Samsung Galaxy S7 detailed screen analysis

After analyzing one of the most anticipated phones of the year, the Galaxy S7 edge, it is time for its smaller sibling. Let us have a look at how the Galaxy S7′s display fares.

If you want to know what the graphs in this measurement mean, please refer to this post.

First, the basics. The Galaxy S7 has a 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED screen. It has a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and a pixel density of approximately 577 PPI. The screen has the exact same pixel layout as the S6 – the infamous Diamond PenTile pixel layout, which you can see in the close-up picture below.

                                                              

Brightness Levels

First things first, the screen has a maximum brightness of around 454 cd/m2 (nits) in manual brightness setting, and 683 cd/m2 in auto brightness. At the most dim setting, the screen can go as low as 2.11 cd/m2 in auto brightness mode, and and in manual brightness it can go as dim as 1.16 cd/m2.

What this means is that this is an excellent screen in terms of brightness, and you can read the display easily in bright sunlight while at the same time keep your eyes safe from strain in the dark.  Do keep in mind that the phone will only go so bright when there is a really bright source of light falling on the sensor, for example in the sun or something like an LED lamp. In regular lighting conditions the brightness levels will be considerably lower, somewhere in the 500 nits range.

Adaptive Display

When we look at its color gamut and the colors in the sRGB color space, we can conclude that every color misses its target point and the screen is thus oversaturated (a common theme on AMOLED displays and with this display it isn’t any different). The white point is pretty much off target (which you can see in the graph on the right side below) and is leaning towards the colder side of the colors (the blueish colors). The margin of the displayed primary and secondary colors isn’t that good, with a Delta E error of 7.38 being too high, which is something we see all the time in this screen mode.

                    

The error of the Grayscale color is not too great at 4.1 and the whites are blueish here as well; that is something manufacturers do to make the whites look more white, especially on AMOLED displays. The contrast ratio, however, is unmeasurable so that is extremely good. Blacks are really black, yet when we get to the lighter colors we see that blueish tint popping out. This is something you can see at the color temperature as well, with a temperature of 7137 being too cold (6509 is the sweet spot).

Basic Mode

 

Same old, same old, that’s the case once again with Adaptive mode. We aren’t a big fan of it (not that some of us mind using it), but it can be changed to Basic mode. The basic mode is the closest you can get to a nicely calibrated screen, though the display can look a little dull when you first lay your eyes on this screen mode. In the sRGB color space it scores great as it hits most of the targets, with the margin of the displayed primary and secondary colors having a Delta E error of 1.8 which is extremely good. The white point is just a tad off-center, but nothing to make you worry about.

It’s a similar story in grayscale, although it boosts red a little too much which results in a warmer feeling screen and that is something you can see at the color temperature as well. With a color temperature of 6320 it is a lot closer to 6509, which would be the best score.  The margin of color error in Grayscale of Delte E 2.4 is good but not better than other Basic Modes we measured; for example the Galaxy A8 had a Delta E of 1.5 in the Grayscale color error.

AMOLED Photo

                                                      

The mode I always use is AMOLED Photo, which gives you the punchiness of Adaptive Display mode without making it feel a bit too much. Both the margin of the display primary and secondary colors and the error of Grayscale color – 5.0 and 4.9 respectively – are acceptable. Color temperature is almost the same as Basic mode, and contrast ratio is just as good as the other modes.

Conclusion

It is funny to see how displays can differ from each other across the same lineup. The Galaxy S7′s screen is a little less accurate than the S7 edge’s. Of course, even though it differs the S7′s display is still better than any other screen on the market. It has extremely good contrast ratio and in the basic mode, its color temperature is almost perfect. Its brightness levels are top-notch, and Samsung has delivered a jewel of a display with the Galaxy S7.

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[Poll] Battery life on the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge improves with time

With a considerably larger battery on the Galaxy S7 edge compared to the S6 edge, and even compared to the Galaxy S6 edge+ or Note 5, you would expect the flagship to offer out of this world battery life right out of the box. That is unfortunately not the case, and as we noted in our review, battery life on the Galaxy S7 edge is still only a one-day affair at most. On many days, charging by the evening was necessary for continued usage.

Disabling Always On display helps, but it still doesn’t make for battery life that you would expect, especially when you take the Galaxy S6 Active from last year into consideration. However, if you have been disappointed with your Galaxy S7 edge’s endurance after recently purchasing the device, we should tell you – battery life improves almost drastically after a couple of weeks as your phone adjusts to your usage pattern and starts controlling background apps.

