text: Editors' note, December 9, 2016: 
   
   The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is dead. After some handsets from both the initial run and from a second run of replacement phones caught fire, Samsung yanked it entirely. Samsung stopped making it, you can't buy it from legitimate sellers and, depending on where you live, your carrier may even send angel of death software to brick existing Note 7 phones to keep you from using it. (In the US, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint will send out this software. Verizon will not.) 
   
   Samsung says that 93 percent of its US customers have now returned the potentially faulty device, which is also banned from all airplanes in this country and many others. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has gone further, saying, "Consumers should power down and stop using all Galaxy Note 7s." 
   
   We completely agree. You shouldn't buy a Galaxy Note 7, even if you can still find one. And if you still own one, you should immediately turn it off and exchange it for a different, non-Note 7 phone. Around the world, carriers and retailers will exchange your Note 7 for phones of equal value on the same network. 
   
   Here's everything you need to know about the disastrous Note 7 debacle. And here are phones we suggest you get instead: 9 Note 7 alternatives. 
   
   Earlier versions of this review follow. 
   
   When we first reviewed the Galaxy Note 7 in August, we found it to be one of the best phones of the year. A big beautiful AMOLED screen, excellent camera, some truly useful S-Pen tools and a big battery that lasted for hours. 
   
   And then a few dozen of those batteries burst into flames. 
   
   Enlarge Image Samsung 
   
   Since then, Samsung has initiated one of the biggest recalls in consumer electronics history, and recalled more than 2.5 million Note 7 phones globally. And now, the company has a replacement batch ready: more than half a million new Note 7s, with batteries that Samsung says don't have the defect that caused the fires in the first round. 
   
   So: if you want a big-screen Android phone, the corrected Note 7 is the way to go, right? 
   
   Not so fast. Samsung needs to rebuild trust here, and we're not ready to just endorse the corrected phone and call it a day. To that end, we're waiting at least until the end of October to see if any further reports of Note 7 issues crop up. (We're also testing corrected Note 7 phones in the wild, but just because we don't see a problem with our new review samples doesn't mean that there aren't any outstanding issues. After all, the original battery issue appeared in only a small fraction of the phones shipped from the original batch.) 
   
   In the meantime, we're keeping this updated review here -- unrated -- while we continue to seek out real-world feedback on users' experience with the corrected version of the Note 7. 
   
   The 5.7-inch, stylus-slinging Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a damn fine phone. Its sexy wraparound glass, precise S Pen and brilliant screen would impress anyone, but it's ideal for artists, architects and people who would rather write by hand than type on a screen. 
   
   It has a gorgeous, symmetrical design that looks particularly stunning in Coral Blue. It takes great photos and has both the water resistance and expandable memory slot that last year's Galaxy Note 5 lacked (oh yeah, there is no Note 6). Battery life goes on and on -- but not as long as for the Galaxy S7 Edge -- and you can charge up wirelessly. 
   
   This is Samsung's ultimate phone, with all the Edge's curved-screen goodies and more: 64GB of storage instead of the Edge's 32GB. An iris scanner for unlocking the phone with your eyes. A good, refreshed take on Android. A USB-C charger port that also charges up your other devices (you should buy a USB 3.1 cable for faster data speeds). New pen tricks to magnify, translate languages and make an animated GIF. A nighttime filter you can schedule to automatically give your weary, screen-staring eyes a break. 
   
   The question you have to ask yourself is how much all this is worth to you. Because the Note 7 is one of the most expensive phones you can buy. It's comparable to Apple's large-screen iPhone 6S Plus (the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are right around the corner), but costs more than the already pricey Edge, and it's twice the price of the OnePlus 3, a CNET Editors' Choice winner for its excellence as an all-round midprice phone. In the US, promotions that bundle a free memory card or Samsung wearable help soothe the sting. 
   
   There's also some question about the Note 7's fragility. Although it survived all but the meanest splats in our dedicated drop test, the screen of my review unit mysteriously cracked in my purse. And reports of manufacturing mayhem that's reportedly caused some units to explode en route to customers are putting the brakes on shipments for now. For the record, none of our three review units has exploded or experienced similar trauma. 
   
   Enlarge Image Josh Miller/CNET 
   
   As much as I loved my time with the compelling, beautiful, functional Note 7 -- and I really did -- I hesitate to recommend it to anyone who isn't serious about using that digital S Pen to draw, write and navigate on the phone. The S Pen has some minor issues, too. It isn't perfect at everything. Sometimes wielding the stylus feels natural; other times tapping and typing make more sense. (Though it does make really great annotated photos, Snapchat snaps and social-media GIFs.) 
   
   At the end of the day, most people can easily live without the Note 7, especially with the capable S7 Edge a near doppelganger. If you're ready to move on from the Note 4, switching to the Note 7 gets you more storage and power, an upgradable Android version and a far better S Pen. If you're happy with the Note 5, wait a year. If not, with the Note 7 you get waterproofing, expandable storage and software shortcuts on those curved edges. With its elevated features and fee, the Note 7 is for buyers who delight in rarified details. Buy it and you get an excellent phone -- but if you aren't going to use that pen, forget it. 
   
   Samsung Galaxy Note 7 pricing and availability Sale date Price Colors US August 19 $834-$880 (varies by carrier) Blue, black and silver UK September 2 £700* Blue, black and silver AU August 19 AU$1,349 Black, silver and gold 
   
   *Provisional, based on one prominent retailer. 
   
   Using the new S Pen stylus: It's smooth, precise, tricked-out 
   
   Without the S Pen, the Note 7 is just a refined S7 Edge with steeper curved sides. This year's digital stylus has a fine, precise point and senses 4,096 levels of pressure, double last year's model. I wrote countless notes and a haiku, doodled all over, even handed the phone to CNET's art director for his professional assessment. And? It's very good. But, compared with a 10-inch tablet, the screen is a small for creating fine art, though it handles notes and more casual drawings very well. 
   
   Enlarge Image Josh Miller/CNET 
   
   A few things bothered me about execution. Including the Note Edge, this is the seventh Note phone ever made, so all S Pen maneuvers should be flawless by now. But I still found it hard to paint an entire canvas without onscreen buttons getting in the way (they'll move if you get it right). It's easy to accidentally exit or press unintended controls that mysteriously shift the layout into something you don't want. That's frustrating, especially when you can't figure out how to resume the original canvas. ||||| UPDATE: Oct. 10, 2016, 1:20 p.m. ET: Mashable has retracted the Mashable Choice award for the Samsung Galaxy Note7. Following an official global recall, new reports of replacement Galaxy Note7 phones also catching on fire, all major U.S. carriers ceasing sales, and Samsung's second production halt, Mashable can no longer recommend the Note7 for purchase. Mashable's original review follows below. 
   
   iPhone fans are not going to like hearing this, but Samsung's Galaxy Note7 (yes, there's no space) is the best smartphone money can buy right now. 
   
