Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review

The best smartphone in the world right now

OUR VERDICT

Five stars to Samsung, as the brand iterates perfectly on an already award-winning smartphone, adding a brilliant camera and gorgeous design.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is a phone I'd hate to have had to make. Its predecessor was a multi-award-winning phone, simply because it packed all the power of the 'normal' Galaxy S6 and yet... that curved edge. I wasn't alone in loving it, whipping it out proudly whenever possible.

But that was last year, and the world is bored of the curved design. We've seen it. It's been done. So what can Samsung do to make the new phone a real step forward?

Buy Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge at Amazon for $600.00

Well, unlike what it's done on the Galaxy S7, which looks (initially) like last year's model, the changes on the S7 Edge are brilliant, adding a zest to a design that could have quickly become tired.

The screen is larger, yet somehow the phone doesn't feel too much bigger in the hand. The rear of the phone is now curved too, making it sit nicely in the hand. It's waterproof. There's a microSD card slot. There's so much power in there I'm pretty sure I could strap it on the back of a speedboat and make my way across the Atlantic.

And that's even more possible because the battery – such a disappointment on last year's S6 phones – is boosted massively too, giving us a handset that's able to last over 24 hours between charges.

All this comes at a cost obviously, and a pretty hefty one. In the UK that cost is £640, while in the US you're looking at a huge $299 on contract. In Australia, the Galaxy S7 Edge attracts the highest price for a Galaxy yet: AU$1,249 for the 32GB version.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge price: how much will it cost me?

That's quite a jump from last year's AU$1,149 starting price, showing this is one of the most expensive phones around.

But, in my view, it's worth every penny.

Design

The Galaxy S7 Edge is a phone that lives and dies by its looks. If you're only interested in the power then just go for the standard Galaxy S7. The smaller, 'normal', model has got all the same smarts, but a slightly sharper screen thanks to packing the same amount of pixels into a smaller area.