possible switch to S7 Edge...coming from iPhone...

[knobskin]

I am sure this has been discussed, but I am loving the Edge and the Note 7. I just had a few questions I wanted to run by you guys.

I have my Macbook, I don't live on it, but it is nice how it syncs with my iPhone. I also have an iPad mini 2, don't live on it either, just use it for movies and streaming content. I have had many Android phones in the past. The last one was was Edge 6, but it always over heated (has this been fixed now?)

With all that said, how many on this board are in the same boat as me? Do you find it difficult to have an Android phone and trying not to be stuck in an either ecosystem?

I am leaning more towards the Edge 7 right now because I want one unlocked and the one thing I did dislike about my past Galaxy phones were the updates through the U.S. carries. Also is their lag after 6-8 months?

As I think about it the only true thing I would miss about my iPhone is iMessage and having access to iTunes (I am one the few who like iTunes ah ha). Otherwise the Edge 7 or Note 7 seem pretty tempting, but will they hold up for two years? And yes I treat my phones like they are babies

Thanks guys!!

 

[jj14x]

The Edge 7 and Note 7 are fairly high end devices, and are built pretty well. They should certainly last you the next couple of years.

In my opinion, updates are not as fast as they should be - which is why I have stuck to the Nexus series. But I have to admit that Samsung has been able to get the updates pushed out faster than earlier.

 

[YMark]

OP, I was in the same boat. I made the switch to the Edge and don't regret it at all. I do miss the ease in which all Apple devices synced and shared info. But with a few workarounds, it isn't a big deal. For example, I have to keep two entries on my iMac calendar, one for Cal and one for my gmail calendar. I moved all my iTunes data to my SD card with a transfer utility.

I love the customization of the Edge and IOS has gotten so boring. While it works great, IMO it is way behind the curve. No innovation in years.

 

[knobskin]

Right now, I am strongly leaning towards S7 Edge, I may wait and see what Apple put out for the new iphone, but I am not holding my breath. The Note 7 looks great! However, the 4gb of ram concerns me in regards to long term use.

 

[viator666]

I had been using Android for years, then I made a switch to iPhone 5S in Sep 2015.
Yesterday I got S7, and I immediately noticed one killer feature of iOS, that no-one ever talks about - that the touch display ignores near edges touches, while you operate with another hand. It's great, and I don't know why Google hasn't copied that yet. In S7 I constantly make some accidental touches of the edge of the screen with the holding hand. Very frustrating
Also IMO the big screen is not rewarding enough for how big and heavy the device is in comparison to 5S.
Another thing I noticed, extremely disappointing: when you open a page that contains like 30 animated gifs on 5S they will all work smoothly, once fully loaded. Open the same page on S7, and the gifs are choppy!
I mean come on, 2013 vs 2016 and 1GB of ram vs 4GB!
The only reason I will stick with S7 for now is because I simply can't stand how difficult it is to put content to iPhone.
Also be mindful, that by default there are no modal pop-up notifications in S7 . Very useful feature of iOS, if you ask me.

 

[chanchan05]

Also IMO the big screen is not rewarding enough for how big and heavy the device is in comparison to 5S.

The S7 Edge is smaller and lighter than the iPhone 6S Plus with the same screen size.
http://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=7945&idPhone2=7243&

Another thing I noticed, extremely disappointing: when you open a page that contains like 30 animated gifs on 5S they will all work smoothly, once fully loaded. Open the same page on S7, and the gifs are choppy!

Likely would depend on the browser you are using. I use Chrome and find no such issue. But then I find GIFs to not autoplay and I like it that way. They play immediately though with no issues.

I mean come on, 2013 vs 2016 and 1GB of ram vs 4GB!

RAM usually has little to do with in app performance on an Android but rather just how fast it switches memory to the active app. A misbehaving app may be forcefully sequestering all RAM for itself, or the app you are using is asking for more RAM than can be provided, but that's the only time it should really affect performance. Browsers typically use little enough RAM that it shouldn't be an issue.

Also be mindful, that by default there are no modal pop-up notifications in S7 . Very useful feature of iOS, if you ask me.

There are the popups on the top of the screen when a notification arrives. Do you not get that?


I have no comment on the edge screen of the iOS. My sister has an iPhone and on a number of times I've used it never noticed it. So unless you specifically tested it and found it to be so, I'm thinking it's just the bezels helping you avoid unnecessary touches.

 

[viator666]

The S7 Edge is smaller and lighter than the iPhone 6S Plus with the same screen size.

That may as well be true, but it has nothing to do with what I wrote.
For me the regular S7 is uncomfortably big and heavy. I find it very disappointing that it is actually the smallest Android flagship there is, except for Sony Z5 compact, which I simply don't like.

Likely would depend on the browser you are using. I use Chrome and find no such issue. But then I find GIFs to not autoplay and I like it that way. They play immediately though with no issues.

Nope, it does not depend on a browser. I tried the built-in Internet, Chrome and Opera. In none of them are the gifs played smoothly. Go to one of the acidcow's gif dumps, and you'll see what I mean.
And in the Chrome I have (52) the gifs are auto played immediately, and I see no option to change it...

There are the popups on the top of the screen when a notification arrives. Do you not get that?

Not for all the apps, e.g. tapatalk does not produce a popup on my phone, only a sound and an icon in the top bar, I need to swipe down the notification center to see it's notification.
But anyway, I meant a modal pop-up, so on top of all other windows. And before you'll say it's silly - in iOS you can choose what type of notification you want, modal or not.

I have no comment on the edge screen of the iOS. My sister has an iPhone and on a number of times I've used it never noticed it. So unless you specifically tested it and found it to be so, I'm thinking it's just the bezels helping you avoid unnecessary touches.

