Galaxy S7

[Surf Donkey]

Seeing as though I lucked out with regards to the free Samsung VR 🙁. I've deciced to take the plunge this morning and pre-ordered the Sony Playstation VR for October. Paid my pre-order at Gamestop, it'll likely serve me better despite being clearly more expensive ....

$400 here is the US, what is the price for you? I would bite, but I also would have to buy the move controllers and camera. Makes the whole package a bit too much for me until a price drop. I am sure it will be absolutely awesome though.

 

[epicrayban]

Is this something that's new to Marshmallow? I notice I can update my apps from the pull down notification shade. An "Update All" button appeared in a notification. If it's new, pretty handy. I have auto-update anyway, but still, that's pretty nice.

 

[Casfin]

S7 edge basically eliminated having an S7 edge+ this year. This is the "s" year for Samsung and the S7 edge (S6 edge+ s model) is THE ONE to get. Because the S8 edge may not be as great and could be more of the same or something totally different nobody will like. The S7 edge is technically the third dual edged phone. Glad I skipped the 2015 beta stages of the S6 edge for this one after feelong shortchanged with an iPhone 4 and HTC One M7 only to watch them get better refined the following year.

Next year, Samsung can either go the LG G5 route where they revamp the design again and not everyone will like it or has beta issues. Or the HTC One M9 route where using the same design for three straight years might start looking stale and we will hear the outcry for SAMEsung. The S7 edge (esp in silver platinum) is the absolute PINNACLE in design for a Samsung smartphone refining the great stuff they already showed last year with its predecessor. It will be very difficult for the S8 edge to really improve what the S7 edge is already bringing to the table even with a removable battery.

I'll probably get the S7 edge Exynos anytime between May - July. Perhaps no later than September 2016 or after seeing what Apple brings to iPhone 7. Patience. I remember getting a PSP about 2.5 months after its March US release. Guess what? I got the faulty d-pad button and dead/stuck pixels. I remember getting an HTC One M7 in May 24 of 2013, about five weeks after its AT&T release. Guess what? I got average battery life that was nowhere what Anandtech claimed and my camera started producing purple photos six months later. I have other examples of getting launch day gadgets or anything early only to realize paying top dollar by getting it first is a waste of money. Weed out the first few faulty batches and wait for Samsung to release software updates for bug fixes.

By then, things should be more stable and discounted. So I get it cheaper for a more stable device. So let the heatseekers be the guinea pigs for the first few months of ownership. I saw the S7 edge in gold again earlier today and I'm starting to like it less than the black one. Too gaudy. The silver is the only way to go for me. MATTE silver/gray is such an underrated color option. Doesn't show much fingerprints. Hoping by S8/S9 edge, they go brush metal space gray for the rears. Ditch the glass. My last three Android devices either have matte metal or plastic in either gray/silver or gold, and it rarely looks dirty and takes seconds to clean.

My only hardware qualm with the S7 edge is really a minor cosmetic one which is that glass rear because I hate cases and don't even use screen protectors. Any software qualm (like TouchWiz lag) is easily fixable for me. From a hardware standpoint where I can't just change it like software, S7 edge seems to check every single area on what makes a smartphone great. The S7 edge is the best designed Android smartphone since the Sony Xperia Z3 and HTC One M7/M8. And it doesn't as many glaring weaknesses like any of them.

Best smartphone of 2016 and likely the best-looking of this year. The "5.5 is already Note territory without the S-pen. I don't see the Note 6, HTC Nexus, and iPhone 7/7 Plus truly beating the S7 edge except in benchmark scores with their newer SoCs. We'll see...

I suspect more internal memory, bigger battery and more RAM with the Note 6. The 32 GB only for the s7 Edge cemented my decision to wait for the Note 6 or iPhone 7+. One of those 2 will be my new device.

 

[epicrayban]

Maybe next year Samsung will make 64GB the new standard. =O

 

[Casfin]

Maybe next year Samsung will make 64GB the new standard. =O

Wish they would have with the edge. I would have bought it if it was 64GB.

 

[epicrayban]

Wish they would have with the edge. I would have bought it if it was 64GB.

I wish, too. So far, though, MicroSD has proven to be easy to use and cost effective, too. The cost of upgrading to a 64GB device (which would have likely been $100), to me, was better spent on upgrading to the Edge variant.

Regardless, it would be amazing if Samsung made 64GB the standard onboard storage for their flagship lines. The Note 6 definitely should be that way. It's regarded as the "professional" device.

 

[Fernandez21]

That is partially true. Taken in ideal lighting the extra pixels the S6 provides over the S7 will allow for more detail to be captured and then take the better picture overall, especially when cropping. However the S7 does allow faster focusing which means if even in ideal lighting you were to quickly pull the phone out to take a very quick snap (those very rapid moments you need to capture without notice) - the chances are the S7 will capture it in focus quicker than the S6.

