Update: iPhone 6 prices have continued to drop, and now that iOS 10 has landed, it could very well be the best choice for you.
Sure, it's not nearly as fast or powerful as Apple's new iPhone 7, but our review now reflects how 2014's still-impressive flagship goes against the iPhone SE, an iPhone 5S look-alike with iPhone 6S internals.
Also worth noting that some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users have encountered something that's being referred to as "touch disease".
In other words, your phone is becoming unresponsive to touch. And if
you search around the net, you'll see that this is a fairly widespread
issue.
Thankfully, Apple has responded with a repair program
that applies to "devices may exhibit display flickering or Multi-Touch
issues after being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then
incurring further stress on the device."
The kicker? The program is only for the iPhone 6 Plus and it costs $149 – not exactly helpful for iPhone 6 users who are experiencing the widely reported issue.
However,
stay tuned, as since the program covers units up to five years past the
device's original retail sale date, Apple still has time to extend the
program to the iPhone 6 as time goes by.
The question is, how many people will still be using the phone by that point? Original review follows below.
Why
do we have the Apple iPhone 6? Well, back in 2013, despite record
sales, the Cupertino brand was heading for a fall. It had been trading
on the same phone for four years, and something big was needed to keep
it current.
So with that, the iPhone 6, and its bigger brother, the iPhone 6 Plus,
were born to keep Apple at the sharp end of a market that was starting
to lust after powerful, big-screen smartphones with clever and premium
design.
The
iPhone 6 certainly addresses a number of the problems Apple had
developed, coming with a much larger screen (although not dramatically
increasing the size of the phone) a boosted processor, better camera,
improved battery and - crucially - overhauled design. Much of the ground
work that went into the iPhone 6S was done here, with the iPhone 6.
This is the sixth iPhone I've reviewed, and there's a distinct sense that this one is really rather different.
I
wrote in 2013 that Apple was becoming more aware that the time when it
could define what consumers would buy in the smartphone was ending – and
with the 4.7-inch screen, it clearly had to admit defeat in the smaller
screen market.
There will be some who will miss that 4-inch screen size, maintaining that they don't want
a bigger display on their phone – but nearly all of those people won't
have spent any appreciable time with a larger device, and I believe that
a good portion of you thinking you need a smaller phone will quickly
come to appreciate the power a bigger handset brings, without
compromising quality.
Apple's now appeased those longing
for a new 4-inch handheld though, with the launch of the iPhone SE. It
sports the specs of the iPhone 6S, uses the body of the now-discontinued
iPhone 5S and sports a lower price tag than the iPhone 6, giving the latter some tough new competition.
The phone fits very well in the hand
But
while the iPhone 6 has answered a lot of the problems I've had with
previous iterations of Apple's handsets, there are some issues that
still swirled when I handled the phone for the first time – and many of
them persist even now that the iPhone 6 has been superseded.
Why did Apple decide to not join the masses with a really high-res screen? Why is the iPhone 6 still
one of the most expensive phones on the market? Has Apple done enough
to improve the quite dire battery life of previous models, especially at
a time when many high-end Android phones are easily chugging through a
day's worth of hard use without thirsting for a charger's caress?
Let's take a quick look at the price – and it's not pretty.
iPhone 6 price and release date
At
launch, you were looking at $649 or £539 for the 16GB version, $750 or
£619 for the 64GB option and $850 or £699 for the 128GB model.
Compare
this to the iPhone 7, which launched in September for the same price,
but with an increased baseline of 32GB instead of 16GB. The high-end
model is also the same price as the iPhone 6 launched with, but stocks
in 256GB - double the amount of storage.
You can no
longer purchase the iPhone 6 through the Apple Store, but when it was
available last, the price had dropped as low as $549 (£459, AU$929) for
the 16GB version and $649 (£539, AU$1,079) for the 64GB option, with the
128GB handset having been discontinued with the arrival of the iPhone 6S. We wouldn't be surprised to see that prices have continued to plummet.
Even
so, it's going for about as much as you'd pay for a brand new Android
flagship just a few months after launch, yet the iPhone 6 is no longer
the top model in its range.
Lastly, you've got the iPhone
SE, which has the same features as the newer iPhone 6S for $150 (£100,
AU$250) less than the iPhone 6. You'll have to compromise on screen
size, but you could get a better phone for less.
Design
Let's
take a look at the first thing most people will wonder about before
picking up the iPhone 6: how will it actually feel in the hand?
This
is a big departure for Apple, marking a time when it's admitted that
the industrial, sharp design of the last four iPhone models is a little
outdated and needs to up the ergonomics to really compete.
