Note 7

The device has some gadget firsts, but tbh who needs an iris scanner. Cool party trick, but I can see the scanner having some issues for those use to pin, or fingerprint.

Love the waterproofing, SD card expansion. Would have loved to see a removable battery (thanks apple for screwing that up). And no I`m not a power user and carry multiple batteries, its just the convenience factor with the battery decides to take a crap after a year of use. Replacing batteries is great business for mfgs and phone repair shops. Just a plain old hassle for DIYers who value their time.

The rest of the features dont impress me. The screen off feature is standard if your device got updated to MM. The clicky pin good to have, but not needed. Gif maker....ok?
Micro stutters TBD i guess.

All in all, if you need a new phone dont buy the Note 7, shop the market for whats out there now that high dollar specs are coming in low dollar phones. If your in the market for a new phone with Android the latest tech, then buy it.

And of course if you need the latest updates or features set, DO NOT BUY a carrier locked version. The TOS only guarantee you service and working device with the launch OS. SO if you need current updates for OS versions, your going to be SOL.
 
Tiberian said:
Just looked at MKBHD's preview of the Note 7 and wasn't impressed, not even by the "retina scanner" either, guess I'm just bored with smartphones in this day and age and all the gimmicks they keep coming up with to sell them for ridiculously higher and higher prices.
Click to expand...

Android Central's podcast made a good point about the gripes with the Note 7: this is a rapidly maturing market, and it's increasingly difficult to offer dramatic improvements between generations. Even if hardcore fans got exactly what they wanted from Samsung, what would be the difference -- a Snapdragon 821 with a near-imperceptible 10 percent performance boost? 6GB of RAM that might go heavily underused? A 4K screen that you might not even notice, and would likely be premature? Maybe a slight camera improvement? Not that these wouldn't be welcome, but that's a lot of expenses and delays that wouldn't amount to much.

The Note 7 is really aimed at someone coming from a Note 4 or earlier who wants to catch up on two-plus years of technological progress, or simply needs to replace their device. And for them, it's mostly fine -- the biggest concern is the lack of a replaceable battery, and that may not be an issue if real-world battery life is good enough. I wouldn't be surprised if Samsung sees the same cooler sales that Apple gets with an iPhone 's' model, but nor is this a disaster.
 
One thing that gets me - I'm a nitpicker for accurate and correct use of terminology - is that people keep referring to such devices with IP68 ratings as waterproof and they most definitely are NOT waterproof - they are technically water resistant and considered to be just merely "resistant" to the ingress of water/liquids at up to 1.5m (that's ~4.5 feet for the Americans - yes I'm American hence the lesson :D:

The number "6" means that a device is "protected against dust that may harm equipment", while the second number, "8", means that it is also protected against temporary immersion in water.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know, nobody cares but that's the point: I do, and so do many others when it comes to that. As someone that's owned a Samsung Galaxy S4 Active I understood that it was merely water resistant and not waterproof which is an entirely different thing altogether.

And yes this a big issue of contention with a lot of folks and also one reason why Samsung got itself in trouble a few years ago with the GS4A and then again with the GS5A because they used some marketing materials that specifically did state waterproof and when people had their GS4A/GS5A smartphones fail because of them not actually being waterproof (which by definition means impervious or unaffected by water, period) - they did a quick 180 and pushed out marketing that now states water resistant.

As a sidenote (no pun intended), this is text taken directly from the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 features and specs page:

The Note7 now has an IP68 water resistant rating, so you can do more talking, texting and picture taking without worrying about splashes or spills. Just wipe it off and keep going.
Click to expand...

Straight from the horse's mouth because they learned their lesson (and it cost 'em some cash in the process), no less and details matter. :D

</rant>
 
I liked the earlier rumors when the Note 7 had a 4,000mAH battery and 6GB RAM, and 5.9" screen ( but still being no overall larger than the current Note 5 )

Oh well, I'm still super happy with my Nexus 6P, and might jump on the HTC Nexus Marlin
 
Well, I should stop posting initial reactions so early... I have spent a few hours today going through all of the media coverage of the phone, watching the product launch event etc. and I did in fact end up pre-ordering a Note 7 Black... I also spent some time looking at Android N coverage on the Nexus 6p which should be a rough indication of the software experience to expect on the next Nexus device...

