Fever pitch: Samsung
KUALA LUMPUR: Pandemonium reigned as Samsung trotted out South Korean heartthrob Lee Kwang-soo at the Malaysian launch of its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S7 Edge.
The Running Man star was in town to promote the smartphone as the face of the Galaxy S7 Edge.
Lee gamely hit the stage to make his pitch despite nearly being drowned out by the cacophony of eardrum-burstin
“When I heard that Samsung was launching the Galaxy S7 Edge in Malaysia, I knew I had to be part of this launch. The Galaxy S7 Edge is the perfect combination of style, performance and entertainment. The search for my perfect smartphone has ended,” said Lee, adding that he was thrilled to visit his Malaysian fans.
First unveiled at the Samsung Unpacked event in Barcelona last month, the S7 Edge is powered by an in-house Exynos 8890 octa-core processor and features 4GB of RAM.
The S7 Edge now sports a larger screen at 5.5in, putting it between the S6 Edge (5.1in) and S6 Edge+ (5.7in), while maintaining the QHD Super Amoled display (made out of 3D Glass and metal) with 1,440 x 2,560 pixels.
New to the Galaxy series is the Always-On display feature which allows users to customise their lock-screens.
Users will be able to view different types of clock designs as well as receive notifications for calls and SMSes even while the display is turned off.
The Edge screen feature has been enhanced and expanded. Instead of providing access to only five favourite contacts and apps, users can now customise the Edge to show a real-time news feed, or even shortcuts to your most used tasks such as “take a selfie”, “compose message”, “view bookmarks”, or even “create event/task”.
The camera has always been a key part of Galaxy smartphones. The Galaxy S7 Edge introduces the first dual-pixel camera for brighter and sharper images. Its 12-megapixel rear camera now sports an even larger aperture at f/1.7, making it much easier to take good shots in low light conditions. The camera also has a faster shutter speed.
Along with phase detect autofocus and optical image stabilisation, it’s fair to say that the S7 Edge has one of the most powerful cameras in a smartphone today.
Samsung has also addressed two major complaints from last year’s model with the latest release, namely expandable storage and battery life.
The device's storage is expandable up to 200GB via its microSD card slot, which can also be used as an extra SIM card tray.
Battery life has improved significantly with the large 3,600mAh battery which Samsung claims to offer up to a full day of usage. Fast charging and fast wireless charging have also returned.
The water and dust resistance (IP68) feature has also made a comeback, bringing the phone’s ability to go up to 30 minutes underwater for up to a 1.5m depth.
Aesthetically, Samsung’s Touchwiz user interface has received a major facelift, now running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which also brings Google Now on Tap, improved app permission and the the more efficient power saving mode.
“We believe in a world that is brighter, sharper, more convenient and more fun. We strive to deliver on that vision with the Galaxy S7 Edge by marrying elegant design with functionality and providing a seamless mobile experience,” said Samsung Malaysia Electronics vice president of mobile and IT business unit, Lee Jui Siang.
In case you are wondering why the regular S7 is missing from the launch, the company has confirmed that it currently has no plans to introduce it here for now.
On a side note, Samsung has confirmed that Samsung Pay, the company’s wireless and cardless payment system for mobile, will be coming to Malaysia in the fourth quarter of this year.
The S7 Edge will go on sale nationwide tomorrow at RM3,099 (inclusive of GST) in black onyx, gold platinum and silver titanium. For more info, go to www.samsung.com/my.
