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Samsung Galaxy S7 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge hands on | MWC 2016

We compare the Samsung’s Galaxy S7 to the S7 Edge at Mobile World Congress. 

Like last year’s S6 and S6 Edge double act, both of these phones are more or less identical in terms of specifications, with the only significant difference being the display; the Galaxy S7 opts for a standard flat panel while the S7 Edge, showing off Samsung’s fancy engineering skills, packs a concave screen or ‘dual curve display’, if you must indulge the marketing spiel. 

As you can see in our hands on comparison below, the curved sides of the Galaxy S7 Edge, while nice to look at, make it a little tricky to use with one hand. 

Screens aside, both Samsung S7 phones come with the same camera, which consists of a 12-megapixel main sensor with dual pixel fast autofocus technology and an f/1.7 aperture and a 5-megapixel front camera. 

We know that the Galaxy S7’s Samsung’s selling in the UK will be the versions that feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core CPU, which has a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz. According to official figures we’ve seen from Samsung, the two dual-core units will be slowed down to 2.15GHz Dual and 1.6GHz respectively. 

Both Galaxy S7s will feature 4GB of RAM, will be available in 16GB and 32GB variants and the internal storage of both will be expandable via microSD (up to 200GB). They’ll both benefit from fast charging, wireless charging and IP68-rated waterproofing. 

So how do they differ? Aside from boasting a curvy screen, the Galaxy S7 Edge has a bigger screen – 5.5-inches compared to the S7’s 5.1-inch display. 

The battery of the S7 Edge is also bigger, 3,600mAh vs the S7’s 3,000mAh. Whether this means that the Edge gives you more usage throughout the day or whether it simply needs that extra juice to power that larger convex screen remains to be seen. We’ll do a full comparison once review units are in our hands. 

Both phones’ screens boast the same Quad HD (2,560×1,440) resolution, which means on paper images will look a hair sharper on the Galaxy S7 than they will on the S7 Edge, owing to that higher PPI count.

You get 575.9 pixels per inch on the Galaxy S7’s screen versus 534.0 on that of the S7 Edge. 

To be honest, when you’ve got that many pixels clustered on a screen, it’s going to be hard to appreciate any difference unless you get seriously close – although if you’re planning on getting a Samsung Gear VR, then the standard S7 might be a better buy. 

For everyone else, the difference is negligible and your buying decision will hinge on whether you think curved screens are worth paying an extra £50-70 for. 

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are due to hit UK shelves from March 8th onwards; we’ve got all of the available pricing and release details up here

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