Curvy Samsung Galaxy Note 7 takes giant-screen Android phones to the next level

What do you get when you take the curved-screen Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and add a stylus? The Galaxy Note 7, which Samsung unveiled today in New York.

Even with its differences, the Note 7's wraparound screens, 12-megapixel camera, expandable storage and water-resistant coating bring it closer to the S7 series than to last year's Note 5 (that's right, there's no Note 6). And that's a good thing. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are two of the year's best phones, with excellent cameras and battery life -- not a bad way to begin your pedigreed life as a phone.

From what I've seen so far, the Note 7 should fall in line as a terrific, high-powered device whose stylus tricks take the Note to the next level. On paper, it corrects the biggest shortfalls of the Note 5, though our forthcoming testing will confirm this. But if you already bought an S7 or S7 Edge, don't worry -- you haven't been left behind.

Here's what the Note 7 has that the Note 5 doesn't:

Curved screens (sharper, less sloping than the S7 Edge)

USB-C charger port (Samsung's first phone to adopt the new standard)

Iris scanner to unlock the phone with your eyes

Gorilla Glass 5 screen (the first phone with Corning's new screen tech)

More sensitive, accurate S Pen stylus

Water-resistant phone body and S Pen

MicroSD card slot (like the S7 phones)

Larger battery (3,500 mAh versus Note 5's 3,000 mAh)

Better low-light camera

New S Pen tricks, like magnification and GIF-making

Stylus won't get stuck if you jam it in backwards

Coral Blue color choice (it's great)

So if the S7 Edge and Note 7 are almost hardware twins, who is the Note 7 for? Power users. Samsung targets people who want the phone with the most goods, and the Note's gliding stylus and extra writing, drawing and navigation tools give it all the things.

If you already have a Note 5 and wonder if you should upgrade to the newcomer, wait for my full, rated review before buying. And if you're not an Android disciple, keep in mind that Apple's presumed iPhone 7 Plus (which will certainly be stylus-free) is expected to launch in just six weeks. That said, the Note 7 certainly seems like a worthy upgrade for the series, one that refines an already muscular phone and brings back some of our favorite things, like waterproofing and extra storage.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Complete coverage

Price is going to play a big role in whether or not you should get the phone. Notes are usually the most expensive in Samsung's lineup, and it's the S Pen you pay for. With the S7 and larger S7 Edge as really similar stylus-less options, I do wonder if the Note 7, cool as it is, will wind up be ing too much phone for all but the most passionate stylus addicts.

Editors' note: Updated 10:43 a.m. PT with pricing and availability info, and additional links.

Where and when to buy the Note 7 -- and for how much

If you can't wait to nab one for yourself, be aware that the Note 7 is quite costly, and is one of the more expensive Samsung phones next to the Edge series. In the US, pre-orders for the Coral Blue, Black Onyx, Silver Titanium colors (no Gold in the US) begin August 3 and a few carriers have already announced pricing as well as bundled promotions including the new Samsung Gear VR headset or a 256GB memory card.

No official pricing has been released for the UK yet, but Vodafone, O2, GiffGaff, Three and EE all confirmed that they will carry the Note 7.

In the UK, online retailer Mobilefun is quoting a price of £749, but Samsung and other networks have yet to release their own pricing. Vodafone, O2, GiffGaff, Three and EE, however, all confirmed that they will carry the Note 7.

Australian pricing will see the phone sell for AU$1,349 from Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman, Samsung Retail and Samsung.com.au.

Country Pre-order date Availability date Price Available colors US August 3 August 19 AT&T: $880; T-Mobile: $849; U.S. Cellular: $834 Blue, black and silver UK August 16 September 2 £578-£631* Blue, black and silver AU August 5 August 19 AU$1,349 Black, silver and gold

* = based on conversion

Check out everything we know on pricing and availability for the Galaxy Note 7, and how you can preorder the Galaxy Note 7.

