not able to focus the image. It surely is promising, buy we can't wait to see GearVR Generation 2.0 whenever it comes out.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The Galaxy S7 edge has the same maximum screen brightness as the S7 when you push manually the brightness slider all the way to the right. In overdrive mode, which kicks in under bright sunlight if you have Auto brightness ON, it goes quite a bit higher than the S7 to 610nits.

The minimum display brightness is 1.8nits, which is perfectly suitable for late-night reading in a dark room and it's even a bit lower than the S7.

Color accuracy of the screen is top notch as long as you opt for the Basic display mode. The other available modes make colors pop but they are nowhere near as color accurate as Basic (Average DeltaE 2000 of 0.8 and Max DeltaE of 1.5). For comparison, the Avg DeltaE in Adaptive mode is 7.2.

Display test100% brightness
Black, cd/m2White, cd/m2Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge0.00392∞
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge max auto0.00610∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge0.00313∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge max auto0.00601∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+-410∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ max auto-540-
Samsung Galaxy S70.00391∞
Apple iPhone 6s Plus0.435901382
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium0.59566966
LG G40.435321238
Xiaomi Mi 50.516281227
The Galaxy S7 edge aced our sunlight legibility test, which means hasslе-free display performance even under bright sunlight. The score is pretty much the same as the Galaxy S7's, but a whisker lower than the S6 edge+'s.

Sunlight contrast ratio
Sort by LabelSort by ValueExpand
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+4.615
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge4.439
Samsung Galaxy S74.376
Samsung Galaxy S64.124
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge4.124
Samsung Galaxy S53.549
The curved sides of the display do reflect the light differently so sometimes there are brighter reflections there. It's not enough to be an issue, though.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge battery life
Battery capacity is one more key area where Samsung gives you more than with the Galaxy S7. The smartphone packs a 3,600mAh power bank, a substantial increase over the S6 edge's 2,600mAh and the S7's 3,000 mAh capacity. Okay, the battery is still sealed, but that's a lot easier to live with when there's simply more of it.

It's also quick to charge, even if the S7 edge only supports Qualcomm's QuickCharge 2.0 standard and not the latest version 3.0. Samsung promises 0 to 100% in 90min for the S7, but doesn't say just how rapidly those percentages climb from flat to, say, 70% where it starts to taper off.

Much like the company's last-year flagships, the Galaxy S7 edge is also capable of wireless charging with pads compliant with both Qi and PMA. Samsung will also sell you a fast wireless charging pad, which can fill up the battery nearly as fast as a cable will.

Now, let's move on to our test results, where the S7 edge does indeed outlast its predecessor and its smaller sibling. A day of voice calls on a 3G network is five hours more than the S6 edge, and the 20 hours of video playback are about 8 on top of last year's model, and an impressive achievement in its own right. Such usage pattern is of course entirely artificial, but we've established it so our battery results are comparable across devices.

Its web browsing also went up with 2 and a half hours up to 13 and a half hours with the built-in TouchWiz browser.

The Always On display feature was always going to be a battery drainer, no two ways about it. Samsung's claim that it would cost you 1% per hour seems about right and it does leave a huge impact on the overall endurance rating. That's because our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which we carried out with the AOD off and then once again with AOD on. These results are not featured in our test scorecard but are calculated in the total rating.

Since its launch, the AOD setting has been optimized and now allows you to schedule times to activate it. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on how long you keep the phone out of your pocket.

The Galaxy S7 edge did splendidly with an Endurance rating of 98 hours - that's the amount of time the S7 edge would last on a single charge if you use it for an hour of 3G calls, an hour of web browsing, and an hour of video playback each day. Turning on the AOD drops the rating down to 67 hours - a huge impact, but still a good score - that's few hours short of three days.

Finally, if you want to use the Edge feeds, which require the screen to sustain the capacitive sensors always on, you will lose additional 7 hours, bringing the total endurance down to 60 hours.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Update: We've managed to acquire the Snapdragon 820 flavor of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and we re-ran our battery routine. The call test was alright, but the video and web battery tests dropped down by 20%. The standby endurance turned out a tad lesser than the Exynos model, and thus the final battery rating dropped down to 87 hours. If you want to use the Always-On Display, then the rating is reduced further down to 63 hours. While we are not happy by the 10% drop in the final score, 87 hours is still quite a respectable number for a flagship like the S7 edge.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Connectivity
Samsung's Exynos 8890 chipset is paired with an LTE Cat. 9 modem. Theoretical maximums are 450Mbps of downlink and 50Mbps of uplink. If you have access to an HSPA network only, you'll get a maximum of 42Mbps and 5.76Mbps respectively.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge supports Wi-Fi ac networks for fast local connectivity. Wi-Fi, a/b/g/n at 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks are also supported, of course. Then there's Bluetooth 4.2 LE (for smartwatches, sport sensors and such) and apt-X codec (for high-quality audio streaming).

NFC support is enabled, used for Samsung Pay, as well as for pairing with other devices and reading NFC tags as well.

