Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is the talk of the town yet it is not here, however, Samsung still has the say in the handset industry thanks to the magnificent Galaxy S7 and its brother Galaxy S7 Edge.
At the end of Q1 2016, Samsung reported that it had sold more units in the U.S. than what its closest rival in the market – Apple iPhone 6S – had managed to sell over the same period. And as Samsung gets ready to launch Galaxy Note 7 and Apple’s plans to unveil the iPhone 7 get closer, the Korean tech giant is still leading the way as far as flagship handset sales are concerned in the U.S. market.
The number of Asian OEMs that are actually coming in with great phones has increased this year, with the likes of Vivo, OnePlus, Oppo, ASUS, Xiaomi, ZTE and Huawei all coming in with great handsets at very affordable prices. These players have started digging into the shares held by Samsung and Apple and at this rate, it seems Apple will be losing really big.
The latest stats show that Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge took home a total of 16% of all entire smartphone sales made in the U.S. While this is happening, Apple’s iPhone 6S and the larger iPhone 6S Plus took home a slightly lower figure of 14.6%. Of course, this comparison is not fair since the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus have been here for almost a year now yet the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are less than half a year old.
While Apple might be planning to turn the tables with the release of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Samsung has its own warrior to send to the battle – the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung has confirmed that the handset will be announced on August 2, but there is no word on when the iPhone 7 will be released. This again gives Samsung an edge over its competitor, something that could go on for the rest of the year.
Some of the features that have made the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge such popular devices include fast charging, wireless charging, IP68 certification, compact size, amazing camera, microSD card support and an incredible design, especially for the S7 Edge. Most of these features are not available on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.
The S7 Edge is an impressive device. I bought one as a tune-up for the upcoming Note 7. I’ve had the S7 for four weeks and have taken it on multiple day trips (one way ticket, yeah!) to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and into the woods of upstate Pennsylvania as I fished some little cold water streams for brook trout. The S7 Edge recorded video to my 200 gig’ micro SDXC card flawlessly; there are hours of video (much of it only of interest to me) still on my S7 as well as myriad photos of the sights I’ve seen in the past four weeks. All of this is linked to my Google account and is backed-up and integrated into Google Maps which slips pictures into my Timeline; it’s a great feature for jogging my memory as to date, place and time. I recorded video of my family’s 4th of July celebration which ran from 1 PM to Midnight and included a side trip to see fireworks. All-in-all I captured four hours of video on the 4th and have since played (some of) it back on various TVs at relatives’ homes. If the Note 7 is as least as good as the S7 then the fans of the Galaxy Note Series will be very pleased.