New curvy design: Bend it like...the S7 Edge

The Note 7 has a curved screen and the same Edge software as the Galaxy S7 Edge. This is interesting because it gives the Note 7 all of the Edge's features and functionality. (After 2014's Note Edge with its one swooshed side, this is the second Note to have a curved screen.)

There's no doubt this is a pretty phone.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Edge and Note don't look identical, but close enough that if you see them both in black and the S Pen is holstered away, you may not immediately know the difference. But there are a few. The Note 7 has a symmetrically rounded front and back compared to the Edge's flat back and curving face.

It also curves more narrowly than the S7 Edge; the phone's sides drop off faster and slope less. I'm pretty sure Samsung did this to keep the S Pen from falling off the sides as much when you're using it. I do wonder how often I'll wind up slipping in the curved margins when I use the stylus.

Samsung manages to keep the Note 7 fairly compact for a 5.7-inch device with a slightly larger screen than the 5.5-inch Edge. It feels pleasantly solid; not small, but smaller than past Note models.

S Pen updates: Better app, GIF-making, magnification

The pen clicks out satisfyingly from its hidey-hole in the phone's bottom edge. It h as a smaller pen tip than the Note 5's, which is supposed to make it more accurate and precise. It's also twice as sensitive, with pressure levels jumping from 2,048 in the Note 5 to 4,096 in the Note 7.

Like the phone, the new S Pen is resistant to water and dust (it's sealed with rubber and silicon), so if the Note 7 splashes into the pool, you don't wind up with a pen that's on the fritz. It also means you can use it when raindrops plop all over the screen.

Samsung wouldn't be Samsung if it didn't ramp up this S Pen's skills. They don't all wow me, but I'll give them a chance when the test unit comes in.

Samsung Notes app: Four Note 5 apps sensibly combine into this single app for handwriting, drawing and all that jazz. There are more art tools, including a brush that blends colors.

Pin a memo to the lock screen: This one seems useful. You can write a memo when the screen is off, like a to-do list, then pin it to the lock screen (the Always On dis play) to see if for an hour before it times out -- you can repin it again after that.

Make an animated GIF: You can use the Smart Select tool within a video to create, share and annotate a GIF.

Translation tool: A rarer use case, you hover the S Pen over a word to pull a Google translation in over 70 languages.

Magnifying glass: You'll be able to magnify a window of text using the S Pen.

Iris scanning unlocks the phone with your eyeballs

This time, your phone might look back.

Josh Miller/CNET

You can unlock the phone with your fingerprint, or you can use your eyes (one set of eyeballs). Setup is intuitive. Unlocking is easy and fast; you hold the phone up to your face and the software does the rest. (Microsoft's Lumia 950 has a version of this, too.)

The funny thing is, Samsung doesn't actually expect you to scan your peepers every time you want to unlock the phone, the company told me in my briefing. Instead, iris scans are seen as supplemental, like to get you into the new, secured Private Folder where you can store things such as a photo of your passport, banking information or apps you don't want the kids to use.

New Type-C charging port is a big deal because...

The Note 7 marks Samsung's first use of the USB Type-C charging port for its phones and don't worry, you'll get a Micro-USB to USB-C adapter in the box. Samsung hasn't said if every future phone will make the switch, but chances are good.

In preparation for using the new industry-wide standard, Samsung is also making a new version of its Gear VR headset for 2016 that works with Type-C and Micro-USB phones, and otherwise changes only a few things from the last model.

Sleeker Android, with Nougat ahead

Google's Android Nougat software isn't launching on the Note 7 when it hits later this year, but expect an upgrade somewhere down the line. For now, it runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Meanwhile, Samsung's custom layer looks a little different on this phone. Menus are more colorful and seem a little more spaced out.

