Samsung S7 rumors, speculation, and suggestions

[Commodus]

Posting this Galaxy S7 bill of materials not so much for debate as for reference:

IHS estimates that the standard S7 costs just $255 to make. (For reference: the best US price that I've seen for an S7 is $650.)

This is a friendly reminder that the raw parts costs for any phone are only part of why it's priced the way it is. It's always fun to see people screaming about how some companies are supposedly charging 100-200 percent profit margins while forgetting that these companies also have to account for things like patent licensing and shipping. The boring truth: they may be getting more profit than you'd like, but it's definitely not as bad as some would have you think.

 

[Oyeve]

Posting this Galaxy S7 bill of materials not so much for debate as for reference:

IHS estimates that the standard S7 costs just $255 to make. (For reference: the best US price that I've seen for an S7 is $650.)

This is a friendly reminder that the raw parts costs for any phone are only part of why it's priced the way it is. It's always fun to see people screaming about how some companies are supposedly charging 100-200 percent profit margins while forgetting that these companies also have to account for things like patent licensing and shipping. The boring truth: they may be getting more profit than you'd like, but it's definitely not as bad as some would have you think.

The exploded view of the phone is pretty impressive.

 

[isekii]

OK, anyone notice that "Fast charging" aint so fast on the S7 edge? On my LGV10 and Note 4, fast charging is pretty damn quick. Right now im fast charging and its at 92% saying it will be 20 minutes until finished.

I think it's the same with the iphone too. I notice it charge fast to about 80% then it takes longer to charge the last 20%
Same as when it's draining.

Samething on the crackberries.

 

[isekii]

I'm royally pissed. Ordered my S7 edge 3/1 and its still processing even tho they charged my card. And now they say its backordered 10-14 days. If I miss the gear VR promo because of this BS I am returning it!

Did they call you and offer you $50 credit? I was reading on reddit and anyone that pre-ordered and it got delayed ~ There's a team from Tmobile that calls offering $50 credit.

 

[dawheat]

Ugh heard the lcd_density on the S7 Edge is 640. That's fine for a 5.1" phone but not ideal for a 5.5" phone. I had assumed it was 560 like the Note 5, though obviously that is a slightly bigger screen.

I'll have to double check the S7 Edge in person again to make sure things don't like overly large and that too much real estate is eaten up by headers and such. Was really close to ordering one, but this may be enough to keep me on my Note 5.

 

[antihelten]

Ugh heard the lcd_density on the S7 Edge is 640. That's fine for a 5.1" phone but not ideal for a 5.5" phone. I had assumed it was 560 like the Note 5, though obviously that is a slightly bigger screen.

I'll have to double check the S7 Edge in person again to make sure things don't like overly large and that too much real estate is eaten up by headers and such. Was really close to ordering one, but this may be enough to keep me on my Note 5.

For what it's worth, Android N will apparently have a DPI scaling feature, which could hopefully fix this issue:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016...-customization-better-notifications-and-more/

 

[Oyeve]

Did they call you and offer you $50 credit? I was reading on reddit and anyone that pre-ordered and it got delayed ~ There's a team from Tmobile that calls offering $50 credit.

No, the phone came in the next day. Overnight. So im happy.

 

[thesmokingman]

Ugh heard the lcd_density on the S7 Edge is 640. That's fine for a 5.1" phone but not ideal for a 5.5" phone. I had assumed it was 560 like the Note 5, though obviously that is a slightly bigger screen.

I'll have to double check the S7 Edge in person again to make sure things don't like overly large and that too much real estate is eaten up by headers and such. Was really close to ordering one, but this may be enough to keep me on my Note 5.

That's not much of an issue tbh, I don't notice a problem there. What is a letdown is no exynos in the US for the most part which means we get the lesser of the two DACs. Sound quality/output power from the headphone port is not what it could have been. Though apparently the SD combo is killing the Exynos in the gpu dept.

 

[Oyeve]

That's not much of an issue tbh, I don't notice a problem there. What is a letdown is no exynos in the US for the most part which means we get the lesser of the two DACs. Sound quality/output power from the headphone port is not what it could have been. Though apparently the SD combo is killing the Exynos in the gpu dept.

Yep. I am truly disappointed in the DAC dept. The sound paled in comparison to my LGV10. Even with my ext amp it not nearly as good.

 

[thesmokingman]

Yep. I am truly disappointed in the DAC dept. The sound paled in comparison to my LGV10. Even with my ext amp it not nearly as good.

Let's commiserate in our misery. I was really hoping to have one device that had just enough power, the dacs to play lossless audio so that I would not need a portable dac/amp! A phone maker needs to make a head-fi oriented phone. It's an unrealized market!

 

[GTRagnarok]

For what it's worth, Android N will apparently have a DPI scaling feature, which could hopefully fix this issue:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016...-customization-better-notifications-and-more/

I hope that's a robust feature, because App Settings for Xposed is one of the reasons I must have a rooted Android phone. It's really disheartening that the Snapdragon S7 may never be rooted. If this carries over to the Note...ugh.

