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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Hands On And Quick Overview

Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of their very successful Note series on 2nd August globally, and they call it the Galaxy Note 7. Good news is that the Galaxy Note 7 is now launched in India as well, that means not much of waiting for it to hit Indian shores. The Galaxy Note 7 is priced at Rs. 59,900 and this seems to be a fair price for a phone which has almost everything to offer.

You might be wondering why Samsung skipped the Galaxy Note 6 from the series, and launched Note 7 directly after the Note 5. The reason is that the company wanted to sync up with the number that is going currently with the Galaxy S series. Like the S7 and S7 Edge, here’s the Note 7. This time the Galaxy Note 7 is more powerful, has better cameras, looks much better and has some really cool and unique features.

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I can keep telling you about the phone without a break, but I think we should have a look at the device first and then do the talking. Let’s start with the physical overview.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Specifications

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Photo Gallery

Galaxy Note 7 Design and Built

When I first saw the phone, it reminded me of the same design language that Samsung has used in the Galaxy S7 Edge. It comes with a few refinements on top, which obviously counts when it comes to the look and feel. The Note 7 becomes the first phone in the Note series to come with IP68 certification which makes it waterproof, and yes you can use the S pen over water as well.

The quality of material is again top notch like other flagships from Samsung. Like the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, it has glass panels of the front and back with a smooth metallic frame on the sides. The colour of the glass changes in hue. This time round, the Galaxy Note has curves on both the sides like the S7 edge that makes it narrow and grabbing it with one hand is now easier compared to the Note 5. In my opinion, the Galaxy Note 7 is the best looking Note series phone till now and it looks absolutely classy.

The button placements are quite similar to what we have seen in the previous phone and the feedback from those buttons is really good. Let’s take a look around the phone and get into design details.

The front looks the same as on the Galaxy S7 Edge excluding the huge display size. Front top has the speaker grill in the center and front camera on its right. Proximity and Ambient light sensors are placed on left and right of the top bezel.

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At the bottom you’ll find the touch capacitive navigation keys and a physical home key in the center, which also has the fingerprint sensor built in.

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The rear also resembles as the one on S7 but on a bigger form factor. The camera lens is in the center with the LED flash and heart rate sensor on its right.

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You’ll find the power/standby key on the right.

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The left edge has the volume rocker and

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bottom houses the 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grill, S Pen slot, and the USB Type-C port. SIM tray and secondary microphone is at the top edge.

Galaxy Note 7 Photo Gallery

Display

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It comes with a 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution. It has great colour saturation, deep blacks and can be viewed from extreme angles. The display as always has matched up to the flagship standards and looks pretty cool. The bigger size makes it look even better with those smooth curves on the sides. You cannot call it better than the one on S7 Edge but that was not bad either. Gorilla Glass 5 protection adds up to the durability and beauty of the design.

Always on feature has also been added to the Galaxy Note 7 this time, which was a must I think. Moreover, you can utilize that feature using your S pen to make notes. Now that is something we had on the Galaxy Note 5 as well.

Camera

Unfortunately we couldn’t bring any camera samples for you but the camera experience was quite familiar to me because it comes with the same 12MP rear camera with an f/1.7 aperture, along with dual pixel technology that we saw on the Galaxy S7 Edge. Which is the best camera I have seen in 2016 till now. It has great autofocus and low-light performance which has not been challenged by any other flagship yet.

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You can here to see the detailed camera review to have a better idea of the Galaxy Note 7 camera

The front camera is 5 megapixels at the f/1.7 aperture with a wide-angle view. Samsung has made some useful changes to the camera UI as well, which makes it a lot easier to use it with one hand. You can use your thumb to swipe and switch between modes, filter and toggle cameras.

Galaxy Note 7 UI

I was never a fan of the TouchWiz UI but this time Samsung has streamlined some of its areas where it felt clumsy. Although it still looks the same with minor changes. The good thing is that it feels little lighter and fresh.

When I got deeper into settings there was a device manager that cleans up the phone and keeps it running smoothly. There are many interesting features like battery saving modes, data saving modes, Edge screen and S Pen features to make your tasks easier. Some added security features include secure folder for additional security to your sensitive files and apps. You can access the folder using IRIS scanner, fingerprint sensor, PIN, Password or pattern.

Price and Availability

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The Galaxy Note 7 has been priced at Rs. 59,900, and will start selling in India from September 2 in Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium, and Black Onyx colour variants.

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You can pre-book yours from August 22 to August 30. As a pre-booking offer, users will get the Gear VR for Rs. 1,990, which is a must buy. You can also avail a free Reliance Jio SIM with free voice calling and data benefits for 90 days.

Conclusion

Samsung has done well with the Galaxy Note 7 if you take a proper look at the overall device, but the pricing could lose some of its buyers as the Apple iPhone is lined up next in the queue. It has major improvements if we look at the Galaxy Note 5, but seems very similar to the Galaxy S7 Edge at the same time. Although its not a bad idea but still the S pen, big display size, Iris scanner and Gorilla Glass 5 are enough to count.

So I can recommend you this device if you feel no pain in shedding 60K from your pocket. It would be even better if you grab the Gear VR to make the deal sweeter. We will come up with more on the Galaxy Note 7 very soon. Keep visiting.

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Abhishek Bhatnagar

Abhishek Bhatnagar, a known technology blogger & YouTuber from India. A Software Engineer by qualification, now he works as the editor-In-Chief, Webmaster, & Managing Director at Gadgets To Use. He runs a number of other technology websites as well.