Specifications Comparison
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Design & Build
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy Note 5 feature a very similar design overall. They both feature a physical home button just underneath the display. On the back, they both feature a curved all glass back, but a slippery feel when holding in the hand. In terms of the fingerprint magnet, they both are fingerprint magnets as they both attract a lot of fingerprints in daily usage. The build quality on both the phones looks phenomenal, and they both can easily withstand a few drops without breaking because of the Corning Gorilla Glass on the front and the back and metal rims.
Display
The display on both these smartphones is a QHD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. But they both feature a very different screen size. The Galaxy S7 has a 5.1-inch display whereas the Galaxy Note 5 has a 5.7-inch display. Because of this difference, the density of the resolution reduces on both these displays. Nonetheless, the display on both these devices looks astonishing, and vivid, just like Samsung displays are expected to be. The colours from the display just pop out and all the things on the phone look lively.
Camera
The camera on any smartphone these days is a make or break deal for everyone. Having said that, the camera on both these smartphones is great, no doubt. But the one on the Samsung Galaxy S7 performs much better in low lighting conditions because of the larger aperture and larger pixel size. Also, the Samsung Galaxy S7 has Dual Pixel technology that lets the phone focus on objects much faster than the Galaxy Note 5. Although the megapixel count on the Galaxy Note 5 is higher than the one on the Galaxy S7, the camera of the Galaxy S7 is better in all lighting conditions. The front facing camera on the devices has the same megapixel count, but again the one on the Galaxy S7 has a wider aperture which lets it capture more light and hence better pictures in all the lighting conditions. Here are some of the camera samples, taken at the same time from both the smartphones. There’s not much difference when it comes to the natural lighting rear facing camera, but in other aspects, the Galaxy S7 outperforms the Galaxy Note 5.
Samsung Galaxy S7 HDR Mode
Normal Picture
HDR Picture
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 HDR Mode
Normal Picture
HDR Picture
Samsung Galaxy S7 Front Camera
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Front Camera
Samsung Galaxy S7 Rear Camera
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Rear Camera
Benchmarks & Gaming
Coming down to the core processing power of both these smartphones, they both feature an Exynos processor, coupled with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The Galaxy Note 5 does not feature a microSD card expansion slot but the Galaxy S7 has that feature. In terms of the processor, they both feature octa-core processors, but clocked at different speeds. The one on the Galaxy S7 is much faster than the one on the Galaxy Note 5. For testing the core benchmarks of both the phones, I ran the following tests and received the following scores for the phones. [table id=441 /] Clearly, from the benchmark scores you can see that the Galaxy S7 outperforms the Note 5 in this regard as well, but how does that affect your gaming performance? Well, when playing the same games on both the smartphones, I noticed no lag whatsoever on either one of them, and none of them heated to an extent that it would become uncomfortable for me to hold and continue playing games. Here is the data for both the phones in terms of the battery drop and the temperature increase while playing the games.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Gaming Data
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Gaming Data
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Battery Performance
The battery on paper is the same in both these devices. They both feature a 3000 mAh non-removable battery. In terms of the battery life though, with some light usage with the Galaxy S7, I can say that the battery on this year’s flagship is much better than the last year’s flagship. The Galaxy Note 5 can get around 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours of screen on time, whereas the Galaxy S7 can easily get 4 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours 30 minutes of screen on time depending on the usage of the device.
Extra Features
In terms of the extra features that both these smartphones offer, they both offer one feature that the other does not offer. The Samsung Galaxy S7 has an always-on display that can be helpful in a lot of scenarios. It can show you the time, battery, and the calendar on the screen all the time without draining much battery. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 features the ever-so-popular S-Pen, the stylus that the Note series is famous for. This phone definitely increases your productivity if you’re going to use the stylus. There is a lot more functionality that the S-Pen adds to your smartphone that can make your day to day tasks much easier.
Pros & Cons
Samsung Galaxy S7 Pros
Much better CameraBetter battery performanceIP68 Water and Dust ResistanceDual-SIM or microSD card support
Samsung Galaxy S7 Cons
Smaller DisplayNo productivity features like the S-Pen
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Pros
A Gigantic DisplayS-Pen functionality
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Cons
Average Camera when compared to the Galaxy S7No water and dust protectionSo expandable storage
Verdict
Coming to the final conclusion of both these devices, I’d say that the Samsung Galaxy S7 is a better device than the Galaxy Note 5. It has a much better camera, has dual-SIM or microSD card option and is water resistant. But by no means I’m saying that the Galaxy Note 5 is a bad phone. The Galaxy Note 5 is a great phone with good productivity features, but if I had to choose a phone today between these two, then I would choose the Galaxy S7 just because of its better camera and expandable storage. Performance wise, both the phones are comparable.