Some reasons I decided to go with the Note again for the 5th time so far...:

1. QI charging... I have already invested in QI chargers and I really like this feature. This feature still seems to be mostly on Samsung devices. HTC doesn't seem to be doing it and with the strong rumours of HTC doing the next Nexus, the chaces are slim that I'll see this on the next Nexus.
2. Camera... Hands down, Samsung has the best camera. Not only from the hardware perspective but the software experience as well. I checked out the Camera software on the Nexus 6p with Anroid N and it's just lacking the Pro Mode features that I really really love using on my Note 5. Also, the quick access to the camera with the double tap on the home button just can't be beat...
3. Micro SD is back and I already have a 64GB card left over from my Note 4... This means I have 128GB of storage available on my phone without any additional purchases.
4. Water resistance... I've had a number of occasions where I've had to put my phones in zip lock bags or hide them away deep in my back pack to protect them from rain. I've been walking more lately and sometimes it rains. Sure would be nice to be able to just use my phone normally regardless of the weather...
5. Iris Scanner... special Canadian use case that I didn't think of... Unlock your phone with gloves on and use it... Right now, I have to take my gloves off to unlock my phone. (The touch screen does work with my gloves but obviously typing in passwords is a bit tricky... but basic app navigation works fine, plus there is also the S Pen...).

I'm still a bit sad about the state of updates and how long it will probably take to get Android N on my phone but there's enough brought to the table here I think that I am happy to upgrade to the Note 7. I really hope they pull through a bit better on the security updates though... We'll see how the curved screen goes. They claim it's less curved than the S7 Edge, and people are saying that palm rejection is much better than even the Note 5 which I admit has been a bit of an issue for me, so maybe the curved edges may actually be a benefit.

I might even buy the backpack battery pack they are selling for convenience. That's pretty slick. I could even carry it around in my backpack and just plug it into my battery to charge it up and then slap it on my phone if I need a boost. Kind of beats what I do right now where I plug my battery into my phone with a short USB cable and just kind of hold it behind my phone. LOL. I hope the 3500 MAH battery translates into better battery life obviously but my Note 5 honestly did meet my needs unless I was really using it excessively but I always found the QC 2.0 got me charged up quick enough anyway, and that's still an option on the Note 7.

Also, it's a small thing but I appreciate that they are including that Micro USB to USB C adaptor, it's one less thing that I need to buy to make it compatible with my current chargers, portable battery etc.

Right now, It'll cost me about $30 more than a 64GB Nexus device (assuming they keep the same pricing as the 6P, that is of course unknown).

Anyway, I'll be sure to chime in when I do get my phone.
 
Just preordered the Note7. Coming from an iphone 5s this will be my first android phone.

It felt awesome in the store and looks gorgeous. I am excited to have a stylus with my phone.
 
Those of you who have tried a Note 7... How is the home button/sensor? Is it the same push button like on previous Notes and Galaxy phones? I love the home touch pad sensor on my HTC 10. It's so much faster and more accurate than the home button on my S7E.
 
Canon said:
2. Camera... Hands down, Samsung has the best camera. Not only from the hardware perspective but the software experience as well. I checked out the Camera software on the Nexus 6p with Anroid N and it's just lacking the Pro Mode features that I really really love using on my Note 5. Also, the quick access to the camera with the double tap on the home button just can't be beat...
Click to expand...

Having owned both S7e & P9+, the Huawei P9 & P9 Plus have better cameras than the Samsung S7 Edge. I am fairly sure that the N7 will have the same camera as the S7 Edge. I actually take photos with my smartphone and not just some random selfies. That said, there is nothing wrong with either of them. I am just saying the P9/Plus is better. Software and optically.

* disclaimer that I am selling my P9 Plus due to the lack of XDA support and I go through a lot of phones...
 
Commander Shepard said:
Those of you who have tried a Note 7... How is the home button/sensor? Is it the same push button like on previous Notes and Galaxy phones? I love the home touch pad sensor on my HTC 10. It's so much faster and more accurate than the home button on my S7E.
Click to expand...

I poked one a bit at a store and it felt pretty much the same as my Note 5.
 