The latter helps considerably with improving battery life. With Android 5.1, Samsung added a feature that “optimizes apps.” That’s a fancy name for something very basic – the device keeps tracks of the apps that you haven’t been using for three days (this can be set to five or seven days), and then starts putting these apps into a sleep state so that they do not run in the background on their own. You can turn this optimization feature off, but really, why would you?

Of course, your usage pattern and just the fact that the phone needs to settle into a rhythm after the initial bout of usage also help battery life. So just hang on a little if your Galaxy S7 edge is gobbling up the battery a little too quickly: It gets better. Five hours of screen time becomes a regular thing after a while. Okay, so you still won’t be able to use the device the entire next day without a charge, but there will come a time when you won’t be needing to reach for the charger before bedtime.

How’s the battery life on your Galaxy S7 edge? Let us know through the comments section and in the poll below!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Sprint Galaxy S5 updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Sprint has updated the Galaxy Note 5 to Marshmallow about two weeks ago, and the Galaxy Note 4 just a few hours later (on the same day). The following day, Sprint decided to push Google’s latest sweet treat for the Galaxy S6 edge+. With the push out for Samsung’s latest devices, customers with older devices have been left to wonder when they’d be the proud recipients of the mobile dessert. Galaxy S5 customers in South Korea as well as Trinidad & Tobago have seen Marshmallow come to their handsets, but no others, at least until now. There have even been two earlier build versions (see here and here) for the Galaxy S5 Marshmallow update, bringing a tease that won’t be satisfied until the official update lands for all S5 users.

Well, well, well — what do we have here? It’s the coveted Marshmallow update for Sprint’s Galaxy S5. The new update comes in at a hefty 891.75MB and brings the build number to G900PVPU3CPCA and the OS update version to 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Along with it, Sprint Galaxy S5 users will see Google Now On Tap, the search engine giant’s new way to “touch search” the Web, detailed battery stats, customizable app permissions, Google’s new Doze Mode that’s said to conserve battery life when your device is idle, and other “goodies.”

With Sprint’s rollout of 6.0 to its Galaxy S5, we’re sure to see Marshmallow arrive for other US Galaxy S5 carriers and customers. Before you prepare to update your device, Sprint wants you to know that you may not get the update right away — as it’s rolling it out to all Sprint Galaxy S5 phones between now and May 19th. It’ll take some weeks, but we know that early downloaders will sure make it a bragging right. The Galaxy S5 is getting what looks to be its last major upgrade, so S5 users should enjoy it while it’s hot. For those of you wanting more details about the update, we’ll be back to update the post as more information becomes available.

If you’re ready to dive into the newness of Marshmallow and leave Lollipop behind, head on over to your phone settings and hit that software update button. Then come back here and let us know you got the update. Do you like Marshmallow on your Galaxy S5? Has it breathed new life into what is becoming an aging handset?

 

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Verizon Galaxy S7 promo in high demand, free Gear S2 deliveries delayed until May 2016

Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are in high demand, but the promotional deals from carriers has boosted sales even further. In the US, T-Mobile has given away a free year of Netflix. Verizon is called the Cadillac of Carriers (US, that is) and with good reason: instead of offering just a free Gear VR headset with customer pre-orders (initiated by Samsung), Verizon went one step further: it allowed customers to choose between a 1) free Gear VR headset with a 6-game bundle, or 2) a free Gear S2 smartwatch. We’ve been hearing about Gear VR orders in abundance, and have even seen a letter delaying the delivery of Gear VR headsets due to high demand. Now, unfortunately, it’s Verizon’s turn to disappoint customers.

A letter has been sent out today telling customers about the delay in Gear S2 shipments: “Hello [name], Congratulations! Your submission has been approved. We will ship your Samsung Gear S2 to the mailing address you provided when registering for this Offer. Please note that due to the high level of interest in the Verizon Offer promotion, delivery times for Gear S2 are now extending into May and potentially Summer 2016. Once shipped, we will send you an email with your tracking number.”

Verizon Gear S2 promo recipients now join the list of free Gear VR customers who are still waiting for their shipments. In the case of free Gear VR recipients, however, Samsung is awarding a choice: you can 1) wait for your free Gear VR or 2) you can take a $100 credit and use it to buy anything in Samsung’s online retail store at Samsung.com.

