Why Samsung’s popular and high tech Galaxy S7 smartphone represents such a bargain. The saving benefits of buying the non-current yet still high tech phone.

Korean giant’s popular smartphone still one of the very best choices

The Galaxy S8, successor to Samsung’s 2016 smartphone the S7, has been available since the end of April 2017 but the older phone still has a lot to offer. At prices for used examples comfortably under £300, it represents a lot of advanced tech for your money.

Benefit of buying just behind new releases

Most smartphones – along with many other electronics such as computers, digital cameras and tablets – are routinely replaced regularly by their manufacturers. Most smartphones tend to have a shelf life of barely one year, so if you wait a few months before adopting the new model you won’t have long using the current version before it’s superseded.

While fast paced advances in tech sometimes necessitate frequent new releases of equipment to keep up with it, there’s no doubt some replacement cycles are sometimes geared to stimulating demand and keeping sales ticking over. It’s not always worth upgrading to the new tech, so it’s prudent to ask yourself whether the older model might suit your needs.

For example, why bother about having the latest super fast processor when your existing phone, or the model one or two ‘behind’ the very latest release, is plenty fast enough for your needs?

Buying just behind the very latest releases is often a very canny way to enjoy and benefit from advanced tech without paying top dollar in terms of expensive contracts or hefty outright phone ownership prices.

Galaxy S7: the ideal smartphone for value

A great example of a smart buy to make the most of advanced tech at reasonable prices is the Samsung Galaxy 7, or its larger screened stablemate the Galaxy 7 Plus. A refurbished Galaxy S7 can be yours for well under £300 compared to the near £700 of some versions of the current S8.

This phone gained no end of plaudits from tech reviewers when it launched in 2016. Many considered its combination of looks, usability, performance, superb screen, advanced camera and many other attributes made it the world’s best smartphone.

Just some of what you’d get with a Galaxy S7:

Superb design – it has a clean and attractive design with tough and good looking ‘Gorilla Glass’ front and back, and thanks to top class ergonomics, it’s a pleasant phone to handle.

Screen quality – Samsung screens are amongst the industry best, and the OLED technology (compared to the more usual LCD) offers deeper and more accurate colours along with good viewing angles. It helps battery life, too; an OLED screen isn’t ‘always on’ as LCD types are – it only uses the pixels necessary to produce the colours, text and images required.

It’s also a 5.1 inch screen so larger than the iPhone 7 (and if you want something even larger try the Galaxy 7 Edge).

Flexible storage – a microSD slot means you can add to its storage capabilities easily with a memory card – something no Apple iPhone offers.

Water resistant – the Galaxy is water proof to IP68 rating standards which means it can withstand being immersed in one metre of water for thirty minutes.

Performance – Samsung’s own Exynos chip provides copious processing power and 4GB of RAM provides plenty of multitasking muscle.

Camera – considered one of the very best, and capable of replacing a separate digital camera in many instances. The megapixel count at 12 is actually less than the 16 of its predecessor the S6, but this makes for better pictures as each pixel is larger which helps autofocus lock on to the subject faster, capture more detail in photos, and improve low light performance. A wide aperture (f/1.7) helps low light photography further.

Close up photography is considered excellent, and you can adjust values such as ISO and white balance for more flexibility over your shots. To round off a superb smartphone photography set up there’s a five megapixel front facing camera with a wide angle lens to help cram a few more people into your selfies.

Battery and charging – often the bane of smartphone use, battery life is very respectable on the Galaxy S7. A larger battery than that used in its S6 predecessor is fitted, various power saving modes help eke out as much charge as possible, and when more juice is required fast charge and wireless charging facilities makes this quick and convenient.

Pick up a smartphone bargain

Even if you were tempted by the current Galaxy S8, you may feel the S7 offers more than enough tech to enable you to save money. It could be the difference between having an expensive, long term contract with an S8 or buying your phone outright and choosing a SIM only deal by taking the S7 route.