   I don't make that statement lightly. I've been a devout iPhone user who has owned four iPhones as his main everyday-carry phone for the last six years. 
   
   Against all odds, Samsung has made the most impressive smartphone ever created. 
   
   But it runs Android and has TouchWiz. Ewww! That may have been a deal-breaker a few years ago, but they're non-issues today. 
   
   iOS has better apps and usually gets apps first! True, but the core apps that I use every single day all work just as well on Android and sometimes even better (like Gmail). 
   
   The Note7 is available on every major U.S. mobile carrier in three different colors: Blue Coral, Black Onyx and Silver Titanium. As one of Samsung's premium phones, it rightfully commands a matching price: about $850 for the full, unsubsidized price. An iPhone 6S Plus with the same 64GB of internal storage costs the same. 
   
   Feature for feature, the Note7 beats the iPhone 6S Plus and I don't see that changing with this year's new iPhones, which are expected to be more boring than previous years, especially when compared to what's been rumored about next year's 10th anniversary iPhones. 
   
   Stunning from every angle 
   
   I really didn't think phones could get sexier than Samsung's own Galaxy S7 Edge until I saw the Note7 in person. 
   
   Samsung knocked the hardware out of the ballpark and into outer space with this phone. I feel very confident in saying the Note7 is the most beautiful smartphone ever created. 
   
   The Note7 looks beautiful from every angle. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   It's sleeker and more gorgeous than the iPhone 6S and if the rumors are true, it already looks hotter than the iPhone 7 (or whatever Apple calls its next phone) by a wide margin. The last time there was such a jump in smartphone aesthetics was the iPhone 4. 
   
   The Note7 is barely larger than the S7 Edge and somehow has a larger 5.7-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) Super AMOLED screen, which looks unbelievably stunning. DisplayMate's Dr. Raymond Soneira is right. This is the best smartphone display available with the deepest black levels, the clearest colors and a brightness of 1,000 nits that puts the iPhone 6S Plus to shame. 
   
   This is the best smartphone display available. 
   
   The phone's beautiful screen is also capable of streaming HDR (High Dynamic Range) videos from Amazon Video. I didn't get to try any HDR videos since they weren't available during testing time, there will be 150 hours worth of HDR content including shows like The Man in the High Castle and movies like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in the future. 
   
   The back is glass and supports fast wireless charging. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Like the S7 Edge, the Note7 rocks curved displays along its right and left edges. The now signature Samsung design is even better on the Note7 since the curvature isn't as pronounced. I noticed fewer reflections on the bent sides while watching videos, and because the metal frame is aligned in the center instead of towards the base, the phone's also easier to firmly hold onto. 
   
   The Note 5 (last year's model in case you — or maybe Samsung — lost count) had a curved backside to make it fit better in your palm. The Note7's backside glass still has dual curved edges, but they're symmetrical to the front glass and sandwich the metal frame in an aesthetically pleasing way. And yeah, the glass on the back is still a huge fingerprint magnet. 
   
   USB-C and headphone jack Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE Fingerprint sensor Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Everything else about the phone is exactly what it should be. The buttons are placed well for finger reach, the camera hump on the back is as flat as the S7 and S7 Edge's, the antenna lines on the metal frame don't offend, the micro-drilled holes for the speaker are neatly aligned with the rest of the ports on the bottom and there's a headphone jack. The Note7 is also Samsung's first phone with the new reversible USB-C port. 
   
   The S Pen Stylus waterproof and twice as responsive. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   As a Note, the phone comes with an S Pen stylus for better productivity use cases. The new and improved S Pen is twice as responsive as the Note 5's with 4,096 levels of pressure. Artists and notetakers will love it. Samsung's even made it impossible to insert it incorrectly and accidentally break your new phone. And like the phone, the S Pen is also IP68-rated for dust and water-resistance, which means you can get it wet all you want and even write on the screen underwater. 
   
   Eye scanning 
   
   The Note7 is the first phone with an iris scanner. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Samsung's fingerprint sensors are right up their in responsiveness with the iPhone's Touch ID sensor. The addition of an iris scanner and an IR sensor on the front of the phone, however, takes security to a whole new level. 
   
   The iris scanner looks for your eyes and the IR sensor helps the scanner to work even in the dark. Setting up the iris scanner is as quick and easy as setting up a fingerprint. You align your eyes with two circles on the screen and wait for the calibration to finish. The Note7 can store up to four fingerprints, but only one pair of irises. 
   
   I feel like Tony Stark every time I unlock the phone with my eyes. 
   
   I feel like Tony Stark every time I unlock the phone with my eyes, but as I mentioned in my hands-on, the execution misses the mark. I found it faster to unlock the phone with a fingerprint than waking up the phone, swiping to bring up the iris scanner/PIN (or pattern)/fingerprint unlock screen than getting my eyes scanned. 
   
   How secure is the iris scanner? Pretty darn secure. I tried tricking it with a high-resolution photo of my two eyes and using a video closeup of my eyes and failed. 
   
   The iris scanner isn't perfect, though. It did feel like it got faster and faster over time (sometimes I didn't even need to align my eyes with the two circles), but it sometimes had trouble detecting my smaller eyes, asking me to "open eyes fully", and reflections in my glasses always interfered with the scans. 
   
   The Secure Folder lets you lock all your private files and apps away with your iris. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Still, I like that it's there if you want the extra layer security and I really like how it can protect your private files and apps in the new Secure Folder. Everything you put in this separate partition of the phone is protected either by your iris, fingerprint or passcode. 
   
   Performance and battery king 
   
   Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM have been nothing but win for Android phones this year in the performance department. 
   
   The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge both rock the combo and are screaming fast. Same goes for the Note7. I couldn't slow it down with my heavier-than-average usage. 3D games run beautifully and games optimized with the turbocharged Vulkan graphics API like Need for Speed: No Limits rival last-gen consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of visuals and performance. 
   
   The Note7 comes with 64GB of storage, but if you pre-order you get a free 256GB microSD card for a total of 320GB. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   With the S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung decided to sell it with a single storage model: 32GB. The Note7 comes in a single storage capacity, too: 64GB. If you need more, you can add up to 256GB via a microSD card. (Samsung will give you a free 256GB microSD card worth $250 with a pre-order.) In total, you could pimp out the Note7 to have a combined 320GB of storage, which is more than enough to keep 2-3 years worth of full-resolution photos and 4K videos like I do on my phone. 
   
   The Note7 runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. It's a little disappointing it's not shipping with Android 7.0 Nougat, but Samsung says it'll get updated within 2-3 months. 
   
