The next Note would make far more sense as the introduction point for type C on Samsung smartphones, as it typically draws a much more enthusiast sort of audience. You'll probably get two major OS updates, but when is anybody's guess, and how well they'll be tested and optimized is, too.
Samsung s7 battery review android#
It's a given, but I can't not mention it, because buying a Samsung phone is a game of roulette when it comes to Android OS updates. I chalk this up to waterproofing and the larger batteries. Less volume, less fidelity, less clarity. It's a noticeable downgrade from the one on the S6/S6e/Note 5/S6 edge+ in pretty much every way. And you know the LG G5 will undercut the standard S7 on price, too. Trust in the brand is part of the buy-in here. Is an S7 edge $300 better than a 32GB Nexus 6P? For the right person, maybe, but there's little arguing: Samsung can't make up that difference on the spec sheet alone. The Galaxy S7 edge is around $800 on most US carriers, the S7 around $700. The front-facing camera is that same one from the S6, and it's good, but with the high-reso FFC race heating up, it's not a showstopper. Auto-focus is fast, but sometimes uncooperative, overriding tap-to-focus inputs.
The S7's 12MP sensor can take some great shots, but it's finicky and the processing likes to artificially overexpose a lot. It has greatly improved low-light performance, but this new camera is also in need of some tuning. I have my suspicions about this, see them in the performance section. It's also noticeably slower than the Exynos variant. The Snapdragon 820 version of the S7 feels no quicker than an S6 on Marshmallow. Use a Chinese domestic-brand phone and tell me TouchWiz is invasive. But anyone telling you TouchWiz is so horrible in 2016 is just pushing a narrative. Yeah, yeah - I'm going to take flak for this. Knowing your phone is waterproof is some additional peace of mind. This is a big deal for some people, and while I've never accidunked a phone, I realize it happens. The S7 and S7 edge both last respectably long and drain very predictably. Last year's S6, S6 edge, Note 5, and S6 edge+ all had, in my opinion, fairly subpar battery life.
The battery life isn't amazing, but it's finally decent. While adoptable storage has to be hacked a bit to work, it can be done ( easily), and the very return of the microSD slot at all should be reason for cheers from enthusiasts who lamented Samsung dropping it in 2015.
You feel like you're holding something special. Everything fits together perfectly, and a phone like the S7 edge just oozes preciousness. Samsung's phones still feel and look the nicest of any Android OEM I can think of. They still do, even if you don't hear that praise being sung so often these days (mostly because it's just a given). Samsung has had the best smartphone displays in the business since, give or take, the Galaxy Note 3.