Note 7 First Impressions

[raziel]

My first impressions (less than 24 hours) coming from an iPhone 6S Plus and Nexus 6P before that...

• Design is incredible. Hard to believe that this has a larger screen that the Plus and is physically smaller and lighter
• Always on Display seemed gimicky at first but it makes great desk clock and I already find it useful
• Fingerprint scanner is as fast as the iPhone's but I like the Nexus 6P's execution better
• Touch Wiz has been a pretty smooth experience. If you hate the cartoony looking icons, just go to the theme store and download a theme. I am using Material, which was free.
• I was a little squeamish in shutting off iMessage at first, but there are only two people I really iMessage anyway. Everyone else has WhatsApp, Facebook, and Hangouts. I got over it in 30 minutes.
• Bloatware on the T-Mobile variant isn't so bad, but it still sucks. At least you can easily disable it
• I use both OSX and Windows with Chrome as my main browser. Chrome does an excellent job in integrating the experience (continuity) between your phone and Mac/PC. I have a bunch of tabs open in Chrome on my Mac, and then when I need to take a dump or something, I can just continue off what I'm reading on my phone
• Notification light: It changes everything.
• Performance was slow at the beginning after installing a bunch of apps, but once that was done, everything now flies
• Feels great using my Moto 360 again, even though it's the first gen - Android Wear is light years ahead of Apple Watch
• Being able to scribble notes right on the screen just by pulling out the SPEN without opening any apps or waking the phone has been a godsend. I've owned the phone for less than 24 hours and I have used it A LOT already
• I had tacos for dinner and had food smears all over my phone but I didn't care. Just washed it all off in the sink and my Note 7 is all squeaky clean again
• Bluetooth performance was as good as any smartphone. Paired it with my LG Tone and watched Netflix at the gym. Sound and video was great
• Android Auto worked perfectly in my 2016 Volt. I like it a lot better than CarPlay
• Built in speaker isn't as bad as some reviews say that it is. Definitely could be better though but it is no worse than the iPhone's
• No issues with call quality, we hear each other loud and clear
• The fast charging (wired and wireless) is really impressive. Like holy crap it's fast. Battery life... so far not too impressed but too early to say.
• Camera is as good as everyone says it is... however some may hate the post processing and that Samsung tends to exaggerate the saturation of the photos. Here's a super quick comparison between the Note and iPhone

Taken with Note 7

Taken with iPhone 6S Plus

 

[ThrottleJohnny]

What a great review. Thanks

 

[nrvna76]

Great review! If you don't mind elaborating, how is android wear ahead of watchOS? And, do you think battery life is worse than the 6S plus?

 

[raziel]

Android Wear - voice recognition is really accurate and fast. Reading through emails, scrolling and navigating is also smoother (in my opinion) on Android Wear than on Apple Watch. Also, when I reply back to messages on any app, I don't have to fumble around with the watch to hit "OK" to send,

As for battery, too early to tell but I think the iPhone 6S Plus probably does have better battery life. Again, too early to say.

 

[msm0511]

Android Wear - voice recognition is really accurate and fast. Reading through emails, scrolling and navigating is also smoother (in my opinion) on Android Wear than on Apple Watch. Also, when I reply back to messages on any app, I don't have to fumble around with the watch to hit "OK" to send,

As for battery, too early to tell but I think the iPhone 6S Plus probably does have better battery life. Again, too early to say.

I personally prefer WatchOS over Android Wear. I didn't really like my 360 all that much, but hated letting go of my Apple Watch.

 

[iDrummer3]

I personally prefer WatchOS over Android Wear. I didn't really like my 360 all that much, but hated letting go of my Apple Watch.

I was worried about letting go of my Apple watch also. I am starting to get used to the gear s2 though and I like it so far.

 

[Delirious D]

My first impression is the darn charging cable is soooo short lol.

 

[msm0511]

I was worried about letting go of my Apple watch also. I am starting to get used to the gear s2 though and I like it so far.

I thought about picking one of those up, but was waiting to see Android Wear's update first.

