Can't speak to any comparisons between S5 and S7, but can say that I've had an S7 that has had issues holding a signal ... but US Cellular thought it was a phone issue and sent me a replacement phone. I'm about 4 miles from a tower that has 5 mile capability. Asked Samsung about antenna capabilities between S7 and S8 and couldn't really get a straight answer from them. Nobody seems to talk about or evaluate how well our new phones work as phones, and it can get really frustrating. Best thing you can do is give it a try and make sure that you can return the phone within a couple weeks if it doesn't work for you. Best of luck!