Phone upgrade: Samsung Galaxy S7 - Thoughts?

[LukaKitty]

~ The Short Part ~

At the moment, I've got a Samsung Galaxy J5 from 2016 ('J500FN'). And just recently a few days ago, my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 (SM-T530) suddenly faced itself with an issue,

where it wouldn't charge when plugging it in, and it'd just flash on the screen repeatedly. And my current phone only has 8 GB of internal storage, where 7.64 GB is in use.

So... I need a new phone.

 

 

 

~ Target Phone ~

Looking a bit around the internet, I happened to take interest in the Samsung Galaxy S7, the standard 32 GB variant of it. I'll explain why in a second.

I'm on a budget of around $380 USD, which translates to roughly 2500 DKK in my local currency. Here's why I chose the S7:

 1. USB 2.0 Micro-B

 2. 3.5mm Audio Jack

 3. Android 6.0

 4. More internal storage

 5. Good performance

 

Now, I'm aware that there's probably better options than this, but this is what I could find. I also live in Denmark, so no Walmart, BestBuy, Target for me.

After doing a little research, here's another reason as of to why I chose the S7 in particular.

 - Samsung Galaxy J series: Low-end

 - Samsung Galaxy A series: Mid-end

 - Samsung Galaxy S series: High-end

...and more, but won't go into detail about the Note and all.

 

 

 

~ My Thoughts ~

If you've read this far, you're probably thinking: "Why in the actual hell, would OP want those things from a phone...?!"

Well, to answer that, here's some of my key-points, while also taking my experience with the J5 into regard. ^^;

 

1. USB 2.0 Micro-B

 a. With the tech I own, a lot of it use the USB Micro-B connector. Meaning, Micro-B helps me a lot in versatility.

  b. If I get a USB-C phone, I'd need at least 4 of those cables. Home charging, power bank, traveling, back-up cable. Of all I have, only my MOBO has USB-C.

   c. I've got a USB Type-A (f) to USB Micro-B (m) connector to connect USB storage, and copy files wherever I am. Less stress with PC-to-Phone transfer in a hurry.

2. 3.5mm Audio Jack

 a. I use my phone's audio jack a lot, so I pretty much need it. Wireless headset only adds up the devices I have to charge, and won't work with my 3DS and PS Vita.

  b. Personally, I couldn't be bothered with the whole 'dongle' era, in which Linus calls it.

3. Android 6.0 OS

 a. Bloatware is tiring, especially with only 8 GB of space. I had more space when I ran Android 5.0.1, as opposed to Android 6.0.1, even after factory resets.

  b. Looking through reviews and comments online, some people report issues after upgrading to Android 8.0. Such as less battery life, and worse performance.

   c. I'm quite unsure if Android 8.0 is a better idea than Android 6.0 for the S7, but please get back to me on this on. I need more info.

4. More internal storage

 a. I've been through a lot of phones in my life, and I'm only 19 years old. But space has often been an issue on my phones, except for my old Samsung Galaxy S4.

  b. In addition to 32 GB of system memory, I'll be using a 32 GB MicroSD card. A lot more freedom than 1.5 GB of available internal space for sure (rooted).

5. Good performance

 a. My current Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 kind of lags here and there. When it comes to Skype, oh boy... lag city. Skype 6 was a lot more stable than Skype 7 for me.

  b. I have a few mobile games I'd like to play as well, as I don't carry around my 3DS and PS Vita as often as my phone. Excluding games like Fortnite, PUBG, etc.

 

 

 

~ Conclusion ~

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my phone to be a bit versatile, rather than some fancy-pants stuff, like USB-C. But while also having good performance, and some internal space.

Also, the way I hold my phone, and how often I go in landscape mode, would drive me insane with "stealth" touches on edge displays. So no S7 Edge, or S8 in general for me.

Had my current phone for over two years, and really need a upgrade. I hope to keep my new phone for at least two new years. But seriously... I really need a upgrade. >.<

 

~ Extra ~

Current phone in use - SG J5

Current phone of discussion - SG S7

Recently "broken" tablet - SG Tab 4 10.1"

 

 

 

~ Discuss ~

I'd like to close this off by apologizing for this wall of text. Got a bit longer than expected.

Regardless, I'd like to know what everyone has on this subject in particular. ^^

[FlappyBoobs]

I've had the S7, S8 and now the S9 (first 2 were private the S9 is my work phone). 

