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Android |OT7| Now With a Whole New Messaging System

Moreche

Member
I'm looking at buying a used S7 or Pixel but after some advice. S7's are going on eBay for around £350 with some still boxed as new for that price. Pixels are a lot higher, seem to be around £500 on the rare occasion they come up.

Is the Pixel really worth £150 more? Camera is important but the S7's camera is still pretty good. Both have good battery. So what would Pixel offer, besides updates, or is the extra price difference just not worth it?
I've had my S7 Edge for five months now and I can't recommend it enough.
I absolutely love this phone and coming from iOS I now understand why android users are frustrated with iOS.
 

DagsJT

Member
Managed to snag an S7 with plastic covers still on front and back for £310, pretty pleased with that.

Should be able to sell my 6S 64GB for around £380 I guess so works quite well. I'll probably buy Gear VR with the extra money.
 
I'm looking at buying a used S7 or Pixel but after some advice. S7's are going on eBay for around £350 with some still boxed as new for that price. Pixels are a lot higher, seem to be around £500 on the rare occasion they come up.

Is the Pixel really worth £150 more? Camera is important but the S7's camera is still pretty good. Both have good battery. So what would Pixel offer, besides updates, or is the extra price difference just not worth it?
I think pixel is way better in all ways but if the money jump is too high then the S7 isn't a bad phone at all. One of the best from last year.
 

reKon

Banned
I think pixel is way better in all ways but if the money jump is too high then the S7 isn't a bad phone at all. One of the best from last year.

Not sure why you think it's the better in ALL ways. It's not just you though. People in this threas just can't be actually reasonable it seems.

The S7 is the better in battery life with both the Snapdragon and Exynos version, it has water resistance capabilities, and has not only wireless charging, but has wireless fast charging. This is something that will be more important when Samsung moves on the S8, which will likely not have a headphone jack. If you're in the US then you get Samsung Pay, which is superior to both Apple and Android pay in that country. I believe that it will soon be coming to Canada if it hasn't yet, along with Europe this year. It has some useful hardware features that are not yet available in stock Android for some reason such as triple tapping to shrink the phone down for one handed use. This is helpful for when you're driving or when you're taking public transit. Design wise, the S7 is one of the smallest 5 inch screen Android phones and the Edge S7 is THE smallest 5.5 inch sceeen phone.

The S7 series gives you expandable storage, which becomes important for photo, videos, music streaming cache, and now it's even more relevant for Amazon and Netflix offline video storage. I just bought a 64 GB one for 20 USD... I do prefer the stock Android type of look and S7's theming + nova launcher allowed me to get me this look.

The main benefit that the Pixel has is software, which is less of an issue if you have the Exynos version of the phone. I have an S7 Edge Exynos version and used to have the Snapdragon regular version. I can verify that the Exynos phone is indeed faster and better in ram management. It never stutters and I almost never get app crashes. The Pixel is definitely a step faster and overall probably feels the best. I don't see how that can make up for all the other shortfalls. The Pixel also gives you unlimited Google Photos storage, which is an awesome feature, but I'm not sure how long you can actually keep this for.

Nothing I'm saying is an exaggeration. None of the S7 advantages are merely gimmicks like it was with some of their past phones like the S5.
 
Realistically speaking the Pixel has better software support and a very slightly better camera. That's it. Feature wise the Galaxy S7 wipes the floor with the Pixel.

That being said the Pixel's software alone is enough for me to never consider the S7 unless it was super cheap or something.
 

reKon

Banned
Realistically speaking the Pixel has better software support and a very slightly better camera. That's it. Feature wise the Galaxy S7 wipes the floor with the Pixel.

That being said the Pixel's software alone is enough for me to never consider the S7 unless it was super cheap or something.

Camera wise I think it's a toss up between the iPhone 7+, Galaxy S7, and Pixel. It's all all preference here, but you can't wrong with any of them. I've read and seen enough camera reviews to conclude this lol.

And again, with software, what is it about the software that makes it that big a difference. Is it the built in Google Assistant? That would be understandable, I guess. If you're talking just performance alone, you've lost me. Android optimized to run on their phones hardware perform excellently in everyday usage. My S7 Edge is an example. The Exynos 8890 was optimized to run this phone. The Snapdragon version did not receive as much effort. Also see the One Plus 3 and 3t. Android runs amazing on those phones because the they optimized the Snapdragon processor for that software.
 
Camera wise I think it's a toss up between the iPhone 7+, Galaxy S7, and Pixel. It's all all preference here, but you can't wrong with any of them. I've read and seen enough camera reviews to conclude this lol.