Anyone read the Displaymate review of the Galaxy Note 7 screen? A little surprised it's that much better than the S7 screen which is what? Only 4-5 months older? I thought the most impressive stat was the 1050 nit max brightness. That's insanely bright. Interesting stuff.

Galaxy Note7 OLED Display Technology Shoot-Out
 
The outdoor brightness on my Note 5 was probably the biggest improvement over my Note 4. I can hardly wait to see this thing in direct sunlight. Gone are the days of covering your screen to see what you are looking at :).
 
I just stopped by the AT&T store to take a look at it. While impressive I still can not justify the price. If it was in the $650 range I would have bought it. The AT&T reps said that it has not been that popular, as far as pre-orders go. I'll wait for a used one or a nice sale. Too many other choices out there at the moment.
 
Etherton said:
I just stopped by the AT&T store to take a look at it. While impressive I still can not justify the price. If it was in the $650 range I would have bought it. The AT&T reps said that it has not been that popular, as far as pre-orders go. I'll wait for a used one or a nice sale. Too many other choices out there at the moment.
Click to expand...
Well said!
 
Tiberian said:
Just looked at MKBHD's preview of the Note 7 and wasn't impressed, not even by the "retina scanner" either, guess I'm just bored with smartphones in this day and age and all the gimmicks they keep coming up with to sell them for ridiculously higher and higher prices.
Click to expand...
yeah, i skip more than a few generations, and wait till my phones start to fail.

my note 3 is still chugging along, but the USB port is starting to act up intermittently, and I am getting random reboots. probably time to wipe/reload, but i figgured why not just get a note7 and the new gear VR :-P
 
Etherton said:
I just stopped by the AT&T store to take a look at it. While impressive I still can not justify the price. If it was in the $650 range I would have bought it. The AT&T reps said that it has not been that popular, as far as pre-orders go. I'll wait for a used one or a nice sale. Too many other choices out there at the moment.
Click to expand...
I'm do for an upgrade and also use a work phone. Do you think it would be a good idea to just use my work phone's sim card and put it into the Note 7?

Starting a new 2-year contract will be $80/month for the next 2 years. That's $1920, vs paying $9xx upfront but no more monthly (more data too since the company is paying 5gb).

I'm wondering at what point should I take the plunge. I have two phones, paying $50/month and tired of my galaxy 5. Should I wait 6 months paying $300 and hope the price of the note 7 drops at least $300, or just take the plunge now and not have to worry about a monthly?
 
Just got my Note 7 today...

  • Most comfortable Note to hold in the hand to date. Amazing build quality, by far the best device I've held in my hand.
  • I didn't think I'd care about it but I actually really like the quick access to contacts from the edge menu
  • I really love the look of the device. So nice, they even beveled the edges of the glass at the top and bottom, it looks really great. I also am so happy to have a truly black phone (which is a Note 1st in Canada, think the Note 5 was available in black in other countries).
  • The included USB OTG adapter allowed me to use the Samsung Smart Switch app to transfer the stuff from my Note 5 to my Note 7. It was so nice not having to re-arrange all of my Home screens again, find wallpaper, ringtones etc. It did not restore my user data for the apps which was a bit disappointing but seems par for the course on Android without root which is still a bit annoying to me.
  • I love the always on display, great feature
  • So far speaker quality and call quality seems comparable, though I would say the loud speaker on the Note 5 seems to have a little more bass presence. I don't listen to music a lot on my loud speaker and it's comparable volume wise for basic Youtube videos etc. Probably a trade off for the water resistance I would guess.
The short version... This is a way bigger upgrade from the Note 5 than some may realize. It seemed like it was just all about the Iris scanner and curved edges but it's much more than that. They have managed to do it again.

My Samsung Level Box Pro Bluetooth speaker should be on the way in the next few weeks and the phone came with a 64GB Samsung micro SD card, giving me a total of 128GB of storage. It takes a lot of the sting out of buying this phone at full price. I'm super happy that the Rogers pre-order system actually worked this time and my phone was available to pick up on launch day. I'm a happy Note 7 owner for sure.
 
Canon said:
Just got my Note 7 today...

