Anyone see a working S7 demo model in store yet?

[tomatosouplabs]

My local best buy had them, I was able to check them out before pre-ordering the edge. One of the samsung guys was nice enough to let me play with one that didn't have the security cable attached and it made a giant difference in terms of how much it felt like it weighed.

So how did the weight feel? I was a bit disappointed in it being on paper quite a bit heaver than past ones. It will be about 0.7 oz heavier than my phone. Indeed it is impossible to tell how heavy it is when strapped to a table and the cord pulls on you.

 

[Alex Torres5]

What color is the notification shade? One of things I dislike about the Samsung phones is the current blue color. Curious what they did.

The notification panel is a white color. I personally like the current blue color more. If you don't like the blue then you will probably like the white.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[OrangeCleaner]

Seen it at bestbuy also, looks awesome!

 

[ironass]

Be advised that Samsung do manufacture and issue special, "Live Demo", models to retailers for display purposes only. These models have the, "X", suffix and cannot make calls or send texts but are Wi-Fi enabled to connect to the stores Wi-Fi and have a special demonstration firmware with optimised settings that may not entirely reflect that which is eventually released on a particular model. See, here.

 

[Jay Holm]

What color is the notification shade? One of things I dislike about the Samsung phones is the current blue color. Curious what they did.

I had some hands on time with a Platinum Gold S7 at a Best Buy here in Houston, the notification shade is sort of white and blue, I like the color combinations.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

I'm going to play with one in the near-future.

I'm likely getting an Onyx Black S7e if my replacement G4 bites the dust.

 

[Wildo6882]

I almost feel the same way. After I actually got to hold it, it didn't seem much different. I know there are quite a few changes, but I went away feeling meh. I still ordered the S7 Edge through Verizon. But not sure I would keep it. It just didn't wow me much. I think I need more hands on time with it. I went to local Best Buy.

What didn't wow you about it? Just that it was similar to last year's phone? I'm going in expecting that. But I also thought that last year's phone felt and looked great. I just could never get past the battery life or the lag it had when it first came out.

I'm pretty excited to get this phone and put my iPhone up for sale on Swappa...

 

[Dukins]

What didn't wow you about it? Just that it was similar to last year's phone? I'm going in expecting that. But I also thought that last year's phone felt and looked great. I just could never get past the battery life or the lag it had when it first came out.

I'm pretty excited to get this phone and put my iPhone up for sale on Swappa...

Heck I don't know. Maybe I stayed with ios for too long and lost my passion for android. I didn't care for the 4x3 ratio cam. I know you can change it to 16x9 but the pixel only 9.1. Hopefully that won't be a big deal. (Camera best I've ever seen on a smartphone) And crazy has it sounds. Too small, feels like a toy. (May wait for Note 6)

I'm nervous about going back to android because of the software. My 6s+, just works and battery life is unmatched against any android phone. Yeah, I hate that there is no file management system and I hate the camera gallery, but not sure if it's enough hate to make me jump back to android. Im going to run it through its paces for 13 days and go from there. Definitely not wowed though.

 

[Wildo6882]

Heck I don't know. Maybe I stayed with ios for too long and lost my passion for android. I didn't care for the 4x3 ratio cam. I know you can change it to 16x9 but the pixel only 9.1. Hopefully that won't be a big deal. (Camera best I've ever seen on a smartphone) And crazy has it sounds. Too small, feels like a toy. (May wait for Note 6)

I'm nervous about going back to android because of the software. My 6s+, just works and battery life is unmatched against any android phone. Yeah, I hate that there is no file management system and I hate the camera gallery, but not sure if it's enough hate to make me jump back to android. Im going to run it through its paces for 13 days and go from there. Definitely not wowed though.

I ordered the S7 edge because of the slightly bigger size and the bigger battery. It's the same size screen as my iPhone but in a much smaller package. And I don't think I'll need to worry about battery. I had an S6 Active which has a 3600 mAh battery and I never had to worry. It was basically like my iPhone is now. I've been with iOS since before Christmas and every day it gets worse and worse to me. It is like a dumb smartphone. I feel like I can't do anything with it at all. I can get on forums, and Facebook, and Instagram, and send texts, and emails, and make calls. But other than that, it does nothing. The camera isn't as good as my wife's on her S6 edge +. And her battery on that with a 3000 mAh battery is almost as good as my iPhone.

I also don't believe in the "it just works" thing with iPhones. Sure they do work, but they aren't any more stable than anything I've used on Android in the last year. My 6s Plus still lags just about every time I unlock it and the screen is unresponsive when I first unlock for a couple of seconds while it refreshes. And it still refreshes active apps - I can leave an app and immediately go back into it and I have to start over.

Nothing is perfect, and I wouldn't blame you for staying with iOS. But I've been nothing but wowed by the S7/S7 edge so far. It seems like either phone is an insane step up from the 6s Plus. Which is essentially the same phone that came out 18 months ago. On the same OS that came out 5+ years ago.

