Samsung S7 rumors, speculation, and suggestions

[openwheel]

"The Qualcomm S820 is rumored to be used in certain markets like the US - it may not provide the all-out performance of the M1"

Are you freakin for real? Qualcomm chips have always outperformed Exynos, that's the very reason Samsung puts qualcomm in Western variants while it leaves its overheating lagging Crapsynos for India and the middle east where it can dupe idiots there to buy it. The only time they ditched qualcomm was after the 810 had overheating issues. The fact that they're putting back Qualcomm 820 chips in their phones means the 820 far outperforms anything samsung can create.

The only thing Exynos has going for it is moar cores, which is absolutely useless to performance and user experience, it's a pure marketing gimmick for morons who think "Moar cores faster, me want! Haha stupid qualcomm only have 4 core"

That couldn't be further away from the truth. Qualcomm was used mostly for its integrated radios compatible for US carriers.

Exynos have for the most part, been a smoother experience (more iPhone like) on the same phone, especially Galaxy S3 it was quite a difference.

There is no absolute winner between Snapdragon and Exynos as you would suggest, it's only a matter of supply and demand. While Qualcomm has hit a rough patch lately, it will likely surge past Exynos in the future, and the cycle continues while Samsung picks whichever suits the market.

 

[zaza]

That couldn't be further away from the truth. Qualcomm was used mostly for its integrated radios compatible for US carriers.

Exynos have for the most part, been a smoother experience (more iPhone like) on the same phone, especially Galaxy S3 it was quite a difference.

There is no absolute winner between Snapdragon and Exynos as you would suggest, it's only a matter of supply and demand. While Qualcomm has hit a rough patch lately, it will likely surge past Exynos in the future, and the cycle continues while Samsung picks whichever suits the market.

Oh really?
Here's an Indian guy with actual experience with both:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WbuTESkEViY
Here's more if you want, Qualcomm's adreno GPU has always been at least 60% faster than the exynos mali gpu with every samsung phone release.

 

[lopri]

The LG G4 for example completely got held back by Qualcomm's screwup. Its camera is on the S6's level, its ergonomics and build quality/materials is probably better for some people depending on taste. The G4 gets WAY better battery life than the S6, and its screen is not bad at all. It lacks the fingerprint reader and wireless charging, but it trades that for a removable battery and Micro SD slot that some people value more.

That is a good point I overlooked. I agree that for some removable battery is a must. I guess I gave a short shrift to the G4 (and possibly others). The G4 is an odd thing, though, because I am not sure if it competes against the S6 or the Note. I also agree that Qualcomm's mishap did cause sufferings for many OEMs this year, most notably HTC and LG. But I do not think who in the supply chain screwed up ultimately matters to the consumers. Those to whom removable battery and expandable storage matter will choose the G4, and those who prefer faster SOC and prettier screen will choose the S6.

But this year there is no way I would say the Note 5 is the best phablet. Just the device itself has issues, the pen situation is a rookie mistake but on a fifth version of the phone. But even outside of the Note 5's missteps others have caught up- the 6P is a very viable phablet option on Android and Apple's 6+S beats the Note 5 in almost every way. But the Note 5 sells for close to the 6+S and more than the 6P, and that is exactly what I was thinking of when I said "they don't give a ton of value." And $800 Note 5 is not worth more than the $650 6P unless you need the pen. Hell even for the same price I would rather have the 6P.

I made a mistake of extrapolating too much from the S6 to render judgment on the Note 5. And I did not know it was $800. My mistake. I agree that is too much. (I thought they were $700-ish. I wonder how much the pen/digitizer cost?) On the other hand, I would argue that the 6P is an exception rather than a norm. I said this in another thread but the Nexuses have different values (technical and sentimental) attached to them amongst us. I for one was happy with the Nexus 5 and was not at all interested in the Galaxy S5, even though I thought the latter was a better smartphone in many ways.

As for the iPhone 6s+ or what is "best," I would say that smartphones nowadays are sum of too many things and serve many different purposes for different tastes and it is probably best not to generalize. (please excuse the pun 😀 ) I have an iPhone 6s+ sitting right in my drawer that I do not think is best nor is very interesting to me after the first couple of days. Well, it has a faster SOC than other smartphones', not unlike the S6 which had a faster SOC than its competitors' when released..

