Galaxy S7 Beginner's Guide

[Flowey]

Alright, so I'm receiving my brand new Galaxy S7 tomorrow, and just switching over from IOS to Android I want some help from y'all Android users : there anything I should take care off before everything else once I get the darn thing? Any advice, risks, possible "don't do", whatever you can think of to help my sorry ass transition to Android easier.

 

THX

[themctipers]

disable all the Samsung apps

every. single. one.

 

take advantage of sim 1 and 2 to save money (I think the S7 has 2 sims? my note 5 does)

 

[The Sloth]

here is a manual http://www.galaxys7manual.com/

 

look at reviews

[Flowey]

1 minute ago, themctipers said:

disable all the Samsung apps

every. single. one.

 

take advantage of sim 1 and 2 to save money (I think the S7 has 2 sims? my note 5 does)

 

Oh yeah, read somewhere the battery life was a piece of shit if you don't control background app activity. Dat true?

[Volbet]

Well, my main recommendation would be to ditch Android Experience and install a third-party ROM on the device. 

I have never been a fan of Samsung (or any other manufacture, for that matter) telling me how use my phone and what I need on my phone.

If I wanted my experience dictated I would have bought an iPhone.

[themctipers]

Just now, Flowey said:

Oh yeah, read somewhere the battery life was a piece of shit if you don't control background app activity. Dat true?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯, 6s+ as daily driver 

only experience with android is a nexus 5 and a note 5, crapdragon 810 known for being a Pentium d

 

[Flowey]

1 minute ago, Volbet said:

Well, my main recommendation would be to ditch Android Experience and install a third-party ROM on the device. 

I have never been a fan of Samsung (or any other manufacture, for that matter) telling me how use my phone and what I need on my phone.

Can I do that and still have a carrier?Like, use the phone as an actual phone and having 4G LTE or does it fuck up everything?

[Volbet]

1 minute ago, Flowey said:

Can I do that and still have a carrier?Like, use the phone as an actual phone and having 4G LTE or does it fuck up everything?

You can if the phone isn't a contract phone. 

There are some weird fuckery going with carrier phones. Usually they'll need a special ROM, but that's something you would need to research.

 

But I should probably say that installing a third-party ROM will void your warranty. 

[RadiatingLight]

4 minutes ago, Flowey said:

Oh yeah, read somewhere the battery life was a piece of shit if you don't control background app activity. Dat true?

not really. battery life is okay if you don't manage apps in the background, but it gets great if you do.

 

I'd also advise you to change the stock launcher with something like nova launcher immediately, because the stock Samsung one isn't super optimized, and uses lots of RAM and resources, slowing down your phone as a whole.

[Flowey]

1 minute ago, Volbet said:

You can if the phone isn't a contract phone. 

There are some weird fuckery going with carrier phones. Usually they'll need a special ROM, but that's something you would need to research.

 

But I should probably say that installing a third-party ROM will void your warranty. 

Yeah unfortunatly(or fortunatly), if by a contract phone you mean not a "bring your own phone" device, then I'm afraid I'm stuck for 2 years with Telus. I mean, the deal I got is exceptional, $45CAN/month for the S7, which came free, 3gb of data, unlimited text/calls across Canada, when your generally pay something like 85$/month for such a deal here, well, couldn't refuse.

 

Though after the 2 years contracts, can I factory reset the phone and have a "virgin" as in no bloatware on the darn thing?

[Flowey]

4 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

not really. battery life is okay if you don't manage apps in the background, but it gets great if you do.

 

I'd also advise you to change the stock launcher with something like nova launcher immediately, because the stock Samsung one isn't super optimized, and uses lots of RAM and resources, slowing down your phone as a whole.

Being with a carrier on a contract phone for the next 2 years, what are some of the things I can and cannot do to the phone?

[Volbet]

1 minute ago, Flowey said:

Yeah unfortunatly(or fortunatly), if by a contract phone you mean not a "bring your own phone" device, then I'm afraid I'm stuck for 2 years with Telus. I mean, the deal I got is exceptional, $45CAN/month for the S7, which came free, 3gb of data, unlimited text/calls across Canada, when your generally pay something like 85$/month for such a deal here, well, couldn't refuse.

 

Though after the 2 years contracts, can I factory reset the phone and have a "virgin" as in no bloatware on the darn thing?

Yeah, that's what I mean. If you want to intall third-party ROMs on a carrier phone, then you would need to do your research on that specific carrier and what ROMs the phone needs.

This is one of the main reasons why I have never bought a contract (or carrier) phone in my life. 

 

I have no idea if you will be able to factory reset the phone after two years.

The contracts and plans you guys have in Canada and the US are very different from the contracts in Europe, so I don't have any experience with what specifically the carriers do to the phones they sell on contract.

[RadiatingLight]

2 hours ago, Flowey said:

Being with a carrier on a contract phone for the next 2 years, what are some of the things I can and cannot do to the phone?

The bootloader is locked and encrypted, which means that nobody, realistically ever, will find a way to root the phone, or flash custom ROMs. this means that you will be stuck with touchwiz forever. that's basically the main drawback. there are also some small disabled features, like the fact that Verizon disables Bixby vision on their GS8 units.

even after 2 years, when the phone is yours, you still can't get rid of the bloat, or flash a custom ROM, or do anything differently than when it was still on contract.

 

You can, however, install apps to replace the default launcher, but that's basically it.

[RadiatingLight]

2 hours ago, Volbet said:

I have no idea if you will be able to factory reset the phone after two years.

Factory reset is always an option. even on day 1.

but getting rid of the bloat is impossible.

[Flowey]

28 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

The bootloader is locked and encrypted, which means that nobody, realistically ever, will find a way to root the phone, or flash custom ROMs. this means that you will be stuck with touchwiz forever. that's basically the main drawback. there are also some small disabled features, like the fact that Verizon disables Bixby vision on their GS8 units.

even after 2 years, when the phone is yours, you still can't get rid of the bloat, or flash a custom ROM, or do anything differently than when it was still on contract.

 

You can, however, install apps to replace the default launcher, but that's basically it.

wel crap. Means I'm stuck with that for minimum 2 years, and I heard that unlocked phones sells for better value then non unlocked version, right?