   Galaxy Note7 Image: SCREENSHOT: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE Galaxy S7 Edge Image: SCREENSHOT: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE 
   
   Even without Nougat, Marshmallow is great out of the box just like on the S7 and S7 Edge. Android is still skinned with Samsung's TouchWiz interface and icons, but Samsung has injected a little botox to give it a fresher appearance. Things like the Settings app have been tidied and the Quick Settings as well. It's not the overhaul I was expecting, but TouchWiz has come a long way from the bloated mess it once was. 
   
   Galaxy Note7 Image: screenshot: raymond wong/mashable Galaxy S7 Edge Image: SCREENSHOT: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE 
   
   On the Note7, Samsung's consolidated several apps into a single app called Samsung Notes. It's less cluttered and makes it easier to launch features for the S Pen. 
   
   My favorite feature on the Note 5 was its screen-off memo feature, which lets you start writing on the black screen as soon as you pull the S Pen out. On the Note7, Samsung's gone a step farther and added the ability to pin your memos to the Always-on Display. I found it very handy to have quick access to my to-do along with the calendar and time, but I wish the notes were actually pinned on the screen instead of stored inside of the memo icon, which you need to double tap. 
   
   Pull the S Pen out and you can start writing right on the screen. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   You still get previous Note features like Screen Capture, which can screenshot long websites and Smart Write which takes a screenshot and lets you write on top of it, but there's are two new S Pen features on the Note7. 
   
   The first is within Smart Select (activated by launching Air Command by pressing the S Pen's button on the screen) and lets you create a GIF animation of a video by selecting a portion of a screen. It works kind of like GifGrabber for the Mac. It's really cool and easy to use. 
   
   Air Command Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE Easy GIF maker Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Here's a GIF I made: 
   
   A GIF made with the Note7. Image: raymond wong/mashable 
   
   The second is the Translate feature, which lets you hover over a word and translate it into another language. You can also hear the word pronounced. I was less impressed by Translate since it's a little clunky to use. The Google Translate app works faster for me and Google Goggles, which uses the camera and translates signs and printed words in real-time, is more advanced in my opinion. 
   
   The Note7 also has the S7 Edge's "edge" panels. Things like shortcuts to apps and contacts and notifications really make it a power-user-focused phone. 
   
   Edge panels come to the Note Image: brittany herbert/mashable Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Keeping the Note7 going is a 3,500 milliamp-hour (mAh) non-removable battery, which takes up more than half the space inside of the phone. The S7 Edge has a slightly larger 3,600 mAh battery, but I still saw almost two days of usage. 
   
   Battery life is better than the iPhone 6S Plus and Fast Charging and Fast Wireless Charging make the Note7 the better choice. With Fast Charging, you can charge the Note 7 from 0% to 40% in 30 minutes. 
   
   16-megapixel back camera Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 5-megapixel selfie camera Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   The Note7 also has the same great cameras from the S7 and S7 Edge. The backside has a 12-megapixel f/1.7 aperture lens and the front has a 5-megapixel camera f/1.7 lens as well. They both perform exactly the same as the S7 duo so I won't go into lengths here. You can read my S7 Edge review for a more detailed breakdown of the cameras. TL;DR: They're super fast to autofocus, shoot and are the best cameras in low-light. 
   
   Samsung Galaxy Note7 camera sample photos 
   
   What I will mention is the improved camera interface. There are now intuitive gestures like swiping up or down to switch between the back and front camera and swiping left and and right brings up your camera settings and filters, respectively. Coupled with the double-tap-home-button-to-launch-camera feature and the Note7 has the best cameras on any smartphone. 
   
   Climbing to the top 
   
   The Galaxy Note7 has an always-on display just like the S7 and S7 Edge. Image: BRITTANY HERBERT/MASHABLE 
   
   Those who know me best know I'm obsessive in my pursuit of perfection — especially when it comes to gadgets. Though I own an iPhone, I don't play favorites. 
   
   I demand the best not a brand. I crave clean, sensible design. I demand performance. I refuse to accept significant compromises. 
   
   The Note7 fuses state of the art hardware with Android in a harmonious package. 
   
   People have said for years that it's impossible for Android phone makers to replicate the iPhone's hardware and software synergy because they don't own the software. The closest thing to an iPhone has been Google's Nexus phones. 
   
   But I think Samsung's finally figured it out. The Note7 fuses state of the art hardware with Android in a harmonious package. It's not stock Android, but TouchWiz has evolved so much over the last six years, it's no longer a crutch. It's a deliberate design decision for a better smartphone experience. 
   
   Life is too short to own a second-best phone when the phone is so central to our lives now. And right now, that phone is the Galaxy Note7. ||||| Editorial Note: The Note 7 has been discontinued due to continued risk of fire. This review is for all intents and purposes now simply a historical archive of this smartphone’s short-lived greatness. 
   
   In other words, if you find somewhere that still sells it, do not buy it, unless you enjoy toasted underpants. 
   
   The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a far cry from its early predecessors. 
   
   When Samsung first introduced its oversized flagship line, there was nothing else like it. The first Note’s 5.3-inch screen was huge, and much of the press saw it as a one-off gimmick. But users liked having such a large screen in their pockets, and now 5.3 inches is just about standard for Android devices – even Apple was forced to make the iPhone 6 Plus. 
   
   But mainstream adoption of big phones also means the Note series can no longer survive on size and specs alone. That’s what makes the Note 7 something of a gamble: the spec sheet doesn’t immediately offer anything competitors can’t match or trade blows with. 
   
   Thankfully, the Note 7 is much more than its spec sheet. Taking what it’s learned over the previous six devices, Samsung has refined the Note 7 into not just a great big phone, but possibly the most well-rounded, productive, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink smartphone ever made. 
   
   Specs 
   
   Let’s get those specs out of the way. On paper, it’s basically an S7/S7 Edge with a few extra bells and whistles afforded by its larger size. Here are the key bullet points: 
   
   Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890 (regional, like the S7) 
   
   4 GB of RAM 
   
   64 GB of (UFS 2.0) storage 
   
   Dual curved, 5.7-inch display AMOLED display 
   
   Quad HD Resolution (2460 x 1440, 518 ppi) with HDR support 
   
   Gorilla Glass 5, front and back 
   
   MicroSD Slot (tested up to 256 GB) 
   
   7.9 mm thin 
   
   3,500 mAh battery 
   
   Wireless charging and quick charging 
   
   12 MP camera (same as the S7) 
   
   Fingerprint sensor and an iris scanner 
   
   IP68 water resistant (including the S-Pen!) 
   
   Thinner S-Pen tip (0.7 mm) 
   
   4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity 
   
   USB-C (3.1) with OTG support (comes with a micro USB adapter) 
   
   Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 
   
   Unlike last year’s Note 5, the Note 7 has the same processor and RAM as its S series siblings. You won’t be seeing any speed and multi-tasking improvements other than what’s afforded by the software. 
   