 

[Sgooter]

Saw the new S7's in my local BestBuy today. Both models look and feel superb. The S7 was on display in black and gold. The Edge models were displayed in black, gold, and silver. To me, the silver finish was like a shiny mirror. Very impressed overall.
The Samsung tech said worldwide pre-order sales numbers are already 30% above the GS6 pre-order numbers. BTW, he also believes the GS7's do allow adoptable storage for the ext sd card, which contradicts other reports I've read. Guess this storage issue will be cleared up soon after the phones are actually in use. Finally, I believe Samsung will score big with the GS7's...if all the technology plays nice.

 

[Cakefish]

Saw them today in store too. There's only black and gold colour options here in the UK.

I immediately tested RAM management by opening loads of apps and switching between them. The S7s didn't reload apps once. The S6s did very quickly. Safe to say that the memory management issue seems to have been resolved.

I also browsed Android Authority website and even with all of the horrible mobile ads it scrolled buttery smooth, unlike the S6s. Quick launch of the cameras is noticeably faster too.

Lastly, camera focus was indeed clearly faster than the S6s, even in the decent lighting conditions in store.

In summary I think the S7s have fixed almost everything I disliked about the S6s. That's why I preordered one today

 

[Zendroid1]

Saw them today in store too. There's only black and gold colour options here in the UK.

I immediately tested RAM management by opening loads of apps and switching between them. The S7s didn't reload apps once. The S6s did very quickly. Safe to say that the memory management issue seems to have been resolved.

I also browsed Android Authority website and even with all of the horrible mobile ads it scrolled buttery smooth, unlike the S6s. Quick launch of the cameras is noticeably faster too.

Lastly, camera focus was indeed clearly faster than the S6s, even in the decent lighting conditions in store.

In summary I think the S7s have fixed almost everything I disliked about the S6s. That's why I preordered one today

Which did you pre-order?

 

[Cakefish]

Which did you pre-order?

S7 in black! Gold looks lovely but black makes the little bezel there is less conspicuous

Believe me, I was so tempted by the S7 edge but I've dabbled with phablets in the past and ultimately decided to stay in my ~5" comfort zone.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Saw them today in store too. There's only black and gold colour options here in the UK.

I immediately tested RAM management by opening loads of apps and switching between them. The S7s didn't reload apps once. The S6s did very quickly. Safe to say that the memory management issue seems to have been resolved.

I also browsed Android Authority website and even with all of the horrible mobile ads it scrolled buttery smooth, unlike the S6s. Quick launch of the cameras is noticeably faster too.

Lastly, camera focus was indeed clearly faster than the S6s, even in the decent lighting conditions in store.

In summary I think the S7s have fixed almost everything I disliked about the S6s. That's why I preordered one today

That's awesome!

Glad to hear they seem to have sorted out the memory management. That was perhaps the only pain point I had with the S6's software.

 

[Jones Andrew]

Just checked it out yesterday at Best Buy, and i think color black is nice for s7.The phones is so sleek, and it doesn't reflect much light especially when it's sunny, like color silver does.

 

[SR45]

Checked both the S7 and S7 edge at best buy, and for the limited time with both, they were smooth, and no lag noticed. Very nice screen. The Edge had (18 hours left) for Voice, over the S7 (16 hours ) as shown in setting, but that was not a real indicator by any means, just what I saw in setting under Battery. Took some close up pictures in the store, impressed, but like everyone else, I'm waiting for some real hands on reviews.

I liked the gold on the Edge, but it still was slightly too big for me. Really liked the S7, but not in black. (My opinion)

 

[Cakefish]

Went back in today in a different shop and repeated my RAM management test to check for reloads on another S7. Once again, even with about 15 apps loaded, it didn't reload any app.

Really like the aesthetic of the new Touchwiz too, looks much better than the older version.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Went back in today in a different shop and repeated my RAM management test to check for reloads on another S7. Once again, even with about 15 apps loaded, it didn't reload any app.

Really like the aesthetic of the new Touchwiz too, looks much better than the older version.

Theme engine still there? Because the dark Material theme is slick.

 

[Cakefish]

Theme engine still there? Because the dark Material theme is slick.

It most certainly is!

RAM usage without any apps open was hovering around ~51% for the edge model and ~47% for the regular model (which makes sense as the larger phone has all the edge features to run). That leaves plenty of RAM available for apps and things and it shows when using the phone.

Web browsing is really smooth too. I loaded some advert heavy mobile sites and I could scroll through them like butter using both the default browser as well as Chrome.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

It most certainly is!

RAM usage without any apps open was hovering around ~51% for the edge model and ~47% for the regular model (which makes sense as the larger phone has all the edge features to run). That leaves plenty of RAM available for apps and things and it shows when using the phone.

Web browsing is really smooth too. I loaded some advert heavy mobile sites and I could scroll through them like butter using both the default browser as well as Chrome.

That's actually pretty low for a skinned UI.

I'm glad Samsung actually made sure memory is managed well on the S7.

They're pretty much listened to our feedback. They've;

• Put a much bigger battery and reinstated expandable storage
• Made the Edge more useful
• Improved the performance of the device
• Sorted out the overly-aggressive memory management
• Made the camera much better in low-light while retaining excellent daylight capabilities
• Keeping the system cool