The Galaxy S8 should make its much awaited appearance in India soon, but in the meanwhile, Samsung has another premium phone to sell. It’s called the Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro and it’s a smaller (ever so slightly) version of the Galaxy C9 Pro (review). It costs Rs. 27,999 and has exactly the same design as the C9 Pro. However, the changes are where it matters and the cheaper pricing comes with a trade-off. The C7 Pro runs on the Snapdragon 625 and gets lesser RAM than its elder brother. There’s also a smaller, 3300 mAh battery on this one.
Samsung’s phone is slim and its metallic body feels premium and nice. The back seemed resistant to resistant to scratches and fingerprints, although the same cannot be said about the screen. While the phone does have Gorilla Glass 4 on the front and touch performance is smooth, we saw a few more fingerprints on the device than we did while reviewing the Galaxy C9 Pro. Furthermore, the Super AMOLED display seemed slightly dimmer, but that might be because we were using the phone in bright sunlight.
A notable change in this smartphone is that the Snapdragon 625 bring a more balanced approach, rather than the brute power of the 653. So, you can expect the C7 Pro to be reasonably smooth, but benchmark scores will be lower. The Snapdragon 625 has excelled in heat and battery management so far, so it would be fair to expect the C7 Pro to drive the 3300 mAh battery to its brink. It’ll be interesting to see whether Samsung’s UI comes in the way of good battery performance.
At Rs. 27,999, comparisons with the OnePlus 3T are inevitable, and frankly speaking, the Galaxy C7 Pro doesn’t do much, on paper, to make a better case for itself. However, Samsung is targeting a wider range of buyers, but the online market may prove to be tough. If you look at the Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro in a store, you will want to try it out before deciding against it. But that's a luxury the online market doesn't afford you.
Personally speaking, the Galaxy C7 Pro feels like a Qualcomm alternative to the Galaxy A7 (review). The latter has a premium glass design, but this metallic design isn’t much less in terms of premiumness either. The Snapdragon 625 may actually end up being smoother than the Exynos 7880, based on what we’ve seen on other devices. It has the same screen too, and it's cheaper. So, this may be the phone Samsung loyalists will go for.
The company has also put two 16MP cameras on the device, one each on the back and front. We took some shots at the event and they looked decent on the phone’s own display. The camera quality seems similar to the Galaxy A7 as well, which is quite good as well.
The Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro is a quintessential “second in line” from Samsung. It’s meant to be a cheaper alternative to the Galaxy C9 Pro, for those who can’t afford that device. And that goal is accomplished. However, we have to review the smartphone before we’re sure of its prowess.