   Not only are these are the same basic specs as the S7 duo, they’re the same as almost every single Android flagship being sold in the US. Off the top of my head, a QHD display, 4GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 820 are the same specs you’ll find in the LG G5, the HTC 10, Moto Z and Z Force and the ZTE Axon 7 – which only costs $400. The also-$400 OnePlus 3 has ‘only’ a 1080p display, but offsets that with 6 GB of RAM. 
   
   The Note 7’s advantages are in other areas. Gorilla Glass 5 is supposed to be 1.8 times harder to crack than Gorilla Glass 4, and should survive “80 percent” of shoulder-height (~1.6 m) drops onto concrete. Having 64 GB of expandable storage as the stock configuration is a beautiful thing. The HDR screen is a thing of beauty too, and waterproofing adds a good deal of peace of mind. 
   
   Android die-hards might long for the days when the Note series was as overpowered as it was large, but this phone makes its mark in other ways. 
   
   Design: How did they make it this small? 
   
   The Note 7 continues Samsung’s refined design language introduced with the S6, but you have to hold the phone to really appreciate what Samsung’s design team has done here. 
   
   The Note 5 was already more compact than most 5.7-inch devices thanks to minimal bezels. But the Note 7 manages to be even smaller, and, more importantly, feel smaller than a 5.7-inch-screen phone has any right to. 
   
   When I said the phone was well-rounded earlier, I kind of meant that literally. While the dual-curved display is less pronounced than on the S7 Edge, the Note 7 actually feels better than the Edge in hand because Samsung has made the phone virtually symmetrical from front to back. Where the Note 5 felt like a relatively hard slab, the Note 7’s round sides help it feel almost pebble-like – kind of like an all-glass iPhone 6. 
   
   The curved display helps the Note 7 be 2 mm narrower than the Note 5, making it surprisingly easy to use with one hand. The minimal bezels and capacitive buttons means that the phone uses its real estate more efficiently than pretty much any other smartphone out there. 
   
   This is most apparent when I switch back to phones with smaller displays. For example: the Note 7 is exactly the same width as the LG G5 (73.9 mm), even though the G5 has a significantly smaller 5.3-inch screen. 
   
   Couple that with the Note 7’s rounder shape and useful one-handed mode (which shrinks the display to down to one corner), and that means this 5.7-inch phone is somehow easier to use with one hand than a 5.3-inch one. And the Note 7 doesn’t use silly virtual navigation buttons that take up 10 percent of your display either. 
   
   Let this photo illustrate to you how efficient the Note 7’s body is, and how much more information it fits on screen compared to devices of a similar size. 
   
   LG G5, Note 7, Moto Z 
   
   I realize I’m six paragraphs into describing how compact the Note 7 is, but I also need to emphasize that the phone is smaller than the Note 5 while actually adding a good deal of hardware: expandable storage, an IR LED and iris scanner, a larger camera sensor (with less of a hump), waterproofing seals, and an extra 14 percent/500 mAh of battery. 
   
   Yet Samsung hasn’t removed the headphone jack (looking at you, Motorola), and it still has to manage to fit a stylus in there somewhere too. 
   
   Simply, the Note 7 is something of an engineering marvel. Offhandedly describing it as a 5.7-inch phone feels disingenuous. 
   
   Color-wise, comes in black, gold, silver and a beautiful coral blue/gold (still upset I didn’t get the blue – I asked nicely Samsung!). I do quite like the Black unit I have – unlike the S7’s black and silver combo, the Note 7 is a stealthy black all around. 
   
   Oh, and yes, it’s waterproof now, all the way down to the S-Pen. That last part sounds gimmicky, but it helps to navigate around the phone since the touchscreen is unresponsive to fingers when it’s wet. 
   
   Display: The best smartphone display ever, with one caveat 
   
   Early rumors pointed to a 4K panel, but Samsung stuck with a QHD screen and chose to improve it in other meaningful ways instead. DisplayMate ranked it as the best smartphone display ever, and I’m inclined to agree (mostly) 
   
   First off: it’s really bright. It has to be, in order to meet the HDR specification, and it reaches over 1000 nits when viewed in sunlight. I’ve tested almost every flagship in the past year, and I’ve never used a phone that’s easier to read in the daylight. That’s helped by apparently being the first phone with an ambient sensor on both the front and the back – I never felt like I had to stray from the phone’s default settings. 
   
   Long gone are the days of AMOLED panels being over-saturated too; colors look just as natural as any LCD panel I’ve tried. This is aided by Samsung’s default Adaptive Color mode, which changes display saturation depending on how you’re using your phone (more vibrant for photos and videos than for apps and the Web, for instance). 
   
   Viewing angles have also been meaningfully improved over both the S7 and the Note 5. The phone hardly has the pink/green color shifts present on other AMOLED displays (and some LCDs, like the HTC 10) when viewing from odd angles, and there’s less colored aliasing around text. Meanwhile, the lightly curved edges add slightly to the illusion of realism – it makes it seem like the display is made out of paper. 
   
   My one big caveat is that at medium to dark brightness, certain shades of dark grey are tinted slightly green. You’ll rarely notice it, but when you do it can be pretty bit distracting. That was an issue that plagued older AMOLED panels, so I’m surprised it’s made a return here. 
   
   I do still want to see a 4K display from Samsung, but mainly as a boon for virtual reality. As a pure smartphone experience, this is about as good as it gets. 
   
   Software: TouchWiz is actually… good? 
   
   I like stock Android. My main reason for shying away from Samsung phones has always been TouchWiz, not hardware or features. But with the Note 7, I think Samsung may have finally hit a balance that can appeal to both purists and casual consumers – even if it’s still running Marshmallow (Nougat is promised before 2017). 
   
   Samsung has simplified some of the aesthetic. It still uses guady squircles for icons (you can turn this off for non-Samsung apps), but at least they now use a more flat design instead of the old gradients. The settings menu is now a simple list, and the notification shade behaves more similarly to stock Android, without horizontal scrolling. 
   
   Then there are the bits where it shines over stock Android: 
   
   You can view 15 quick settings at a time with a second swipe from the notifications shade 
   
   You can almost completely skin the UI to a variety of community themes. Some make it look really close to Material Design, and some I’d say look better 
   
   New battery saving modes, such as lowering your screen resolution or reducing screen performance for an extra couple of hours 
   
   The ability to change your DPI between small and large settings (though this feature is coming to Android Nougat) 
   
   Creating floating windows for most apps 
   
   A legitimate one-handed mode that shrinks the entire screen by triple-tapping the home button (although that launch gesture is a bit clumsy) 
   
   Game tools that allow you block alerts, disable capacitive buttons, and record video during gameplay 
   
   A proper equalizer and a few useful sound quality enhancements 
   
   Device Maintenance to clear up storage and manage battery 
   
   Always On display to quickly glance at time and notifications or just setup a cool screensaver 
   
   There are some duplicate apps – there are two browsers, two email apps, two gallery apps – but they generally offer a few advantages over Google’s variants – for example, editing GIFs frame by frame in the gallery, or syncing tabs with your Gear VR headset with the browser. You can uninstall or disable most of them too. 
   