  • Most comfortable Note to hold in the hand to date. Amazing build quality, by far the best device I've held in my hand.
  • I didn't think I'd care about it but I actually really like the quick access to contacts from the edge menu
  • I really love the look of the device. So nice, they even beveled the edges of the glass at the top and bottom, it looks really great. I also am so happy to have a truly black phone (which is a Note 1st in Canada, think the Note 5 was available in black in other countries).
  • The included USB OTG adapter allowed me to use the Samsung Smart Switch app to transfer the stuff from my Note 5 to my Note 7. It was so nice not having to re-arrange all of my Home screens again, find wallpaper, ringtones etc. It did not restore my user data for the apps which was a bit disappointing but seems par for the course on Android without root which is still a bit annoying to me.
  • I love the always on display, great feature
  • So far speaker quality and call quality seems comparable, though I would say the loud speaker on the Note 5 seems to have a little more bass presence. I don't listen to music a lot on my loud speaker and it's comparable volume wise for basic Youtube videos etc. Probably a trade off for the water resistance I would guess.
The short version... This is a way bigger upgrade from the Note 5 than some may realize. It seemed like it was just all about the Iris scanner and curved edges but it's much more than that. They have managed to do it again.

My Samsung Level Box Pro Bluetooth speaker should be on the way in the next few weeks and the phone came with a 64GB Samsung micro SD card, giving me a total of 128GB of storage. It takes a lot of the sting out of buying this phone at full price. I'm super happy that the Rogers pre-order system actually worked this time and my phone was available to pick up on launch day. I'm a happy Note 7 owner for sure.
Click to expand...

Is there any distortion of an image along the edge from the curve?
 
Just played with the Note 7 for like ten minutes at T-Mobile, the sales rep had one off the leash and let me go to town with it :)

Little back story, My Wife currently has the Note 5, and I currently have the Nexus 6P, I've had my 6P for several months now, before that I most recently had the HTC 10, LG G5, and Note 5 this year, and out of all of those phones, I like my Nexus 6P head and shoulders above those others.

Back to the Note 7, I do like the size of it, for a 5.7" screen it is much smaller and way more compact than my Nexus 6P with the same size screen. And the display as gorgeous, very bright, just an awesome screen. But that's about it, going through Touchwiz again, and it's just a mess still, it had slight lag here and there, did not feel nearly as buttery smooth as my 6P, and the app drawer, my God so much bloat in there. I want like zero apps when I get a brand new phone, just the core basics to make the phone operate, and then let me decide which apps to install myself.

Yeah the Nexus 6P is basic and boring, and doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a Note 7, and cool features Samsung puts in their phones, but the Nexus just feels smoother, less crap, just runs like a champ, whereas the Note 7 has almost too much going on, half the stuff I don't even need, and honestly it did lag a little, and I wasn't left very impressed. I left thinking yeah the Note 7 is very nice, but by no means was I thinking, holy sh!t I must get this phone NOW. Nope, I am more happy with my Nexus 6P, I like the minimalist stock Android approach, and the basicness of it appeals to me more.

I have had several Galaxy phones over the years, and my Wife has had her Note 5 a year now, and it's like clockwork, every Galaxy phone I've owned, after like 9 to 12 months they feel like old Windows 95 OS, get laggy, and bloated, and not nearly the same fast smooth feeling as when it was brand new.
 
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That's funny Zorachus, wife and I have the same combo; 6P and Note5. Every time I mess with it, I appreciate my 6P a bit more, hah. The inability to root/ROM recent Samsung phones turns me off even more to them. That was the only way to make my old Note 2 enjoyable to use for me.
 
Not a big fan of touch wiz, I'm a little disappointed that this wasn't a bigger jump in performance, especially with the skip from 5 to 7, and I still wish they had the removable battery. HOWEVER, its the only phone with a decent stylus (which I really miss on my Nexus 6) and its waterproof, which makes up for the non-removable battery IMO. This isn't a home run for me, but it is worth the upgrade from my Nexus 6. I will miss the pure android experience, but I have to have a stylus. I used it every time I texted and wrote an email. It slows me down so much to use just my fingers for swyping when I can be very precise with the stylus. If Verizon does a buy one get one free offer I will jump on it. This is the first phone that has enticed me enough to upgrade from my Nexus 6 though. If the newest Nexus had a stylus I wouldn't even consider the Note 7.
 
radeon962 said:
Is there any distortion of an image along the edge from the curve?
Click to expand...
I can't say there is zero distortion but the curve is so close to the actual edge of the screen that it's rarely noticeable. Generally it just looks like a slight gradient at the edge. I have noticed it a couple times in apps that have text all the way to the edge but it isn't nearly as much if an issue compared with other curved screen phones I've seen.