And again, with software, what is it about the software that makes it that big a difference. Is it the built in Google Assistant? That would be understandable, I guess. If you're talking just performance alone, you've lost me. Android optimized to run on their phones hardware perform excellently in everyday usage. My S7 Edge is an example. The Exynos 8890 was optimized to run this phone. The Snapdragon version did not receive as much effort. Also see the One Plus 3 and 3t. Android runs amazing on those phones because the they optimized the Snapdragon processor for that software.
No carrier bloatware and I have reasonable faith Google will continue to pump out security patches and software updates quickly for the Pixel. When I mean software I don't just mean things like the Google Assistant or Unlimited Google Photos storage I also mean things like not having to wait 4 months or longer for the latest version of Android to hit my phone only for it to probably be outdated at that point.
 

reKon

Banned
No carrier bloatware and I have reasonable faith Google will continue to pump out security patches and software updates quickly for the Pixel. When I mean software I don't just mean things like the Google Assistant or Unlimited Google Photos storage I also mean things like not having to wait 4 months or longer for the latest version of Android to hit my phone only for it to probably be outdated at that point.

Unlocked version of the S7 (US or int'l doens't have carrier bloatware). I've been getting security patches monthly (I think December's came a few weeks ago). I

Now the latest version of Android thing is one big omission that I forgot to mention in my post. I likely forgot because I don't care for this as much and while I wouldn't be able to prove this, I'd assume that the majority of Android flagship users don't care as well. Part of it because it's ignorance on their side just like iPhone owners who don't follow iOS firmware updates on tech blogs.

I've touched on this many times in this topic before, but Android version upgrades are not as meaningful as they once were because of how far along Android has progressed. And doesn't help that stock Android just now finally getting to features that were present all along in customized OEM versions of Android. I am looking for the Note 7 features coming to the S7 Edge with Nougat 7.1 update coming next month, but it's not something that would affect my purchasing decision if I know I'm getting that update down the road anyways.

What are the must have Nougat features for you, that's missing in Android MM? Serious question.
 

this_guy

Member
No carrier bloatware and I have reasonable faith Google will continue to pump out security patches and software updates quickly for the Pixel. When I mean software I don't just mean things like the Google Assistant or Unlimited Google Photos storage I also mean things like not having to wait 4 months or longer for the latest version of Android to hit my phone only for it to probably be outdated at that point.

I wouldn't give Pixel the edge in software when it has battery shutoff issues like Last year's Nexus models.
 

Narroo

Member
Quick question! I'm getting a new (1st) smart phone soon, and I wondering which phone has the best performance, or if I should just wait for a new one to be released.

I'm concerned about things like processing power and UI responsiveness. I plan on putting the phone through it's paces and I'd like to be able to throw as much as possible at it for the foreseeable future. (I plan on keeping the phone for 5 years instead of upgrading every year or two.) The problem is, that it's difficult to compare the performance of different smart phones because most people most people care more about camera quality than horsepower. So, I figured I'd ask Neogaf.

It's worth noting that I have a habit of tinkering with my devices to customize their performance. If that's important, since I think android has some custom roms floating around? Thanks!
 

reKon

Banned
Quick question! I'm getting a new (1st) smart phone soon, and I wondering which phone has the best performance, or if I should just wait for a new one to be released.

I'm concerned about things like processing power and UI responsiveness. I plan on putting the phone through it's paces and I'd like to be able to throw as much as possible at it for the foreseeable future. (I plan on keeping the phone for 5 years instead of upgrading every year or two.) The problem is, that it's difficult to compare the performance of different smart phones because most people most people care more about camera quality than horsepower. So, I figured I'd ask Neogaf.

It's worth noting that I have a habit of tinkering with my devices to customize their performance. If that's important, since I think android has some custom roms floating around? Thanks!

Can you wait 4-5 to months? There will be new flagships coming out around then.

If not: Google Pixel, Galax S7 or S7 Edge (Int'l version using the Exynos processor), and One Plus 3T are your best bets. I believe you can install custom roms on all of them.

One Plus 3T is probably going to be cheapest, fastest and most responsive despite the bunch of bullshit you'll soon be hearing from the usual suspects in this thread. The big unknown with One Plus is their future software. I'm not sure if they a clear path when it comes to this down the road for the next two + years.

Also, keeping the phone 5 years might be tough if the battery capacity depletes after 3-4 years. The S7 Edge (Exynos) has some of the best battery life out of any phone you can buy. On heavy usage days for me, I average 4.5 - 6 to hours on screen time. If I was to download offline TV shows from Amazon/Netflix and watch, that figure will shoot up to 10+ hours (I recently caught up on some TV when traveling a few weeks ago and hour long episodes took up like 8% battery at half brightness).