Well,
with the Apple iPhone 6 we're looking at one of the thinnest and
sleekest handsets in the market – still. It's got a strong combination
of metal back (which feels exceptionally premium, borrowing bucketloads
of design language from the iPad Air) and the way the screen curves into the chassis gives it a slight lozenge feel.
One of the thinnest phones in the world
The iPhone 6 looks the business, and at 6.9mm thin it's very nice to hold, though phones like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Moto Z
has since edged it out at 6.8mm and 5.1mm thick, respectively. I do
still feel that phones that push harder on ergonomics are a better
choice though – the HTC One M9 bows out at the back and fits in the palm a little better – but that's quibbling. This iPhone just feels really well made.
Apple
has always favored a flatter phone than the rest of the market though,
and placed on a desk it looks great. It does feel great in the hand too,
but as said others impress more if I'm being hyper-critical.
There's
also the issue of the large plastic strips that flow through the top
and bottom of the device. Given metal is a nightmare material to try and
get radio signal to penetrate, these are clearly there to offset that.
The plastic strips detract and are not flush with the chassis
While
the plastic does seem to give good signal performance for the most
part, it's nothing amazing, and to my eyes they're a little unsightly
and ruin the sleek back of the iPhone 6; their presence seems at odds
with Apple's design ethos.
The other big design change is
to the power button, which has now been moved to the right-hand side of
the phone. This makes a lot of sense and, given the phone is now a
larger device at 138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm, hitting the top of the handset is a
much harder task, so moving the button is the right thing to do.
Like
the rest of the exterior buttons, the power key is raised and easy to
hit in both left and right hand modes. It's metallic, and crucially
doesn't have the same rattle that I criticized on the iPhone 5S and iPhone SE.
The new raised buttons
However,
that doesn't mean the metallic keys don't have a little wiggle to them.
Running your hand up and down the sides idly will result in you
noticing a very slight looseness to the power and volume buttons... I'm
in danger of being too critical here, but for the price it's not the
sort of thing I expect to see.
The other important design
change here is the camera now protrudes slightly on the rear of the
phone. It's good to see that happening, as it shows that Apple isn't
willing to compromise on camera quality in order to just whack in a
thinner phone.
The
protrusion is a little worrying in that laying the Apple iPhone 6 down
flat on a table could see scratches appearing, but the sapphire glass
that covers the lens should ensure that's pretty safe.
The camera protrudes but you won't notice it day to day
The
rest of the iPhone 6 is very similar to the iPhone 5S, with the
speakers at the bottom flanking the Lightning port. Well, I say
speakers: it's just the one speaker, but thanks to the slightly
elongated bottom of the phone you won't cover it when holding the phone
in landscape orientation.
This was irritating when trying
to game or watch a movie without headphones on older iPhones – but this
upgrade, combined with the lightness of the iPhone 6, means you won't
have a similar problem for the most part, as the hands sit lower and
free of the speaker generally.
Sadly the headphone port
still resides at the bottom of the iPhone 6, meaning you'll still
probably get your phone out of your pocket the wrong way around when
listening to music.
The iPhone in Space Gray
Going
back to the iPhone 6 after a prolonged spell using the iPhone 6S as a
daily driver, it's remarkable how much lighter the older phone feels in
the hand. You can feel every one of those extra 14 grams, and it's the
one area in which the newer iPhone suffers by comparison.
Let
me make one thing very clear though: the Apple iPhone 6 is another
iconic handset in terms of design for Apple. It's not the best looking
on the market (I'm still giving that title to the HTC One M9), but it's definitely right up there, and for the price I'd expect nothing less.
At
launch, the iPhone 6 was available in Space Gray, Silver and Gold, but
you might have a hard time finding your preferred color now since Apple
no longer sells the phone.
Fast forward to today, Apple's
iPhone 7 is offered in a few more colors: Jet Black, Black, and Rose
Gold - a variant that was introduced alongside the iPhone 6S.
:
SKRC D20W WiFi FPV RTF version means the
quadcopter is ready to fly and can finish all supported functions
including WiFi real-time image / video transmission when you get it. But
please ensure the battery full enough for the flight and 4 x 1.5 AA
batteries are already put in the transmitter which are not included.
Please make sure "GX UFO" APP is downloaded in your phone before
connected.
Main Features: WiFi FPV system allows real time image transmission with WiFi connection between the quadcopter and your phone. WiFi real time image transmission distance is 60 meters. HD 2MP aerial photography camera captures and records every beautiful and unforgettable moment. 2 speed mode for you: There are low and high speed modes optional. From low to high speed, the flight difficulty will increase with the speed. 3D rollover function makes your aircraft flipping likes a real fight aircraft, let's enjoy more fun of rolling. With attractive headless mode, completely solving pilot "loss of orientation" problems. One press automatic return ensure that you can call back your quadcopter without any delay. High speed spin will satisfy those who love playing skeet, too. Side flight function shows the good balance keeping performance and a big stunt potential.
