[Review] Samsung Galaxy Note7 – The phablet with the write stuff

Battery Life
The Galaxy Note7 integrates a non-removable 3,500mAh battery that is slightly smaller than the S7 Edge’s 3,600mAh battery but larger than the older Note5’s 3,000mAh battery. It also supports wireless and fast charging too on top of being the first phone from Samsung with a USB Type-C port.

With heavy use, the phone easily lasted until sundown with data, several minutes worth of calls, website browsing, Google Docs and liberal use of social media on top of whipping the camera out for a good two dozen or so snaps. Disabling Always On display mode does eke out just a wee bit more battery life but it’s not much of a concern if you’re just going through your standard daily work commute. 

Like other Samsung phones of recent vintage, it has an Ultra Power Saving mode that dials down the processor and limits the apps to just Facebook, Whatsapp as well as limiting the phone to just making calls and texts to radically extend battery life by several days; handy if you’re travelling out in the boondocks. Fast charging mode worked as advertised with a drained battery reaching full charge in about an hour and a half. If you reckon you still need additional juice, Samsung also has an optional Battery backpack wireless casing that integrates an additional back-up battery that increases battery life almost two-fold. It’s something well worth considering if you’re a power user.

Conclusion
The Galaxy Note7 is so far the best implementation of a large-sized phone that we’ve seen yet. The Note7 isn’t merely an incremental upgrade with better hardware. Dig a bit deeper and you’ll find that it has quite a few user friendly tweaks and upgrades that make it stand out from the competition. The symmetrical, curved glass-sheathed design allows for the phone to cram in the large AMOLED screen in a pocketable form factor while the Exynos processor, generous storage and other user friendly tweaks means that using it is a real pleasure. Throw in the excellent stylus and class-leading camera and you have a serious contender for phone of the year. While the S7 edge is a wee bit cheaper at RM3,099, you get a good deal more features with the Note7. Good things don’t come cheap but if money is no object, the Note7 is the best big phone that money buy today.

WHAT WE LIKED Excellent screen, beautiful build quality, superb camera, genuinely useful stylus, iris sensor, fast charging and solid battery life, water resistant
WHAT WE DIDN’T Not cheap, glass finish is a fingerprint magnet
WE SAY With enhanced security, truly class-leading performance, a superb camera and looks to match, this is the gold standard for phablets though it doesn’t come cheap.

*Review unit courtesy of Samsung Malaysia