The microUSB 2.0 port on the bottom of the phone supports fast charging and regular USB 2.0 transfer speeds. With the included adapter you can easily use the USB Host and OTG support, connect a mouse or a keyboard, USB flash sticks, or just use the Galaxy S7 edge as a power bank.

We noticed the Galaxy S7 edge lacks MHL support, which should render wired TV-out impossible. But the wireless options are there.

User interface
The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge runs a TouchWiz-skinned Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and is among the company's first smartphones to offer it right out of the box. The Marshmallow OS has native support for fingerprint readers, app manager, Doze mode, among other tweaks.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The fingerprint reader used on the S7 edge is the same as the one on the Galaxy S6 and Note5. It recognizes a finger in under a second. All it takes to unlock the phone is to press the Home key and leave your finger for a moment longer while the fingerprint reader does its thing.

The lockscreen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review fingerprint protection - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review fingerprint protection - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review fingerprint protection - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The lockscreen • fingerprint protection

The screen features a new Always-On function, which is said to draw 1% battery charge per hour. Besides the time and date, and missed notifications, the screen shows a subtle wallpaper to make things a little fancier. You can download additional always-on themes from the store.

You can set up a time period, during which the feature will be on - if it overlaps with the Night Clock function below, the Night Clock will take precedence.

Always on display settings - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Preloaded AOD skins - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Night clock - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review AOD in action - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review AOD with calendar - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Always on display settings • Preloaded AOD skins • Night clock • AOD in action • AOD with calendar

The Night Clock is also part of the Always-on Display feature now - it can replace the big clock with the edged Night Clock at night. This way the screen will be less lit and more pleasant for the eyes in the dark.

AOD wallpaper - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Different AOD styles - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Different AOD styles - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Different AOD styles - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Different AOD styles - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
AOD wallpaper • Different AOD styles

Size aside, the homescreen is perfectly identical to the TouchWiz home of other Samsung phones. Even the number of columns is the same - 5 icons in a row, same as the S6.

Homescreen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Homescreen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review upday - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review App drawer - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Homescreen settings - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Homescreen • Homescreen • upday • App drawer • Homescreen settings

Depending on where you are in the world, your leftmost homescreen would be either the Flipboard-powered Briefing or a new service called Upday (this is the one we got on our international unit). The two do pretty much the same thing – they aggregate news according to a pre-defined list of interests.

Upday in action - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Upday in action - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Upday in action - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Upday in action - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Upday in action

The Notification area is pretty busy by default. It starts with a scrollable line of quick toggles on top, then a brightness slider, then the Quick connect button. You can hide the latter from the Edit option, which also lets you re-arrange the quick toggles.

Notification area - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Modifying the notification area - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Modifying the notification area - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Notification area • Modifying the notification area

The Galaxy S7 edge user interface is fully themeable. We only got one theme pre-installed, but the Theme store has many more to download. By the way, there is an option to disable the app drawer, so you may want to give it a try.

Themes - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Themes - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Themes - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Themes - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Themes

Split-screen multitasking is supported on the S7 edge, and the 5.5" screen was born to do it. Even at half a screen, apps get plenty of room (Material design likes a lot of padding though). As always, only supported apps can work in split-screen, but Samsung's implementation is the most widely supported. Floating app windows are supported for some apps, too.

App switcher - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Split-screen mode - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Floating window - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
App switcher • Split-screen mode • Floating window

Some cool gestures are available for the Galaxy S7 edge - you can flip the phone for mute, swipe your palm for screenshot, double-tap the Home key for quick camera access, quick call, among others.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge comes free of bloatware, but has a few Microsoft apps pre-installed (MS Office, OneDrive with 100GB for 2-years, Skype). The phone starts with 32GB, but a quarter of that (7.5GB) is left to the system. You can get rid of the MS apps and some of the Google's apps (Drive, Photos, Hangouts), and you can free up additional 500MB.

Long story short - once we were done setting up our accounts, installed the necessary social apps, three games, and seven benchmarks (about 1.5GB of size), we were left with 20GB free space in total.

Game Launcher
Samsung Game Launcher is a new app/service, which groups all of your games at one place. But that's just the beginning. The Game Launcher has a few powerful tricks, some of them a must have for avid games.

First, the Game Launcher has two Power Saving game modes - Save Power and Save Maximum Power. The Save Power options caps the frame rate at 30fps (instead of 60fps), and lowers the resolution. The Maximum mode furtherly lowers the resolution in addition to the 30fps cap.

Game launcher app on the homescreen - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Game Launcher - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Power Saving modes - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Game launcher app on the homescreen • Game Launcher • Power Saving modes

Next, the Game Launcher has its own DND mode - you can disable all alerts during a game.

Finally, there is the Game Tools key. It's a small floating virtual key you can position pretty much anywhere on the screen. Once tapped, it reveals additional actions such as No Alerts, Lock Recent and Back keys, Minimize Game, Take Screenshot, and Record.

Game Tools within a game - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Game Tools within a game - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Game Tools within a game - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Game Tools within a game

Locking the capacitive keys is crucial for a seamless game experience, as we found ourselves closing accidentally a game two times in just under five minutes!

