This year was a relatively colorful one for the smartphone market, partly due to the designs that were released, but mostly due to the controversies. Apple's latest flagship, the iPhone 7, was met with a lot of frustrations and some shining lights of praise. Meanwhile, Samsung experienced some backlash from the release of the Note 7. Despite this, the Galaxy S7 is still one of the year's best and most popular handhelds.
The iPhone 7 was received with much criticism because a large group of the public mocked the lack of changes Apple made between generations. There were hardly any changes made aesthetically and multiple people thought there were was little to distinguish the 6S with the 7. In addition, there was the issue with the removal of the 3.5mm audio jack.
But despite these things, the iPhone 7 is still a remarkable device. As Forbes reports, Apple went big on durability this year. The device sports a Series 7000 aluminum chassis, which resistant to both dust and water. The handheld has an IP67 rating, which means that it can withstand 30 minutes under a depth of 1 meter of water.
The Cupertino flagship is 138 grams heavy and its 4.7 inch built measures 5.44 x 2.64 x 0.28 inches all around. The Apple design has become iconic at this point, but its proportions have some drawbacks. The larger top and bottom bezels have resulted in unused space. The new home button, however, sports new haptic technology and is not actually a physical button any longer.
The iPhone 7 has an LED-backlit IPS LCD display that has a 1334 x 750-pixel resolution. The screen is 25 percent brighter than its predecessor, but many have criticized that Apple should have already jumped ship to OLED displays. However, it definitely makes up for this when the specifications are considered.
The device is powered by Apple's A10 Fusion chipset. This includes a Quad Core 2.34 GHz CPU, six-core PowerVR GT7600 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Technically, there are better numbers out there, but the settings work well together. What results is a smooth and fast transition, from application to application and from scrolling web pages to playing games.
Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S7 has a slightly higher IP68 rating, but they share the same aluminum chassis. The slight improvement is that the device can handle 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. It measures a relatively larger 5.61 x 2.74 x 0.31 inches all around but weighs a heavier 152 grams.
What the Galaxy S7 undoubtedly wins in, however, is in its display. The OLED screen is definitely brighter and has a higher pixel resolution of 2560 x 1440. The device is also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset - Dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo CPUs, Mali-T880 MP12 GPU - and 4GB of RAM. But unlike the iPhone 7, the S7 lags while browsing various websites.
Both devices are stellar pieces of machinery, which each have their benefits and drawbacks. The iPhone 7 provides a smoother experience, but the Galaxy S7 has a much clearer display. Nevertheless, both units are worthy of their status in the market. As PhoneArena notes, AT&T even has both units under their BOGO (buy one, get one) deal. This means that the purchase of either device will provide buyers with another at absolutely no cost.