   Honestly, the worse thing about TouchWiz nowadays the set of terrible, still all-white emoji. You can theme everything else, why not the emoji? 
   
   Nitpicks aside, there’s no denying many of Samsung’s proprietary features are legitimately useful – perhaps even most of them. And if you’ve been a long-time Samsung user, I can see it being hard to go back and miss out on the customization. 
   
   S Pen: More reasons to remember to use it 
   
   The Note 7 is all about the S Pen, and you’re going to actually want to use it this time around. 
   
   Kudos to Samsung for reducing its various note-taking apps from four (Action Memo, Memo, Scrapbook, S Note) to just a single Samsung Note app. It’s more powerful too, allowing you to blend colors like real paint and supporting the new pen’s added sensitivity. 
   
   Meanwhile, the Note 7’s air commands bring four big new features. 
   
   You can magnify any content on your screen by hovering over it with your S Pen, up to 300 percent magnification. It’s useful if you have poor eyesight or are visiting a website you can’t zoom in on images via multi-touch. 
   
   The translation feature is something straight out of a sci-fi novel, allowing you to translate between various languages instantly by hovering over words. Unfortunately, the execution is a bit less exciting in practice. 
   
   While it works quickly, you can only translate individual words, which severely limits its usefulness if you were trying to read an article or have a conversation with someone in another language. That could be fixed with a software update, but it seems like a huge oversight as is. 
   
   Conversely, there’s the Glance feature, which is extremely useful. It basically lets you quickly take a peak at a secondary app without ever leaving the main app you’re using. 
   
   Say you’re typing up an article on your phone, but need to constantly refer back to a document for specific details – Glance streamlines the process by not forcing you to waste time switching between apps, or waste real estate with split view. I’ve used it all the time since I started testing the Note. 
   
   The best S Pen feature though is an update to one introduced last year with the Note 5. Whereas before you could take out the S Pen and immediately start writing on your phone without unlocking the device, the Note 7 one-ups it with an always-on display. 
   
   That means your notes are displayed permanently without having to turn on the phone to view them, which I can see coming very in handy for shopping lists and the like. For the first time, you can use a Note phone like a real notepad. And unlike before, you can scroll through to have an infinite amount of space to write notes, rather than just what fits on your screen. 
   
   Unfortunately, you can’t edit notes after pinning them; you’ll have to go into Samsung Notes for that. 
   
   But my favorite new feature is the GIF maker. The screen capture tool lets you select a portion of your display that you want to save as an animation with the S-Pen, tap record, and then save. You can either save to your gallery or share, and you can even edit the GIFs frame by frame and set them to different qualities. I will be sharing all the GIFs. 
   
   The suite of S Pen and TouchWiz tweaks make the Note 7 an incredibly powerful mobile productivity tool. 
   
   To give you an idea; I wrote this section of the review on the Note 7 while switching back and forth between my scribbled outline and our CMS using the glance feature. I’m not sure I would’ve had the patience to do that on any other smartphone. 
   
   Iris scanner: an extra tier of security, not a fingerprint replacement 
   
   The iris scanner is the flashiest new touch. I had my doubts given its implementation in Windows Phone, but it’s a smarter approach here; the iris scanner is complements the fingerprint scanner instead of replacing it. 
   
   Basically, Samsung wants you to think of it as an alternative unlock method when convenient – it’s going to be great for the winter when you’re wearing gloves – or a second form of authentication when you want extra privacy. 
   
   For instance, fingerprint scanners are sucky when your hands are wet, and can be hard to access when you’re busy carrying something. The iris scanner has no such problems, and it’s almost as fast and versatile as the fingerprint reader. 
   
   The key word here is ‘almost’ though, which is why Samsung emphasizes using the scanner as secondary authentication (plus, the iris scanner has a lower false-positive ratio). 
   
   The phone features a ‘secured folder’ where you can store private files as apps, which you access using the iris scanner. You can easily save naughty private photos to this folder using Android’s share function, and it even includes an incognito browser for when… you need to buy your bae a special gift. 
   
   That’ll come in handy if you’re the type of person who tends to share passwords give fingerprint access to your family or partner, but would still like to keep some things private. Of course, Samsung could have done the same with a password, but this is faster, and we all know how terrible people are at choosing passwords. 
   
   By the way, the iris scanner doesn’t work with dead people. Sorry, would-be homicidal thieves. 
   
   Camera: Still top notch, but nothing new 
   
   
   
   It’s the same exact camera as in the S7, so you should check out our review of that phone. It’s probably the best single camera on any smartphone right now. 
   
   The only difference here is in a slightly streamlined app. You can now swipe down to access the selfie cam, or left and right to change modes or filters, respectively. 
   
   Performance and battery life: Good, but not the best 
   
   The Note 7 shares specs with most other flagships this year, which also generally happen to have lighter interfaces. So while the Note 7 is definitely fast, it won’t be the quickest Snapdragon 820 phone (we didn’t get to test the international version with Samsung’s own Exynos chip, but it’s worth noting those are traditionally a little more responsive). 
   
   For example, the Moto Z, which I’ve been using for longer and have installed more apps onto, feels snappier all around with its near stock UI. The G5 has a heavier skin, but is still lighter on customization than Samsung, and feels ever-so-slightly faster as well. 
   
   Entering developer mode and shortening animations helps speed things up a bit, but the Note 7 always seems to be just hair behind those devices in terms of responsiveness, with the very occasional stutter and dropped frames. That feels like something that can be fixed with an update. 
   
   Maybe there are some pre-release bugs to iron out, but it shouldn’t be enough to keep you away from the device; it’s still faster than almost any 2015 device, it’s just not the quickest Snapdragon 820 one. I’d also argue the Note 5’s multi-tasking features make up for any mild performance stutters when it comes to actually getting work done. 
   
   Battery life, on the other hand, pulls ahead of most other 2016 flagships. I’m getting about six hours of screen on time with my average, heavy use. The 3500 mAh battery should be enough to get most people through a full day. 
   
   That’s generally without using the new power saving modes. If you know you’re going to be out for a while, you can choose to lower the screen resolution, max brightness, and CPU performance separately; the default power-saving settings will net you about 3 hours of extra battery life over using the phone on full blast. 
   
   Unless you’re looking for it, you won’t be able to tell a difference between the 1080p and QHD resolutions, other than that you need to be on QHD to use the highest density DPI setting. There’s a 720p option, but I’d avoid it unless you’re really strapped for battery. 
   
