By
Chris Martin | 61 mins ago
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£639 inc VAT
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Samsung has now played around with a few curved screen smartphone and what felt like a bit of a gimmick is now a legitimate technology. Although the Galaxy S6 was the best phone of 2015, it was missing key features like expandable storage and waterproofing. Those are now back and the dual edge screen has more functionality so the Galaxy S7 edge is a serious contender for best phone of 2016. Here’s our full and in-depth Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review. See also: The 20 best phones 2017.
Also see: Best Phone Deals
Update January 2017: According to Samsung its Android 7.0 Nougat beta programme for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge is now complete, and the OTA update should begin rolling out to devices later this month. Keep in mind that the below Galaxy S7 edge review was written with it running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are two of the first flagship phones we’ve reviewed this year so it’s just the beginning in the fight for best phone 2016. However, it’s so far so good for the Galaxy S7 edge which is an improvement on its predecessors – the Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy S6 edge+.
Samsung has settled on a single size for the Galaxy S7 edge and the phone looks dramatically stunning with its dual edge screen design. Once again, there’s a combination of metal and glass which looks sleek and premium but also feels slippery and gets grubby a bit too easy. Although it looks similar, it’s now fully waterproof without the faff of things like port covers. Also see: Best Samsung phones 2016: What is the difference between Galaxy Note, Galaxy S, Galaxy A and Galaxy J?
Another major feature has been returned so fans will rejoice at the inclusion of expandable storage through the Micro-SD card slot. That’s two out of three and although the battery is still not removable, it is bigger. A larger battery cell means longer battery life and we really don’t mind that the phone is a bit thicker to enable this (and make the camera bump smaller).
Helping out with battery life, according to Samsung, is a new processor and although we expected the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 model in the UK we’ve actually got the Exynos 8890 chip. There’s a whopping 4GB of RAM and the Galaxy S7 edge breezed through our benchmark tests setting some new records.
As you would expect, the Galaxy S7 edge comes packed with other tech including a fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor, but the IR blaster has been dropped which will be a shame for some. A bigger deal is being made around the camera which has fewer pixels than the Galaxy S6 at 12Mp but Samsung touts amazing low light performance with the f/1.7 aperture and ‘Dual Pixel’ technology. We’re really impressed with the camera and although it’s one of the best on a phone, it’s perhaps not as good in the dark as Samsung makes out. Also see: Best MiFi 2016.
A feature which isn’t as big as we thought is the ‘Always On’ screen which is simply a software feature which shows some basic information on the display to avoid you unlocking the phone. It’s handy but doesn’t do as much as we thought and there’s a small amount of control over it. That said, there are plenty of cool features hidden away in the settings which you’ll want to explore including some existing ones like Smart Stay.
You can read our full and in-depth Samsung Galaxy S7 review .
The Game Launcher is one software feature which helps you be a better player by doing things like blocking notifications, lowering the framerate to save power and record the screen while you play. It’s the dual edge screen which makes the Galaxy S7 edge stand out and the key difference when compared to the regular model. It’s still a luxury but Samsung has refined and improved what it can do with new edge panels and greater control.
That’s an overview of the Galaxy S7 edge but we’re going to go into a lot more detail below. Use the links below to help you navigate to the different sections of the review.
Design and build | Hardware and specs | Dual edge screen | Always on display | Processor, memory and benchmarks | Storage and Micro-SD | Fingerprint scanner | Connectivity and sensors | Battery life and charging | Cameras | Software and apps
Priced at £639 from the official Samsung store , the Galaxy S7 edge is one of the most expensive smartphone on the market (short of luxury ones from the likes of Vertu). If you’re contemplating buying it over the regular S7, it will cost you an extra £70 which isn’t much of a premium to gain the dual edge display.
In terms of competition, the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is the closest on price at £599 from Sony’s online shop. That phone is also a rival on the size, as is the iPhone 6S Plus which is cheaper for the equivalent model at £619 but goes all the way up to £789 if you want 128GB of storage.
Other key Android rivals to the Galaxy S7 edge include the LG G5 which is priced at £529 and the Google Nexus 6P which is just £449, so there are cheaper options if your budget is more limited.
A new Coral Blue option is now available in the UK via Vodafone. It says: “Customers can pick up the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge in Blue Coral on a half price pay monthly tariff for the first 6 months as part of Vodafone’s biggest- ever Winter Sale. This means it’s available on a Vodafone Red 6GB Bundle at £23.50 per month for the first 6 months then £47 per month for the remaining 18 months (with a £10 upfront cost). This includes unlimited texts, unlimited minutes, 6GB of data and 500MB of inclusive roaming data. Furthermore, customers who purchase a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (in any colour variant) by 28 February will be able to claim (via Samsung) a Samsung Gear Fit2! ”
Our review sample was provided by MobileFun. Also see: Best Samsung Galaxy S7 deals.