Pixel is definitely the most safe when it comes to future software updates and it's most likely to give consistent performance over time.

Bonus video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otwED6s3rCQ

(don't rely on this video entirely as this does not represent really world usage. It does show how impressively optimized the One Plus 3T is. Also it shows why you should not buy the US version of the Galaxy S7 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=233f0ewFWGk)
 

Kjellson

Member
So I need help with language settings on my OnePlus 3, I don't know if there is an official OnePlus thread but I'm trying here because I'm subscribed to this thread,

Right now my official keyboard is Swedish. This is a pain when I write on GAF because it autocorrects into something different almost every word I write. I wish to know if there is any way to change between keyboards like you can do in iPhone (which I had before) by just clicking a globe or something.

I have been looking on the settings and I can't find a simple setting that just says "keyboard languages" in which I can just choose Swedish and English. Maybe I'm just dumb or drunk or whatever, but I still haven't figured this out, lol. Help is appreciated.

Edit: I just figured it out, lol. Thanks anyway!
 

Narroo

Member
Can you wait 4-5 to months? There will be new flagships coming out around then.

If not: Google Pixel, Galax S7 or S7 Edge (Int'l version using the Exynos processor), and One Plus 3T are your best bets. I believe you can install custom roms on all of them.

One Plus 3T is probably going to be cheapest, fastest and most responsive despite the bunch of bullshit you'll soon be hearing from the usual suspects in this thread. The big unknown with One Plus is their future software. I'm not sure if they a clear path when it comes to this down the road for the next two + years.

Also, keeping the phone 5 years might be tough if the battery capacity depletes after 3-4 years. The S7 Edge (Exynos) has some of the best battery life out of any phone you can buy. On heavy usage days for me, I average 4.5 - 6 to hours on screen time. If I was to download offline TV shows from Amazon/Netflix and watch, that figure will shoot up to 10+ hours (I recently caught up on some TV when traveling a few weeks ago and hour long episodes took up like 8% battery at half brightness).

Pixel is definitely the most safe when it comes to future software updates and it's most likely to give consistent performance over time.

Thanks! Sadly, the phone has to be from Verizon. Long story short, my family decided that I needed a smart phone for Christmas despite the fact that I'm in my late 20's. They got an iPhone SE plus a 2 year contract. They can't return the iPhone and cancel the contract, but they can exchange it. So, basically, I'm trying to minimize the damage (thought I'm honestly tempted to just hit the thing with a hammer.)

I had a feeling that I'd need to wait a few months, though I'm not sure I can and still do an exchange.

You know, I was looking at the LG V20 (which has a replaceable battery.) The SD card expansions the S7 and V20 have are important to me, which is why I'm wary of the Pixel, especially because the 128Gb variant of the pixel is such a large premium. I want to support expandable memory! But, I don't quite know how much worse the V20 performs. Also, I'd ideally like dual SIMs so I can keep my old t-mobile service since I don't want to change to Verizon. I know the S7 has dual sims, but it's difficult to tell if the V20 does.

Eitherway, I'd probably get the 3T or Note 9 if it was possible, but it's looking like a no because Verizon doesn't carry them.

EDIT: Frame rates. No one has frame rate comparisons for games. I'm rather curious as to which phone performs best if you try to play a game on it.
 

reKon

Banned
Thanks! Sadly, the phone has to be from Verizon. Long story short, my family decided that I needed a smart phone for Christmas despite the fact that I'm in my late 20's. They got an iPhone SE plus a 2 year contract. They can't return the iPhone and cancel the contract, but they can exchange it. So, basically, I'm trying to minimize the damage (thought I'm honestly tempted to just hit the thing with a hammer.)

I had a feeling that I'd need to wait a few months, though I'm not sure I can and still do an exchange.

You know, I was looking at the LG V20 (which has a replaceable battery.) The SD card expansions the S7 and V20 have are important to me, which is why I'm wary of the Pixel, especially because the 128Gb variant of the pixel is such a large premium. I want to support expandable memory! But, I don't quite know how much worse the V20 performs. Also, I'd ideally like dual SIMs so I can keep my old t-mobile service since I don't want to change to Verizon. I know the S7 has dual sims, but it's difficult to tell if the V20 does.

Eitherway, I'd probably get the 3T or Note 9 if it was possible, but it's looking like a no because Verizon doesn't carry them.

EDIT: Frame rates. No one has frame rate comparisons for games. I'm rather curious as to which phone performs best if you try to play a game on it.

