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Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

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Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#71

Post by galvan »

leeleelee wrote: post #29
SmallBets wrote: post #9

Still happy with my S3 and feel I'm not missing any key features. The more generations go on you realize just how incremental the phone upgrades have gotten for quite some time now.

I have the S3 and I can't wait to upgrade. It is SLOW (noticeable lag). Plus, not sure what causes this (hardware or software) -- but the GPS navigation is terrible. I'm stuck on Android 4.4.2. Takes forever to lock in on my location, loses signal randomly, and sometimes in the middle of navigation it stop updating where I am on the visual display. The camera is horrendous. So, speak for yourself. Phones have come a…

Random digression, but if you're having problems with GPS reception on your S3, try tightening all the screws on the back of the device with an eyeglasses screwdriver or similar. The GPS antenna(e) are in the screwed-on backplate and connected via sprung contacts to the mainboard, so if the screws aren't tight, it won't make a solid connection. You can also try removing the backplate and (gently) prying up the spring contacts at the bottom of the motherboard, and then cleaning both them and the contacts on the backplate with isopropyl alcohol. I bought my S3 used and couldn't get a single GPS fix, but after tightening the (noticeably loose) screws, it now happens in a few seconds.

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#72

Post by criley2 »

levemi wrote: post #45
criley2 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. Apple largely does not care what competitors do, Apple seeks to set trends instead of following them. They're more interested in Google's software than Samsung's hardware, and only so far as to make sure truly necessary features are included in iOS. Plus, Apple buys or has bought chips and screens from Samsung. On the flip side, getting your flagship out months and months before Apple means hundreds of thousands…

> Apple largely does not care what competitors do, Apple seeks to set trends instead of following them. That's why Apple set the trends with large phone displays and 7 inch tablets right? I think Apple makes great devices and that you don't need to distort the great work this company does by living in a fantasy world about Apple getting everything right on the first try and not borrowing ideas from others because the…

That's an example of one of the few ways in which they conservatively decided to copy one successful feature that rose out of a literal sea of ideas.

I didn't say they never follow trends, in fact I explicitly pointed out when they did -- to ensure that iOS and iPhone don't fall behind on critical features.

Fact is, Apple could not care less what gimmick or spec Samsung is introducing. Apple will not adjust this years iPhone because of any feature or spec that Samsung introduces, and they've never done that in the past either. The biggest change like this would be perhaps Jobs' frantic last minute change from plastic to glass screen, a "rest is history" kind of moment.

If Samsung's new feature this year is that important then Apple will introduce it in a few years. They're not in a rush. Years late to mobile payments, years late to e-watches, years late to large screens... they do not make quick changes.

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#73

Post by gkoz »

ikeboy wrote: post #31
leeleelee wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the S3 and I can't wait to upgrade. It is SLOW (noticeable lag). Plus, not sure what causes this (hardware or software) -- but the GPS navigation is terrible. I'm stuck on Android 4.4.2. Takes forever to lock in on my location, loses signal randomly, and sometimes in the middle of navigation it stop updating where I am on the visual display. The camera is horrendous. So, speak for yourself. Phones have come a…

You can use lollipop if you're willing to install cyanogenmod. There are also marshmallow builds, depends on which variant you have.

AFAIK there's no way to unlock the bootloader of the Verizon variant once upgraded over the air to 4.3 or later.

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#74

Post by massysett »

rwmj wrote: post #35
SmallBets wrote: post #9

Still happy with my S3 and feel I'm not missing any key features. The more generations go on you realize just how incremental the phone upgrades have gotten for quite some time now.

I only replaced my S3 in October (after ~ 3 years) because the battery finally gave up, and I didn't want to run the gauntlet of fakes/scams that is trying to buy a replacement battery. The thing is I was able to turn the S3 into a music player by plugging it into a cheap bluetooth speaker/charger basestation and running the Squeezebox client.

"I didn't want to run the gauntlet of fakes/scams that is trying to buy a replacement battery"

I felt the same way when I had to replace a phone battery...which then made me wonder what the point of having a replaceable battery is when you worry that a replacement battery might explode. So my next phone, HTC One, did not have a replaceable battery and I did not miss it. Replacements are too hard to find and besides it's easier to just plug in an external battery anyway.

I see why Samsung went with the non-removable battery on the new phones.

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#75

Post by massysett »

vinay427 wrote: post #5
lqdc13 wrote: post #3

> Perhaps the most significant change this year comes in the S7’s new 12-megapixel camera. It’s lower resolution than last year’s 16-megapixel shooter, but Samsung says its larger pixels let in 56 percent more light than before for better low light images. What?

