[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Accessories] Pilz:
The Samsung S7/S7 Edge are both great phones that pack one of my favorite smartphone cameras to date. When I first read about the announced prior to MWC, I was excited to see a first party camera lens accessory especially coming from Samsung. For those of you that don’t know Samsung makes some fairly good mirrorless camera’s which is why I was excited to see their R&D going into this set up. Although it took Samsung a few months to release the Lens Cover in a few select markets that are not the US, I am still happy that I was able to get one. The seller I bought it from stated that Samsung was only letting retailers buy limited quantities because they are not producing a huge number of these which further explains the limited availability. I really hope Samsung takes this set up seriously in the future and continues to make a lens cover perhaps with more options in the future.

Unboxing

https://youtu.be/hrJ85uaA_-M

In the box you will find a case, wide angle lens, telephoto lens, and a nifty carry case for both lenses. The case is plastic, with a felt lining, but before you dismiss the plastic looking leather Samsung made it feel just like their Note 3 back panel. If you remember what that feels like it has a “soft leather/rubber” texture that is pleasant to hold.

The carrying container is made out of a plastic like rubbery feeling material as well, but I wish they made the covers easier to snap on and off. Both lenses fit perfectly inside the case as you would expect, and it keeps them from getting scratched.

Each lens is very well made out of aluminum that has a semi-polished finish to it. I have no doubt these lenses will hold up to the test of time, although I’m not sure I can say the same for the case. While the lenses are metal, the case has plastic threads which concerns me. I wish Samsung used a stronger material for the threads so it won’t wear out over time if you plan on using the case often. I am going to send Samsung an email about that to see if their warranty would cover wear/tear on the case threads. Other than that small issue I think everything is very well made.

Case

On the case you will find cutouts for all of the buttons, as well as a fully open bottom for whatever reason: I don’t particularly care because I’m not going to keep my phone in this case unless I plan on using the lenses. One nice little feature Samsung added to the case was a very small (cannot emphasize that enough) grip toward the bottom. This reminds me of a DSLR grip, but it really doesn’t do much to be perfectly honest; I would much rather have a bulky LG G5 camera module hump on the case to give you real grip since looks don’t matter. Seriously look how massive the telephoto lens is, then tell me if you care about an ergonomic grip being added to the case. I would not care given functionality over looks especially for photography. Samsung also added a very minimal lip so you can lay your phone face down without scratching the screen. It’s the little things that matter, and Samsung seems to hit the nail on the head everywhere but the case threading material.

Pictures

I’ve been toying with both lenses all day despite the typical horrible weather here in Pennsylvania. Since today was windy like most summer days, I found it difficult to shoot good pictures via the telephoto lens as I planned. I posted some samples in the later pages of this OP for people to view, but I will add more as I take them. I really like the magnification you get via the telephoto lens, yet it is not without issues. The phone will not focus at distances closer than it did without the lens in fact it might even need a little more room to focus with the telephoto lens installed. I also noticed that it has issues focusing in general on small objects with this particular lens. Samsung could correct this by adding a setting to the camera app to account for the additional zoom, but I don’t think they will. Everything else about this lens is fantastic including the versatility it gives you when shooting your normal pictures.

Telephoto

As I move onto the wide angle lens I wanted to mention how I’ve never really been a fan of wide angle lenses in general, but I’ll do my best to be objective. With this lens you get a much larger field of view as you might expect, and it really does add a nice bit of extra view-able scene to the picture. With any lens you will get distortion closer to the edges of the picture, but these can be cropped out if you so desire. I found the wide angle lens to be a great little addition that I plan on using often even though I was not a fan of them before. All of the wide angle pictures came out looking great no matter where I shot them.

Update [6/12]:

I've noticed some focusing issues while using the telephoto lens (you can't zoom in/get closer to an object that normal i.e. no macro shots with it). Other than that small hindrance (if you want to call it that), I've been enjoying using this lens for the past couple of weeks.

Telephoto Samples

Telephoto 2

Wide Angle

I wouldn’t expect DSLR quality pictures from this phone even with the additional lenses, but you can expect much more versatility, and better quality for different scenarios. I would buy this case again in a second if it was offered for another phone with an equally capable camera despite the few small issues I’ve come across so far. This set up is a first (at least that I’ve seen excluding Sony’s odd set up), so don’t expect pure perfection. The quality of the lenses, and pictures is far superior to any 3rd party accessory you will find, plus this is made specifically for the S7 Edge.

Wide Angle

Comparison between lenses

Comparison

Bottom Line

If you love photography, and the camera on this phone I cannot recommend this case enough, buy one!

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