Samsung S7 rumors, speculation, and suggestions

[RossMAN]

I checked preordering on tmobiles website but I dont see where they would offer the VR promo.

http://www.t-mobile.com/SamsungGalaxyS7

I see it in the bottom right?

 

[krumme]

Camera test at gsmarena
http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7_edge_mwc_2016-review-1400.php
Stunning low light pictures. And imo fantastic quality in dynamics and color contrast. In that sense the quality is actually more like 1 inch sensor than 2.6 to my eyes. Damn impressive. Doesnt look like phone pics from that perpsective.
I predict a stellar dxomark rating.

A drawback is imo the wide lens giving some lens errors and is soft on the sides. I would have preferred something less wide with less error and sharper in exchange for eg. 2.0 aperture or bigger lens.

The ois for 4k vid is also bad. Perhaps the qcom820 can do that better with digital stabilization?

 

[WelshBloke]

http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7_edge_mwc_2016-review-1400.php
Stunning low light pictures.

Yeah, those shots in the bar looked pretty good.

I'm a bit bummed about the lack of the adaptable storage option and I'd like to know a bit more about the video capabilities but if I can get past the horrendous issue of the holes on the bottom not lining up perfectly sneaky I'm thinking that an edge 7 might be my next phone.


Any reports on what the audio hardware is in the international version?

 

[Cakefish]

I preordered the black S7 today. Will get it on the 8th March. So pumped!

I was extremely tempted by the S7 edge. It looks and feels great and the larger battery is really enviable. But in the end I decided to stick with my comfort zone of smaller, more compact handsets. I've dabbled in phablets with the Moto X Play and just couldn't get used to such a large phone.

 

[krumme]

Whats the difference from 5.7 note to 5.5 edge screen size.?
Do you miss the 0.2?

I dont mind bigger phone and could actually use 6 but the s7 edge looks really nice to hold. Reminds me of the pepple design of s3. And in a sense like the first iphone.

Perhaps i should buy one and give it to my wife. Then i can have a look. Lol. The older you get the more conservative you get and want to keep your old stuff.

 

[CLARiiON]

An Italian website did live battery test with relatively heavy usage.

http://www.andreagaleazzi.com/2016/02/samsung-galaxy-s7-test-live-batteria.html

5hr 25mins of Screen Time with 2% left.

 

[Cakefish]

An Italian website did live battery test with relatively heavy usage.

http://www.andreagaleazzi.com/2016/02/samsung-galaxy-s7-test-live-batteria.html

5hr 25mins of Screen Time with 2% left.

Sounds good to me. That's what I get on average with my current Sony Z5 Compact.

I'd guess the S7 edge would provide 6-7 hours under the same usage.

 

[poofyhairguy]

A tip for everyone- if you care about VR nerd hero John Carmack says avoid the Edge version:

http://vrfocus.com/archives/29989/carmack-recommends-s7-over-s7-edge-for-gear-vr/

 

[Goosemaster]

A tip for everyone- if you care about VR nerd hero John Carmack says avoid the Edge version:

http://vrfocus.com/archives/29989/carmack-recommends-s7-over-s7-edge-for-gear-vr/

Guess which one I pre-ordered.

Sigh.

 

[Cakefish]

Frankly, this is a must read article for anyone remotely interested in the S7s. Great photo samples comparing against LG G5 and some early benchmark comparisons between Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890.

http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g5_vs_samsung_galaxy_s7_edge_mwc_2016-review-1403.php#

 

[ChronoReverse]

That makes sense. The larger pixels already would make it less suitable for VR even before the curve. Luckily that's not something I'm worried about.


Battery life is for the Exynos version, I wonder how it compares to the SD820 one.


Interesting how Geekbench single core scores for both the SD820 and Exynos are within a stone's throw of the A9. It's nice to know that Apple didn't have some sort of magic sauce no one else has.

 

[poofyhairguy]

That makes sense. The larger pixels already would make it less suitable for VR even before the curve. Luckily that's not something I'm worried about.

Yeah it wasn't a huge revelation. The regular one was always obviously better for VR. Carmack is just a nice seal of approval.

Honestly I am kinda with you, without 4K screens I am still so-so on mobile VR. Friend's and family's experiences with the S6 Edge (how useless the edge is functionally, how easily it chips on drops, how hard it is to protect from drops, etc.) would push me into the regular S7 if I got one instead of VR.

Hey at least the regular S7 doesn't lack OIS or have a lower PPI screen!

 

[mizzou]

Contract pricing is deceiving, you think you're only paying $200 but you aren't. A device payment is much more transparent, and is good because if you pay the phone off, your bill actually goes down.

