The Note 7 will be an absolutely brilliant phone I reckon. I am waiting for the iPhone 7 to come out and will probably buy either the iPhone 7 or Note 7 depending on what the final specs and review of the iPhone 7 are. I hope nobody is offended by this post also talking about the iPhone, but I am genuinely looking at both the Note 7 and iPhone 7 as my next phone - the first time ever I have considered both OS at the same time.
This has been my reasoning so far:
Note 7:
Good bits:
* Fairly comprehensive waterproofing - no worries about getting caught in a rainstorm or carrying your phone in a damp, humid pocket whilst you dry out.
* Wireless fast charging - up until now I have thought wireless charging to be a complete waste of time. I have a Galaxy S6 at the moment and a Samsung wireless charging pad for it, and I NEVER use it because it is so slow and unreliable. However, the new wireless chargers with fast charge look a lot better.
* In addition to wireless fast charging, a good battery life! I have an iPhone SE at the moment, and the battery life is just amazing. If the Note 7 is comparable it will be fantastic. My Galaxy S6 battery is dreadful, and now using an iPhone SE has underlined just how incredibly bad it is.
* That screen - probably the best smartphone screen ever. I think the 'edge' screen is a bit of a gimmick, but having said that, the design of the Note 7 and the way it wraps down the sides looks stunning. As long as it doesn't keep getting accidentally activated by your hand...
* 64GB memory plus expansion - at last, Samsung nails it with super-fast memory and expansion by MicroSD
* Camera - an f1.7 lens, 1.4micron pixels and OIS mean a class-leading camera - can the iPhone better it?
* The S-Pen now has 4096 levels of sensitivity! So if you are an artist it should be a real joy to use.
* USB-C connector - at last.
* Colour: That coral blue and the black versions both look stunning IMHO
Bad Bits:
Well, not much but...
* Iris scanner - not necessarily 'bad' but a gimmick to be honest. Could really have done without that, fingerprint is much more useful. There are so many situations where the Iris is going to be a pain.
* Samsung's memory handling - I haven't heard much about the 7 Edge memory management, other than it is an improvement on the S6 (which was basically pretty awful) but still not perfect.
* Touchwhizz - it really is much better now than it was, has some really useful features... but I am a bit bored of it now and it will still probably lag and stutter here and there - if it doesn't it will be the first phone they have ever built which doesn't!
* Not a vast amount different from the S7 Edge - the Note used to be very different from the S series, but this is kinda like just an S7 Edge with a pen (and retina scan, which I can't imagine many people considering as being anything really useful)
* Price - £750! Crazy expensive!
* No Android Nougat on release. How long will it be before Nougat arrives on it?
* Apparently still a horrendous finger-print magnet
iPHONE 7:
As for the iPhone 7, well, it's all still speculation at the moment, but potential interesting points will be:
* the camera - in particular the dual lens one; The camera on my iPhone SE is excellent and Apple spend a lot of time getting the camera right on iPhones; so it is possible they will be back on top here, although Samsung's camera is a hard act to beat. Can't wait to see!
* bluetooth taking over audio duties - this can be seen as both an advantage and disadvantage. For me, it's an advantage because I have been bluetooth headphones for over a year now. My Sony SBH80 earbuds are just superb - I'm on my third pair now due to the use and abuse they have had all over the world. Only thing at the moment is that whilst Android supports aptX, Apple doesn't. With the shift toward bluetooth audio, I am hoping Apple either add aptX or do something comparable.
* improved battery life and screen
* Waterproofing perhaps? Be great if it does.
* Force-feedback home button perhaps? The whole force-feedback green stuff is a bit gimmicky at the moment, but iOS 10 seems to be putting it to more good use now.
* Of course, the smoothness of iOS is far superior to any version of android I have used (HTC Sense came close though). But Androids ability to drag and drop films and music is better than iOS (although you can add films and songs etc to dropbox and do it that way now on iOS)
The negative will be it just looks like a slightly warmed-over iPhone 6 (if all the leaks are accurate). That's a shame, but not a deal-breaker for me personally as I will be using O2's 30GB tariff and so get a free 12 monthly upgrade.
I have to say I think android now looks like a more mature phone IOS than iOS at the moment, which looks like it's had bits stuck on, which of course, it has. I was surprised how quickly I adapted to iOS again though, the transition was not difficult for me at all (going from iOS to android when I got a Galaxy S3 took months of pain).
