Gadgetory

Samsung makes the best big phones it always has since the idea of a phone with a big screen was born in that terrible portmanteau phablet was coined and with a new note 7 this is the best big phone that Samsung's ever made it's a result of years of refinement design improvements into performance enhancements if you're looking for the best phablet you can buy I can tell you to stop watching right now and just go place your order because the new note 7 is the best phablet yet earlier notes stood out not only because they were big but also because they were powerful is essentially the most specs you could get for your money but there's a lot of big powerful phones out now Samsung's changing its strategy just a little bit with the note 7 this time around the note 7 is leaning on its unique features and improved s-pen the ability to unlock your phone with your eyes and a design that puts every other phone including the iPhone dashain designs not always the first thing I talk about with big phones but with the note 7 really should be because this is really a breathtaking design it's a beautiful object that's comfortable to hold great to look at and pleasing to use the symmetry between the front and the back of the phone not only make it comfortable but they also make it feel much smaller than it actually is even though it has a giant 5.7 inch display next to a nexus 6p or an iPhone 6s plus the note 7 almost looks small and certainly is nicer to look at this is a big phone that was designed to be a big phone from the start not a small phone that was stretched out to big dimensions so let's talk about the s-pen because aside from the big screen it's almost a finding characteristic of the note this year it's better it's got a finer point and more levels of pressure sensitivity it's really much nicer to write with oh and you can't put it in backwards no matter what you do but the bigger improvements are found in the s-pen software you can take notes right on your lock screen and pin them there for easy access you can use the pen to multitask or magnify parts of the screen or even use it to translate text artists will appreciate the ability to blend colors in the new drawing app and where Samsung used to provide three or four different apps that work with the s-pen now there's just one actually makes sense but my favorite new feature is ability to use the s-pen to make a gift from any video I might be watching and share it right away now Samsung never really convinced me before that the s-pen necessary tool with the note stones new features at Lisa has me thinking about it I'm less impressed with the notes Evans iris scanner which lets me unlock the phone in my eyes instead of using a fingerprint or pattern pin password it definitely works but it can be pretty clumsy I have to hold the phone really close to my face to make it happen it's often just easier to use a fast fingerprint scanner instead between this and the ability to take notes right on my lock screen Samsung is attempting to remove any barriers that slow me down from what I'm trying to do but the execution is not quite there yet now other things that Samsung's done to improve the node experience is clean up the software the settings menu is much easier to navigate for instance and it's improved some of the features that debuted on the s7 like the always-on display but there are two complaints I have on the note 7 its price and the carrier bloatware that continues the dog' Samsung phones down now I've been using the t-mobile version which is about $850 other carrier versions are even more and all of them have apps that you don't want or need now the price isn't unheard of it's directly competitive with the iPhone 6s plus when you have phones like the oneplus 3 that cost less than half that it can be hard to stomach the only way to get around the bloatware is to wait for the unlocked version the Samsung hasn't yet said when that will be available where those complaints aside the note 7 is the best execution on the phablet concept that Samsung pioneered so many years ago the screen is big and bright and sharp just like you'd want it to be the performance is fast the camera is the best you can get on the market and the battery life will last you all day and it charges really quickly whether you do that wired or wirelessly it has everything you could want and high-end phone in 2016 but your decision might not end there because Samsung has another really great phone with almost as big of a screen that came out earlier this year the Galaxy s7 edge and the note 7 shares a lot with the s7 edge it has the same screen resolution that same specs the same processor the same camera the same water resistance in the same expandable storage its screen is even curved in a similar way to the s7 edges if you were to choose the edge over the note 7 I wouldn't blame you it's an excellent device but if you can spend a little bit more money and deal with a slightly bigger screen you're rewarded with better design better software and more functionality if you want the best phablet you can get and you're willing to pay for it Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is the king of the hill so I think if you go phone farther back and you get the cameras here