The Samsung Galaxy Note7 (S820) Review
by Joshua Ho on August 16, 2016 9:00 AM ESTVideo Performance
For this portion of the review we can take a look at video performance, which provides an extra test of encode block performance in addition to ISP, sensor, and optic performance. In the interest of not wasting time on retreading topics that are basically unchanged relative to the Galaxy S7, I would redirect readers interested in an in-depth exploration of this subject and comparisons to other devices to the Galaxy S7 Part 2 review as this part of the review will be almost entirely focused on just comparing the Note7 to the Galaxy S7 to see what’s changed.
| Samsung Galaxy Note7 Video Encode Settings | ||||
| Video | Audio | |||
| 1080p30 | 17 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 256 Kbps, 48 KHz AAC | ||
| 1080p60 | 28 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 256 Kbps, 48 KHz AAC | ||
| 4K30 | 48 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 256 Kbps, 48 KHz AAC | ||
| 720p240 | 76 Mbps H.264 Baseline | 256 Kbps, 48 KHz AAC | ||
Starting with encode settings, we can see that the Note7 retains the same exact encode settings as the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, which probably isn’t a surprise given that we’re probably seeing the limits of what the Snapdragon 820’s encode blocks can handle in cases like slow motion video, although 1080p30 is likely not encode-limited at this point.
Galaxy Note7
Galaxy S7
In 1080p30 video the Galaxy Note7 and Galaxy S7 look basically identical save for some slight differences in color rendition. The Note7 seems to be slightly more accurate here as the sky is closer to the color of blue that it should be but detail and most other colors look fairly comparable and both still have some jerky OIS reset behavior.
Galaxy Note7
Galaxy S7
In slow motion video the Galaxy Note7 again seems to have slightly improved color rendition but detail and pretty much everything else is identical. I don’t think this is a reason to go out and buy the Note7, but hopefully these improvements to color rendition come to future OTAs for the Galaxy S7.
Overall I don’t think video results appreciably change the Galaxy Note7’s results here. The camera is great from a speed perspective and it’s good for video but in a lot of cases HTC really does have them beat with the camera on the HTC 10. I think the major win for the Note7 continues to be speed and consistency as the one major weakness of the HTC 10’s camera relative to the Note7 is somewhat unreliable contrast AF in low light, although in better conditions PDAF has no issues achieving perfect focus.
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JoshHo - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
That is unlikely as the charging current is already limited if the screen is on with the Galaxy Note7 and S7.Tigran - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
No throttling test?JoshHo - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Due to time constraints it couldn't be run. I will update the review when possible with the results as well as a pipeline post.vanilla_gorilla - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
"My major complaint here continues to be a general lack of performance as things like scrolling don’t feel like they have the momentum or response that they should and I still see frame drops that don’t happen in comparable devices."How is this still possible?
damianrobertjones - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
It needs another 8 CPUsshabby - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Because snapdragon, the s7 exynos version was smoother than the sd820 version.grayson_carr - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
The SD820 actually has the power to run the UI more fluidly than the Exynos. The Moto Z runs extremely fluidly, even moreso than the Exynos S7. The problem is, Samsung optimizes the kernel / governor settings on SD820 devices more for battery life than for performance.arayoflight - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
And yet the exynos destroys it in battery.grayson_carr - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Yeah. The Exynos is more efficient. But performance is still less than it should be because of Samsung's bloated software and prioritization of battery life. The Moto Z runs circles around the Exynos S7 in real world smoothness, even though the Exynos is a better chip than the SD820. Stop making this about Exynos vs Snapdragon. This is about Samsung's crappy software and optimization regardless of what chip is used.niva - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Ding ding ding, you said it. Samsung's bloated software.TouchWiz is an abomination that should be destroyed by fire. Each year they tout how amazing the new TouchWiz is going to be without telling you the performance penalty it brings. These overlays should only be allowed as apps that one can disable.
If say stick to Nexus devices but in this case it's the only good phablet and there are no nexuses with pen support. Suffer through TouchWiz is your only option