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    Here’s why I’m picking up the Galaxy Note 7

    Opinion
    By 

    Last updated: August 11th, 2016 at 12:30 UTC+02:00

    Last week, Samsung took the wraps off its latest flagship smartphone of 2016, the Galaxy Note 7. I was live at the scene in London where I was quick to share my hands-on experience with the handset after playing around with it a short while.

    Since then, I've had another opportunity to spend some time with the device, so today I'm going to be sharing with you the top five features that have made me spend my hard-earned cash on purchasing the Galaxy Note 7.

    Display

    SAMSUNG CSC

    The Galaxy Note 7 sports a 5.7-inch dual-curved Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. It's coated with a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 protective film that's said to be able to survive 1.6-meter drops onto rough surfaces up to 80 percent of the time, which should eliminate the cracking issues that a small number of Galaxy S6/S7 edge owners experienced while their device was in their pocket.

    What sets the Note 7 aside from the S7 edge, however, is the curvature of the screen. Instead of cutting off at a fixed point on the border of the bezel, the Note 7's display seamlessly wraps around the side of the handset to the point where it's 20 percent more curved than any other device on the market with an edge panel. Not only does this feel better in the hand, but it also produces significantly better viewing angles.

    Iris Scanner

    DSC_0235

    Samsung has introduced an innovative iris scanner for its latest iteration in the Galaxy Note lineup. As I mentioned in my hands-on coverage, at first I was a little skeptical about how this technology would come into play during my day-to-day life. It seemed too much like a gimmick. But I was wrong. So very wrong. The Iris Scanner is blazing fast. I'd even go as far as to argue that it is just as speedy as a fingerprint scanner.

    The second you swipe up on the lock screen, the device instantly unlocks. It also works flawlessly in low-light conditions thanks to the implementation of a tiny IR blaster that's capable of illuminating an iris up to a meter away. For the more security conscious amogst us, you'll be glad to hear that the reader has been designed to detect a natural glare of light that’s only present in a living eye, making it impossible to unlock the handset with a photograph of an eyeball.

    Camera

    Galaxy-Note-7-Camera-2

    The Galaxy Note 7 packs the same 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with a f/1.7 aperture as the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge — and that's a good thing. It's equipped with Samsung's proprietary Optical Image Stabilization and Dual Pixel autofocus system, which uses all of the shooter's available pixels to clearly focus on a subject regardless of how close it is to the lens.

    From my experience, I found colors to be extremely bright, sharp and vivid. The images themselves are also extremely clear, even in low-light conditions, which is an area that Samsung smartphones have always struggled in. The redesigned camera application also provides users with full control of aperture, focal length and focusing, and lets users switch between different shooting modes with a swipe. These cameras are as excellent as the ones on the Galaxy S7 lineup, and Samsung has thrown in numerous improvements for a better imaging experience.

    S Pen

    Galaxy-Note-7-S-Pen copy

    Samsung has knocked the ball out of the park when it comes to S Pen functionality. By adapting the Google API, the South Korean company has provided users with the facility to use the S Pen to actively translate words from any screen — so if you stumble onto a website that's written in Spanish, you can easily use the stylus to translate it into English by simply pushing the action button, selecting Translate, then highlighting the text you wish to convert.

    A new in-house software that has been designed exclusively for the Galaxy Note 7 also permits users to create GIFs from any clip that exceeds 15-seconds in length. This can be from a whole host of different platforms, such as embedded content in a website, Netflix, and YouTube. I was even able to record a short snippet of gameplay from Cut The Rope 2 using Game Launcher, which I was then able to convert into a GIF using the S Pen and share to Facebook. The S Pen is even water resistant, which is pretty awesome.

    USB Type-C

    SAMSUNG CSC

    Many disagree, but I firmly believe that integrating USB Type-C was a great idea. It offers significantly faster charging and transfer speeds than the previous version of USB connectivity and has already been adopted by many other leading manufacturers, such as Apple, HTC and LG; making the Note 7's launch the perfect opportunity for Samsung to make the switch. Samsung is also throwing in a USB Type-C to microUSB converter, so that your existing microUSB cables won't go to waste.


    So there you have it, folks. The top five features that have persuaded me to pick up the Galaxy Note 7. Do you agree with my list? Do you have a list of your own? I'd love to hear your opinion in the comments section below.

    Opinion Galaxy Note 7

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