I would say that I am happy with the compromise because this phone is so comfortable in my hand as a result. I can't express how good this feels in my hand.
 
I ended up jumping on the Note 7, coming from a Nexus 6p. I loved the 6p and it's certainly hard to beat the price of that phone compared to just about anything, but I have to say the fit and polish of the note 7 is damm fine indeed. Touchwiz never bothered me too much, sure pure nexus is fast and fluid, but it's pretty darn bare. I've rom'd and rooted my 6p many times, but all the roms I've tried always had some little glitches, hiccups, etc that just pissed me off over time and I got sick of constantly having to tinker with this and that to get it right. Something so simple as tweaking the vibration intensity. Is that really that obscure of a feature that they couldn't bake something like that into stock?? bah...

I was very hesitant about the note having the curved screen, but it's a way different curve than my wife's S7 edge, that one distorts the picture like crazy and has a mega annoying glare from the curve since it's such a huge slow curve. With the note 7 the curve is very sharp and drops off fast so I actually kind of like it to be honest.
 
T4rd said:
People who buy phones for full retail on day one are crazy; who knows what fatal bugs or design flaws may crop up in the first couple weeks. ... Plus, as with virtually any (non-Apple) phone, you know it's going to be on sale somewhere for a nice discount within a few months. The GS7 was on sale on eBay for under $600 within days of its launch. Or buy used for even cheaper and still have a manufacturer warranty.
Click to expand...

Or buy it a year later after the newer model has been released. Only paid $475 for my new Note 4 early this year. With the SD slot, the removable battery, and the promised (and delivered) upgrade to 6.0, it was a better choice for me.
 
I used the Samsung Smart Switch utility and the provided USB OTG cable to copy all of the apps etc. that I used on my Note 5 over to my Note 7. This also setup my ringtones (for the most part) and my Home screens to match my old phone. So both phones are setup very similarly with the same apps installed.

I decided to go ahead and take some time to benchmark my phones with some commonly used benchmark apps and share it here. This also gives some insight into the battery life between these two phones. As much as possible, I tried to keep the screen brightness the same between the phones. I ran through all of these benchmarks (you can see the battery % at the top of the screenshots. My note 7 was actually down to 95% when starting the tests and my Note 5 was down to 97% when starting. Both phones were unplugged for different periods of time before starting (Note 7 was the longest at about 5h and Note 4h 45m), I thought about comparing the battery usage after I was going through the tests and noticed the Note 7 gaining on the Note 5... Also, my Note 7 has a SIM card in it and Micro SD (Samsung 64gb EVO) and my Note 5 had no SIM installed if it matters to anyone.

As part of the screen on time you see here, I loaded and played with lots of different apps on my phone (doing the same thing on both phones) for a while. Subjectively, I would say I find that the Note 5 is actually frequently 0.5 -1.0 seconds faster when loading apps. That Exynos 7420 is a beast. The GPU in the Qualcom Snapdragon 820 in the Note 7 is noticeably better though, so if you want a better gaming experience, the Note 7 is great, they also have this Game mode thing that lets you disable the soft buttons by the home button which is really amazing since I have always found myself hitting these by accident. App performance though, your not really getting an upgrade going from the Note 5 to the Note 7 IMHO. Maybe even a marginal downgrade based on my subjective testing but it's almost identical at the end of the day.

Anyhow, here's the benchmarks. Thanks to that scrolling screenshot feature on the Samsung Note devices, you can see all of the details in one nice screenshot, sweet...

Note 7 CPUZ:


Note 5 CPUZ:





Note 7 Geekbench 3:


Note 5 Geekbench 3:





Note 7 PC Mark:


Note 5 PC Mark:





Note 7 3D Mark:


Note 5 3D Mark:





Note 7 GFX Bench GL:


Note 5 GFX Bench GL:





Note 7 Screen on Time battery usage (after ~5 hours off the charger):


Note 5 Screen on Time battery usage (after ~4 hours 45 minutes off the charger):
 
XDA Developers wrote a damning review of the Note 7. After reading that there is no way iam buying one.
 