I find myself for the first time completely ambivalent over using iOS or Android. Both OS's are very close now in terms of what they offer the user, and I am happy with either, although will make sure both my wife and I have the same phone OS (especially iOS with iMessage and integration with our MacBooks)
Is anyone else feeling like me? !
This has been my reasoning so far:
Note 7:
Good bits:
* Fairly comprehensive waterproofing - no worries about getting caught in a rainstorm or carrying your phone in a damp, humid pocket whilst you dry out.
* Wireless fast charging - up until now I have thought wireless charging to be a complete waste of time. I have a Galaxy S6 at the moment and a Samsung wireless charging pad for it, and I NEVER use it because it is so slow and unreliable. However, the new wireless chargers with fast charge look a lot better.
* In addition to wireless fast charging, a good battery life! I have an iPhone SE at the moment, and the battery life is just amazing. If the Note 7 is comparable it will be fantastic. My Galaxy S6 battery is dreadful, and now using an iPhone SE has underlined just how incredibly bad it is.
* That screen - probably the best smartphone screen ever. I think the 'edge' screen is a bit of a gimmick, but having said that, the design of the Note 7 and the way it wraps down the sides looks stunning. As long as it doesn't keep getting accidentally activated by your hand...
* 64GB memory plus expansion - at last, Samsung nails it with super-fast memory and expansion by MicroSD
* Camera - an f1.7 lens, 1.4micron pixels and OIS mean a class-leading camera - can the iPhone better it?
* The S-Pen now has 4096 levels of sensitivity! So if you are an artist it should be a real joy to use.
* USB-C connector - at last.
* Colour: That coral blue and the black versions both look stunning IMHO
Bad Bits:
Well, not much but...
* Iris scanner - not necessarily 'bad' but a gimmick to be honest. Could really have done without that, fingerprint is much more useful. There are so many situations where the Iris is going to be a pain.
* Samsung's memory handling - I haven't heard much about the 7 Edge memory management, other than it is an improvement on the S6 (which was basically pretty awful) but still not perfect.
* Touchwhizz - it really is much better now than it was, has some really useful features... but I am a bit bored of it now and it will still probably lag and stutter here and there - if it doesn't it will be the first phone they have ever built which doesn't!
* Not a vast amount different from the S7 Edge - the Note used to be very different from the S series, but this is kinda like just an S7 Edge with a pen (and retina scan, which I can't imagine many people considering as being anything really useful)
* Price - £750! Crazy expensive!
* No Android Nougat on release. How long will it be before Nougat arrives on it?
* Apparently still a horrendous finger-print magnet
iPHONE 7:
As for the iPhone 7, well, it's all still speculation at the moment, but potential interesting points will be:
* the camera - in particular the dual lens one; The camera on my iPhone SE is excellent and Apple spend a lot of time getting the camera right on iPhones; so it is possible they will be back on top here, although Samsung's camera is a hard act to beat. Can't wait to see!
* bluetooth taking over audio duties - this can be seen as both an advantage and disadvantage. For me, it's an advantage because I have been bluetooth headphones for over a year now. My Sony SBH80 earbuds are just superb - I'm on my third pair now due to the use and abuse they have had all over the world. Only thing at the moment is that whilst Android supports aptX, Apple doesn't. With the shift toward bluetooth audio, I am hoping Apple either add aptX or do something comparable.
* improved battery life and screen
* Waterproofing perhaps? Be great if it does.
* Force-feedback home button perhaps? The whole force-feedback green stuff is a bit gimmicky at the moment, but iOS 10 seems to be putting it to more good use now.
* Of course, the smoothness of iOS is far superior to any version of android I have used (HTC Sense came close though). But Androids ability to drag and drop films and music is better than iOS (although you can add films and songs etc to dropbox and do it that way now on iOS)
The negative will be it just looks like a slightly warmed-over iPhone 6 (if all the leaks are accurate). That's a shame, but not a deal-breaker for me personally as I will be using O2's 30GB tariff and so get a free 12 monthly upgrade.
I have to say I think android now looks like a more mature phone IOS than iOS at the moment, which looks like it's had bits stuck on, which of course, it has. I was surprised how quickly I adapted to iOS again though, the transition was not difficult for me at all (going from iOS to android when I got a Galaxy S3 took months of pain).
I find myself for the first time completely ambivalent over using iOS or Android. Both OS's are very close now in terms of what they offer the user, and I am happy with either, although will make sure both my wife and I have the same phone OS (especially iOS with iMessage and integration with our MacBooks)
Is anyone else feeling like me? !