The camera app gets a jolt with new gestures, too. Swipe up and down to switch between front and rear cameras, and swipe to the sides to bring up filters and effects. It works well in theory, and I like the instant gratification of seeing your photo previewed in filters before you choose the one you want. But even in tests, my fingers kept accidentally tapping the Back and Recent buttons, which kicked me out of the app. Either that or my swipes zoomed the photo in instead of calling up the other menus or camera.

I finally figured out that you have to tap the bottom of the viewfinder to pull up the three dots that indicate you're ready to swipe. Otherwise, you're gesturing on the viewfinder, and not the swipeable menu. It isn't exactly intuitive, and mistakes are time-wasting and aggravating.

Camera, battery, processor just like the S7

With few exceptions, the Note 7 has the same hardware guts as the S7 and S7 Edge, such as its 12-megapixel camera. The Note 5 had a 16-megapixel shooter, which sounds more impressive, but as we keep saying, image quality has a lot to do with processing and light. For example, the S7 phones are better at low-light shots than the S6 crop.

The "7" phones also share an IP68 rating that promises to defend the phone against water damage and dust. (You can submerge it down to 5 feet, or 1.5 meters, for 30 minutes.) Let's h ope Samsung doesn't repeat the same issue that caused its first batch of Galaxy S7 Actives to drown when they should have kept working underwater. (Samsung has since fixed the Active, which our initial retest confirms.)

Note 7 specs versus the competition Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Motorola Moto Z Apple iPhone 6S OnePlus 3 Display size, resolution 5.7-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels 5.5-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels 5.5-inch; 2,560x1.440 pixels 4.7-inch; 1,334x750 pixels 5.5-inch; 1,920x1,080 pixels Pixel density 518ppi 534ppi 535ppi 326ppi 401ppi Dimensions (Inches) 6x2.9x0.3 in. 5.9x2.9x0.3 in. 6.1x3x0.20 in. 5.4x2.6x0.28 in. 6.01x2.94x0.29 in. Dimensions (Millimeters) 153.5x73.9x7.9mm 150.9x72.6x7.7mm 155.3x75.3x5.2mm 138x67x7.1mm 152.7x74.7x7.35mm Weight (Ounces, Grams) 6 oz.; 169g 5.5 oz.; 157g 4.8 oz.; 136g 5 oz.; 143g 5.57 oz.; 158g Mobile software Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow Android 6.0 Marshmallow Android 6.0 Marshmallow Apple iOS 9 Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow Camera 12-megapixel 12-megapixel 13-megapixel 12-megapixel 16-megapixel Front-facing camera 5-megapixel 5-megapixel 5-megapixel 5-megapixel 8-megapixel Video capture 4K 4K 4K 4K 4K Processor 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapgradon 820 processor (or Exynos, depending on region) 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor Up to 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Apple A9 chip (64-bit) 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Storage 64GB 32GB, 64GB (varies by region) 32GB, 64GB 16GB, 64GB, 128GB 64GB RAM 4GB 4GB 4GB 2GB 6GB Expandable storage 200GB 200GB up to 2TB None None Battery 3,500 mAh (nonremovable) 3,600 mAh (nonremovable) 2,600 mAh (nonremovable) 1,715 mAh (nonremovable) 3,000 mAh (nonremovable) Fingerprint sensor Home button Home button Below screen Home button Home button Connector USB-C Micro-USB USB-C Lightning USB-C Special features S Pen stylus, water-resistant, wireless charging Water-resistant, wireless charging Moto Mod snap-on accessories N/A Notifications toggle, dual-SIM, Dash Charging Price off-contract (USD) TBA AT&T: $795, Sprint: $750, T-Mobile: $780, Verizon: $792, US Cellular: $780 NA $649 (16GB); $749 (64GB); $849 (128GB) $400 Price (GBP) TBA £639 NA £539 (16GB); £619 (64GB); £699 (128GB) £329 Price (AUD) TBA AU$1,249 NA AU$1,079 (16GB); AU$1,229 (64GB); AU$1,379 (128GB) Converts to AU$530
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