 

[blackangst1]

On the edge can you disable the edge feature so that 'fat fingers' don't trigger all sort of crap ?

You can, but you can also move to the edge panels to either side of the screen, as well as location (top, middle, bottom). I really like the edge panels. It allows me to free up space on my home screen.

 

[s44]

Now that the bootloader is locked anyway it may be time to consider swapping to Exynos for the better DAC...

 

[dawheat]

Now that the bootloader is locked anyway it may be time to consider swapping to Exynos for the better DAC...

Considered this but I actually quite like Samsung Pay since it works almost everywhere. I assume we don't get it in the intl version?

Though battery life seems better on the Exynos version which is way more important to me as I don't game on my phone.

 

[CLARiiON]

Ugh heard the lcd_density on the S7 Edge is 640. That's fine for a 5.1" phone but not ideal for a 5.5" phone. I had assumed it was 560 like the Note 5, though obviously that is a slightly bigger screen.

I'll have to double check the S7 Edge in person again to make sure things don't like overly large and that too much real estate is eaten up by headers and such. Was really close to ordering one, but this may be enough to keep me on my Note 5.

You could change DPI without root.

 

[s44]

I think the Samsung Pay hardware is on everything. It's just country-locked by software pending roll-out. So it should work... though I'll probably wait for other people to test-drive the combo first.

 

[thesmokingman]

Now that the bootloader is locked anyway it may be time to consider swapping to Exynos for the better DAC...

It's a tough swap considering the SD (barring a flashable defect) beats the Exynos in the gpu department by a sizable gap.

*Also, if I am reading the reports in the wild and from what I see, the SD unit's eq may be bugged (leading to poorer SQ) and it might be patchable.

 

[isekii]

my silver is delayed til 20-24th

 

[dawheat]

That's not much of an issue tbh, I don't notice a problem there. What is a letdown is no exynos in the US for the most part which means we get the lesser of the two DACs. Sound quality/output power from the headphone port is not what it could have been. Though apparently the SD combo is killing the Exynos in the gpu dept.

I hope so but I'll have to double check. Honestly I rooted all my phones prior to my Note 5 to get lower dpi (ran 480 on my Note 4). 560 on the Note 5 was barely good enough to keep me stock but my enterprise does a root check.

You could change DPI without root.

Yeah saw that on xda, but it breaks Android Pay and IMO there's a chance it'll break more secure apps. Also makes some Samsung apps misaligned without root/xposed/app settings.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

What's the market like on flipping these? I need to add two lines on my T-Mobile account and they're doing a BOGO on S7s.

 

[kaerflog]

Just got 2. Found a local place that had them in stock. Was going to get black and silver but only had gold so I went with gold and black since I wanted it now so I can send in for the free goodies.
Just FYI for people that are thinking about getting it. It cost me $60×2 for down payment. $55 tax each on $780 and $20 for 1 new sim card since it's a new line for a total of $250. To get the prepaid card you just have to do online. No need to send out anything through snail mail.

 

[blackangst1]

What's the market like on flipping these? I need to add two lines on my T-Mobile account and they're doing a BOGO on S7s.

Yes but only if you ADD another line. Wont work on an existing line (for the free one). And the terms, as previously stated, clearly say you have to maintain a $30/mo active line for 24 months or the full price of the phone is due. $30x24 months = $720. Its ONLY worth it IF you actually need a new line.

But if you need the lines, you could probably sell pretty close to full retail for the next few months

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Yes but only if you ADD another line. Wont work on an existing line (for the free one). And the terms, as previously stated, clearly say you have to maintain a $30/mo active line for 24 months or the full price of the phone is due. $30x24 months = $720. Its ONLY worth it IF you actually need a new line.

But if you need the lines, you could probably sell pretty close to full retail for the next few months

Ya I actually need the lines. Adding my mom to my plan and she's going to use an old IP5. I was gonna use the $600 or whatever I sell the phones for to even pay off the price of the phone so I don't have to worry about it.

 

[kaerflog]

I thought about flipping these too but it will be difficult.
The problem is that you're still making payments on them so how can you convince anyone to buy these when the device is not paid off yet.
And I wouldn't want to pay these off until I get my prepaid card so......
I bought a Note 4 for $280 just a week ago and I hesitated in getting mine but for $455-Netflix-VR gear is too great to pass up. I got a friend of mine to go in with me. Guess I will return the Note 4.

 

[Compddd]

Yes but only if you ADD another line. Wont work on an existing line (for the free one). And the terms, as previously stated, clearly say you have to maintain a $30/mo active line for 24 months or the full price of the phone is due. $30x24 months = $720. Its ONLY worth it IF you actually need a new line.

But if you need the lines, you could probably sell pretty close to full retail for the next few months

It doesn't say anywhere in the terms that it has to be a $30 a month line, just an additional line added to your account.

The phone itself costs $30 a month on the EIP.