You can also enjoy some basic functions: Forward / backward / up / down / turn left / turn right.
Note:
the user manual refers that there is a switch button on the product,
but actually it is the plate-insert wire controls the power.
Specification
General
Type: Quadcopter
Features: WiFi FPV
Motor Type: Brushed Motor
Functions: 3D rollover,Camera,Forward/backward,FPV,Headless
Mode,Hover,One Key Automatic Return,Sideward flight,Slow down,Speed
up,Turn left/right,Up/down,With light
Night Flight: Yes
Built-in Gyro: 6 Axis Gyro
Material: Electronic Components,Plastic
Kit Types: RTF
Level: Beginner Level
Age: Above 14 years old
Connectivity
Remote Control: 2.4GHz Wireless Remote Control
Channel: 4-Channels
Mode: Mode 2 (Left Hand Throttle)
Radio Mode: Mode 2 (Left-hand Throttle)
Control Distance: 100-300m
Detailed Control Distance: 100m
Transmitter Power: 4 x 1.5V AA battery(not included)
Model Power: 1 x Lithium battery(included)
Battery
Battery: 3.7V 600mAh
Flying Time: 8-12mins
Charging Time (h): about 35 minutes
Battery Size: 2.5 x 0.8 x 4.3cm
Battery Weight: 15g
Camera
Camera Pixels: 2MP
Dimension and Weight
Product weight: 0.103 kg
Package weight: 0.800 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 44.00 x 36.00 x 13.00 cm / 17.32 x 14.17 x 5.12 inches
Package size (L x W x H): 42.00 x 9.50 x 31.00 cm / 16.54 x 3.74 x 12.2 inches
Package Contents
Package Contents: 1 x Quadcopter, 1 x Transmitter, 2 x
Landing Gear, 2 x Spare Propeller, 4 x Propeller Protector, 1 x
Screwdriver, 2 x English Manual, 1 x USB Charger, 1 x Camera, 1 x Phone
Holder, 1 x Strap
Product Safety Disclaimer:
We do not accept any responsibility or liability for misuse of this or
any other product. All our products are extensively tested to comply
with rigorous and strict QC standards. For certain products (e.g. toys,
knives, etc.), we recommend proper supervision as we cannot be held
liable for misuse or accidents.
Disclaimer:
We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the incorrect
purchase of our products. All of the products on the website are
extensively tested to comply with rigorous and strict QC standards. For
all of our clothing products, items and accessories, please take
careful note of the precise measurements, mainly shown in centimeters
(CM). As part of our company policy, we will not be able to accept
returns or provide refunds for items which are the wrong size.
Notice:
Please ensure the RC device is correctly calibrated before first time
use. Any damage caused by misuse and/or general wear and tear is not
covered by the warranty.
Update (10/12):
In an unfortunate turn of events, Samsung has fully recalled and halted
sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Considering Samsung’s current
official recommendation is to turn off and return the Note 7, we can
obviously no longer officially recommend the phone. It’s a shame too, as
this device was easily the best phone ever created by Samsung, and
perhaps the best by any OEM in smartphone history, with a strong 9.3
rating in our original reviewing. For more details on the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall and production halt, check out our Galaxy Note 7 recall information hub.
Here we are – Samsung went ahead and skipped a whole number to
bring out their newest Note device. Though the main reason makes a lot
of sense – Samsung wanted unification of their Galaxy line
– the very notion of skipping a whole version is an interesting one.
Does the phone actually innovate or jump forward to justify going from 5
to 7?
Up to date info:
Galaxy Note 7 recall: what you need to know before you buy it
October 11, 2016
Or, as we have started to see in the Galaxy over the last couple
years, are we just subject to the decisions of big Samsung and are
getting a small step forward in an otherwise established line of
smartphones? If history is privy to repetition, is it entirely possible
that the next in the Note line simply repeats the same while coating it
in what they hope looks different? All of these questions are pondered
in this, our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Design
It feels like a long time since we were introduced to Samsung’s
unibody dual glass design on the Galaxy S6, a move that plenty of us
thought was a welcome far cry from the plastic phones of the past. Since
then, Samsung has tried to incorporate new design elements into what
their Galaxy phones were clearly going to look like moving forward. This
included the Edge, originally brought to the forefront in the Galaxy
Note Edge – perhaps a phone that hasn’t been given the credit it
deserves, with the Edge now being a Galaxy mainstay. And there’s no
better place to see that than in the Galaxy Note 7.