 

[nrvna76]

Kinda wish I didn't love my Apple Watch. Would be easier to switch platforms. So far I plan to try the S2 classic but I want to wait until the end of the month so I'm at least within the return period for the Apple keynote.

 

[Delirious D]

Any one else's home button clicky? Like on the note 5 its a silent press but on the note 7 you can hear it clicking

 

[sean8102]

Any one else's home button clicky? Like on the note 5 its a silent press but on the note 7 you can hear it clicking

Yes mine make a click sound when pressed.

 

[PraetorianGuard14]

Any one else's home button clicky? Like on the note 5 its a silent press but on the note 7 you can hear it clicking

Same here, not a big deal though. Note 4 was similar.

 

[Delirious D]

Yes mine make a click sound when pressed.

Hmm wonder why they decided to go that route. Kinda odd.

I do like the feel of note 7 button vs the note 5. Its slightly raised more. And has a rough feeling

 

[mariusfilip]

is it a huge difference between the 6s plus and the Note 7 when the phone is in idle/stand by? i have the S7 Edge and i'm loosing about 4-5 percent for an 8 hour sleep, wi-fi enabled, no always on display. Thanks

 

[keno101]

Any one else's home button clicky? Like on the note 5 its a silent press but on the note 7 you can hear it clicking

Yes don't mind though

 

[msm0511]

is it a huge difference between the 6s plus and the Note 7 when the phone is in idle/stand by? i have the S7 Edge and i'm loosing about 4-5 percent for an 8 hour sleep, wi-fi enabled, no always on display. Thanks

It's still too new for me to tell.

 

[erasat]

Coming from iPhone you must get used to the way Android battery works and the tons of processes and services running all the time in the background.

There are tons of hints that will help you in that department, go to any past Samsung flagships forums here and look for a sticky or the thread with the most posts and it will be a battery one. I have posted hints and tricks for the Galaxy S6 and Note 5 and I can't remember if I did the same for the S7/ S7 edge, but any of those old threads will help you a lot with your new Note.

A brief summary here:

Remove or disable ALL bloatwares and apps (not necessary bloatware but you will never use), including Carrier, Google and Samsung.

Go to settings-accounts and turn off the sync for all the services you don't need, if you have multiple Google accounts, you should do the same for each one.

Full brightness on this phones is not needed even if you think you do, just begin with it at the middle with Auto Brightness on and you will see that it will cover all your bases and more, less brightness level, better battery, a simple fact for EVERY smartphone.

Use WIFI and Mobile Networks (Power saving) option for your daily normal Location usage, if you need to use Maps or any other location requiring app, you can switch it to Full accuracy in 5 seconds, once you finish, set it back.

In Location, Improve Accuracy, decide if you really need those options on, you must likely don't.

For last, in location, Google Location History, that's basically one if not the biggest battery life offender, you really don't need this for most Google services, but Google changed this last year and it basically force you for certain benefits, to send your location all the time. Again, if you think you really need Google to know all your movements so they can spam you with a their services then leave it on, but if you wNt to save some serious battery life, turn it off immediately.

 

[Ronald Andrews]

I just got home with my Black N7 1st thing I noticed is it feels much lighter than the Note 5. I must say it's a nice phone but there is going to be a adjustment period to get use the Edge display coming from flat phones. I be spending my weekend setting it up and getting use to it.

 

[msm0511]

I just got home with my Black N7 1st thing I noticed is it feels much lighter than the Note 5. I must say it's a nice phone but there is going to be a adjustment period to get use the Edge display coming from flat phones. I be spending my weekend setting it up and getting use to it.

I was surprised at how light it is as well. Especially compared to my 6s Plus. Feels more similar in weight to my Nextbit Robin that has a plastic build, smaller screen, and smaller battery. I'm not complaining though.

 

[donm527]

You have silver or blue? To me IMO those had a rougher finish on the button... metallic. Where the onyx black they made the button glossy and smoother. IMO.

Hmm wonder why they decided to go that route. Kinda odd.

I do like the feel of note 7 button vs the note 5. Its slightly raised more. And has a rough feeling