Last year, Samsung was the clear winner with the Glaxy S6 Edge. Not just a better phone, but a better looking phone, featuring its breakthrough curvy screen.
So this year the expectations were high, but where could Samsung go from the high standard they'd already set?...
Wait, isn't that just a picture of the S6 and the S6 Edge? Nope, these are the new ones. Besides, if you were really paying attention, you would have noticed the difference in screen size. Unlike the S6 and the S6 Edge, the s7 Edge is a bit bigger than the S7.
Oh god, this is getting confusing already.
Like both the S6 and S6 Edge, the S7 still sports a 5.1" display. The S7 Edge's screen measures 5.5 inches. Just to muddy the waters even further, Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge Plus (Perhaps the longest name of a phone ever) had a 5.7" screen.
What this all means is the only straight swap is the S7 for the S6. Why is the S7 Edge bigger? I can only speculate. Firstly, while the curvy screen looks totally sexy, I do feel like it leaves you with less usable surface on your homepage and I actually find it more difficult to control full-screen apps like games and video playback when some of your on-screen controls disappear around the corner. That's the practical theory. The other rumour floating around is the possible release of an XL Edge model at the end of the year; maybe even a full 6 inches to match Huawei's Mate 8.
But the real question is, apart from screen size, what's the difference between this year and 2015?
Well the good news is, Samsung have swallowed their pride and put back the 2 great features they took off us last year; we've got our SD slot back and they've made the phones waterproof again.
This means two major points of difference between the S7's and any iPhone.
Let's look at the storage issue first. While many of us have made the first tentative steps towards moving our photo, video and music libraries into the Cloud, accessing that via your phone (especially in New Zealand) still comes at a stiff price. (yes, I'm talking the actual price of data) That means the more storage you can plug into your phone, the less reliant you are on a decent 3g/4g connection to show someone your holiday snaps or play them your new favourite song.
The other reason you may decide the 32GB on-board storage doesn't quite cut it is Samsung's innovations in 3D virtual reality. Use any of their recent devices in concert with a set of Gear VR goggles and you'll soon discover 3D games and movies take up more than their fair share of storage. Introduce a 128GB SD card into the equation and memory space becomes a non-issue.
Both the S7 and the S7 Edge carry an IP68 water and dust resistance rating. (This is even better than the reasonably indestructible S5) What's more, unlike the Galaxy S5, there's no longer any pesky rubber plug to keep the charging port watertight. That also means no annoying reminder message to put that plug back in to keep the phone sealed, every time you disconnect your charger. Great work, Samsung. You've taken a fantastic feature and made it better than before.
Of course, both these handsets charge wirelessly, this is something Samsung has committed to for a while. Even better, the S7 and S7 Edge charge even faster than last year's models - and they were pretty darn quick. The battery life has also been extended and I'm now at the point where I've seen so many phones with great batteries it's not really worth mentioning unless they under perform.
This is all terrific news for Samsung fans and compelling reasons to consider an upgrade - and I haven't even begun on the features the new phones have we didn't ask for because we didn't know we needed them.
The camera for example. I think I can figure out what Video Collage and Slow Motion modes do. But what's Virtual Shot for? And I'm not sure I even dare to try Hyperlapse.
Not to worry, none of these things are compulsory. All you need to know is both camera's are better than ever. The auto-focus works faster than ever due to something Samsung has labelled "dual pixel" technology, and the phones take excellent pictures in all kinds of weird lighting conditions without having to use "Hyperlapse" mode at all.
The Galaxy S7 Edge brings us a new range of shortcuts that appear just along it's... edge. You can quickly access favourite contacts, apps, news and sports stories. You can even set up various notifications to appear subtly along the edge when the screen is locked with a sneaky finger swipe. A lot of this stuff seems designed specifically so you can still use your phone during meetings without anyone noticing. Pretty tricky. Pretty awesome.
The S7 and S7 Edge are also liquid cooled, just like high-end gaming PC's.
I couldn't tell.
The S7 and S7 Edge have new zoopy-doopy CPU's which work way faster than those sluggish 3GB chips from last year. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic about the sluggishness. They were awesome)
Trouble is, I didn't really notice that either.
I guess I would have noticed if things had got hotter and slower though, and that is certainly not the case.
So don't be fooled. While the S7's certainly bear a striking physical resemblance to their 2015 predecessors, there are plenty of solid reasons to trade up - even if some of those reasons (SD slot and water/dust resistance) were the same reasons you didn't take the plunge last year.
The best phones in the world are now just a little bit better.
And they're still the best.
Click here for more information on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
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