The other phone worth discussing at the high end is the HTC 10. While we’re still working on our review of the HTC 10, I have no hesitation in saying that it is at least an equal to the Galaxy S7. However, determining whether it’s better for you is conditional on at least a few different factors.
To start, we can look at where the HTC 10 is better than the Galaxy S7. In terms of audio quality, design, OEM UI, and other areas like perceptual latency I would argue that HTC is just clearly ahead of Samsung. HTC also has proper USB 3.1 and USB-C support, which does make the device more future-proof than the Galaxy S7’s microUSB connector in that regard. The front facing camera is also just clearly better on the basis of having OIS and optics that can actually focus on a subject instead of being set to infinity at all times.
However, Samsung is clearly ahead in display and the camera is clearly the fastest I’ve ever seen in any phone, bar none. Samsung is also just clearly shipping better WiFi implementations right now in terms of antenna sensitivity and software implementation, along with IP68 water resistance and magstripe payments for the US and South Korea.
To further muddy the waters, there are areas where HTC and Samsung trade blows. While Samsung’s camera is clearly faster, HTC often has better detail in their images, especially at the center of the frame but the Galaxy S7 has better detail at the edge of the frame. Noise reduction tends to be a bit less heavy-handed and sharpening artifacts aren’t nearly as strong as it is on the Galaxy S7. HTC’s larger sensor also means that it’s possible to get actual dSLR-like bokeh with macro shots, which is honestly something that I’ve never seen before in any smartphone camera ever.
Overall, I think it’s pretty fair to say that the HTC 10 is a solid choice. If I had to pick between the two I would probably lean towards the HTC 10, but this is based upon personal priorities. I don’t think you can really go wrong between the two. The HTC 10 is currently 699 USD when bought unlocked through HTC with Carbon Gray and Glacial Silver with 32 GB of internal storage, which is a bit more than the Galaxy S7 but considering how smartphones are often used for 2-3 years now I don’t think 50 dollars should be a major point in favor or against a phone.