Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Galaxy Note 5 (vs Ghost Note 6) [CHART]

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is finally official. Now it’s time to look at where Samsung made improvements over last year’s model. Last year, the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 was…wait a minute. The Note 6 never happened. Last year was the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Let’s compare the Note 7 to the Note 5 and the ghost of the Note 6.

Design

The Note 7 and Note 5 are made of the same materials, but the Note 7 looks more refined and polished. The biggest difference is the curved Edge display. This is the first Note to have a curved display on both edges, just like the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. We’re not sure if that was the best decision. Edge phones are hard to hold, and the giant size won’t make it any easier.

Display

The display is exactly the same as the Note 5 (except the curved part): 5.7-inch with 2560×1440. There’s not much to say here. Samsung makes some of the best displays on the market. The Note 5 display looked great and so does the Note 7. If you want a big, beautiful display, the Note is your best bet.

Camera

On the surface, it appears the Note 5 has the edge in camera quality, but megapixels rarely tell the whole story. Samsung went from 16MP to 12MP on the Samsung galaxy S7 and they have carried that to the Note 7. We know the Galaxy S7 has the best camera on the market, so we expect nothing less from the Note 7. It will be great.

Performance

This is where the Note 7 has a big advantage over the Note 5. Samsung has equipped the Note 7 with a more powerful processor and a bigger battery. The latter will be a welcomed addition to Note fans. The Note 5 had a smaller battery than the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which was a real bummer. Thankfully, Samsung has added more juice to the Note 7.

Who wins?

Every time we do these charts it seems like the competition is closer and closer. Phones these days are all basically good. The difference between phones on a yearly release cycle isn’t nearly as big as it used to be. The Note 7 looks to be Samsung’s best Note in years, but you can’t go wrong with the Note 5. Which phone do you think is the best?