Here we compared two smartphones: the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge [with Exynos 8 Octa 8890] that was released on February 21, 2016, against the Samsung Galaxy A7 [2018], which is powered by Exynos 7 Octa 7885 and came out 31 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
- Waterproof body [IP68 classification]
- 38% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark [272K versus 197K]
- 30% higher pixel density [534 vs 411 PPI]
- Shows 10% longer battery life [27:18 vs 24:53 hours]
- Handles Qi/PMA wireless charging up to
- Supports 15W fast charging
- Optical image stabilization
- Comes with 300 mAh larger battery capacity: 3600 vs 3300 mAh
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- Faster storage type - UFS 2.0 versus eMMC 5.1
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A7 [2018]
- Newer Bluetooth version [v5]
- Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
- More recent OS version: Android 10 versus 8
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
- The phone is 2-years and 7-months newer
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
Review
Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and A7 [2018] crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance [apps, system]
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Feature
Priority [Weight]
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.
Value for money
You can enter your local prices of these phones [in USD or other currency] and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Display
Type Super AMOLED Super AMOLED Size 5.5 inches 6 inches Resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels 1080 x 2220 pixels Aspect ratio 16:9 18.5:9 PPI 534 ppi 411 ppi Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz Adaptive refresh rate No No Max rated brightness 610 nits 602 nits HDR support No No Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 4 Corning Gorilla Glass 4 Screen-to-body ratio 76.1% 74.69% Display features - Always-On Display - Always-On Display Display tests RGB color space - 98.7% PWM Not detected 240 Hz Response time - 4.4 ms Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test [auto]
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]
Design and build
Height 150.9 mm [5.94 inches] 159.8 mm [6.29 inches] Width 72.6 mm [2.86 inches] 76.8 mm [3.02 inches] Thickness 7.7 mm [0.3 inches] 7.5 mm [0.3 inches] Weight 157 g [5.54 oz] 169 g [5.96 oz] Waterproof IP68 No Rear material Glass Glass Frame material Metal Metal Colors Black, Silver, Gold Black, Blue, Pink Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Performance
Tests of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Samsung Galaxy A7 [2018] in the benchmarks
SoC Chipset Samsung Exynos 8 Octa 8890 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa 7885 Max clock 2300 MHz 2200 MHz CPU cores 8 [4 + 4] 8 [2 + 6] Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Mongoose M1 - 6 cores at 1.6 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A73 Lithography process 14 nanometers 14 nanometers Graphics Mali-T880 MP12 Mali-G71 MP2 GPU shading units 192 32 GPU clock 650 MHz 770 MHz FLOPS ~249.6 GFLOPS ~70.4 GFLOPS CPU 89592 68313 GPU 44939 21975 Memory 63492 50967 UX 72633 56226 Total score 272031 197515
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 43 °C 38.4 °C Stability - 40% Graphics test - 3 FPS Graphics score - 524 Web score - 4551 Video editing - 4341 Photo editing - 7608 Data manipulation - 5506 Writing score - 5775
Submit your AnTuTu result
Memory
RAM RAM size 4 GB 4, 6 GB Memory type LPDDR4 LPDDR4 Memory clock 1794 MHz 1333 MHz Channels 2 2 Storage Storage size 32, 64 GB 64, 128 GB Storage type UFS 2.0 eMMC 5.1 Memory card MicroSD MicroSD Memory card max size Up to 200 GB Up to 512 GB
Software
Operating system Android 6.0 [Can be upgraded to Android 8.0] Android 8.0 [Can be upgraded to Android 10] ROM TouchWiz UI One UI 2.0 OS size 7.6 GB 14 GB
Battery
Capacity 3600 mAh 3300 mAh Max charge power 15 W - Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion Replaceable No No Wireless charging Yes, Qi/PMA No Reverse charging No No Fast charging Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge [50% in 40 min] No Full charging time 1:55 hr 2:10 hr Battery life tests Web browsing 08:54 hr 08:00 hr Watching video 12:19 hr 11:55 hr Gaming 06:17 hr 04:24 hr Standby 89 hr 82 hr
Camera
Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera Matrix 12 megapixels 24 megapixels Image resolution 4000 x 3000 5288 x 3968 Zoom Digital Digital Flash LED LED Stabilization Optical Digital 8K video recording No No 4K video recording Up to 30FPS No 1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS Slow motion 240 FPS [720p] 240 FPS [720p] Angle of widest lens - 120° Lenses 1 [12 MP] 3 [24 MP + 8 MP + 5 MP] Wide [main] lens - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX260 [Exmor-RS CMOS] - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization - 24 MP - Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 27 mm - Sensor: 1/2.7", Sony IMX576 [Exmor-RS CMOS] - Phase autofocus Ultra-wide lens - - 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 18 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4.0", Samsung S5K4HA [ISOCELL CMOS] Depth lens - - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/5", Samsung S5K5E9 [CMOS] Camera features - Pro mode - Bokeh mode - Pro mode Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge from DxOMark - Selfie camera Megapixels 5 megapixels 24 megapixels Image resolution 2560 x 1440 5664 x 4248 Aperture f/1.7 f/2.0 Focal length 22 mm 26 mm Pixel size 1.34 microns 0.9 microns Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS BSI CMOS Sensor size 1/4.1" 1/2.78" Video resolution 1080p [Full HD] at 30 FPS 1080p [Full HD] at 30 FPS
DxOMark camera tests
Connectivity
Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 [802.11 a/b/g/n/ac] Wi-Fi 5 [802.11 a/b/g/n/ac] Wi-Fi features - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot Bluetooth version 4.2 5 Bluetooth features PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP USB type Micro USB Micro USB USB version 2 2 USB features - Charging - USB-Storage mode - USB-Host mode - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou GPS, GLONASS, Beidou NFC* Yes Yes Infrared port No No Network Number of SIM* 2 2 Type of SIM card Nano Nano Multi SIM mode Standby Standby eSIM support* No No Hybrid slot Yes No LTE Cat* 9 6 5G support No No
Sound
Speakers Mono Mono Headphone audio jack Yes Yes FM radio No Yes Dolby Atmos No Yes
Other
Category Flagship Mid-range Announced February 2016 September 2018 Release date March 2016 September 2018 SAR [head] 0.264 W/kg 0.335 W/kg SAR [body] 1.43 W/kg 1.425 W/kg Sensors - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, performance, gaming, battery life, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. But if the camera, software, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A7 [2018].