The Gear S2 is certainly worth the wait. So far, it is Samsung’s best smartwatch to date, boasting a circular body that mimics the look and feel of luxury watches, Samsung’s trademark Super AMOLED display, a Rotary UI with a rotating bezel (a feature that should be imitated by other OEMs). Recently, Samsung has updated the Gear S2 to add a new ESPN watch face, a new World Clock widget, as well as an auto-open app feature that uses eye detection to open the app you want.

Recipients of Verizon’s Gear S2 should know that they are getting a cellular-data version that can be activated with 3G connectivity for just $5 a month by following the steps on the smartwatch itself.

Verizon free Gear S2 recipients, are you disappointed by the new delay in delivery time for your favorite smartwatch? Do you think it’s worth waiting for? Still glad you picked up the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge?

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Samsung will use its Olympics partnership to push Samsung Pay

Samsung has had a long association with the Olympics. For years it has been one of the biggest sponsors of the game and the partnership has allowed the company to promote its devices in the process. Not only is it going to deliver the first Olympic content in virtual reality but Samsung is also going to use the Olympics stage to further push Samsung Pay, the mobile payments service it launched last year.

Speaking at a conference in Copenhagen, vice president of Samsung Pay Elle Kim said that Samsung is going to make sure that Samsung Pay is prominently featured at the Olympic Games this summer in Brazil. The company is a major sponsor of the games this year as well so it’s going to get a lot of airtime during the two weeks that the Olympics takes place in August this year. Brazil has already been confirmed as one of the markets where Samsung Pay will soon be launched in and it’s quite likely that the company would want to get that wrapped up prior to the games. Prominent Samsung Pay branding isn’t all that you should be looking forward to from Samsung in this Olympics, we exclusively reported last week that Samsung is working on an Olympic Edition of the Galaxy S7.

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Samsung Gear 360 US price revealed

The Gear 360 is Samsung’s first 360-degree camera. It allows users to easily capture 360-degree video and images which can then be viewed in virtual reality with the Samsung Gear VR headset. The Gear 360 features dual 15-megapixel CMOS camera sensors with each having its own wide-angle fisheye lens. These camera sensors enable the Gear 360 to capture 360-degree videos with 3,840×1,920 pixel resolution and 30-megapixel 7,776×3,888 still images.

The Gear 360 price was confirmed for Europe about two months ago, folks across the continent will have to pay Euro 419 to get their hands on this 360-degree camera from Samsung. The Gear 360 will also be available for purchase in the United States and its price for the country has now been revealed. Folks in the United States will have to pay $350 if they pick up the Gear 360 from B&H. Samsung hasn’t provided a confirmed release date for this product but it did say that the Gear 360 will be available for purchase in Q2 2016.

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Samsung Pay might eventually allow payments in virtual reality

Samsung is heavily invested in both mobile payments and virtual reality so it may not be surprising to see the company join the two at some point in the future, even the company hints at that. Samsung is looking at the potential of powering payments in virtual reality with Samsung Pay, the mobile payments service it launched last year. Samsung is also looking to catch up with Apple Pay in allowing customers to pay for in-app purchases using Samsung Pay.

Head of Samsung Pay Europe Nathalie Oestmann has said in an interview that gift cards will give Samsung a unique way to provide customers with offers. She also said that Samsung has in-app payments on its roadmap as well as online commerce, adding that “being able to pay online with Samsung Pay is very important.” Apple Pay does allow customers to pay inside apps using the service but the feature hasn’t arrived on Samsung Pay yet.

Oestmann also mentioned that there has been talk about enabling people to enter a store with their virtual reality headset and browse the store in VR. Users then easily click and pick what they want to purchase and pay inside the VR environment with Samsung Pay. Come to think of it, that seems like a really nice way to discover stores and shop, and if it does happen it would be something truly unique to Samsung’s VR technology and its payments service.

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Review: Samsung fast wireless charging stand makes charging very convenient

Samsung introduced fast wireless charging on the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ last year, and also released a fast wireless charger to go along with the devices. With the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge sporting an Always On display mode for always-on information, Samsung made a new standing fast wireless charger. As the name suggests, this charger props your device up at an incline. Compared to a regular wireless charger that lays horizontal on the ground, the standing wireless charger lets you both charge your device and use it at the same time.

We got our hands on the fast wireless charging stand from Samsung and used it with the latest Galaxy flagships, and here’s what we think of the company’s newest proposition for convenient smartphone charging.