The moat around their market position is down to a SoC and I expect Qualcomm's 820 to be an equalizer next year. The 6P shows us that the Chinese companies can give us build quality equal to Samsung without the Apple pricetags, and I expect more of that in 2016.

The Chinese OEMs have had excellent smartphones for a while. The iPhones are produced in China/Taiwan after all. In my view their hurdles into the U.S. are more political (e.g. NSA) and legal (i.e. patents) in nature.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/w...d-chinese-servers-seen-as-spy-peril.html?_r=1

Samsung will probably go all-in on cosmetic differences next year (aka make every Galaxy an Edge model) which cuts into their value proposition even more.

IMO that would be a suicide unless they can somehow get rid of glare from the curves completely. I do believe Samsung will try a flexible smartphone with a transparent look in the future if they acquire the necessary techs. (and if they are still in the business) I do not think that will happen next year.

 

[blankslate]

I'm done with Samsung. The s6 and all of the variants and the Note 5 took way too many things out. I ordered an LGV10 yesterday and it should be here today. Bye bye sammy!

That is a nice phone looking at the specs from phonearena.com
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/LG-V10_id9679

post a short review after a few weeks of use? It would be much appreciated.


__________

 

[Oyeve]

That is a nice phone looking at the specs from phonearena.com
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/LG-V10_id9679

post a short review after a few weeks of use? It would be much appreciated.


__________

I posted a short review in the lgv10 specific thread. In short. I'm loving it. The camera is phenomenal imo.

 

[stormkroe]

I was looking at that, but thought it was too big with the added 2nd display. I'll be interested in hearing what you think of it though.

Wouldn't this be a simple software feat, considering they have Wacom digitizers with 1024 or 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity?
Sadly, I'm stuck with notes, as I use my s pen almost err day for work. Hope the note 4 lasts until they remember what made them great 🙁

 

[Raduque]

I abandoned samsung and apple. I defected to LG. LGv10. Its awesome.

I ran away to Motorola. I bought a Droid Turbo 2 with black leather and I love it.

It's 99.9% AOSP Android. A couple of weird little things (like the power menu... is basically a "power off" menu), but it's great overall. Motos little add-ons, especially Display, is great. Recent Apps is a sticking point for a lot of phones for some reason. On my Note 4, I can count to 3 before it pops. On the DT2, I don't even get a chance to lift my finger before it's there. The whole device is like that.

 

[dawheat]

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...ith-big-sensor-size-for-the-Galaxy-S7_id75397

After reading the review of the 5X camera, I have to say I'm unsure which direction Samsung should go with the S7 camera - a 12MP sensor with very large pixels or the 20MP Sony sensor in the Z5.

Either sensor with OIS + Samsung's software should make for a pretty amazing camera. I initially would have said the Sony sensor, but the Nexus reviews have me reconsidering. While I'm not a fan of the low light delay with HDR, OIS should help that quite a bit.

 

[dawheat]

I ran away to Motorola. I bought a Droid Turbo 2 with black leather and I love it.

It's 99.9% AOSP Android. A couple of weird little things (like the power menu... is basically a "power off" menu), but it's great overall. Motos little add-ons, especially Display, is great. Recent Apps is a sticking point for a lot of phones for some reason. On my Note 4, I can count to 3 before it pops. On the DT2, I don't even get a chance to lift my finger before it's there. The whole device is like that.

Yeah that was one of the annoying areas of my Note 4, even with a custom ROM. The Note 5 is much, much better here even on stock as it jumps up, but every once in a while it'll take a second to open.

Samsung needs another 2014 to 2015 improvement in their software optimization for next year to keep pace.

 

[Bryf50]

Exynos have for the most part, been a smoother experience (more iPhone like) on the same phone, especially Galaxy S3 it was quite a difference.

I'll take dual krait over quad A9 any day of the week. Krait was the first cpu with enough performance to allow Android to be smooth. I still have my US S3 and it really holds up well compared to some A9 tablets I have.

 

[Shlong]

IMO that would be a suicide unless they can somehow get rid of glare from the curves completely. I do believe Samsung will try a flexible smartphone with a transparent look in the future if they acquire the necessary techs. (and if they are still in the business) I do not think that will happen next year.