So, at its core, there are basically no surprises with the way
the Note 7 looks – a dual glass design with tactile home button and
single camera optics on the rear next to a heart rate sensor. Then there
is the Iris Scanner, a dedicated secondary camera module and LED light
that accompany the existing front facing camera and notification light. A
USB-C charging port is one of the more obvious changes, centered
between the speaker, the headphone jack – that the Galaxy is thankfully
still holding on to – and the Note-defining S-Pen.
The S-Pen doesn’t go backwards into the slot anymore, thankfully –
so no Pengate this year – and it manages to do that with a clicky-top
that is just wider than the rest of the pen and the slot that it slides
into. All that aside, the S Pen and its singular button feel exactly the
same as last year despite some subtle changes – a thinner tip means
better precision on the highly pressure sensitive screen and the pen
itself is as long as a standard ballpen. None of this means an even
slightly different experience physically using the Note 7’s little
friend.
Subtle is the word to use for the refinements to the phone’s
overall design, but they actually work to change the handling experience
of Samsung’s famously large smartphone. The 5.7 inch screen is now
curved – and that is the deal, as there will be no flat version of the
Note nor any other types to accommodate the Edge – but a curve is
actually found on the backing, too, much like the previous Note 5. The
marriage of these two curves was summarized in one main word that
Samsung was keen to make very clear in the phone’s introduction:
Symmetry. It is a design term that is not always used in the
world of smartphones and, indeed, is often relegated to art and
architecture. But designers of the Note 7 made it a big focus this year,
to wonderful effect. The symmetry is not lost on the eyes, but it does
have to somewhat be searched for, because the Note 7 retains the overall
design DNA of the Galaxy S7 Edge. But it’s when one grabs and handles
the phone that the symmetry becomes one of the most welcome additions to
what used to be a functional, powerful, but ultimately somewhat
tone-deaf Samsung design history.
Of course, the final change to the design here is IP
certification. Now, the Galaxy Note 7 can be submerged in water for some
time and still tick; or write, rather, because it is possible to use
the S Pen underwater. Maybe users won’t be writing or drawing in the
pool or ocean, but for the vast majority of people, at least this phone
won’t break due to a splash.
What Samsung has managed to do with the Note 7 is something users
like myself probably didn’t know they wanted – a larger phone
experience that feels accessible. Even though the Note 7 might not win
any medals for one handed usage, it is definitely one of the most
comfortable big screen experiences that we have ever had the pleasure of
using.
You might like:
Best Samsung Galaxy Note 7 cases
August 19, 2016
Display
Samsung hasn’t really leapt forward in much of the Note 7, and
that starts with the display – a Quad-HD resolution Super AMOLED display
that pumps out some of the most saturated colors in smartphones.
Granted, this can be changed in the settings among a couple AMOLED
modes, a bland (in comparison) Basic mode, and the default Adaptive mode
that tries to change it up according to what is being displayed.
Speaking of color, a Blue Light Filter is easily accessible in
the notification shade and can be set on a schedule so that it only
triggers when it matters – after the sun goes down. Users might not be
all that in tune with the benefits of a Blue Light Filter, so allow me
to explain it plainly – the harsh blue light of electronic displays,
especially late at night, make it harder to get more sleep both in
quantity and quality. As one of our resident AA health-nuts, I make
plenty use of this feature.
It is important to note that the resolution can also be changed
in the name of battery savings. In the Device Maintenance area of the
settings, the resolution of this 5.7 inch display can actually be made
as low as 720p. It’s easy to see the difference between Quad HD and
regular HD, which means we don’t think users will change resolutions
often unless power saving is highly in demand.
A big deal from the Galaxy S7 line now makes it over to the Note,
and that is the Always On Display. Though we found it nice to have the
time or a calendar always at the ready on the Galaxy S phones, Samsung
has brought it a step further by making it a little more customizable.
In the settings, the AOD can be changed to have a number of
different clocks, a few different calendars, and a small number of
canned images. A favorite of these options is the ability to put in a
personalized block of text. The AOD lists the different notification
icons that are sitting in the notification shade, so you can get a quick
glance at what is waiting for you under the lock screen.
Considering the Note now employs the curved display, the Edge
screen elements also move over from the S7 Edge – but there isn’t really
anything new in the Edge UX. What is worthy of note is that the angle
and curve of the display isn’t very egregious, so accidental presses
from user palms shouldn’t be that much of nuisance. As a matter of fact,
we found touches to the very edges of the curve harder to trigger –
thankfully, this is pretty much never an issue and doesn’t impede in any
typical tasks users may do. It is far more common to slide from the
edge to the middle of the display, like with the Edge UX.
Though subtle, another aspect of the curved screens comes to the
Note – Material Design elements that slide from either side of the
interface seem to curve into view, which is a rather lovely effect when
noticed. A related but somewhat negative side effect of this is a bit of
difficulty reading text that bleeds all the way to the actual curves of
the display.