 

The S7 I had for a year, it pissed me off a lot in that year, just silly little things that made using it frustrating at times (mainly due to the UI not responding how I would expect and the fingerprint reader being in an awkward position). The S8 improved things a lot, but the curved screen and edge "functions" were forced as you could no longer get a none edge version, there were a lot of annoying bugs fixed in this version, but after 6 months it became annoying as hell to use as the edge screen kept accidentally being touched and fucking up my inputs. The S9 is the best of the 3, but there are again still some annoying bugs that make it unresponsive at times, and the screen rotation is just broken on every samsung i've seen. (you tube minimizes then you need to rotate your phone 180 degrees to get it to go to full screen again without touching the controls)

 

Based on my experience I wouldn't touch the S7 at all (and am considering not getting Samsung again next time). One big reason is that the performance is not what it would have been when new, and you WILL find games that don't run well on it (if that's your thing). Another big issue with all S phones since the 7 is that they are fully glass, meaning they are fragile as hell, the S8 improved that and the S9 seems to be okay so far. 

 

Also USB-C is even being adopted by Apple now (new iPad pro has it instead of lightening), it's here to stay so you really should considering joining the present.

 

 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

remember its a phone 3 yrs ago. nothing terribly bad apart from small battery.

so is it still worth buying? consider get s7 edge for larger screen & battery?

it is last phone not using usbC with all other features you need.

it can officially upgrade to android 8, or flash custom roms 

[Bebo2505]

I am currently using a S7 32GB (non edge, exynos cpu)

I have had a different experience with my phone than @FlappyBoobs

Since the time I bought it (2 years and 2 month ago) i may have experienced a small loss in system responsiveness/speed

 

The fingerprint scanner comes down to personal preference. I like it where it is.

 

The camera is still really good (cant compete with s9 and all the late 2018 phones obviously).

 

The settings menu is really not user friendly (classic samsung problem)

 

Screen is great

 

If you drop your phone (you will drop it)

--> get a case or for little protection a dbrand skin

I dropped it plenty times without a case and skin 

First glass damage after the maybe 7th drop.

 

Consider the Huawei p20 lite or the new motorola g series

 

Recommended my sister the two phones above and the s7

She picked the huawei because it looked the most "modern" and has a lot of features

[LukaKitty]

5 hours ago, FlappyBoobs said:

I've had the S7, S8 and now the S9 (first 2 were private the S9 is my work phone). 

 

The S7 I had for a year, it pissed me off a lot in that year, just silly little things that made using it frustrating at times (mainly due to the UI not responding how I would expect and the fingerprint reader being in an awkward position). The S8 improved things a lot, but the curved screen and edge "functions" were forced as you could no longer get a none edge version, there were a lot of annoying bugs fixed in this version, but after 6 months it became annoying as hell to use as the edge screen kept accidentally being touched and fucking up my inputs. The S9 is the best of the 3, but there are again still some annoying bugs that make it unresponsive at times, and the screen rotation is just broken on every samsung i've seen. (you tube minimizes then you need to rotate your phone 180 degrees to get it to go to full screen again without touching the controls)

 

Based on my experience I wouldn't touch the S7 at all (and am considering not getting Samsung again next time). One big reason is that the performance is not what it would have been when new, and you WILL find games that don't run well on it (if that's your thing). Another big issue with all S phones since the 7 is that they are fully glass, meaning they are fragile as hell, the S8 improved that and the S9 seems to be okay so far. 

 

Also USB-C is even being adopted by Apple now (new iPad pro has it instead of lightening), it's here to stay so you really should considering joining the present.

 

 

Won't really be using USB-C for quite a while to come. Again, I mentioned that I've never had anything with USB-C connectivity, apart from my MOBO having one.

[LukaKitty]

5 hours ago, Bebo2505 said:

I am currently using a S7 32GB (non edge, exynos cpu)

I have had a different experience with my phone than @FlappyBoobs

Since the time I bought it (2 years and 2 month ago) i may have experienced a small loss in system responsiveness/speed

 

The fingerprint scanner comes down to personal preference. I like it where it is.

 

The camera is still really good (cant compete with s9 and all the late 2018 phones obviously).

 

The settings menu is really not user friendly (classic samsung problem)

 

Screen is great

 

If you drop your phone (you will drop it)

--> get a case or for little protection a dbrand skin

I dropped it plenty times without a case and skin 

First glass damage after the maybe 7th drop.

 

Consider the Huawei p20 lite or the new motorola g series

 

Recommended my sister the two phones above and the s7

She picked the huawei because it looked the most "modern" and has a lot of features

Huawei and Motorola is unknown territory for me, sadly. I mainly stick with Samsung, as it's what I feel comfortable with.

[Bebo2505]

20 hours ago, Crinklekitty said:

Huawei and Motorola is unknown territory for me, sadly. I mainly stick with Samsung, as it's what I feel comfortable with.

Then I would said "go for the S7".

Because I dont think the low-end samsung phones are a good value.

 

Huawei OS Design is a mix between IOS and Touch Wiz from my point of view

[wojtepanik]

vita works with bluetooth headsets, since I went with wireless, I will never go back to wired headphonesss

[XR6]

Avoid it. I have an S7 that I bought brand new 6 months ago and it lags really bad. Plus the battery life sucks.