When IÂ reviewed the LG V10 last year, I praised the phone’s robustness. LG built it to withstand impacts from life’s perils.
Still, despite the impracticality, I swapped my V10 for the Galaxy S7 Edge. Samsung does continually best LG in some ways. The S-AMOLED display and camera performance are superior, to me.
However, after a couple of weeks, I began to disdain the S7’s fragility. I could no longer place my phone down on a table without worrying about the back getting scratched. I have to give extra attention to my grip when handling the phone; the thin sides on the S7 Edge and slippery back make it constantly worrisome. Like many phone enthusiasts, I don’t like cases. They defeat the purpose of the phone’s premium, attractive design.
Still, despite babying the S7 Edge, a multitude of scratches began appearing on my unit.
I’ve been extremely careful with this phone. It hasn’t been smacked against anything or dropped. I’m baffled at how easily it scratches. And the glass is supposed to be Gorilla Glass 4 durable.
I’d be lying if I said the LG V10 didn’t have hairline scratches either. But they didn’t come so quickly or easily. Even, I’ve bumped around my Moto 360 2nd Gen (with Gorilla Glass 3) quite a bit and it still looks pristine.
This may seem more like a rant against Corning, but the fact of the matter is, glass is far from the best material to build a phone out of. The S7 Edge for sure looks pretty out of the box. To me, it’s the sexiest phone out there. But we have to think about longevity, especially with an $800 phone.
Moral of the story: If you’re getting a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, get a case. I know it sucks, I know the hardware feels awesome in-hand, but the phone is just too fragile. I hope Samsung thinks about practicality next time.
I agree. That’s probably my biggest knock against this device, which I really like a lot more than I expected to. Having a glass back makes it that much more prone to scratches and cracks. So I cover the beautiful device with a case to protect it and then what is the point of such beauty?
Are those scratches on the home button??? Isn’t that where the fingerprint reader is?
Let me guess, Samsung did not use sapphire lens on the home button!!
Yeah, good luck with getting reliable fingerprint scan with scratches on the lens!!! LOL
Hint: this is why Apple uses sapphire lens on the home button (and camera) when they introduced TouchID some 2.5 years ago.
The scanner actually still worked just fine. But who knows if it got worse. I ended up getting a replacement device because of that crack on the back. Bleh. I slapped a case on my replacement straight out of the box :)
I bought a s7 edge and never dropped it. The glass cracked in my pocket within 10 days use. Fragile as a snowflake.. ill never buy another samsung product. No support.
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Careful what you wish for! It was years worth of people complaining about Samsung and the plastic builds that has brought you the S7. Now that it’s “premium”, it’s a delicate flower. I despise the word “premium” used to describe phones. I don’t mind a metal frame but a metal back can scratch and dent pretty easily and can block the antennas. A glass back is just stupid.
It was Apple fans that complained about plastic. I assumed Samsung did it to try and win them over.
In all honestly, I would go with a glass back over aluminum any day of the week
Yup, the glass looks great under that case.
I never use a case, but If I was forced to use an aluminum phone, I’d for sure put a skin on it
What do you do to you phone? I have had the note 5 with no case since launch and I have a hard time finding and scratches on it. I have even dropped it a few times and nothing has come of it. I find the glass and the metal sides to be very durable.
“Like many phone enthusiasts, I don’t like cases. They defeat the purpose of the phone’s premium, attractive design.”
Exactly how I feel Josh. I wouldn’t trade the V10 for the SGS7a though because you would need some sort of protection on the Sammy
Yep glass sucks as a phone back and Apple and Google and LG have learnt this but it seems Samsung has not yet Go Samsung bringing 2 year old premium build to the masses. . .
But I digress metal is just as bad that stuff scratches super easy if you put it anywhere but in a case or on a clean desk, make a metal phone and coat it in a think plastic layer, this way you get the strength of the metal and the durability of plastic.
A glass flagship device this side of 2015 is frankly a show of lack of care for customers who don’t want to keep forking our for repairs when the thing breaks in its first 6 Months.
If only Otterbox would come out with a clear Defender series case for the S7/edge
I have the Galaxy S7 Edge. I have no problems with the back I bought a pretty good drop resistant case for the back that is designed to be very resistant when landinh on the corners or back, the issue I’m having is that the 7 Edge comes with that curve with the lens or screen sticking out, (and it looks great, domt get me wrong) but the issue is thay when you drop it either if it lands on the front or back the screen still shattered the side, so wjats the ppint of a back case? I had my phone less than two months and already shattered the left side of it. I agree it’s probably the best phone ever made but why would the screen come sticking out because if it lands on the screen side you are definitely going to have a shattered screen. Buying an OtterBox would be no point of having the Galaxy 7 Edge because it will look like any other phone. now I’m very careful with my phone I had only dropped it once and it shattered, $700 for nothing. I looked on Amazon and they sell kits fir replacing the screen do it yourself but either way I will still have the same problem if I ever was to drop it again. This is something that Samsung has to work on out on the next phone because it is amazing but the screen sticks out so what’s the first thing that’s going to hit the ground, the screen.
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