Samsung Galaxy Note7 review – one of the most advanced smartphones around

If Samsung was a band and the Galaxy Note7 was a new album – it would include all of the group’s greatest hits plus a few brand new songs and a stunning cover that will get your attention.

By that we mean there are all of the high-quality features you’d expect alongside a few new ones and it’s all housed in a well-designed sleek chassis.

Samsung is flexing some serious muscle with the Galaxy Note7.

The device showcases the company’s strengths – great design, high performance, a suite of useful features and innovation that will appeal just as much to the power professional user as it will to the consumer with an appetite for entertainment and gaming and everyone in between.

With the addition of the S Pen that lets you write and sketch on the screen, new security options with the iris scanner and that fact the device is also waterproof, the Galaxy Note7 is one of the most advanced smartphones on the market today.

DESIGN

The Note7 seems like a combination of the S7 and S7 Edge – more rounded screen edges than the S7 but not as pronounced as those of the S7 Edge. It’s the best of both worlds.

And that might explain why Samsung took us from the Note5 to the Note7 and skipped Note6.

It was to bring the product into line with the S7 and S7 Edge which were launched earlier this year and stand as the most successful mobile products Samsung has ever released.

The 5.7-inch display appears to go edge to edge so you get a large screen without having a large device.

Compared to the iPhone 6S Plus which has a smaller 5.5-inch screen, the Note7 is both shorter and narrower.

This means the device is surprisingly easy to use with one hand.

The elegant curved edges of the screen are also reflected on the rear panel so it feels really good resting in your hand.

The edges also blend seamlessly with the display and back panel to give the device a premium look and feel.

Samsung has once again provided a phenomenal Super AMOLED screen that has a quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 with 518ppi (pixels per inch).

And the display is also HDR compatible so it can display the latest content in all its glory.

IRIS SCANNER

One of the innovative new features of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is the iris scanner so the device can be unlocked just by looking at it.

This is an additional security measure on top of your password and fingerprint and is one of our favourite new features.

Set up takes seconds – you’ve just got to let the scanner see you – and unlocking the phone is just as quick – most of the time.

We found lighting conditions played a big part in how quickly the iris scanner unlocked the device.

If we were in bright sunlight or directly under a light it struggled to work.

But when it worked, which was 95 per cent of the time, it worked almost instantly without the need to type in a passcode or run your fingerprint over the home button. This is real Mission: Impossible stuff – and we loved it.

SECURE FOLDER

While on the subject of security, the Secure Folder aboard the Galaxy Note7 is another welcome new feature and provides a partition of the smartphone that allows the user to store sensitive information that’s for your eyes only.

You can not only have store sensitive files but you can also run duplicate apps like the camera, contacts, notes, email and the browser in this secure environment so whatever you produce with these apps – pictures, emails, notes and the sites you visit are locked up tight.

Another excellent addition to the device.

S PEN

This feature alone is worth the price of the Note7. This power of the pen is greater than ever this time out.

Writing and drawing is even more powerful and accurate and now has an amazing 4796 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Now you can also paint and mix colours like you’re using real paint.

It’s a great way to take notes with the pen which is just as responsive as a real pen writing on real paper.

But now you can do other things with the S Pen like magnifying parts of the screen for easier viewing and it can even translate words just by hovering the pen over it on the screen.

One of our favourite S Pen features was being able to write on the lock screen and pin them to the always on display so you’ll always remember what you wrote down.

PERFORMANCE

There is plenty of power under the hood with the Galaxy Note7 so it can handle whatever you throw at it whether it’s working on the move or playing the latest game.

In fact, it is 31 per cent more powerful than the previous Note and with 4GB RAM onboard a well.

This thing is a powerhouse, one of the zippiest devices we’ve ever used.

The Galaxy Note7 is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system as well as Samsung’s very own unobtrusive user interface.

Users will also find the same tasks edge that you’ll find on the Galaxy S7 Edge so you can access tasks, apps and your contacts with a simple swipe of the right edge of the display.

CAMERA

The camera onboard the Note7 is the same as the one you’ll find on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge with 12-megapixel resolution and dual-pixel sensor and a brighter F1.7 lens that draws more light in.

This means you’ll get excellent images in low light as well as crisp and natural looking images in brighter conditions.

Pictures focus in a split second so you can snap off images almost instantly.

And you can also dive in and take manual control of the camera so you can tweak ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focal length and white balance.

And on the video side you can also shoot in 4K.

WATERPROOF

It still amazes us that the Galaxy Note7 – and the S Pen – are completely waterproof with an IP68 rating which means it can handle the dust and dirt and stay underwater at a depth of 1.5m for 30 minutes.

You can even write on the Note7’s screen with the S Pen underwater.

So you can rest easy if you spill a drink, splash it or drop the Note7 in the toilet. Simply dry it off and it’s business as usual.

STORAGE

There is 64GB of internal memory aboard the Note7 and, with the addition of a 256GB microSD card that you’ll receive if you pre-order the device, that’s an amazing 320GB of storage which is about the same capacity of many laptops.

This gives users plenty of room for their pictures, videos and apps so you won’t be running out of space anytime soon.

BATTERY

There’s a massive 3500mAh battery aboard the Galaxy Note7 which, during our reviews got us through a full day.

If we had a full charge at 9am by the end of the work day we still had about 50 per cent charge left which was enough to get us through the night as well.

In the device maintenance section of the settings, you can optimise the battery performance as well as set up power saving modes to extend that life even further like limiting screen brightness, lowering screen resolution and preventing background network usage.

And even when you are near the end of your battery life, the onboard fast charging can have you fully powered up again in less than 90 minutes through the USB-C port.

VERDICT

The Galaxy Note7 is the best smartphone Samsung has ever produced. It has an impressive range of useful features that will make it an indispensable tool for work and play.

If you want some serious computing power in your pocket, a gorgeous screen to enjoy your content and games and the handy S Pen to extend the use of the touchscreen display, the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is the device for you.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE7

PRICE: $1,349