Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge [Photo by Daryl Deino]
It was a short romance. Actually, it only lasted for three days. It was one of those love affairs that proved exciting at first, but empty in the (short) end. You see, I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge from the T-Mobile store in Van Nuys, Calif. Friday and it was love at first site. The Galaxy S7 Edge Super AMOLED screen, which has a Quad HD resolution and perfect color reproduction, is a beauty. Overall, the S7 Edge is simply the most beautiful portable device in technology history and my geek sense couldn't avoid it. I paid full price for the S7 Edge since I wasn't eligible for an upgrade.
When driving home, I put the S7 Edge in the back seat with its box and put it in the passenger's seat. Not being able to touch the device for ten minutes certainly produced withdraw symptoms. However, I was able to hold on to my new beauty for the rest of the day and made sure I downloaded all of the necessary apps and loaded up the device, as well as my microSD card, with movies and video clips. I even slept with my new device right next to me. I couldn't deal with the prospect of opening my eyes during the middle of the night and not seeing my beauty lie next to me.
On Saturday morning, my geek goggles came off and I was able to see the Galaxy S7 Edge for what it really was: a beautiful device without a heart. The device's main flaw is that it runs Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), which is improved from previous iterations of Android, but still not nearly as robust as iOS on the iPhone. If the Galaxy S7 Edge did run iOS, it would be the most amazing device ever. Now, it just feels incomplete.
The Galaxy S7 Edge is a beauty on the outside, but confusing on the inside.
[Photo by Daryl Deino]
Let me give you an example: Even though the Galaxy S7 Edge has a faster processor and more RAM than my iPhone 6s Plus, I found that it actually ran slower. It took longer for Internet pages to fully render, it took longer to launch apps after a lot of memory was being used, and the time it took the screen to automatically rotate was longer. As usual with Android devices, the experience just wasn't smooth.
The iPhone 6s Plus certainly had bugs at first when used with iOS 9, but using it has been a smooth experience. The on-screen keyboard works without any hiccups. Even with just 1GB of RAM (compared with 4GB on the S7 Edge), the applications launch faster. As usual, the experience of using the iPhone as a music player easily beats that of any Android device.
It's important to note that although the curved edges look beautiful on the S7 Edge, they don't serve much of a purpose and they make it easier for you to accidentally press on the screen when you don't need to. Having to hold the phone in my hand without touching the screen edges became extremely annoying. But I did love the camera, which easily outdoes the iPhone's in terms of still pictures and even 4K videos. I also loved the "Always On" feature, which displays the time, date, and some notifications even when the screen is off.
I will also miss the battery life of the S7 Edge, which has the best battery life out of any smartphone in existence. However, my love affair with the S7 Edge ended after I put the SIM card back in my iPhone 6s Plus and realized how my ex provided a more satisfying and reliable relationship for my smartphone needs. I returned the Galaxy S7 Edge to T-Mobile on Monday morning and even though I had to pay a $50 restocking fee, I don't regret my short love affair one single bit. It was a fun and exciting one, but ultimately proved unfulfilling.