   I’ll update this post once I’m able to do a more proper run down of the different power saving settings. 
   
   Finally, the phone of course has quick charging (and wireless charging!), but it’s a bit slower than what we’ve seen on devices like the Moto Z. A full charge takes aabout an hour and 45 minutes from empty. 
   
   Everything but the kitchen sink 
   
   When I reviewed the Note 5, I thought it was the best big phone you could buy at the time. After spending a week with the Note 7, I’m having a hard time not thinking of it as anything else than the most well-rounded smartphone I’ve ever used. 
   
   I’m trying to avoid hyperbole, but the Note 7 has almost everything you could ask for from a flagship smartphone in 2016. It might not be the most exciting phone – the Moto Z and its modularity win that prize from me – but frankly, it feels like Samsung just went through a checklist of the things people say they want in a smartphone, and then went and did them all: 
   
   Top of the line processor and RAM 
   
   64 GB of storage, stock 
   
   Expandable storage because we’re greedy 
   
   Best-in-class camera 
   
   Full waterproofing 
   
   A small body with minimal bezels 
   
   Legit security features 
   
   Sleek, eye-catching design 
   
   A display that (probably, hopefully) won’t crack when you drop it 
   
   Great battery life with heavy use 
   
   Wireless and quick charging 
   
   A history of timely updates 
   
   A not terrible UI 
   
   A stylus 
   
   Imagine if someone told you a phone would hit every single one of those marks just one or two years ago, and then add a couple of extras like the best mobile VR headset and an iris scanner as well. 
   
   Of course, it might not be the top option if you’re looking to buy unlocked or don’t wan’t to deal with carrier subsidies, and there are plenty of great affordable phones out there nowadays, but you probably knew that coming into this review. 
   
   Moreover, the Note 7 brings genuinely useful productivity features, something that becomes more important with every passing years as people look to do more serious work on smaller, more portable devices. The Note 7’s multi-tasking is second to none, to the point that I wrote some of this review on the device. 
   
   Yes, the Note 7 is very expensive at around $850, but in the US at least, most people won’t care because of carrier subsidies. Besides, the free Gear Fit 2 or 256 GB (!) microSD card are quite the sweet pre-order bonus. 
   
   On the other hand, if you’re looking for the best you can buy right now, the Note 7 is the closest thing to a perfect smartphone there’s ever been. 
   
   The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 launches August 19, and you can pre-order the device now from Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the US. As mentioned above, you can get either a free Gear Fit 2 or 256 GB microSD card when you order “for a limited time,” valued at $179.99 and $250, respectively. 
   
   Galaxy Note 7 on Samsung 
   
   Read next: 8 awesome examples of extra to-dos for better content distribution ||||| But it’s interesting to explore why the Note 7 is the best big phone ever. Samsung has more experience with big phones than any other company, and it is leveraging that to improve the big phone experience. It’s the only company that’s saying a big phone doesn’t have to feel like a big phone or be saddled with compromises often associated with them. Samsung wants you to have your cake and eat it too, and that cake’s flavor is the Note 7. 
   
   The Note 7 is Samsung’s best device ever, and arguably the best big phone ever made. If that’s all you’re looking to know, then you can stop reading right now and go place your order. It will cost you $849 or more, depending on carrier, and can be preordered now. It will be available in stores starting on August 19th. 
   
   Samsung has been changing that dynamic lately, building phones with big screens that don’t feel like big phones at all. Its new Galaxy Note 7 is the best big phone ever made for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it feels like a device that was designed to be a big phone from the beginning with features that mitigate the tradeoffs inherent with big devices. I can’t say the same for the iPhone 6S Plus, Nexus 6P, or any other giant phone on the market, which are downright clunky in comparison. 
   
   But big phones come with their own set of baggage that isn’t seen on normal-sized phones. They are frequently clumsy to use, awkward to hold, and less attractive than their smaller counterparts. More often than not, a big phone is just a stretched-out version of a small phone, without any consideration made for the larger display. 
   
   There is no greater evidence of The Future of Computing than the big-screened smartphone. Big phones have become the de facto personal computers for many people, taking the place of countless devices, including laptops and tablets. They’ve become more than just phones in ways that smaller devices haven’t matched — research shows that owners of phablets use their devices a lot more than others. 
   
   Samsung’s disastrous battery issues have invalidated the praise we have heaped upon its beautifully designed, but fatally flawed smartphone. We leave this review up as testament to almost-was history, but have removed the score in light of the events. We do not recommend you purchase the Note 7, even if you're able to find it in stock. You can read more about the recall and the events that have transpired in our Galaxy Note 7 recall Story Stream . 
   
   Editor's note, October 11th, 2016, 10:30AM ET: On September 2nd, 2016, Samsung issued a recall on the Galaxy Note 7 because of a safety concern with the battery. The company halted sales and recalled all 2.5 million devices it manufactured. It then issued replacement devices that were deemed to be safe for use by both Samsung and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Unfortunately, it turns out that those devices were no safer than the first run and presented many of the same risks. As a result, Samsung has been forced to recall those and is stopping production on the Note 7 . 
   
   Apple’s iPhone monopolized the talk about smartphone design for nearly a decade. But in the past year and a half, Samsung’s design department has made dramatic leaps and bounds, cranking out beautiful, functional designs and rapidly iterating on them. Where Apple has been content with a two-year hardware design cycle (and by all accounts, it appears to be moving to an even slower three-year cycle), Samsung has improved and updated its designs on a rapid-fire, six-month basis. Since last year’s Galaxy S6 design revitalization, Samsung has iterated three times on its formula and the Note 7 is the finest design Samsung has ever produced. A beautiful piece of gadgetry The Note 7’s combination of metal and glass, symmetrical sides, and rounded corners make it the nicest-looking phone I’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s just a beautiful piece of gadgetry. But the design isn’t just for aesthetics: it’s all in service to that big screen and making sure that the compromises that come with a large display are minimized. The Note 7’s design is remarkably functional, giving the Note 7 a normal phone feel, even though it has a massive display. Part of that is because the Note 7 is actually smaller than any other phone in this class. It’s 4.7mm shorter and 4mm narrower than the iPhone 6S Plus, 5.8mm shorter and 3.9mm narrower than the Nexus 6P, and 2.2mm narrower than last year’s already trim Note 5. The Note 7’s dimensions make it easier to handle, easier to slip into a pocket, and generally nicer to use than any other phone with a big screen. The curved sides of the display don’t scream "look at me" quite as much as the S7 Edge’s dramatic bends. They have a subtle curve that provides flatter display area and distorts the image on the screen less, yet still manages to make the Note 7 narrower than if it had a fully flat display. The Note 7’s rear glass panel mirrors the front curves exactly, giving the phone its visual symmetry and comfortable feel. These qualities of efficient design and premium materials are found on the S7 Edge too, but the Note 7 has been refined even further, with softer edges, cleaner lines, and a nicer feel in my hand. Just five months ago, I said that the S7 Edge was the most impressive smartphone hardware I’d ever held, and now Samsung has trumped itself with the Note 7. 
   