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By
Chris Martin | 55 mins ago
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HTC’s first smartphones of 2017 introduce a new U range to the firm’s portfolio where it’s ‘all about U’. The U Ultra has an interesting dual screen setup but here we look at the smaller model with more basic specs. Here’s our HTC U Play hands-on review. Also see: Best phones 2017.
The new U phones will get release date around ‘mid-February’ in Europe, according to HTC but they will be available in Asia first.
As per usual, there are no details on price but you can pre-register at Carphone Warehouse if you’re interested. We expect the HTC U Play price to be around the £350-400 mark based on devices like the One A9.
In essence, the U Play is a smaller version of the U Ultra so has the same glossy glass design which is a break from the norm for HTC.
The polished glass back is far more glamorous than previous HTC devices with ostentatious colours such as Cosmetic Pink and Ice White which has a pearlescent finish containing many colours. We prefer the Sapphire Blue and Brilliant Black options, the latter of which has an underlying green hue.
The sculpted glass means the phone sits snugly in the hand and the U Play is a far more manageable size compared to the slightly unwieldy Ultra. Glass may scratch less than metal but we found both phones slippery and susceptible to fingerprints and smudges.
HTC still uses a metal frame but you’ll find no headphone jack drilled into it here. Instead, the U Play just offers a USB-C port and the firm doesn’t include an adapter in the box. You do get a pair of USonic headphones though which use the reversible port.
While the U Ultra has an impressive dual screen setup, the U Play has a much more standard array of smartphone specs starting with a 5.2in Full HD display. There’s nothing wrong with that as such and the device is much more manageable to use, but the U Ultra is more interesting in this area.
Instead of a Qualcomm chip, as found in the Ultra, the U Play is powered by a MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor. We could spot no obvious issues during out hands-on time but the Play has lower specs with 3GB of memory and 32GB of internal storage. It also has a Micro-SD card slot for adding more, up to 2TB.
The spec sheet also mentions a 4GB model with 64GB of storage which matches the U Ultra, but where this variant will be available remains to be seen.
Like its bigger brother, the HTC U Play does away with the headphone jack and the firm doesn’t even supply you with an adapter. This leaves just the USB-C port and a pair of compatible USonic headphones instead. It’s a bit disappointing that U Play only has a mono speaker with HTC’s history of offering stereo on phones.
Other specs include a fingerprint scanner, 11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and a 2500mAh non-removable battery.
The U Play has the same front facing camera as the new Ultra, a 16Mp shooter which can be switched into an UltraPixel mode. This means you can shoot high-resolution photos in good light but then combine four pixels into one when the conditions aren’t so good.
At the rear is also a 16Mp camera which features an f/2.0 aperture, optical image stabilization (OIS), phase detection auto-focus and a dual-tone flash. Despite the high resolution sensor, the phone is limited to recording video at 1080p quality.
The cameras seem pretty good at first glance but we’ll test them out properly soon when we get a review sample.
There’s no difference between the Play and Ultra in this area so you’ll get Android 7.0 Nougat pre-installed on the handset.
The big selling point of the U phones is the HTC Sense Companion, the firm’s take on an AI assistant although not a rival to the likes of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa .
Using dual microphones (four on the Ultra), you can use the Sense Companion to unlock the phone with your voice. The AI is also there to help you out with a bunch of stuff but doesn’t talk back to you.
The idea is that it learns from your personal usage and then makes helpful suggestions and notifications. For example, it will notify you of a change in the weather or remind you to charge the phone if it’s going to run out when you really need it.
It will link into the Phone, Contacts and Notifications to start with using your calendar to gain useful information. HTC said it will also aim to bring the Sense Companion to the HTC 10.
While all this stuff sounds great, we haven’t been able to test any of it during a hands-on time. It’s the kind of thing that needs properly setting up then living with for a decent chunk of time so stay tuned for the full review.
We’re still waiting on the price and to test the AI features out properly, but the new HTC U Play might appeal to some. Its glass design is eye-catching and the phone is a far more manageable size than the U Ultra. Look out for a full review soon.
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Now that companies such as Google and Facebook have saturated the developed world with their services, the race is on to reach the world’s developing economies.
In particular, Google has a couple of initiatives to bring the internet to countries where the infrastructure doesn’t yet exist to support it.
Well at least, it used to have a couple, since the company has recently confirmed to 9to5Google that it’s killed off its solar-powered drone technology as a means of distributing the internet.
The cull happened shortly after Google (now Alphabet’s) reshuffle, which saw the Titan division absorbed into Alphabet’s experimental ‘X’ division.