Game Tools options - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Game Tools options - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Game Tools options

The Record option is rather interesting. It captures a video of your game, but you can choose to either capture the in-game audio or record external sound using phone's microphone. The video recording also supports a watermark - you can set a static picture, or use the front camera to embed yourself in the video. YouTubers will find those very useful.

The Game Launcher also offers Top Charts and Featured Videos tabs, where you can see check some nice game stats, and find helpful videos about your games.

Game Launcher related Charts - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Game Launcher related videos - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Game Launcher related Charts • Game Launcher related videos

Edge features
Since it's an edge model, the Galaxy S7 edge comes with a few exclusive software features to utilize the curved space. With the addition of Always-on option though, one of the highlights from the previous edge generation has been moved to its settings - it's like a night mode of the big always-on screen.

There are three edge features on the Galaxy S7 edge - Edge Panels, Edge Feeds, Edge Lighting.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The Edge Panels are available everywhere throughout the interface and you can assign the position, size and transparency of the edge shortcut. Those new panels are more like some exclusive mini homescreens.

Edge settings - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Edge panels - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Edge panels - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review More edge panels - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Edge settings - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Edge settings • Edge panels • Edge panels • More edge panels • Edge settings

One of the panels gives you app shortcuts, another has your favorite task hotkeys, then there is the one holding your favorite contacts. There are even more panels - Bookmarks, Weather, Calendar with Events, My Places, Compass (with ruler and flashlight). You can rearrange the panels as you wish, you can download more from the store, too. While those panels are cool, and you can have them all at once (they are swipe-able), we found it pointless to have more than one.

The position of the edge shortcut - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review App edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review People edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Compass edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Weather edge - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
The position of the edge shortcut • App edge • People edge • Compass edge • Weather edge

The edge feeds are back - those can be awoken with a short swipe and then swipe down gesture and it will light up brightly. If you have more than one feed (RSS, missed notifications, CNN, activity tracking), you can scroll between the different info feeds with a swipe.

Edge feeds settings - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Edge feeds in action - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Edge feeds settings • Edge feeds in action

The edge feeds disable your always on screen and then lights up, which is rather awkward and honestly, unnecessary. The always-on display is more than capable to handle some of these functions and you don't need special gestures to activate it (it's always on, remember).

Edge lighting lights up by a notification or a call only if your device is lying face down. You can even reject a call with a pre-defined message by placing a finger on the heart-rate sensor for 2 seconds.

Edge lighting - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Edge lighting

While those edge features are cool, the always-on screen rendered most of them unnecessary. We don't mind the curved screen as a design element, but we can't imagine anyone using these software gimmicks for more than a show off.

Gear VR and Oculus
Samsung is really determined the make the Virtual Reality a mainstream thing this year. It even used VR headsets to stream its last UNPACKED event to all attendees on the spot. And pre-orders of the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge came with a free Gear VR headset on many markets.

But the company made sure it provides the users with a full package of VR gear - you can opt additionally for the Gear 360 camera, which will snap VR photos and videos for you.

The Gear VR is powered by Oculus technology so all the Oculus VR content is available to the Gear VR users as long as they have the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, Note5, S7, and S7 edge. You just snap the phone in the slot and you are ready to go.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Naturally, we got our hands on a Gear VR headset and did a quick tour with the Galaxy S7 edge.

The Gear VR puts you in a comfortable room, which should help you get used with the whole VR thing. Some people may get dizzy at first, other may even become sick, so you should experiment with the Gear VR gradually - try it for a few short minutes at first before having a longer session.

Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Gear VR

So, in this VR room you get the default menu. Oculus provides enough content to get you started - there is a whole world of 360 photos within the Oculus Photos gallery. They are grouped by continents, countries, and cities. There are a few other galleries for different contest winners, your favorite 360 photos, the 360 photos you've preloaded on your phone, among others.

The Oculus Photos app has so many images of different places that you can lose weeks before you see them all. And it may be even impossible to do so, as new VR shots are added regularly.

The Oculus Video hub isn't as impressive as the Photos app. There are quite a few videos to get you started, but you should refer to other sources rather quickly (Facebook, YouTube, etc.). If a video is not a VR one, you can choose a cinema setup to fill the empty 3D space, which is quite a cool gimmick and we had fun time using it.

There are a few games available in the Oculus Store, but most of them were awful. Once the games advance enough they will make you use an Xbox or similar controller and then the Gear VR and Oculus will be fully utilizing the VR capabilities. For now - the Oculus games are just demos of the VR tech rather than something meaningful and entertaining.

As far as the quality is concerned - graphics quality is far from ideal, but we didn't expect them to be. The resolution is low and you can see the individual pixels and this may take time to get used to. In the 4K era going back to something close to the VGA resolution isn't a small bite and not everyone will be able to switch that fast.

We don't see the Gear VR as a gaming tool, but more like a multimedia explorer. Somewhat we doubt the games will be its moving force, at least today.

Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review
Gear VR

But we bet user-created multimedia content should provide a big enough hype to get more and more people hooked up. What's better than reliving your awesome vacations and memories once again, at the comfort of your couch?

We don't know about the gaming thing yet, but we'd take a Gear 360 camera and a Gear VR headset in a heartbeat just to explore the world from home. And hopefully, the VR world quality will get better