Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge price and release date

• Launched March 2016
• Price at launch: £640 / $769 / AU$1249

All this technology comes at a cost obviously, and a pretty hefty one. In the UK that cost is £640 (although if you shop around it can now be found for around £630), while in the US you're looking at a huge $299 on a two-year contract, or the new unlocked price of $769 (again, shop around and you're looking at more $600 now). 

In Australia, the Galaxy S7 Edge attracts the highest price for a Galaxy yet: AU$1,249 for the 32GB version.

That's quite a jump from last year's AU$1,149 starting price, showing this is one of the most expensive phones around.

But, in my view, it's worth every penny.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 EDGE SPECS

Weight:  157g
Dimensions:  150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm
OS:  Android 6 (Nougat update coming)
Screen size:  5.5-inch
Resolution:  1440x2560
CPU:  Snapdragon 820 / Exynos 8890
RAM:  4GB
Storage:  32GB/64GB (with microSD)
Battery:  3600mAh
Rear camera:  12MP
Front camera: 5MP

Design

The Galaxy S7 Edge is a phone that lives and dies by its looks. If you're only interested in the power then just go for the standard Galaxy S7. The smaller, 'normal', model has got all the same smarts, but a slightly sharper screen thanks to packing the same amount of pixels into a smaller area.

What it misses is the clever elements that Samsung's used on the Edge. The display curves further away into the sides of the phone than ever before, which means that even though you've got a phablet-sized display, the phone is as compact as possible.

Place it side by side with the iPhone 7 Plus or 6S Plus and you'll see what I mean. The amount of bezel used above and below the display on Apple's phone is almost laughable, especially when you compare it to how tightly packed everything is on the S7 Edge – and the Samsung has a much, much larger battery.

The S7 Edge is shorter and narrower (150.9 x 72.6mm) than the 7 Plus and 6S Plus (158.2 x 77.9mm), even though both devices have the same 5.5-inch screen size. The iPhone is however, a hair thinner at 7.3mm versus the Samsung's 7.7mm girth.

It's also very similar in size to the LG G5 (149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm), which again sports a 5.5-inch display - with the Android manufacturers really sticking it to Apple.