They'll be in the business for a long time. Although profit isn't what it once was, they're still the only Android manufacturer posting billions in quarterly profit. They top sales in practically every corner of the globe as they're the top smartphone manufacturer in Western Europe; Asia Pacific; Central and South America; Eastern Europe; and the Middle East and Africa. They trail in North America to Apple (Apple is 33% Q3 2015 share and Samsung is 26% Q3 2015 share).

 

[lopri]

^ Oh I do not think Samsung will go anywhere. My reply was confined to a scenario where Samsung released the Galaxy S7 with a curved screen only, and a foreseeable commercial disaster that would follow.

A couple of suggestions to Samsung Display:

• Find a solution to flickering caused by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) at low brightness
• Copy whatever Apple did with the new iPad mini which reduced screen reflection dramatically.

With these two improvements, Samsung's AMOLED will become flawless. (minus reducing power consumption further, which is of course a never-ending project)

 

[StrangerGuy]

I agree that the Note 5 is really the most "flagship" Android phone (excluding the Nexus 6P which I think is the best phone), but the thing is it's not just ~$100-$200 more, Samsung flagships are in the $700-$800 range. That's a LOT more expensive than the other guys. While you and I may feel it's worth it, I don't think the average Joe does.

I think Samsung needs to lower the price on their flagships, and push out fewer models.

Sorry Samsung, superfluous in reality bleeding edge advantages ain't worth a extra $500 over sub $200 Helio X10 / 1080p equipped China devices.

*Insert niche users aren't niche because niche users uses niche hardware* rebuttal.

 

[lopri]

Rumor says Google might help Samsung in optimizing TouchWiz

There is room for further improvement, and if the hottest new rumor is to be believed, Samsung could be aided by no other than Google itself in the task of optimizing TouchWiz even more. The rumor mill has it that Google will help Samsung on a under-the-hood level, which will be beneficial not only to Sammy's userbase, but to Android's public image as well. A "win-win" situation for both tech giants.

The reason behind this alleged collaboration seems to be rather clear: TouchWiz UI is by far the most popular variation of Android worldwide and can be found on many an Android device worldwide, which means that the Average Joe and Plain Jane associate Android with Samsung's TouchWiz skin. Thus, having a better-performing and optimized TouchWiz will help Android in getting an even better image, in theory at least.

As a reminder, in early 2014, both reached an agreement that would "lead to deeper collaboration on research and development of current and future projects" and the demise of Samsung's Magazine UX in order to promote Google's Play services.

XD

Oh, Samsung..

P.S. Does it sound like we might see a return of Galaxy Nexus next year?

 

[dawheat]

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...es-and-always-on-screen-functionality_id77119

Rumors of course so take with a huge grain of salt, but I like most of what's being said:

- sticking with 2K screens with some form of ambient display
- IP67 certified - if true may point to a size increase
- mSD support - would be a bit surprised honestly. For myself, I'd prefer for Samsung to just offer a base 32GB version of SSD-type storage and a 128GB version for $100 more. Still higher profit margins than the base phone.
- 12MP rear camera with a larger sensor than the S6 + a f/1.7 lens + OIS. Considering how good the S6/Note 5 camera is, this would be killer low light camera.
- larger batteries - 3000mah in the regular phone, 3500mah in the larger phone. With all the improvements + Android M + the larger batteries, if true the standard S7 should have battery life in considerable excess of the Note 5.

 

[WelshBloke]

All sounds good. I suspect that the only reason the S6 didn't have an SDcard is that they couldn't get the hardware to work with it.

You know a silly thing I'd like? Make the camera sensor square and make record in landscape regardless of the orientation of the phone.

 

[lopri]

- mSD support - would be a bit surprised honestly. For myself, I'd prefer for Samsung to just offer a base 32GB version of SSD-type storage and a 128GB version for $100 more. Still higher profit margins than the base phone.

I am singling out this portion because I assume the reason you speak of SSD-type storage is probably influenced by the hype AT generated, calling iPhone 6s' storage is like PCIe-NVMe on mobile, which was in turn influenced by Apple's implicit/explicit marketing claim "Desktop-class" surrounding iPhone 6s/Plus launch.