I saw that XDA article as well.. I wonder how other tech blogs/reviewers are going to react to it, if at all.

Also, Verizon is still stripping features and UI elements from their Note 7. I thought they were done with that shit a few years ago, as I remember having to root/ROM my Note 2 to get all the features the unlocked variant and other carrier Note 2's had (blocking mode was a major feature at the time that Verizon stripped for some ridiculous reason). Rooting is not even an option now on the Note 7, so you pretty much just have to suck it up. I've been saying what DL said for years though; I'm amazed Samsung agrees to and folds to the carriers like that. Even if they're getting paid for it, they should realize it just weakens their brand image to see such inconsistencies across carrier models, as well as allowing them to add so much bloat to their phones, which is not an issue whatsoever on their main competitor's (Apple) phones. But I guess carriers are paying them enough that they don't care about all that still.
 
It seems the hardware of the note 7 is fantastic but the software is lacking again from samsung and kinda ruins the experience. I'm waiting til the new nexus phones come out to make a decision. I feel like the note 7 is a little over priced for what it is. Did Samsung really need to install iris scanner in this thing?
 
123Lanoix said:
It seems the hardware of the note 7 is fantastic but the software is lacking again from samsung and kinda ruins the experience. I'm waiting til the new nexus phones come out to make a decision. I feel like the note 7 is a little over priced for what it is. Did Samsung really need to install iris scanner in this thing?
Click to expand...

Of course it didn't, but this is Samsung... as much as it has improved, it still tends to think that simply having a larger feature checklist makes a product better. How you execute on an idea is as important as having the idea in the first place. An iris scanner is only good if it's truly faster than using a fingerprint reader, and that isn't the case here. I'm reminded a bit of how Samsung rushed a fingerprint reader into the Galaxy S5 to compete with Apple. It had something that looked good in a comparison chart, but anyone who'd used both could tell you that Apple's Touch ID was much, much better. It wasn't until the S6 that Samsung actually had a practical solution.
 
I went from a Note 4 to the Note 7 and to be honest, it's not much different. The GUI feels a little snappier and the phone is much easier to hold. Beyond that, I'm not sure if it was worth the upgrade. The fact that they removed the IR blaster was VERY disappointing and wasn't something I even thought to make sure was included before buying it. Why would they remove a feature like that? I used by Note 4 as a universal remote control to turn on my living room TV, bedroom TV, and my AV receiver. I don't even have remotes for them now.
 
DarkStar02 said:
I went from a Note 4 to the Note 7 and to be honest, it's not much different. The GUI feels a little snappier and the phone is much easier to hold. Beyond that, I'm not sure if it was worth the upgrade. The fact that they removed the IR blaster was VERY disappointing and wasn't something I even thought to make sure was included before buying it. Why would they remove a feature like that? I used by Note 4 as a universal remote control to turn on my living room TV, bedroom TV, and my AV receiver. I don't even have remotes for them now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had a One M8 previously and loved the IR blaster on it and miss it a lot after moving to a 6P. Both Samsung and HTC dropped IR blasters this year on their phones for some reason (not buying no one used it - bet more people did than the heart rate monitor or barometer in their phones). LG is the only one that stuck with them so far, but the new Honor 8 has one now too, which seems like a decent phone worth considering. I switched from Verizon to TMo, else I would still be using the M8 because of this probably. With 2 kids and a wife constantly losing all our remotes, having it on your phone is a godsend. Though I can still do some stuff over the network, it's pretty limited compared to having every command available for ever device, I even programmed it to control a couple of my fans that use IR since the M8 actually had an IR receiver to learn commands from the original remote if need be.
 
DarkStar02 said:
I went from a Note 4 to the Note 7 and to be honest, it's not much different. The GUI feels a little snappier and the phone is much easier to hold. Beyond that, I'm not sure if it was worth the upgrade. The fact that they removed the IR blaster was VERY disappointing and wasn't something I even thought to make sure was included before buying it. Why would they remove a feature like that? I used by Note 4 as a universal remote control to turn on my living room TV, bedroom TV, and my AV receiver. I don't even have remotes for them now.
Click to expand...