Design

The standing charger has a simple and clean design, and the black unit we have looks pretty nice sitting on the desk. The front is made up of three concentrated circles – the center has a fully black charging plate with the Samsung and Fast Charge logos. The back is mostly plain, with small holes for dissipating heat. The entire thing stands on a round plate that juts out a bit at the front for you to put the phone on the charger. The microUSB input that powers the charger is at the bottom of this plate at the back.

An LED sits at the front, which goes blue when a device is charging and green when charging is complete. The charger is pretty light – it feels sturdy enough when you set it down, though putting your phone on top will make the charger wobble a bit. Overall, Samsung’s standing fast wireless charger has an appealing look – if you liked the regular Samsung wireless charger, you are going to like its standing successor as well. Just keep the dust clear, as it tends to stick to the thing quite easily (something you will notice in our photos).

Charging

Wireless charging is a slow process, and Samsung claims its fast wireless charger is 1.4x faster than regular wireless chargers. The claim is true we guess, but actual charging times are still rather long compared to wired fast charging. The Galaxy Note 5 took a little over two hours to reach full charge, while the Galaxy S7 edge takes a little over two hours and a half to reach 100 percent capacity. Samsung claims exactly 150 minutes of charging for the S7 edge, but that doesn’t take into account the fact that you might be using the phone now and then while it is charging.

The thing is, using the device while it is on the standing charger is very convenient. On a regular wireless charger, you can’t really use the phone without picking it up – the biggest issue is pressing the navigation buttons, as the phone dangles in the air from the top and bottom. On the standing charger, this isn’t a problem and you will have no trouble operating your device. The charger might move back a little when you press the home button, but otherwise this charger is well designed to make both charging and device usage possible at the same time.

Also, you don’t have to be precise while placing your phone on the charger – as long as it is somewhere in the middle of the charging pad, you’re good to go. On the regular Samsung wireless charger, it’s a major annoyance, as you have to place the handset properly from every angle. Keep it too high, no charge. Keep it too low, no charge. In the “drop your device on the charger and forget about it” facet, the standing charger is miles better.

For devices with no fast wireless charging support (which is basically every smartphone today except Samsung’s four flagships), you get regular wireless charging. Something to note: fast wireless charging only works when you have the standing charger connected to an adaptive/quick fast charger. That’s not really surprising – fast wireless charging needs power, and that power cannot be provided by regular chargers. Oh, and in case you were wondering, charging works even when the device is in a case.

Wrap Up

To be honest, the fast wireless charging stand is more about the convenience than quickly topping up your device’s battery without the involvement of any wires. It fixes the biggest flaw of regular wireless chargers: you don’t need to disrupt charging to use your phone (well, unless you get a call and must put the phone to your ear). Charging is faster than normal wireless charging as well, but it still can’t match the charging times offered by wired fast charging.

But for when you have a lot of time, the standing wireless charger is great to have. It’s especially good when you are charging your device overnight by your bed – turn on Always On display and you have a nice little bedside clock that will give you a fully charged device when you wake up. It’s too bad Samsung doesn’t offer an option to turn on Always On display only when the phone is charging, since having the feature on otherwise can take its toll on idle battery life.

Samsung’s fast wireless charging stand will cost you $60 or its equivalent, at least if it is available in your market. For anyone spending a large part of the day working at a desk, the charger makes a lot of sense. For everyone else, the price might be a tad too high, so its value depends on your want/need of the convenience of wireless charging.

Grab the fast wireless charging stand from Samsung at Mobile Fun.

Disclaimer: Mobile Fun is our exclusive accessory partner for Samsung devices and supplied us with a review unit. The partnership with the retailer in no way affects our thoughts on the product reviewed above; our opinions are completely our own. 

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Samsung’s beta music player app gets support for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5

Samsung recently puts its proprietary music app for Android devices on the Play Store, soon after the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge launched without the app installed by default. The Play Store version was initially supported only on the S7 lineup, but the Korean company has now made it compatible with the Galaxy S6 series and the Galaxy Note 5 as well.

Samsung had initially noted that the app was in beta, though that tag seems to have been removed with the update. It’s not surprising – the Play Store version works just like the regular Samsung music app, with only interface changes noticeable. The changelog mentions bug fixes as well, and if you have one of Samsung’s flagships from the last year, go ahead and grab the music app from the Play Store.

The update is also available from the Galaxy Apps store. You might need to be on Marshmallow for this to work, so we’re guessing you will be out of luck if Samsung still hasn’t pushed out Android 6.0 to your device.

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