Everything you need to know about Samsung Galaxy E7
In its ever expanding and confusing lineup of Samsung Galaxy series smart phones, Samsung Galaxy E7 is a new entrant. This mid budget phone follows the design ques introduced by Samsung in it’s A series premium smart phones. With this Samsung is trying to bring its new found premium design language to the masses. All plastic body and a bit low grade hardware in comparison to Galaxy A series phones has helped Samsung to keep the prices low. However, if you don’t look too hard this phone still exuberates an upmarket look.
The Blueprint
The aesthetic design of E7 is unmistakably Samsung A7 like and follows profile lines from Galaxy S series of phones. In all, a very Samsung like phone, nothing extraordinary. The metallic frame of A7 has been replaced by plastic. On the other hand, rounded corners are more reminiscent of Galaxy S series phones rather than sharp A7 styling. A massive 5.5 inch super AMOLED display will give you no reason to complain. However, E7’s Snapdragon 410 processor is a touch below A7’s Snapdragon 615. But remember we are talking of a mid-range phone. Battery is 2,950 mAh, an upgrade to A7’s 2,600 mAh. Again the 2 GB RAM is on par with A7.
Let’s go into detail of what is on offer with this smart phone.
Display
With a 5.5 inch 720 X 1,280 pixel super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, you get the largest real estate which can comfortably fit your budget. With a 267 ppi (pixels per inch) this is not the best resolution on offer but then will give you no complain. Super AMOLED screen gives vivid colors, as expected from a Super AMOLED screen. But sadly there is no ambient light sensor on offer. This means that you need to manually set the brightness with a slider in-case you plan to use your phone in sunlight. Samsung has however provided an “Outdoor” option which overrides the setting done by the slider. However, it stays on for 15 minutes only, presumably to conserve battery. Post that time frame you need to close the screen and again open it to view the screen with same high brightness. The screen is sufficiently bright in the “Outdoor” mode with some user reviews reporting that visibility is just a touch lower than Nokia 808 Pureview, considered to be the benchmark for viewing under sunlight.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy E7 comes well equipped in the camera department. It has a 13MP main shooter with a single LED flash and a 5 MP shooter. Both do their job perfectly. Shooting modes are usually fair, in case you want more modes you can download them from the galaxy store. The camera also offers an HDR mode in which snaps are captured in much detail. The processing speeds are also nominal.
The front 5 MP camera is dubbed as Wide Selfie by Samsung. This feature allows a larger coverage and works somewhat similar to the Panorama function of the main shooter. You can start shooting using the front camera after activating the feature, move your camera to cover more area and finish shooting. The software then stitches your snaps together to create a single snap.
In terms of video the camera can record 1080p video in both landscape and portrait orientation. Full HD videos are recorded at 17Mbps with a stable 30fps framerate. The camera has an autofocus feature for video shooting mode too.
Hardware and Performance
The phone comes equipped with a 64bit Snapdragon 410 chipset quad core processor at 1.2 GHz, exactly not state of the art, but neither a deal breaker. Importantly it comes equipped with a 2 GB ram which will allow you to multitask on this huge screen.
By all means, as various test reviews report this phone is no power house. If you are looking out for a device that you can use to play 3d games or use very heavy applications, this phone will disappoint you. That said, in real-life use the Galaxy E7 doesn't lag or stutter and handles multi-window browsing and video playing with ease. If your smartphone use is dominated by such lighter tasks, the Galaxy E7 will deliver.
The right side of phone bezel is home to the power button. But more importantly the SIM/Micro SD slot and the main SIM slot. Both slots accepts nano-sims. A point to note is that the SIM/Micro SD slot accepts only a SIM or an SD card one at a time, that means that if you wish to expand the memory you might have to let go the second SIM.
Software
E7 runs on a highly customized Android 4.4.4 KitKat. Samsung calls it TouchWiz UI. It offers graphical themes, a feature introduced in A series of phones. The home screen is typical TouchWiz with an option to create 7 home screens. Notification area is a familiar affair, with a wide assortment of toggles. You can even arrange or remove the ones which you do not use.
With a 5.5 inch screen you can use multi window option. It allows you to use two supported apps at once in a split screen mode. You can also drag from the top end corner diagonally to move an app in a pop up window.
The most important feature of the software is its “One handed” operation which comes handy while using a 5.5 inch screen android phone. This option scales down the keyboard to make it suitable for a single handed use, All-in option shrinks the screen with on screen buttons for easy access by thumb to the far corner of the screen. This option can be accessed by quickly sliding your thumb from the nearest corner to mid of the screen.
Security
With the normal security features available on Android this phone comes with a special Private mode. You can even protect it with a pattern, pin or a password. Private mode creates a secure section in the phone's storage, which can be used to store photos and other files. They are not accessible to users or apps unless Private mode is unlocked so you don't have to worry about somebody snooping on your files.
Source: GSMArena
Conclusion
This phone is not a powerhouse, but will satisfy you daily needs with some entertainment, browsing and light gaming thrown in between. Remember that we are talking of a mid-ranger mobile phone. That said, if you are looking for a stylish phone, focused on selfie user with a large screen from a reputed manufacturer who has a large service network, look no further.