Sounds just like what HTC did with the HTC One in 2013: http://www.androidcentral.com/megapixels-ultrapixels-samsung... >The HTC One trades sheer megapixel count for larger (2-micron) pixels on the sensor itself, allowing for improved low-light capabilities when combined with its wide-angle f/2.0 lens. >the HTC One runs rings around the Galaxy S4 in night shots

"the HTC One runs rings around the Galaxy S4 in night shots"

Maybe Samsung is doing something right here...but the HTC One had an awful camera. I bought it for the low-light camera performance. But it had some sort of hardware flaw that caused low light photos to have a purple haze. HTC had a replacement program, which would have required me to go without a phone for weeks. So I got Verizon to replace my phone with a refurb, which was actually worse. I just sent the refurb back and kept the purple haze phone.

After this I switched to iPhone, not least because if it is defective an exchange just takes a trip to a retail store.

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#76

Post by massysett »

lauritz wrote: post #22
jaxondu wrote: post #11

Samsung and LG both introduce their annual flagship smartphone so early in the year. Doesn't it give Apple plenty of time to counter them spec wise if any? Just curious, if you're Apple competitor, what's the pros and cons of launching your flagship before and after Apple's launch?

How about the other way round? Who's to say that they're not countering Apple in their specs? I think that with this one-year cycle that phone manufacturers have--unfortunately--imposed on themselves, it is a strategic decision to have both ecosystems at different times in the year--so you have all the media buzz for one system at a time. If you were to have both competitors released at the same time, there would be…

I have always wondered if it's a cultural thing? Apple is a US company and times its releases so they are ready for Western winter holidays. As a Korean company is there something significant about spring?

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#77

Post by danjayh »

kozukumi wrote: post #54
switch007 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to rain on your hyperbole parade ;), but how long is the "incredible" battery life? Asking for a friend with an ageing nexus 4, who swore not to spend that much on a phone again...

well there are two areas to my incredible claim :) first is that the battery easily lasts me 2 days sometimes into a 3rd day if I use it a little less than normal. however I only ever charge it for 15-20 minutes and in that time the fast charge gets me back up to 80something %. It is amazing how fast it charges. I never worry about the battery life on this phone which is the first time I have ever said that since sma…

Your battery life is great now, but what about 3 years from now? The current ~2 year phone refresh cycle should not last forever, and I think that both the S7 and the nexus have it wrong when it comes to batteries. Even at a gentle 50% Depth of Discharge, a typical li-ion is at only 70% capacity after ~1200 cycles. Bump that to near 100% DoD, and you're at 70% after only 300-500 cycles. Sealed-in batteries in a phone are, IMHO, even a bigger deal than the lack of expandable storage.

Reference:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_li...

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#78

Post by tempestn »

I love the Samsung hardware, and own an S6 - mostly because I was excited about Gear VR - but I really wish I could root my phone without forever tripping some "Knox" bit that might theoretically have repercussions in the future, and at the very least would affect resale value.

In an ideal world, root would be a built-in feature, which can only be accessed through some obscure code, like the developer settings. It would show a big scary warning, and it would have su app controls included. Rooting the phone could trip some bit, sure, but a full factory reset should reset it.

The only reasons I can see not to do this are 1) extra work supporting people who've messed up their phones. Easy enough to fix: we don't support phones while they are rooted. 2) allows removal of built-in apps. But really, just because you can't uninstall the stuff doesn't mean you have to use it, so is there really a benefit there? And 3) it would take a bit of development effort to add the feature. Perhaps the demand just isn't sufficient to justify it. But I find that hard to believe. Unless there's a 4) that there's a segment of the buying public that would actually be scared to learn a phone could be rooted or something?

Re: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

#80

Post by emilsedgh »

riotdash wrote: post #50
emilsedgh wrote: post #10

I few months ago I lost my 3 years old HTC One, so I had to get a new phone. For the first time I decided to get an iPhone. So I got a 6s. Worst mobile phone I've ever had. The battery life is terrible. Now I understand why people have 'Power banks' with them all the time. The phone also dies with 40% battery! I turn it on, it shows a splash screen meaning low battery, turns on, shows 40% battery, then dies after a m…

"(And I'm not a fanboy of Google/Android, I wish we had a FOSS OS with an open ecosystem, but Android just works, unlike ios)" :D You most definitely are or you somehow managed to mix iPhone and Android in every single sentence. Most of the stuff are not even opinions, they are just simply wrong information/lies. "The user interface (which it was supposed to shine at) is just bad. I can never find items I'm looking f…

Your comment is unnecessarily hostile.

And I'm not an idiot. The 'Personal Hotspot' item was missing in my menu so I searched internet and found dozens of articles describing how to fix it.

And fixing it included things like 'Enter your carrier name into the text box' and 'Restart your phone'.

For example take a look at this:

http://www.igeeksblog.com/personal-hotspot-missing-in-ios-9/

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