Just paid my phone off. Ugh, I hate the reality smack in the face you get when you realize that you are upgrading $500-850 mobile computers every 2 years.

I'm rocking an S4 still myself...I don't think I can stomach more then $250 on a new phone.

I refuse to finance these phones anymore!

 

[Cakefish]

LOL I bought an unlocked Z5 Compact outright and am doing the same now with the S7 just 6 months later.

I'm a crazy, crazy fool! I feel so guilty doing it.

I do plan to sell the Sony phone once I get the Samsung, of course.

 

[elitejp]

what are the main differences between the s6 and s7? anything worth spending dbl the price for an s7?

 

[WelshBloke]

what are the main differences between the s6 and s7? anything worth spending dbl the price for an s7?

Bigger battery (that's one of the main ones for me, the S6 is weak there), waterproof, SDcard, better camera (looks significantly better in low light), newer SOC (although the S6 is no slouch, I doubt that you'll notice a difference).

It's up to you if those are worth the increased cost. The S6 just wouldn't work for me so I wouldn't get one no matter how cheap it gets, if the negatives with it don't bother you then it's probably a better buy than the S7 at half the price.

 

[Cakefish]

what are the main differences between the s6 and s7? anything worth spending dbl the price for an s7?

- more ergonomic in the hand (curved back and smaller bezels)
- 18% larger battery (better battery life)
- much better camera (faster focus, superior low light photos, additional exclusive photo modes)
- SD card support (up to 200GB)
- water & dust resistance rated at IP68
- display can get brighter (aids outdoor visibility)
- faster wired and wireless charging (relative to size of battery)
- CPU is 30% faster and 10% more power efficient
- GPU is 64% faster and supports the Vulkan API
- liquid vapour cooling system to boost sustained performance in CPU & GPU heavy tasks
- more RAM for ability to keep more apps cached in background
- will be the first to recieve future software updates

 

[elitejp]

appreciate the feedback. Seems like a nice phone

 

[Oyeve]

Its what the S6 should have been. I think sammy crippled the S6 series to make the S7 look great. When in reality, the S6 was a step backwards.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Its what the S6 should have been. I think sammy crippled the S6 series to make the S7 look great. When in reality, the S6 was a step backwards.

Meh, this has been their cycle for four generations now. The S5 was basically a better S4 with stuff like waterproofing, and now the S7 is a better S6.

 

[krumme]

The same old complaing saying former gen was nearly as good. Nonsense. Go back to the s2 with dual a9. At that time we were running sandy bridge at desktop 4 core at 4ghz. The compact highend pos cameras was 1.7 inch.
Today the camera in the s7 is far better than highend pocket cams at time. Its a damn miracle. And the soc/cpu is like 10 times as fast as the samsung s2. On desktop we got 1.4 times better cpu ! The soc in the s7 or a6s is nearly as fast as ultrabooks if we look at geekbench. Now do that for a s2 vs sandybridge.
The technological steps each year in mobile is enormous.

 

[phillyman36]

I ordered the S7 yesterday 2/27. Switching form an iphone 6. It's the display that got me. Does anyone know of a case protector that has booth case and screen protection like the Otterbox commuter series? If not any case/tempered glass combo suggestions? Already grabbed a 128 sandisk sd card

 

[shabby]

I ordered the S7 yesterday 2/27. Switching form an iphone 6. It's the display that got me. Does anyone know of a case protector that has booth case and screen protection like the Otterbox commuter series? If not any case/tempered glass combo suggestions? Already grabbed a 128 sandisk sd card

Ebay, they got everything. Just select from north america and you'll get local sellers rather than from china.

 

[ibex333]

Samsung S7 is a piece of garbage... Why?

1)Marshmallow has a feature where an SD card can be treated as internal memory for all intents and purposes. This is one of the best and coolest features of Android M.
Guess what though... Samsung disabled that, so you can forget about using this feature!
Samsung feels that they have to save you from yourself, where you might pull out your SD card during use and mess up your file-system.

2)Some sources claim Samsung will only sell 32GB version of the phone in US. Want 64GB or 128GB? Tough luck pal. Get another phone.

The choice can only be LG G5, Nexus 6p, or iPhone. Samsung is not a choice.

 

[daveybrat]

Just pre-orderded my Galaxy S7 Onyx. My 2 year contract was up so figured i might as well bite at just $199 for the phone with contract.

So now the only question is, which freebie do i choose? The Gear VR or the Gear S2?

Can't really see myself using the VR headset but have wanted a nice watch for a while.