

If you wear glasses, though, expect the phone to take much longer. Folks who wear contacts (like I do sometimes) fall into this category too. If you don't need corrective lenses, well, congratulations: Assuming you line your eyes up properly, the Note 7 will unlock itself in less than a second. There's an iris scanner above the screen for hands-free unlocking, and it works better in some situations than others. Some changes, however, are hardly what you'd call subtle.

On the flip side, though, this year's S Pen is slightly slimmer than the last one, which makes it just a little less comfortable to grip. You can't stick the S Pen into its slot backward, either, because Samsung really didn't need another year's worth of embarrassment. It now has a smaller, 0.7mm nib - the same size as a typical ballpoint pen - for more natural writing. The Note 7's partner, the S Pen, has also benefited from some thoughtful little changes.
#Expandable memory note 7 series
It's a welcome move, but maybe not a surprising one, because the Note series phones were always billed as more premium devices. And then there's the storage situation: The Note 7 ships with 64GB of storage, up from 32GB on both US versions of the Galaxy S7. It was only a matter of time before Samsung made the switch, but I'm just a little surprised the company didn't wait until next year. Samsung also opted for a USB Type-C port for power and data transfer instead of the micro-USB seen on the S7. It's a big phone that doesn't feel like one. This symmetry of design coupled with the phone's light weight and lack of bezels around its 5.7-inch screen mean this is easily the nicest Galaxy Note to actually carry around and use. The added benefit is that these curves make the Note 7 really, really nice to hold. Here's hoping Samsung applies this knowledge to next year's Edge. I couldn't count the number of times that happened to me with the S7 Edge, and it eventually got so annoying that I gave up on the phone entirely. As a result, there's more of an edge for your thumb to rest on, so your hand is less likely to accidentally tap something on-screen. Samsung built the Note 7 with a symmetrically curved front and back that is, the metal-and-glass body is curved the same way on both sides. Because these smartphones share so much, it's no surprise that the subtle differences are what make the Note 7 shine.Ĭonsider its curves. It's no surprise, then, that the Note 7 has more in common with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge than last year's Note 5. This year's attempt - the $850+ Galaxy Note 7 - builds off what Samsung learned making the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, and you know what? The company wound up making its best phone yet in the process.Įvery year, Samsung tweaks its design language for its new Galaxy S phones and applies it to whatever Note device it releases later that year. When the very first Galaxy Note launched in 2011, it felt like a quirky anachronism - wasn't the age of the stylus over? The answer, as evidenced by the Note line's continued existence, is a resounding "no." In fact, somewhere along the way, the Note transformed from a curiosity into a premium device that can (and does) outshine the Galaxy S line on which it was based.