T4rd said:
Yeah, I had a One M8 previously and loved the IR blaster on it and miss it a lot after moving to a 6P. Both Samsung and HTC dropped IR blasters this year on their phones for some reason (not buying no one used it - bet more people did than the heart rate monitor or barometer in their phones). LG is the only one that stuck with them so far, but the new Honor 8 has one now too, which seems like a decent phone worth considering. I switched from Verizon to TMo, else I would still be using the M8 because of this probably. With 2 kids and a wife constantly losing all our remotes, having it on your phone is a godsend. Though I can still do some stuff over the network, it's pretty limited compared to having every command available for ever device, I even programmed it to control a couple of my fans that use IR since the M8 actually had an IR receiver to learn commands from the original remote if need be.
Click to expand...
Logitech's Smart Hub is a nice alternative to the missing phone IR blaster. I control all my home theater/audio gear along a couple of fans and portable heaters from my phone (HTC 10). The hub is the IR blaster and connects via wifi so no line-of-sight needed from the phone to your components. It can learn just about any command, too.
 
Commander Shepard said:
Logitech's Smart Hub is a nice alternative to the missing phone IR blaster. I control all my home theater/audio gear along a couple of fans and portable heaters from my phone (HTC 10). The hub is the IR blaster and connects via wifi so no line-of-sight needed from the phone to your components. It can learn just about any command, too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've seen those. Chang3d recommended it to me as well and will prolly get one eventually for my living room or basement, but that doesn't help me in any of the other rooms in the house unless I get one for every room and I'll still miss it when I go to other people's houses like my parents or bro's house where I already had their setups programmed into my phone too, hah.
 
^^ All true. Fortunately, I live alone and am a selfish bastard who doesn't care about other people's set ups... which probably explains why I'm alone. :LOL::whistle::p
 
123Lanoix said:
The Note 7 Still Delivers Embarrassing Real-World Performance
Click to expand...
Great read! Thanks for the link!

Vermillion said:
Saw that the other day. Combine that with locked bootloaders (even Exynos versions of the Note 7 are getting locked with the latest OTA) and you have a failure of a phone for the enthusiast community. But for Samsung, no matter what XDA says or if the bootloader is locked, the Note 7 will be another great seller.
Click to expand...
Really?! They are looking the bootloader down still?

I understand this on a corporate phone, but for general public and especially enthusiasts I'd much rather see a unlocked boot loader.

Add to that the price of this phone and you have a whole mess of "NOPE!".

123Lanoix said:
It seems the hardware of the note 7 is fantastic but the software is lacking again from samsung and kinda ruins the experience. I'm waiting til the new nexus phones come out to make a decision. I feel like the note 7 is a little over priced for what it is. Did Samsung really need to install iris scanner in this thing?
Click to expand...
My Galax S5 is still going strong. Though I would love a update to something with less lag or at least have the ability to load a custom rom to my phone... but alas it's a no start since I have the uncrackable at&t version of the s5.

That said I'll be waiting for the new nexus phone that should arrive soon. I just hope they don't make it any bigger since the current one is bordering on way too big as it is.
 
I definitely understand all the complaints I see regarding how locked down the phone is from a rooting, romming, modding point of view. A Nexus phone is most definitely the way you want to go if that's your main focus or interest with a phone.

From my point of view I see tons and tons of improvement and refinement here with a solid user experience so far. I loved my Note 5 and I love love my Note 7 even more. There are lots of features unique to Samsung phones and more so Note series phones which I've grown to appreciate and use. No one is competing with the S Pen which can't be forgotten as it is one of the main differentiating features compared to the S7 edge or any other smartphone... I feel like Huawei has a device with a stylus but it's not available for purchase in Canada from what I've seen, so I havent bothered looking at it.

Battery life definitely seems to be consistently at least 10%-15% better than my Note 5 even with the always on screen mode active.
 
Come on, drop the TouchWiz crap talk. It is so easily repacable and there's ton of options out there. Customizable options. So really, whining or even mentioning it at this point is pointless.

Root is a must for me as I hate ads and need that adblock. Sure, Samsung doesn't make it easy to root, but people still manage to root it.
Heck,I own a dual SIM S6 Edge+ which is barely supported by developers (there's ONE kernel for my version) and I am still able to run it rooted.
 
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