Of course, the above aspects are somewhat nitpicky to what is
otherwise an expectedly wonderful viewing experience. Text is sharp
across the board, video playback is always nice on a larger display, and
playing games like MOBIUS Final Fantasy proved to be really fun with
such a vivid screen. Though there are a few additions made to the
overall experience, they do well to bolster what was already considered a
great experience in the Note line. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
might be the axiom to employ here, but it might be more practical to
just say there are little to no complaints here.
Performance
The same sentiment can just barely be used with the processing
power and overall performance experience, too. Users familiar with the
Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge know what to expect here – the Snapdragon 820 with
the Adreno 530 and 4GB of RAM. It is worthy of note that the Exynos
8890 edition of the phone will also be produced but it won’t be the
version made readily available to users in the West.
It’s not hard to merit the Snapdragon 820, one of the most
abundantly available SoC packages found today, because it has proven
itself as a reliable and good performing processor. The same can be said
for the Adreno 530, which has been able to render and play MOBIUS Final
Fantasy and Final Fantasy IX with the best of them.
Where we find a little bit of a fleeting desire is in the amount
of RAM installed. 4GB of RAM will not make the majority of users feel
like they are lacking, but some users have already lamented that the
Galaxy simply does not have good RAM management.
Even if that were not the case, we’re dealing with one of the
most feature-heavy devices on the market, the Note – this is a phone
that takes on all of the already existing demands of smartphone users
and adds a myriad of capabilities in the form of the S Pen and its
software. While we don’t think that there is a huge hurting for higher
RAM capacities like the nice 6GB found in the OnePlus 3, we also can’t help but think that perhaps an amount like that could have been the inch that feels like a mile.
We didn’t have these feelings often, as slowdowns were still
rather far and few between. Still, that little bit of forward thinking
could have made a huge difference. For the vast majority of the time,
the Note 7 will perform just as well as any other Snapdragon 820 powered
device, even with the laundry list of features that Samsung puts into
their software – which we will explore soon.
Hardware
Despite the lack of higher RAM capacities, which would have been a
great move supporting power users, Samsung did well to close the gaps
in storage – 64GB is the built-in storage option, with no higher or
lower options to be made available. Unification of the line, indeed. And
even then, the ability to put in a microSD card is another boon to
Samsung, who have just released a 256GB microSD card that we gladly
popped into the phone for that added peace of mind.
Calls on the Note 7 all sound fine, with no real frills or
thrills, even with Wi-Fi calling getting some front exposure depending
on what carrier you are on – mine was on T-Mobile. Nonetheless, both
ends had no issues with the call quality and there were no drops. The
on-board speaker, unfortunately, doesn’t evoke the same sentiment – it
is simply not loud compared to even other bottom mounted speakers, much
less any front facing or dual stereo speakers we’ve seen on plenty of
other phones. Simply put, it is continually one of the weakest points of
the Galaxy line.
Plug some headphones into the headphone jack, and breathe a sigh
of relief – if the headphone jack is to go away in the near future for
Samsung, you might as well cherish it right now. Thankfully, the
experience is above average, even if not by leaps and bounds. There is
no dedicated DAC working in especially this Snapdragon 820 edition of
the phone, nor is there an AMP to really drive a good pair of cans like
my Audio Technica M50x headphones. That said, Samsung does put its best
foot forward by providing plenty opportunity to tweak what they were
given to work with.
Some users might remember SoundAlive from a few other Samsung
devices, and it returns in the Note 7 to provide sliders and dials to
cater the sound coming out of that headphone jack. At its simpler level,
emphasizing bass or treble and instrumentals or vocals can get the
sound to lean more in the direction one wants, but for even more fine
tuned control, the Note 7 can analyze and enhance plugged in headphones
through a rather long process of beeps and user input.
By figuring out the headphones by way of the listener’s ability
to hear said beeps, the EQ will adjust to bring out the best possible
sound. Of course, this means little if the phone cannot drive headphones
with the power audiophiles want, but I was plenty happy with what
resulted. It might not be HTC 10 levels of audio, but it is certainly in
the right direction.
Battery Life
Battery life was a key focus in the Note 7, a phone that comes at
moment in time when users are simply going to deal with what having
bigger batteries entails. Thankfully for the Note 7, 3500mAh is the
capacity standard and it is what users get in a pretty slender and sleek
body. Anyone looking for more than this might have to contend with the
brick of a phone that results, but at least with 3500mAh there is plenty
to work with.
Thankfully, battery saving options are abundant, with a lot of
customizable options to get the most out of the phone. This is all found
in the Device Maintenance area of the settings, where a number of
tweaks can be made to the user experience – clearing out some storage,
some RAM, and changing some settings to get better battery life.
