Our First Look at the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 [Unboxing and First Impressions]

Earlier this month, Samsung announced its newest flagship in the Note series – the Note 7. Just a few days later, the Note 7 was up for pre-orders through Samsung Pakistan for a price tag of Rs. 93,500, along with a free Gear VR.

ProPakistani was able to get its hands on a review unit of the Galaxy Note 7. I’ve been using it for a couple of days now and these are my first impressions of Samsung’s newest flagship.

Unboxing

The Note 7 comes in premium packaging which resembles that of its S-line sibling, the Galaxy S7 Edge.

The box itself was clean with no technical specifications written on any side of the box and only the Samsung logo up front.

I liked it this way – clean and simple – the way it should always be.

The box opens in a pretty unique manner, as seen in the photo. You see most smartphone boxes open by either sliding or taking off the top cover. But this one was different. Open up the box and you will see the gorgeous Galaxy Note 7 lying down in its tray.

Put aside the phone and lift the tray underneath it and you will find the SIM ejector tool and some manuals in cardboard packaging. Remove that too to reveal a bunch of accessories that come with the Note 7:

• Adaptive Fast Charging adapter
• USB-C cable
• Earphones
• USB connector
• micro-USB connector
• Stylus tip replacement tool

Most of the accessories were pretty standard and what you would get with most Samsung phones save for two new items. With the Note 7, you get the stylus tip replacement tool that, apparently, comes with Note devices. Second is the micro-USB tool that lets you use a micro-USB cable with the USB-C port of the Note 7.

Yes, the Note 7 now comes with a USB-C port but more on that later. And yes, a lot of people will be happy to see the micro-USB tool as well.

That was all for the unboxing. Now let’s proceed to the main attraction – the Galaxy Note 7 itself.

First Impressions

My exact first word when I held the Galaxy Note 7 in my hand for the first time was: “Wow!”, summing up my whole experience with the device over the course of the few days I’ve had it with me.

The phone is an absolute looker. The review unit that I had was a Onyx Black version and I believe it is one of the best colors in the Samsung line up.

The Note 7 is now protected from the front and back with the new Gorilla Glass 5, which is supposed to be tougher and more resistant to scratches.

The display is now subtly curved on both sides. Glass on both the back and front curves on the metal frame of the phone and meet at the center of the sides. The ending result is one very eye-catching piece of hardware.  I can say without a doubt say that the Note 7 is the best looking device out there in the market.

The layout of the buttons and ports is similar to the last year’s Note 5. Power button on the right side, volume rocker on the left, secondary noise cancelling microphone and the SIM/microSD card slot on the top and the 3.5mm headphone jack, charging/syncing port, loud speaker and the S-pen at the bottom.

One thing that is different from the last year’s model – or from any other Samsung phone for that matter – is the new USB-C port. The Galaxy Note 7 is the first phone by Samsung to feature the new USB-C port for both turbo-fast transfers and charging. The charging times were particularly fast. I personally tested it out and it took about 60-65 minutes to go from 5% to 100%.

Up front you have a beautiful 5.7-inch quad-HD display. Above the display you have the new IRIS scanner, secondary camera and your standard sensors. Below the display you have Samsung’s standard layout of buttons, the recent apps, back and the home button – which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner.

The camera on the Note 7 is excellent, as is the case with most Samsung phones. It is so good in-fact that it actually makes you take more and more random photos every time you’re out somewhere.

I am accustomed to taking out my camera every time I have to go somewhere but for the first time I am found myself taking more pictures with the the Note 7 rather than my camera. Expect more on this in my upcoming review.

Oh and, did I mention that the Note 7 is water proof? Well it is and I was very impatient to check that. I took the phone out during the recent rains in Lahore and made sure the phone got wet from every side.

I then tested out the S-Pen and the touch responsiveness of the phone in general, both of which were working fine even when the phone was completely wet. I just dried the phone with a towel after that and it was still working fine.

Conclusion

The Note 7 has been nothing short of spectacular in my time of use. It offers a very polished experience. Adding water-resistance, an improved S-Pen and the new IRIS scanner sets it apart from the rest of the competition. In terms of looks and design, I found the Note 7 to be a thing of beauty.

That’s it for the initial impressions of Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Without question, the Note 7 is already my daily driver and I look forward to using it, so stay tuned for the full in-depth review review.

If you have any questions regarding the Note 7, drop them in the comment section below  and I’ll try to answer them in the upcoming review.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Specifications

• Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 (Touch Wiz)
• 5.7-inch, 1440 x 2560 Super AMOLED display, 518ppi
• Exynos 8890 Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Mongoose & 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53)
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB internal storage, expandable up to 256GB via microSD card
• Primary camera: 12MP, f/1.7, OIS, LED flash, 4K recording
• Secondary camera: 5MP, f/1.7, 2k recording
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth v4.2
• USB-C v3.1
• Sensors: IRIS scanner, fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2
• Battery: 3500mAh
• Price: Rs. 93,500/-

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