Galaxy Note 7 review: What’s the opposite of “bang for your buck?”

Samsung is back with the Galaxy Note 7, the sixth version of its flagship Galaxy Note handset. Wait—did Samsung forget how to count? The Note series skipped a number this year, apparently so that the Note 7 would look more like a sibling to the already-released Galaxy S7. The unified branding feels appropriate since—despite five months of development time between them—the Note 7 is more like the Galaxy S line than ever. You’re getting the same Snapdragon 820 SoC, the same 4GB of RAM, and the same camera.

So what do you get in the Note 7 after five additional months of waiting? Beyond the usual 5.7-inch, 1440p display and the S-Pen, the Note 7 series brings an upgrade to USB Type-C, adds another biometric ID system in the form of an iris scanner, and comes with a really, really fat price tag. You’re going to pay at least $850 for the 64GB version, the only version for sale in the US.

SPECS AT A GLANCE: Galaxy Note 7
SCREEN 5.7″ 2560×1440 (515 ppi) AMOLED
OS Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with TouchWiz
CPU US: Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (two 2.15 GHz Kryo cores and two 1.6 GHz Kyro cores)

Int’l: Eight-core Exynos 8890 (four 2.3 GHz Mongoose cores and four 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 cores)

RAM 4GB
GPU US: Adreno 530

Int’l: Mali-T880 MP12

STORAGE 64GB with MicroSD slot
NETWORKING Dual band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2 GPS, NFC
Cellular Bands GSM: 800, 1900
CDMA: 800, 1900
UMTS: 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100
TD-SCDMA: 1880, 2010
LTE Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41
PORTS USB Type C, 3.5mm headphone jack
CAMERA 12MP rear camera with phase detection autofocus and OIS, 5MP front camera
SIZE 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9 mm (6.04 x 2.91 x 0.31 in)
WEIGHT 169 g (5.96 oz)
BATTERY 3500mAh
STARTING PRICE $860
OTHER PERKS quick charging, wireless charging, heart rate sensor, notification LED, IP68 water resistance, Iris scanner, Samsung Pay

Design and build quality

Seen a Samsung phone in the last few years? If so, you know what to expect here. The Note 7 has a metal frame with a glass back and highly reflective metallic coloring underneath.

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Source: Ars Technica – Galaxy Note 7 review: What’s the opposite of “bang for your buck?”