But with the same lighting, same time to frame and take the shot - then yes. The S6 would likely take the better photo.
[doublepost=1458125004][/doublepost]Seeing as though I lucked out with regards to the free Samsung VR 🙁. I've deciced to take the plunge this morning and pre-ordered the Sony Playstation VR for October. Paid my pre-order at Gamestop, it'll likely serve me better despite being clearly more expensive ....

Wait, I thought the lower pixel count was due to the change in the aspect ratio, basically cutting off the sides. So wouldn't the pixel density of the picture taken be the same? Wouldn't the center part of the image be the same?

 

[Savor]

Always bet on the "s" years

iPhone 3Gs - The first hardware spec bump with double the RAM and first to finally offer video recording that neither the first two gens ever had by default.

iPhone 4s - First dual core with 7x faster GPU and better antennas to remedy Antennagate. The 4s and iPad 2 has now been updated longer than the 4. Thanks, A5.

iPhone 5s - First to have the Touch ID, 64-bit processor, and the space gray helped remedied the Scruffgate issue from the slate iPhone 5 from the year before. The first to introduce a gold option too.

iPhone 6s/6s Plus - First to get Force Touch, but most importantly, the A9 chip with an extra gig of RAM was a massive update internally as seen with the benchmark scores destroying every Android last year like the Note 5 which had 4 GB of RAM!

HTC One M8 - Brought back the micro-sd slot, 25% louder, wasn't plagued by purple photos like the M7, didn't heat up as much, and its longer battery life coming from the best and most battery efficient SoC that Qualcomm ever produced for flagships - Snapdragon 801. The 800/801 was a massive upgrade than the battery hungry 600. M9 never matched its efficiency with the problematic 810 and ditching the UltraPixel cam didn't exactly skyrocket HTC to the top of the camera department either.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Brought back two of the three omitted with the S6 like micro-sd slot up to 200 GB (you can buy one for $90 at Best Buy). Water-resistant with no annoying flaps that the S5 and older Xperia Z devices had. Samsung still making it more comfortable to hold and with better color options. This is what the S6 edge/edge+ should have been!

Take your chances on phones that were upgraded internally instead of externally. They can last longer because they are correcting the problems of its identical twin predecessor. The fresher new design tends to offer more problems which may need fixing over time. Even if Samsung decides to bring foldable displays next year, they could still have issues without the extra year needed for refinement. Like beautiful women. Just because they are gorgeous doesn't mean you can always depend on them. Inside counts more in the longer run.

 

[epicrayban]

Oh, glory hallelujah! Samsung gave us the option to "Not show again":

Hey, question: When I went to edit this screen shot, I noticed the gallery app saved the cropped picture to my onboard local storage, and not the mSD card. I can't seem to find a way to change this. Is there a way?

This is the sort of stuff I didn't want to deal with with the microSD; things saving in different locations. Thankfully it shows up in my gallery app all in the same place, but the actual root file is saved in different location, which irks me.

It's not a big deal, but does anyone know how to set it so that all media goes to microSD?

 

[tbayrgs]

Wait, I thought the lower pixel count was due to the change in the aspect ration, basically cutting off the sides. So would the pixel density of the picture taken be the same? So wouldn't the Center part of the image be the same?

This is what I thought as well. The 16MP count on the S6 was taking into account the 16:9 aspect ratio and that if you changed to more common 4:3 you were actually only getting 12MP. Under this scenario, you'd only suffer a loss of pixels if you wanted to use 16:9 again as it would result in additional pixel loss.

 

[mel823]

Samsung US Online store has a deal until the 03/19. If you buy one fast wireless charging pad, you get one free. And that coupon they gave you for registering your phone does work with it (even though the coupon said it was for items $59.99 or less).

 

[epicrayban]

Samsung US Online store has a deal until the 03/19. If you buy one fast wireless charging pad, you get one free. And that coupon they gave you for registering your phone does work with it (even though the coupon said it was for items $59.99 or less).

Ooo, forgot about that 30%. Might pick up more chargers or a bluetooth headset.

Loving all these Samsung promotions.

 

[MRU]

$400 here is the US, what is the price for you? I would bite, but I also would have to buy the move controllers and camera. Makes the whole package a bit too much for me until a price drop. I am sure it will be absolutely awesome though.

The dualshock 4 will be enough in most cases, but you do need the camera. It was €399 here.
[doublepost=1458148879][/doublepost]

Wait, I thought the lower pixel count was due to the change in the aspect ratio, basically cutting off the sides. So wouldn't the pixel density of the picture taken be the same? Wouldn't the center part of the image be the same?

Your end image still has 4 million extra pixels so that will make a difference, I can definitely see it already in some of the beach & landscape shots I've taken that my previous S6 Edge & Edge + had more detail when cropping in.

 

[epicrayban]

Anyone have any experience with Samsung's Level U bluetooth earphones? I'm considering getting them with the 30% discount code: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EO-BG920BBEBUS

 

[HiDEF]

Anyone care or concerned about the Exynos being faster than the snapdragon? Does it affect your decision?

http://9to5google.com/2016/03/16/galaxy-s7-speed-test-snapdragon-vs-exynos/

My apologies if its been talked about already, I'm still playing catch up with the thread.