The fact that you're on Verizon changes everything. The US version of the S7 will give the better frame rates, but for the majority of the games, this shouldn't matter. They best Android games aren't even the most graphically demanding. Based on your information, it seems that the S7 is your best option. If you didn't care about expandable storage, I would have said to strongly consider the Pixel XL if you can tolerate a big phone.

It's crazy how limited the options are just sticking to Verizon. Thank God I had the wisdom to switch to T-Mobile years ago. Unlimted data + Unlocked phone + 12 band LTE is an amazing combination, especially when you're traveling around the US.
 

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
I bought an iPhone 7+ since my iPhone SE is taking forever to unlock. It's been awhile since I owned an iPhone. I plan on using it while I send off my 6P for battery repair.

I worry about authenticators on my 6P. Ugh. Just another thing to think about when swapping phones. Is there some sort of official Apple software to identify and transfer apps?

Edit: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201196
 

Narroo

Member
The fact that you're on Verizon changes everything. The US version of the S7 will give the better frame rates, but for the majority of the games, this shouldn't matter. They best Android games aren't even the most graphically demanding. Based on your information, it seems that the S7 is your best option. If you didn't care about expandable storage, I would have said to strongly consider the Pixel XL if you can tolerate a big phone.

It's crazy how limited the options are just sticking to Verizon. Thank God I had the wisdom to switch to T-Mobile years ago. Unlimted data + Unlocked phone + 12 band LTE is an amazing combination, especially when you're traveling around the US.

Fun fact! I'm currently on T-Mobile right now with my flip phone! I've got a legacy pre-paid minute plan! I really don't want to switch carriers which is 1/4th of why this whole thing is driving me crazy.

Another fun fact, the Non-Verizon version of the S7 have dual SIMs. Verizon is an SOB.

Although, is the S7 (From verizon) really that much worse than the S7? (Drat, I was hoping for a decent DAC since using my external DAC+AMP is a bit impractical.)
 

DrFunk

not licensed in your state
Fun fact! I'm currently on T-Mobile right now with my flip phone! I've got a legacy pre-paid minute plan! I really don't want to switch carriers which is 1/4th of why this whole thing is driving me crazy.

Another fun fact, the Non-Verizon version of the S7 have dual SIMs. Verizon is an SOB.

Although, is the S7 (From verizon) really that much worse than the S7? (Drat, I was hoping for a decent DAC since using my external DAC+AMP is a bit impractical.)

If you're so interested in a DAC, the V20 is the best bet. It's got the best DAC (along with 3.5 plug) on the market now. Performance wise, it's just as smooth as any Android phone, save the Pixel. The V20's weakness comes from the battery - in that it's not a big as it could be in a phone that size. Reading XDA, people seem the love the V20. /Shrug
 

Hasney

Member
Any new Samsung Galaxy S8 rumors?

It'll blow your mind!

Nah, no headphone jack, spec bump, 3D touch, no home button and possibly only available as an Edge phone with no flat screen. But a plus size version will be out for those who were, er, burned on the Note 7.
 

Avixph

Member
It'll blow your mind!

Nah, no headphone jack, spec bump, 3D touch, no home button and possibly only available as an Edge phone with no flat screen. But a plus size version will be out for those who were, er, burned on the Note 7.
Ahhh bummer, so the same rumors as the last time I asked. I was hoping for something new like leaked photos or something.
 

Hasney

Member
Ahhh bummer, so the same rumors as the last time I asked. I was hoping for something new like leaked photos or something.

Allegedly this

samsung-galaxy-s8.jpg
 
Not sure why you think it's the better in ALL ways. It's not just you though. People in this threas just can't be actually reasonable it seems.

The S7 is the better in battery life with both the Snapdragon and Exynos version, it has water resistance capabilities, and has not only wireless charging, but has wireless fast charging. This is something that will be more important when Samsung moves on the S8, which will likely not have a headphone jack. If you're in the US then you get Samsung Pay, which is superior to both Apple and Android pay in that country. I believe that it will soon be coming to Canada if it hasn't yet, along with Europe this year. It has some useful hardware features that are not yet available in stock Android for some reason such as triple tapping to shrink the phone down for one handed use. This is helpful for when you're driving or when you're taking public transit. Design wise, the S7 is one of the smallest 5 inch screen Android phones and the Edge S7 is THE smallest 5.5 inch sceeen phone.

The S7 series gives you expandable storage, which becomes important for photo, videos, music streaming cache, and now it's even more relevant for Amazon and Netflix offline video storage. I just bought a 64 GB one for 20 USD... I do prefer the stock Android type of look and S7's theming + nova launcher allowed me to get me this look.