   The Note 7 shares a lot of other qualities with the S7 Edge, as well. It has the same type of Super AMOLED quad HD resolution display, albeit larger and slightly brighter; the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM; the same water resistance and expandable storage; the same excellent cameras; and a similar capacity battery with the same fast wired and wireless charging. The only notable spec differences are that the Note 7 comes with 64GB of internal storage as opposed to the S7’s 32GB and it uses a USB Type-C port instead of the old Micro USB jack. That means that a lot of the things about the S7 Edge apply equally here. The screen is pixel-dense, color-rich, and gorgeous to look at (and can get even brighter than the already blindingly bright S7’s screen in daylight); the processor and RAM combine for fast, reliable performance; and the water resistance is a feature I think every high-end phone should offer. The Note 7’s 3,500mAh battery is 17 percent larger than the battery in last year’s Note 5, and it’s able to last me through a full day of use. At this point, I’d love for a flagship phone like the Note 7 to last multiple days on a charge, but the fast charging features make it easy to top up when I need to. And since the Note 7 has the same 12-megapixel camera as the S7 series, it has arguably the best smartphone camera available right now. (It’s certainly not a downgrade from last year’s 16-megapixel camera. Check out our interview with Samsung’s Kim Gae-youn for more on why.) The optically stabilized, f/1.7 lens is excellent for low light shots and focuses quicker than any other phone’s camera, and the camera app launches rapidly with a double-press of the home button. The app has been cleaned up for the Note 7, with a simpler interface that relies on gestures for switching between front and rear cameras and changing modes. 
   
   The big new headline feature on the Note 7 is the iris scanner, which uses a special front-facing camera array to scan your eyes and unlock your phone. It provides an alternative to using a password, PIN, pattern, or fingerprint for authentication. The iris scanner works as advertised, often quickly scanning my eyes and unlocking the phone. It uses infrared technology, so it can work in low light. But it’s clumsier to use than the already very quick fingerprint scanner, as I have to turn on the display, swipe up, and then bring the phone awkwardly close to my face to trigger it. It’s a fun party trick, but I ended up just forgetting about it and using the fingerprint scanner instead. The second most important thing that separates the Note 7 from Samsung’s other devices and every other big phone is the updated S Pen. The S Pen has been a hallmark feature of the Note line since its inception — it’s really what makes a Note a Note, and not just another phone with a big screen. The S Pen can be used to jot down notes, draw pictures, or navigate the phone’s interface. The S Pen is mightier But by far the coolest new S Pen feature is the ability to create GIFs from any video in just a few taps. In a matter of seconds, I can create a GIF from a YouTube video, add notes or stickers to it, and then share it right from my phone. It’s not something I’d have guessed the S Pen would be able to do, but it’s fun and easy to use. Further, the S Pen has the same level of water resistance as the phone itself, and it can even work when the phone is wet, making it the most over-the-top way to jot down ideas in the shower. Samsung has tweaked the hardware of the S Pen this go around, too. The pen tip itself is narrower and has twice as many levels of pressure sensitivity for a more natural writing feel. And, unlike with last year’s Note 5, it’s impossible to put it in backwards and damage the phone. I like that I can now use the S Pen to magnify parts of the screen, multitask between two apps, or instantly translate text using Google’s Translate services. Artists might appreciate the new color blending features available when drawing in Samsung’s app. The four disparate apps that Samsung used to package on the Note have been combined into a single Samsung Notes app that’s easier to use and simpler to navigate. The ability to take notes right on the phone’s lock screen that debuted with last year’s Note 5 has been expanded with the ability to "pin" notes there for quick access. My only complaint with Samsung Notes is that it doesn’t easily sync with other services, such as Evernote or OneNote, instead relying on Samsung’s own proprietary backup and sync. (You can share notes to other apps, but that can only be done one note at a time and is rather tedious.) Earlier versions of the Note weren’t able to convince me that the S Pen was a necessary tool, and I’m not sure that the Note 7 does the job either. But its enhanced features at least have me thinking about it more. 
   
   To go along with its refined hardware design, the Note 7 has a refined version of Samsung’s software interface on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. (An update to Android 7.0 Nougat has been promised, but Samsung has not yet provided any timing for when that might happen.) It’s both nicer to look at and easier to use than Samsung’s earlier software efforts. There are a couple new features that have been cribbed from other devices or third-party apps, such as the new nighttime display mode similar to Apple’s Night Shift that can be triggered based on sunrise and sunset. The always-on display feature from the S7 has been improved with more calendar layouts and support for all third-party app notifications, making it much more useful than before. Bloatware remains an issue Despite the interface improvements, the Note 7 is still loaded with carrier bloatware and duplicative apps, things that have been dogging Samsung phones for years. The T-Mobile version I’ve been testing has a half-dozen apps preinstalled, including the incredibly useless Lookout app scanner, and you can be sure that the other carrier models are similar. There are also two email apps, two browsers, two photo apps, two voice assistants, and Samsung’s own versions of Android’s calendar and calculator apps instead of the ones that Google already develops. The only real way to avoid carrier bloatware entirely is to wait for the unlocked version of the Note 7 to arrive, but Samsung has yet to say when that will be available, and it will still likely have duplicative apps. These aren’t deal-breaking problems, but they are annoyances that don’t match up with the rest of the Note 7’s stellar experience. ||||| Corey Protin/Tech Insider Update: On October 11, 2016, Samsung announced it is ending production of the Galaxy Note 7 following reports that the device overheats, smokes, and catches fire. We do not recommend buying this phone if you find it in stores. If you already own a Note 7, you should power it down and return it immediately. 
   
   What follows is the the original review for the Galaxy Note 7: 
   
   One of my colleagues said it best when he saw me with the new Galaxy Note 7 for the first time. 
   
   "Wait, that's the new Note?" 
   
   He was expecting something bigger. And uglier. 
   
   It's a sharp contrast from a few years ago, when the Note series was seen as an oversize and bulky alternative to the iPhone that was almost universally panned by reviewers. 
   
   That's not what the Note 7 is. 
   
   The Note 7 is the most beautiful phone I've ever used. It has more thoughtful features (waterproofing!) than the iPhone. It has a larger screen than the iPhone 6 Plus', yet it's still smaller and easier to hold. And even with an eye-popping $850 price tag (on sale Friday), it's worth every penny if you want the best of the best. 
   
   Samsung practically invented the phablet category. Now it has perfected it. 
   