Although Google has a number of other drone projects currently underway (including the delivery-based Black Rock and Project Wing), it no longer intends to use the technology to deliver internet specifically.
Instead, the company’s internet delivery efforts will be focused around Project Loom , which uses hot-air balloons instead. These balloons rise and lower to take advantage of differently directed air streams.

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The Note 7 has caused major headaches for Samsung. Now discontinued, fans are looking forward to the Note 8, which has not been dropped by Samsung. We investigate when is the Note 8 coming out: Galaxy Note 8 UK release date and specification rumours.
Also see: Best big phones 2016 | Samsung Galaxy S7 review | Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review
Traditionally Samsung has unveiled a new Galaxy Note flagship every year at the IFA tradeshow, which takes place in early September. For the past two years it has announced its new Galaxy Note early in August to get out ahead of the new iPhone , which is always revealed mid-September.
The most likely release date is August 2017. However, there are several factors pointing to an alternative release date.
The discontinued Note 7 has been a spectacular failure, hitting the company’s bottom line hard with a loss to the tune of several billion pounds, and a much harder impact on its reputation – one that may prove difficult to eradicate. Samsung is now faced with the choice of releasing the Note 8 much earlier to fill the gap in its product line and remove the focus from the Note 7, or to carry on as normal.
Some say the Note 8 will be released in February alongside the Samsung Galaxy S8 , though this rumour appears to have come from the idea that Samsung is expected to announce two phones and both are thought to have curved-edge screens. Though one will still have a larger screen and a higher-capacity battery (and is rumoured to come with a dual-lens camera and higher-resolution 4K screen), Samsung isn’t going to be able to distinguish the two by referring to them as the standard and edge models any longer. (We’ve speculated that we will see the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.)
Plus it can’t be ignored that the Galaxy S-series edge is edging ever closer to the Note family in specification, with little more than an S Pen and some stylus-friendly software (or maybe not) to distinguish the two lines.
There were whispers to suggest Samsung would be dropping its Note family, but dropping its second annual flagship launch could have an enormous impact on Samsung’s profit margins. Fortunately the company has now confirmed that the Note 8 will exist, and that it will in Korea offer Note 7 buyers 50 percent discounts if they upgrade to the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8.
All that said, we can’t ignore the fact the Galaxy Note 8 already exists as an Android tablet from 2013 – read our Galaxy Note 8.0 review. We think that if Samsung is going to release a Note 8 it’s possible it could look to change the name. Also see: Best Samsung phone
The Galaxy Note 8 will have to pull out all the stops to help people forget about the debacle that was the Note 7. It’s too early for much in the way of Note 8 leaks, but it’s easy to speculate. Also see: Best smartphones and best Android phones
The Note family is best known for its large, high-resolution screen and S Pen stylus support. Unfortunately for it, f or the first time the Note family’s S Pen stylus is expected to be a vailable for the Galaxy S8, although it’s not yet clear whether it will be sold as an optional extra or supplied in the box. If true, there will be few features differentiating the Note 8 and the anticipated large-screen Galaxy S8 Plus, which could mean the new phablet faces an even tougher audience than is already suspected.
We would expect the Note 8 to come with a 5.7in Quad-HD or 4K SuperAMOLED display, and there is increasing talk that it could get the latter, making the Note 8 Samsung’s first 4K smartphone.
It’s likely to be under 8mm thick (unless Samsung decides this is what caused the battery issues), waterproof, and feature dual cameras and a high-capacity (circa-3500mAh) battery with adaptive fast charging, fast wireless charging and USB-C support.
It will run Android 7.0 Nougat, with an update to Android O within a few months of its release. Samsung’s usual sensors – the heart-rate scanner, fingerprint scanner and iris scanner – should all be present.
In terms of core hardware we know that the Note series is traditionally a slightly more powerful version of the S series that is released earlier that year, though the Galaxy S8 is already expected to be a hugely powerful phone in order to provide the best VR and graphics experience. The S8 is expected to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or next-gen Exynos processor with the ARM Mali-G71 GPU and 6GB (or even 8GB, since the Snapdragon 835 supports this) of RAM.
Samsung has announced that it will be acquiring car audio maker Harman for $8bn with its eyes firmly on the connected car market. However, the brand is best known by consumers for its Harman Kardon audio label, which could spell very nice things for the upcoming Galaxy S8. Samsung says it will utilise Harman’s audio brands, which also include the likes of AKG and JBL, to “deliver enhanced customer benefits and elevate user experiences across Samsung’s complete portfolio of consumer and professional products and systems”. (Via Android Central .)
Read next: Best new phones coming in 2017
Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter.

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