Name: How smart is Samsung's Note 7 strategy?
Uploaded: 2016-08-05T12:25:00.000Z
Duration: 3 min 52 s
Description: The Galaxy Note 7 is seriously impressive, but with cheap Android phones getting better all the time, is Samsung on the right path? CNET Senior Editors Luke Westaway and Rich Trenholm offer their thoughts in this discussion taken from the CNET UK podcast.

[MUSIC] Samsung has a new phone. It's the Note 7. The latest Note, they skipped 6. Went straight on to- Ruled 6 out completely, yep. That's right. We don't want 6 at all. It's a pretty fancy phone. 12 megapixel camera. Enormous screen. It's got the S Pen. This one's waterproof. It's got an iris scanner so you can unlock Your phone using your eyes if that's something you want to do. We're definitely agreed that it's a cool phone. It's got everything. Edge screen, as well. Yes, that's right. Yeah, you can't forget that. It's got everything. It's got all the bells and whistles. Everything- USBC. That phones can do. USBC, everything that phones can do is in the Note 7. the question is, what does it mean for Samsung? What is the larger What's the bigger picture stuff with the Note 7? What are your thoughts, Rich? Yeah, like you say, I have to admit it's the first time that a phone has come along that's made me go, that's got everything, and I think it's really cool. The Samsung is actually doing well now. They've had their first kind of growth for I think two years, yes, strongest earnings in two years fueled by sales of the S. 7 and the S7 Edge. And this is basically the S7 Edge only with some cool new stuff in it. So, it looks pretty good for Samsung I think. I mean that is encouraging. If I had to worry about the Note 7, it would be the price. Because if you look at what rival phone makers like Huawei, or even like tiny, tiny companies like OnePlus have been doing. They've been making sort of equivalently powerful phones. But for a fraction of the price, way way cheaper. But, I would say that the design probably gives it a bit of an edge, no pun intended, as well, over things from our way and OnePlus, at least for now. The price, I'm concerned about the price. It's a little too expensive. But then as you say, Samsung has had a lot of success with its flagship phones, it hasn't sort of done this race to the bottom thing, kinda chasing out the lower-end mobiles. Yeah, and I read that the S7 Edge was the most popular Android phone in the first half of the year. The Note 7, it does everything the Edge does and it's only slightly bigger. And you think have they killed the Edge? They've edged out the edge. They've edged out the edge. They've blunted the edge. I mean, what is that? Do you think they'll get rid of the edge line? No, I wouldn't have thought so. I mean, It has to be said actually at that kind of scale, even though it is only I think 5.7 versus 5.5 inches, but even at that kind of relatively small gap will actually make a difference when it's the line of your trues that you've got to. [CROSSTALK] Yeah it can make a difference. But they're obviously still going to be very popular phones. Maybe like you say the price is going to be the deciding factor. You know we really like the S7. The S7 Edge is fun. Mm-hm. The sort of curved screen stuff is a little gimmicky but Mm-hm. It's kind of cool. And it does make the phones Look and feel a little bit different to everything else that's out there. Yeah. I sort of feel with that that the weren't sure about the S-pen to start with with the note. And there were a couple years where it was like well you can write on it that's great. But now on the new note seven there's a few features with the S-pen. Like you can write a memo and you can pin it to the, you can write on pretty much everything. You can You can clean- Including underwater. Including underwater, yeah. [LAUGH] So it kinda feels like the S Pen is coming [INAUDIBLE] so maybe the edge screen, when they've, after a couple of years, maybe that's gonna come into its own with the way you actually use it and how it works. Yeah, we might see that evolve as well. So it seems like the Note, which always to me represented this sort of weird experimental branch of Samsung phones is now sort of being brought into the fold as a part of the proper family. So I think we're both pretty Positive it will be interesting Yea to see how it does. ANyway we've got loads more on the note seven on CNET and we want to know what you guys think as well so do get in touch and let us know. Great. [SOUND]