These options include not only the toning down of the processor
power, but also the lowering of resolution in the screen. Yes, you can
make the Quad HD capable display output only HD Android. All of these
options can bring up the amount of hours one has left in the battery –
according to Samsung – and it always seems to be a little generous, as
always.
But our time with the Note 7 has been properly mixed, and by that
I mean depending on one’s usage and circumstances, the battery can
certainly go the distance. A short test from our own Android Authority
battery testing app used a mixture of gameplay, web browsing, and video
playback while on Wi-Fi, and predicted that the screen on time can be
more than 6 hours.
In my own testing, I decided to try and recreate this with my own
real life usage, I binged YouTube on my home Wi-Fi network for a very
large portion of the day (for science!) and played some Final Fantasy
before bed. Sure enough, the Note 7 was able to take the hour long
episodes of the Game Grumps with no problems as it blasted past 4 hours,
then 5 hours, and then conked out at around 6 hours and 15 minutes.
When circumstances change, however, the results should, as well. A
very heavy usage day out and about on mobile networks and doing a lot
of Google Maps Navigation brought the battery down to single digits in
about 9 hours, with a screen on time of just under 3 and a half.
Thankfully, a normal day shouldn’t be so hard on the Note that it only
works in the extremes. Normal days with this phone were between the 4
and 5 hour marks in screen on time while easily making it to bedtime
without any issues.
But we’re also in a time when fast charging is not just a great
feature to have, but almost a full-on requirement of a smartphone. And
in Samsung’s case, the USB Type C port brings its brand of fast charging
that, they claim, can get the Note 7 charged up in the same time that
the Galaxy S7 and its smaller battery took.
That has been largely true in our testing, as the Note 7 got to
half battery in about half an hour – if you’re really hurting for juice,
it’s little effort to plug in the phone or put it on a wireless
charging mat (fast wireless charging is a thing, but when wired fast
charging is so good, the convenience of a pad or mat is about all it can
boast) in order to get the power you need. And even then, the included
adapter will make microUSB cords play nicely with the Note 7 – just
remember to use the charging brick included with the phone or there will
be diminishing returns to the fast charging claims.
All of this goodness is now in a body that is IP certified – not
only will dust never get into the device, but the Note 7 will keep on
going even if it gets wet. This is a wonderful feature for everyone’s
inner klutz, as a bit more peace of mind never hurt anyone. And though
Samsung did try to really push the fact that this phone can write notes
underwater – after all, the S Pen is also IP certified – we would just
be happy with a phone that still works even in the rain or after picking
it out of a spill.
Iris Scanner
Finally, we come to the Iris Scanner. This is where we’ll talk
about Samsung’s new foray into biometric security and it will do nicely
as a segue into the Camera talk. After all, this is a new dedicated
infrared camera that will scan one’s Iris – the composition of one’s
eyes – as a way to unlock the device or other parts of the phone. It
takes a little bit of setup, but not much – remove glasses and stare
into the Scanner, keeping one’s eyes in the designated areas. After it
gets a snapshot of one’s eyes, it’s all set. Having contacts or glasses
on, Samsung disclaims after setup, can impede the Scanner’s ability to
read Irises, so users have to be wary.
Honestly, after you get the hang of it, the Iris Scanner is
surprisingly easy and fast to use. It is still debatable if this is
actually faster than fingerprint readers, but the novelty will
definitely stick around for a while. To unlock the phone with an iris,
one has to wake the device and swipe to start the Scanner. Once we knew
exactly where to look and got the muscle memory down to about how far
the phone needs to be, this method of unlocking the phone was a piece of
cake. All we had to do was already be looking at that part of the phone
and when the wake and swipe commenced, the viewfinder didn’t even need
to appear – the lock screen would just disappear in an instant.
I just wanted to be sure my eyes were wide open for the Scanner.
If
you do need some guidance as to where your eyes need to go, there are a
few different masks that can make the job easier – or cuter, if you
actually pick the cat or dog face ones. Still, the method and the
requirements are the same. It can lead to some interesting reactions,
but the best one that I’ve gotten was a friend telling me it looked like
I hated my phone. When I asked why, she told me that I kept giving it
the evil eye every time I held it up to my face. I just wanted to be
sure my eyes were wide open for the Scanner.
Camera
A whole other reason to look at that area above the display is
when taking a selfie, and in the camera department, Samsung seems to be
confident enough in what they’ve achieved with the Galaxy S7 that the
same package makes an encore in the Note 7. Once again, unification of
the line takes on a tangible quality.