The main benefit that the Pixel has is software, which is less of an issue if you have the Exynos version of the phone. I have an S7 Edge Exynos version and used to have the Snapdragon regular version. I can verify that the Exynos phone is indeed faster and better in ram management. It never stutters and I almost never get app crashes. The Pixel is definitely a step faster and overall probably feels the best. I don't see how that can make up for all the other shortfalls. The Pixel also gives you unlimited Google Photos storage, which is an awesome feature, but I'm not sure how long you can actually keep this for.

Nothing I'm saying is an exaggeration. None of the S7 advantages are merely gimmicks like it was with some of their past phones like the S5.
I just think the software is better optimized, the camera is better, the fingerprint sensor is faster. Those 3 things are pretty objective and not just my opinion. Then there's faster updates too and google assistant as well which is pretty cool.

The only thing the S7 has is being better designed hardware (no massive bezels lol) and some touchwiz features are ok. That's about it.
 

Narroo

Member
I just think the software is better optimized, the camera is better, the fingerprint sensor is faster. Those 3 things are pretty objective and not just my opinion. Then there's faster updates too and google assistant as well which is pretty cool.

The only thing the S7 has is being better designed hardware (no massive bezels lol) and some touchwiz features are ok. That's about it.

And Expandable Storage. You can always swap in SD cards if you plan of putting a ton of Multimedia content on. That can be a killer feature right there.

Also, the global version of the S7 supports dual SIM cards, if you need it. I'd like that myself, personally.
 
And Expandable Storage. You can always swap in SD cards if you plan of putting a ton of Multimedia content on. That can be a killer feature right there.

Also, the global version of the S7 supports dual SIM cards, if you need it. I'd like that myself, personally.
 

reKon

Banned
Thread got me looking into what I'm going to get with Android Nougat on Samsung.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24hTw05jGRY

Wow, they are really embracing more of the simplifications bought by Nougat. Notification system and all the menu's look cleaner (though I still don't really care about the look of the menus because I was able to theme to my liking on my current version of Android and it's still easy to navigate). The one thing that I'm glad that Samsung has integrated is the built in version of multi window. I preferred Apple's and Stock Google's approach so I'm really glad they switched to the stock android style where you can actually actively see how big your resized window will be.

Also, LOL at people in the comments calling out the features that Touchwiz has had that stock android is now adopting.
 

Detox

Member
What's the best app to monitor battery usage and determine what is draining it? I have root access if that makes a difference.
 

Groof

Junior Member
Having the address bar on the bottom in chrome is pretty nice but it's still buggy. Touch targets are off at the bottom of a page. At least I don't have to stretch to switch tabs
 

TCRS

Banned
Got my 64GB Oneplus 3T two days ago. I love it! Everything is so fast and big, I can finally type properly. It's also my first new phone since my HTC desire a couple of years ago. After that I have always had hand me downs.

I have some issues with a few apps tho. Amazon music starts loading and then I only see a white screen and thats that. I also can't get Outlook to work, I type in my E-Mail it starts searching and then nothing. Any ideas what to do??

I am Nougat now.
 

FFP2

Member
Have any of you Samsung owners had issues with the heart rate sensor not working? The red light doesn't even turn on anymore.

I'm still under warranty but I'm rooted/don't want to lose my apps by factory reseting.
 
My Note 4 has started having major issues with resets and hanging, and two factory resets haven't cleared up the issue (nor replacing the SD card, battery, putting on the old backing instead of the flip case, etc). I'm interested in the ZenFone AR as a replacement, but that's still a few months away, so I'm looking to spend $100-150ish on a basic replacement phone in the interim. Any recommendations? This would be on T-Mobile. I see I have a few options on their site, and I know I could buy a phone from elsewhere and convert it over, but I've never done that before.

Edit: Opting for a ZTE Zmax Pro.
 

tzare

Member
I just think the software is better optimized, the camera is better, the fingerprint sensor is faster. Those 3 things are pretty objective and not just my opinion. Then there's faster updates too and google assistant as well which is pretty cool.

The only thing the S7 has is being better designed hardware (no massive bezels lol) and some touchwiz features are ok. That's about it.
The camera is not objectively better. It may be better sometimes, and sometimes it may be worse. Both are at the same level which is interesting considering s7 is older. Also being waterproof is important, the screen is also probably better on the s7.
And the s7 is way cheaper these days.
 

this_guy

Member
The camera is not objectively better. It may be better sometimes, and sometimes it may be worse. Both are at the same level which is interesting considering s7 is older. Also being waterproof is important, the screen is also probably better on the s7.
And the s7 is way cheaper these days.

Doesn't the Pixel also have lens flares issues as well with its camera?
 
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