   The Note 7 is absolutely a phone you should buy. It isn't just a great Android phone. It's a great phone, period. ||||| UPDATE: Tuesday, October 11. We've changed this review's rating to our lowest score, a 1/10. In light of the recent battery fires that lead to the recall of the Note 7, we cannot recommend you buy one. The text of the review here remains unchanged, but let us be clear: You should not buy this phone. 
   
   The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a wonderful paradox. It’s svelte despite its huge 5.7-inch screen. A slew of futuristic features exist alongside an old-timey stylus. This is a “productivity phone,” but you can use it in the pool. It’s a niche device due to its price and size, but it can please anyone. It's a jack of all trades, and the master of...everything. 
   
   Like the excellent S7 Edge, the 64GB Galaxy Note 7 comes with an all-star component list. Its absurdly good camera excels in the dark. Its quad-core Snapdragon 820 chip and 4GB RAM churn out peppy performance. It can withstand submersion in a sink full of water, and you can even jot subaquatic notes on it. Its ample 3,500mAh battery charges fast and easily lasts a full day. There’s a MicroSD slot, and its curvy AMOLED screen is a stunner. 
   
   That’s a lot to gloss over. Especially when it adds up to the best Android phone on the market. 
   
   But while the Note 7 shares DNA with the S7 Edge, it’s more than just a jumbo-size clone with a stylus. Most notably, the display has the same 2560x1440 resolution as the Galaxy S7, but it can also handle HDR video from Amazon. Finding HDR content is a chore, but even without it, your eyeballs will be pleased. There’s a reason why DisplayMate calls it the best smartphone display of all time. 
   
   The curvy screen also has different traits than the Edge. While the latter is more rounded on its corners, with a gradual slope at the edges of its screen, the Note 7 has steeper curves and a slightly smaller chin. Those design elements make it feel premium, more refined, and somehow less bulky than the Edge. They also let you get closer to the edges of the screen when you’re working with the stylus. 
   
   After a two-minute setup process, your peepers become your password. 
   
   Oh, and you can unlock this phone by looking at it. It’s as cool as it sounds, and it works consistently. After a two-minute setup process—the bulk of which involves finding a sweet-spot distance for the scanning to work correctly—your peepers become your password. You’re not forced to use the feature, and you’re required to set up an unlock pattern or a PIN as a backup. You can also use the iris-scan feature to protect sensitive files in a dedicated “Secure Folder.” 
   
   With iris-unlock enabled, the screen shows a pair of round targets for your eye-alignment, and you see a creepy infrared live-view of yourself. Line your eyes up in those circles from the correct distance (about 10 inches away), and the home screen pops open. In my tests, it worked nearly every time, sometimes unlocking immediately and sometimes taking a few seconds. The delays happened if the phone was too far away from my face or my eyes were too squinty. It didn’t register false positives when my friends looked at it or when I tried to fool it with a picture of my eyes. Somehow, it did work when I wore an eyepatch or winked. 
   
   The most alarming part of the eye-scan is the lengthy warning screen that pops up when you’re registering your irises. It notes that screen protectors may confuse the scanning cameras, and that people who suffer from seizures or epilepsy may want to avoid using the feature. That disclaimer page also mentions the scanner could get fooled by glasses, contacts, or tricky lighting, although I didn’t experience any problems in dark rooms. 
   
   Stylus Maven 
   
   The redesigned “S Pen” stylus is fluid and pleasant to write with. The natural look and feel of your handwriting is bolstered by 4,096 levels of sensitivity and effects that mimic several kinds of pens and pencils. There’s less app clutter than previous Notes, as all your S Pen creations are saved in a single Samsung Notes hub. And yes, Samsung fixed the problem where the stylus gets stuck if you stick it in backwards. 
   
   You pull the stylus from its holster, and an “Air Command” menu pops up on the right edge of the screen. It’s the control center for the stylus, and your options go beyond notes and drawings. Translate lets you hover over text with the pen to see translations, and Magnify enlarges parts of the screen up to 300 percent. Glance is harder to explain: You open an app, and Glance puts it in a little window at the bottom corner of the screen. You can enlarge that app window by hovering the stylus over it. It’s handy for referencing things in a browser while composing an email or text. 
   
   The stylus also creates GIFs of up to 15 seconds from videos. Tap “Smart Select” in the Air Command menu, fire up YouTube, drag a box to frame what you want captured, and hit a record button to convert it to a GIF. Once it’s captured, you can immediately save it and share it with your contacts. 
   
   Still, there is a bit of a learning curve with the S Pen. It took a while to figure out how to convert handwriting to text; you have to jump into the keyboard’s feature settings and tap a “writing-to-text” icon. Mind you, the OCR worked incredibly well. One of the Note 7’s new features—the ability to “pin” a handwritten note to the lock screen—was also difficult to figure out. Some of the S Pen features seem grafted on, distinct from the phone’s core UI, and the Note 7 could improve in making its stylus applications a bit more intuitive and seamless. 
   
   This is Samsung’s first phone to charge via USB-C, but they’ve kindly made it backwards-compatible with previous Galaxy chargers. Included in the box are a Micro-USB-to-USB-C dongle, a USB-A-to-USB-C adapter, and a USB-C cable. However, the new connector means the Note 7 isn’t compatible with older Gear VR headsets; you’ll need to buy a new headset if you want to use this new Note for VR. 
   
   Let’s end with another paradox: Phones are so good nowadays, they’ve become boring. And $900 isn’t chump change, especially when you consider how good cheap smartphones have become. But the Note 7 combines so many superpowers—its camera, its display, its security features, its VR capabilities, its sleek and stylish looks—that it might be worth it. At the very least, it makes smartphones exciting again.
target: – We haven't seen this many rave reviews since Mad Men went off the air. Samsung's new smartphone, the Galaxy Note7, goes on sale Friday, and tech people are already drooling. Fortunately, the Note7 is waterproof. A "devout iPhone user" at Mashable calls the Note7 "the best smartphone money can buy" and "the most impressive smartphone ever created." Business Insider explains how Samsung's Note phones have gone from terrible to "the most beautiful phone I've ever used" in just a few years. Despite having largely the same specs as other top-of-the-line phones, the Next Web says the Note7 is "possibly the most well-rounded, productive, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink smartphone ever made." The Wall Street Journal reports the Note7 is worth the hefty $850 price tag as long you plan on using the included stylus, which you absolutely should because it allows you to operate the phone underwater. For people who like their raves in numerical form, the Note7 received ratings of 9 out of 10 and 4.5 out of 5 from CNET. Wired lists some of the Note7's many selling points, including an "absurdly good camera," all-time great display, "peppy performance," and eye-scanning technology that allows it to be unlocked just by looking at it. Finally, the Note7 is the first big phone that "feels like a device that was designed to be a big phone from the beginning" and not just a stretched-out smaller phone, according to the Verge.