So, the 12 megapixel f/1.7 dual-pixel shooter of the Note 7 is
the same as before – that might not be a very bad thing, honestly, as
the S7 was one of the top performing cameras of the year. That large,
dual-pixel technology is supposed to help with fast autofocus and better
low light performance, which we agreed did the job fairly well in the
S7 . And finally, the front facing camera is 5MP still, at f/1.7 and
wide angle.
If there are any real improvements in the Note 7, it’s in the
camera app, still easily launched via a double tap of the home button.
Any users that found the app convoluted and full of too many options
might not change their tune, still – but at the very least, all of those
elements and settings are easily available using one hand.
This is because key functions have been put into swipe actions on
the viewfinder – swipe up or down to change which camera you’re using,
and swipe left to access the different filters or right to bring up the
many modes. The only viewfinder elements that are still out of reach for
one hand are the deeper settings which probably should already be setup
(to 4k video recording and Quad HD for the front facing camera, for
example) and HDR (which could be on Auto already, anyway).
Anyone familiar with the Galaxy S7 and its top-notch camera
quality will know what to expect from the Note 7. It is still capable of
some of the better batches of photos in good lighting, providing good
saturation and good colors bordering on almost oversaturated. For an
even bigger punch in colors, HDR does a good job of bringing up the
shadows in situations where it really calls for it – but don’t expect
HDR to spruce up every single photo you take.
Details are captured quite well, with only some softness showing
up when zooming into these photos – small text is still legible in some
of these photos that have it.
Self portraits are still not the super high quality that some
might be expecting, especially in indoor conditions where lighting is
less than the power of the sun. We will give all the credit in the world
to the f/1.7 lens for doing what it can, but lower light will still
hinder the quality of a selfie.
The same can somewhat be said for the main camera in low light,
as its optical image stabilization, f/1.7 aperture lens, and large pixel
construction all work together to bring passable dark photos. As we
generally find the case to be in low light, the color temperature tends
to get quite warm – and a steady hand can be required from time to time
as shutter speeds have to get much slower to expose darker scenes. This
didn’t happen to often, though, as we were happy with quite a few photos
we got in dark, late night restaurant scenes – the foodies will still
be proud with this camera package.
I think that this year has been a great one for videographers, as
every flagship has had a big feature to boast for their video cameras –
the S7 didn’t have a wide angle lens like the LG G5 or the OIS in the
front facing camera like the HTC 10, but it was the only camera to
record front facing video at 2K resolution. This doesn’t sound like a
huge deal, but it made the Galaxy S7 one of the better choices for
vloggers like myself. Galaxy Note 7 Camera Samples
With more resolution, there was quite literally a little more
room to work with in terms of editing and quality. That same feature
comes on the Note 7 – and coupled with the high onboard storage and the
potential 256GB microSD card storage added on top, the Note 7 can be a
powerful tool for videographers. (Until we get whatever LG has cooking
with their manual video controls in the next V series phone, of course – that’s a comparison we’re excited to do.)
In the end, the cameras of the Note 7 prove as useful as ever,
even if we’ve seen them before. But like much of this phone seems to be
to Samsung, it’s a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of device.
Easier handling of the camera app is nice to have, but ultimately it is
the same experience as the Galaxy S generation we got this year – and
that’s definitely not a bad thing.
Software and the S Pen
The software experience for a Note device always centers around
the S Pen – that is definitely the case in the Note 7, but there have
been some refinements to Samsung’s version of Android. Overall, the user
interface has been given some unified colors in order to make
everything feel more coherent. Lighter colors are abound, with only the
important bits and buttons providing the splashes of color. The
notification shade and the settings page are the best places to see
this; and even then, the settings page has been simplified so that
things are easier to navigate.
Sections of the settings page are consolidated in categories that
include some main examples of what users might expect to find after
going deeper, and this hopefully will make the usually daunting Samsung
UI easier to navigate. Indeed, Samsung wants to guide the users more
than ever without the pesky dialog boxes that used to appear out of
nowhere and incessantly, which was more annoying than helpful in the
past. Instead, there are little texts for just about every setting and
there are arrows in the notification shade showing that pressing the
text of an option will provide a little more information.
Of course, there are still all of the main tropes of the Samsung
interface, including the rather cartoonish and rounded icons and
folders, but the round backgrounds for non-Samsung apps can be removed.
Briefing is still the news aggregator found to the left of the
homescreens, but that can also be disabled. And all of this can be
themed through the Themes area of the settings, which provides quite a
few different options for changing the look of the interface without
tampering with function.
