Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Note 5 vs Galaxy S7 Edge: Which is the Right Samsung for You?

A large part of Samsung’s mobile division’s revenue comes from its large screen smartphones a.k.a. phablets. One of Samsung’s two current flagship products, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, is also a phablet. Samsung’s famous Note series phablets have seen a great new addition to the line up earlier this month in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

Then there is one of Samsung’s top products and perhaps the best Samsung phablet yet – the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Note 7, however, may have something to say about that ‘best Samsung phablet’ bit. Let’s take a look at these three Samsung phones and try to assess which of them is your best bet for a large screen Samsung phone.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels (534 ppi). This is no doubt a powerful phone which boasts of a 2.3 GHz + 1.6 GHz Exynos 8890 Octa Core processor alongside a 4 GB RAM. While the internal storage capacity on this phone isn’t top of the line, it can be expanded up to 200 GB using a microSD card slot.

The S7 Edge comes with a 12 megapixel primary camera with LED flash and full HD recording capabilities. The secondary camera is a 5 megapixel unit. Some cool camera features include auto focus, hyperlapse, slow motion, video collage, food mode, and selfie flash.

This is a dual SIM phone which supports 4G connectivity and weighs a good 157 grams. The battery capacity on the Galaxy S7 Edge is 3600 mAh. The phone’s sensors include fingerprint sensor and geo-magnetic sensor, among others. The S7 Edge is powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Despite having a successor on its heel, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is still able to hold its own in the phablet segment. The phone has a 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display with a screen resolution similar to that on the S7 Edge. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 tech. The processing prowess of the Note 5 comes from its 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 Quad Core + 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 Quad Core processors alongside the Mali-T760MP8 GPU. The Note 5 also packs a 4 GB RAM just as the S7 Edge does.

The internal storage on the Note 5 is 64 GB. The primary camera on the Note 5 is 16 megapixel, which is a better camera than what the S7 Edge has to offer. It supports LED flash, full HD recording, and digital zoom. The secondary camera on the phone is 5 megapixel.

The battery capacity on the Note 5 is a pretty standard 3000 mAh and the phone weighs 165 grams, which is a bit on the higher side. The phone does have the added advantage of 3D image recording and fingerprint scanning. This is a single SIM phone which supports 4G connectivity. The phone is powered by Android 5.0 Lollipop OS.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

This product launched just a couple of days ago and will now share the onus of being a Samsung flagship with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge phones. It has a 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display. This display is a curved dual edge display and is protected from accidental damages by Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 5 tech.

The Note 7 comes with the powerful Octa Core Exynos 8890 processor for markets other than the US. In the US the Note 7 will come with a Quad Core Snapdragon 820 processor alongside a 4 GB RAM. The internal storage on the Note 7 can be expanded up to 256 GB.

Surprisingly, the primary camera on the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is 12 megapixel with LED flash and the secondary camera is 5 megapixel. Considering the fact the Note 5 had a better camera, it is a bit amusing to see the successor come with lesser camera specs. Perhaps Samsung wanted the Note 5 to remain the best camera phablet in the Galaxy Note family to retain its appeal.

This is a dual SIM phone with support for 4G and weighs 169 grams. The battery capacity on the Note 7 is 3500 mAh, which is quite perplexing to be honest. Despite continuous advancements in battery tech and the competitors seemingly in a hurry to provide better battery specs, Samsung has continued its approach to offer only the reasonable battery specs.

The Note 7 does come with an Iris scanner and a fingerprint sensor. Some noteworthy additions to the Note 7 are IP68 Ratings Water and Dust Resistance, S Pen Stylus, and fast charging both on wireless and wireless modes. While the Note 7 is essentially powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS, the user interface on the product is the TouchWiz UI.

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Apart from these 3 large screen phones Samsung has another member in the Note family namely the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. While this product is a Note series phablet it doesn’t quite match up in specs and performance with the other three products mentioned earlier.

While buying any of the three Samsung large screen phones you may also want to check whether the products ship the latest system software on it, which is not the case with the Note 5.

Choosing between these three phones can be easier if you know exactly what you are looking for. The customer who is looking for a top of the line processor with curved edge display and all the jazz of the Galaxy S7 Edge can go for the Note 7. The customer for whom the Note 7 may seem a bit out of reach due to budget constraints may opt for the Galaxy S7 Edge. And the customer who wishes for a better camera on a Note series phone at a reasonable price in the high-end segment should go for the Note 5.