You are wrong. Take the iPhone and hold it with one hand in such a way, that your finger clearly touches the screen near it's edge, like half a centimeter from it. Keep holding it this way. You can now still operate the touch screen with your other hand, and the near edge touch is ignored. It's even more apparent in iPads, which you can hold with one hand in such a way, that your whole thumb and it's base rests on the touchscreen, and still you can operate it with your other hand. As long as you keep holding the device the touch of your resting thumb is ignored.

 

[viator666]

One remark guys - I have only now realised this topic is specifically about S7 Edge, while I own the regular S7.
However, this stresses some of the issues I am having even more, as S7 Edge is even bigger than regular S7.

 

[chanchan05]

That may as well be true, but it has nothing to do with what I wrote.
For me the regular S7 is uncomfortably big and heavy. I find it very disappointing that it is actually the smallest Android flagship there is, except for Sony Z5 compact, which I simply don't like.

Personally it just takes getting used to. I'm probably never going back to a sub 5inch phone anymore. The smaller S7 was already pushing if for 'smallness in my case, hence me taking the Edge. This is me who used to think my 4inch Galaxy S was huge.

Nope, it does not depend on a browser. I tried the built-in Internet, Chrome and Opera. In none of them are the gifs played smoothly. Go to one of the acidcow's gif dumps, and you'll see what I mean.
And in the Chrome I have (52) the gifs are auto played immediately, and I see no option to change it...

Tested it. First link sent me to a dump with 30gifs and it didn't have the separate play options per gif. I saw what you mean by jittery. However on testing it looks to be the fault is on the site's mobile code rather than on the phone. Switching to request PC version of the site (press the 3 dot button on the upper right in Chrome, then check on desktop version) shows the gifs to play a lot smoother. Way smoother. Site devs coded their site for iPhone users.

Not for all the apps, e.g. tapatalk does not produce a popup on my phone, only a sound and an icon in the top bar, I need to swipe down the notification center to see it's notification.
But anyway, I meant a modal pop-up, so on top of all other windows. And before you'll say it's silly - in iOS you can choose what type of notification you want, modal or not.

The popup just showed up last year on Android, and a number of devs still haven't implemented it on their apps. It's a matter of adding code to it. No idea why some don't put it in. It's a difference in how Android is handled. Android gives the devs the functionality, it's up to them if they want to implement it on their apps. iOS dictates how an app should behave. It's one of the things you have to accept for Android: the OS makers can only give you access to features. These features may not necessarily be implemented in your favorite apps. This allows app devs to think out of the box and create things that are better than the stock features (Floatify as a popup is better than the default one in my opinion). But this also means you'd have to use more third party apps. I know this is averse to some iPhone users who want everything built in. I find that weird though, when iPhone users were initially the ones shouting 'we have an app for that'.

You are wrong. Take the iPhone and hold it with one hand in such a way, that your finger clearly touches the screen near it's edge, like half a centimeter from it. Keep holding it this way. You can now still operate the touch screen with your other hand, and the near edge touch is ignored. It's even more apparent in iPads, which you can hold with one hand in such a way, that your whole thumb and it's base rests on the touchscreen, and still you can operate it with your other hand. As long as you keep holding the device the touch of your resting thumb is ignored.

I have an Edge and I just tested this, and well, I have the phone ignoring the second touch. But then the Edge is known to have a palm reject feature active on the Edge screens. I can't say I know if the non Edge S7 has it.

 

[mikedt]

FWIW I've got no idea what a "modal popup" is. Is it something that's iOS specific?

 

[viator666]

Personally it just takes getting used to.

Could be. However, there is a physical constraint to it - my palms are simply to small for me to be able to conveniently operate devices of this size.

Switching to request PC version of the site (press the 3 dot button on the upper right in Chrome, then check on desktop version) shows the gifs to play a lot smoother. Way smoother.

I checked this, and yes, you are right. However, I shouldn't really have to care about this stuff as an end user.

But this also means you'd have to use more third party apps.

Yes, I've been tampering with my S7 for the last three days, just to get some functionalities that I had out of the box on iPhone. Made me remember why I switched to iPhone several months ago in the first place. I might go back one day, but right now the difficulty of uploading content to an iOS device is a deal breaker for me.

But then the Edge is known to have a palm reject feature active on the Edge screens. I can't say I know if the non Edge S7 has it.

No, it does not. It's a model-specific feature, while on iOS it's a standard OS functionality.

FWIW I've got no idea what a "modal popup" is. Is it something that's iOS specific?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_window
From a practical point of view it's an "un-missable " notification, because it won't go away and won't let you do anything else until you interact with it ("Dismiss", "Reply", "Snooze", etc).

 

[YMark]

Looks like MikeDT should go back to his IOS iPhone with all his complaining. Personally, I'll stick with the S7 Edge, and I had an iPhone for years. It just got old and stale. Disappointed in Apple's lack of innovation in IOS and the whole iPhone platform.

 

[mikedt]

Looks like MikeDT should go back to his IOS iPhone with all his complaining. Personally, I'll stick with the S7 Edge, and I had an iPhone for years. It just got old and stale. Disappointed in Apple's lack of innovation in IOS and the whole iPhone platform.

Confusing me with someone else? I suggest you reread the thread.

FYI the only iOS iPhone I've ever owned was the first one, eight years ago.

 

[YMark]

Confusing me with someone else? I suggest you reread the thread.

FYI the only iOS iPhone I've ever owned was the first one, eight years ago.

Yes I am, my apologies. I meant Viator666.