Which brings us to the extras – the flourishes, if you will, of
Samsung’s software design. Given that this is a curved display phone,
the Edge UX makes an appearance and is largely the same as the one found
on the Galaxy S7 Edge. Sliding from either the left or right side will
bring up the Edges, a number of different panels that are able to house
either contacts for quick dialing, icons for quick launching, or tickers
for various forms of information like CNN News or a compass. If you
find yourself actually using the Edges for their convenience, then these
are welcome additions to an already fully functional Android launcher
experience – if not, they are neatly out of the way and don’t really get
triggered accidentally.
The other addition focuses on security – the Secure Folder. Used
as a sort of triage area for apps and accounts, the Secure Folder can
best be described as a clean slate area. Files, apps, and content put
into it are locked under any of the same security measures that are used
to unlock the device (yes, including Iris). It is basically like
putting a second copy of an app on your phone – for example, when
putting Instagram in the Secure Folder, opening it brought up the
initial login page, so that I could feasibly put in a personal or work
account there depending on what configuration I wanted. It’s a power
little folder that can actually be hidden for even more security.
Various other features return from previous Galaxy devices like
the MultiWindow and Pop Up View for multitasking, and the gesture for
One-Handed Operation. Digging through the settings shows all of these
different features that don’t appear in the annoying dialog boxes to
throw themselves in your face – so, users are expected to dig and find
these features to hopefully use them on the regular.
But, of course, the crux of the Note 7 is the S Pen – and there
is a mixture of streamlining and adding to the formula to make this
iteration probably the most practical one yet. Hovering the pen tip over
the screen can still provide previews into various parts of the UI and
selecting multiple items is still simple with the mouse-like nature of
the S Pen and its button.
Removing the S Pen (again, can’t be put in backwards anymore)
while the screen is on will bring up the Air Command menu, which has a
few features that return from the Note 5 and the main additions now
introduced. While these shortcuts can be edited to open up pretty much
any application, the main ones for the S Pen still include a straight
note creation, Smart Select for some more creative captures, and Screen
Write for capturing what the screen is currently showing (or scrolling,
if one is currently on a scrollable page) for writing and editing and
sharing.
Smart Select got one of the bigger and probably funner additions,
Animation select. A frame of any size the user chooses appears and can
be put over any part of the screen to record a 15 second GIF, making GIF
creation just about as easy as GIF searching. Or, if you ever have that
GIF you can never find, now you have the method to save it.
The Smart Select Animation can quite literally capture anything,
like video content from Instagram or YouTube for easy sharing in only
the easy way the S Pen does it – just hit share and it goes straight to
the place of your choice. In the age of the emoji and GIF keyboards,
this might be one of the trendier additions Samsung has ever put into
their phones, and after a few GIF shares, we’re liking it.
The other additions to the S Pen software family are not quite as
deep, but they are useful in their own rights. Magnify provides a small
square to magnify parts of the screen up to 300%, which can be useful
for those times when users do need to get a closer look at something.
Glance is an interesting one that shrinks any app to a small
square snapped to corners of the screen – hovering the S Pen over the
square makes it large again for easy checking or for continued regular
usage. It might be a nice way to tuck an app away for quick glances at
any changes that may have happened on it, but the use cases still don’t
feel very vast.
And finally there is Translate, perhaps the feature that we
really want to see evolve. Translate uses the S Pen hover to quickly
search for singular words’ translation in Google Translate – there are a
myriad of languages available to go to and from, which makes this easy
translation method already pretty robust. Though would like to see full
sentences and phrase become a part of Translate, we applaud Samsung for
included it in this new version of the Note.
The final addition to the S Pen adds upon the Screen Off Memo,
which was a feature well-liked from the Note 5. Removing the S Pen while
the screen is off brings up a black screen where one can quickly jot
down a scribble. Returning the S Pen to its slot puts the memo into the
Notes app, just like any other note. However, now the memo can be pinned
to the Screen Off Memo so that it is always within view. This can be
useful for task lists or reminders you don’t need to be around for more
than a short amount of time.
All of these notes are now put into one singular Notes
application, which consolidates all of the different methods and
abilities the S Pen used to have splashed across the UI – Action Memo
and S Note, for example. By putting everything under one roof, the Notes
application is now one of the most robust apps for notation and will
eventually be made available for even the Galaxy S devices.
While the small but noticeable changes to the Android experience
on the Note 7 are already welcome, it seems that this year Samsung
really wants users to start pulling the S Pen out more. Why else include
a GIF creator, if not to make it so that this year S Pen usage
hopefully shoots up? After all, plenty of users report that they never
use the S Pen or its myriad of features and instead just look at the
Note as a standalone device with a lot of power. Will these features
make that change? That remains to be seen, but there seems to be a lot
of thought put into the S Pen this year and the effort is not lost on us
here at Android Authority.
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Display
5.7-inch Dual-edge Super AMOLED display
2560 x 1440 resolution
518ppi