But I have not seen a proof that such a solution is a better one than UFS 2.0. Even in AT's triumphant preview heralding "NVME on mobile," it trails UFS 2.0 and F2FS in random read/write.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9662/iphone-6s-and-iphone-6s-plus-preliminary-results

The fact that its random r/w performance is mediocre but its sequential r/w performance is through the roof, plus last year's iPhones and iPads are also leading other Android smartphones in sequential r/w, should have rung an obvious bell that the performance gap in this testing is driven by the OS, auxiliary cache, or buffering of some kind, not because it is using a desktop-like SSD. But AT being pro-Apple, they all but declared so and I have seen quite a few members parroting the greatness of Apple with the link to the above sequential r/w graphs. (sigh)

Oh, and since then, random r/w graphs disappeared from AT's smartphone reviews. (Can they be any more discreet? Hah)

The point I am making here is that I have seen no proof that Apple's NVMe solution on "mobile PCIe" is superior to UFS 2.0, let alone whether such a solution is even compatible/possible with the current built of Android.

- IP67 certified - if true may point to a size increase

IP67 certification is welcome but a size increase is a big no to my book.

 

[lopri]

BTW: What does AT use for storage benchmark? I thought they used to use Androbench.

 

[Andrei.]

BTW: What does AT use for storage benchmark? I thought they used to use Androbench.

Yes that's correct on Android, but we're looking to switch over from that.

 

[dawheat]

I am singling out this portion because I assume the reason you speak of SSD-type storage is probably influenced by the hype AT generated, calling iPhone 6s' storage is like PCIe-NVMe on mobile, which was in turn influenced by Apple's implicit/explicit marketing claim "Desktop-class" surrounding iPhone 6s/Plus launch.

But I have not seen a proof that such a solution is a better one than UFS 2.0. Even in AT's triumphant preview heralding "NVME on mobile," it trails UFS 2.0 and F2FS in random read/write.

...

The point I am making here is that I have seen no proof that Apple's NVMe solution on "mobile PCIe" is superior to UFS 2.0, let alone whether such a solution is even compatible/possible with the current built of Android.

Fair enough - I didn't read the 6S review super closely so yes, I did take away that the 6S storage solution seemed to be a step above the S6 UFS 2.0 storage.

IP67 certification is welcome but a size increase is a big no to my book.

Same here - I'd prefer a more compact phone or a bigger battery vs. the increase in size for IP certification.

 

[shabby]

- sticking with 2K screens with some form of ambient display

They're downgrading to 1080p?

 

[s44]

Uggh, I'm considering going in on the S7 to replace my beloved but sorta old S4. If LG offers a similar size with battery swap, I could do that... But it looks like the G5 will be just a bit too big again.

 

[ChronoReverse]

The fact that its random r/w performance is mediocre but its sequential r/w performance is through the roof, plus last year's iPhones and iPads are also leading other Android smartphones in sequential r/w, should have rung an obvious bell that the performance gap in this testing is driven by the OS, auxiliary cache, or buffering of some kind, not because it is using a desktop-like SSD. But AT being pro-Apple, they all but declared so and I have seen quite a few members parroting the greatness of Apple with the link to the above sequential r/w graphs. (sigh)

Oh, and since then, random r/w graphs disappeared from AT's smartphone reviews. (Can they be any more discreet? Hah)

The point I am making here is that I have seen no proof that Apple's NVMe solution on "mobile PCIe" is superior to UFS 2.0, let alone whether such a solution is even compatible/possible with the current built of Android.

This really bears repeating because sequential performance really doesn't reflect the user experience. The iPhone 6s clearly has fast NAND but it's not to the level that's being heralded around.

 

[s44]

US release on March 11?

https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/690630250561150976

 

[Commodus]

US release on March 11?

https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/690630250561150976

It's just a tweet, but it makes sense. Samsung's likely to reveal the GS7 at Mobile World Congress in late February, and it has lately tended to ship phones to the US the month after the unveiling (the S6 was unveiled in March, shipped in April).

That and Samsung knows it really can't afford to wait. Its high-end phone sales aren't great at the best of times, let alone in Q1 when the holidays are over and its current-gen models are long in the tooth.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the S7 brings. Not so much: the fanpeople who'll crow that this phone is a resounding victory and proof that the Glorious Inevitable Samsung Monopoly is back on track. I'm sure it'll be a powerful phone with some nice features, but so many people forget that Samsung hasn't had a smash hit since the S4... or that specs alone aren't enough to win this market.