 

[Fernandez21]

Anyone have any experience with Samsung's Level U bluetooth earphones? I'm considering getting them with the 30% discount code: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EO-BG920BBEBUS

They're actually really nice, light weight and stay in place. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them. But I do prefer my jaybird X2's, the battery lasts longer and the foam tips sound better. I did get my Level U's for free though.

 

[rockitdog]

Anyone care or concerned about the Exynos being faster than the snapdragon? Does it affect your decision?

http://9to5google.com/2016/03/16/galaxy-s7-speed-test-snapdragon-vs-exynos/

My apologies if its been talked about already, I'm still playing catch up with the thread.

I'm tired of the Snapdragon processors. The 6 month old iPhone 6s is running circles around the S7/Edge. It's embarrassing.

 

[Fernandez21]

Anyone care or concerned about the Exynos being faster than the snapdragon? Does it affect your decision?

http://9to5google.com/2016/03/16/galaxy-s7-speed-test-snapdragon-vs-exynos/

My apologies if its been talked about already, I'm still playing catch up with the thread.

I wonder if this is a situation where Samsung has to optimize touchwiz for the snapdragon, as the snapdragon scores higher in benchmarks.

 

[epicrayban]

Got myself two fast wireless chargers from Samsung's website for $50 bucks with the 30% off code and buy one get one free offer.

I am loving these promos.

To date, I have gotten or will get:

Free Gear VR
Six free VR games
Another year of Netflix for free (did the same with the S6 last year)
A free Samsung 32GB microSD card
A free $30 gift card for using Samsung Pay the first time
And now, two Samsung fast wireless chargers for $25 a pop.
[doublepost=1458152420][/doublepost]

They're actually really nice, light weight and stay in place. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them. But I do prefer my jaybird X2's, the battery lasts longer and the foam tips sound better. I did get my Level U's for free though.

Nice. I'm still interested in them but will get them through Amazon or Best Buy. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Fernandez21]

The dualshock 4 will be enough in most cases, but you do need the camera. It was €399 here.
[doublepost=1458148879][/doublepost]

Your end image still has 4 million extra pixels so that will make a difference, I can definitely see it already in some of the beach & landscape shots I've taken that my previous S6 Edge & Edge + had more detail when cropping in.

But wouldn't those extra 4 million pixels only be found on the sides? The center part should still be the same.

 

[mel823]

So I returned my S7 last week and over the weekend I regretted it. Was going to pick up another one this Friday (Pay Day), but I went to Best Buy to take another look at the Edge. The guy in that area was nice enough to let me play with one that didn't have all that security crap on it. Was afraid it would be to big for my petite hands, but it felt really good. So I'm definitely picking one up instead.

 

[epicrayban]

So I returned my S7 last week and over the weekend I regretted it. Was going to pick up another one this Friday (Pay Day), but I went to Best Buy to take another look at the Edge. The guy in that area was nice enough to let me play with one that didn't have all that security crap on it. Was afraid it would be to big for my petite hands, but it felt really good. So I'm definitely picking one up instead.

Adjusting to the Edge was a challenge for me. I did it mainly for the larger battery and the gorgeous screen. And I must say, it's worth the trouble. Just make sure you give it a few days to really give yourself a chance to adjust to the bigger device. Yes, it's the most compact 5.5" smartphone to date, but it is still in the family of phablets and will require getting used to.

I have zero regrets now and am loving my Edge. I think you're making the right decision between the two.

 

[nviz22]

My S7 Edge is getting replaced now. Having MMS issues is unbearable. Hopefully it doesn't affect my VR or Netflix codes. My promotion is saying fulfillment pending.

 

[msavic]

Any other users jump from the S6 to S7 Edge? If so, what was your experience like? I know epicrayban made the switch and loves it.

I guess I'm trying to see if anyone had any negative impacts as a result of the switch to potentially discourage myself from making the switch myself.

Also what's the consensus with screen protectors for the edge, I know the Zagg contour is yet to be released but anything else in the pipeline that could be worthwhile?

Anybody going without a screen protector for the time being?

 

[nviz22]

Any other users jump from the S6 to S7 Edge? If so, what was your experience like? I know epicrayban made the switch and loves it.

I guess I'm trying to see if anyone had any negative impacts as a result of the switch to potentially discourage myself from making the switch myself.

Also what's the consensus with screen protectors for the edge, I know the Zagg contour is yet to be released but anything else in the pipeline that could be worthwhile?

Anybody going without a screen protector for the time being?

I didn't make the jump directly, but I owned a S6 Edge. It is a substantial difference. Better battery, smarter screen brightness, always on display, nicer camera that doesn't protrude so much, Edge software that is actually useful, better FP scanner, more RAM, better processor, cleaner software, water resistance, a better body to hold. Idk about screen protectors since I have a ****** Xtreme Guard one I paid $3 for a pack of 6. I instantly regret it and will be going tempered glass soon.