OEM skin/software - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Real Life Review

Are you comfortable in your own skin? Is your phone comfortable in its skin? Rate this thread to express how you deem the skin on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. A higher rating indicates that you love it: it adds just the right amount of features, it's visually pleasing, and overall it's additive to the experience. If this is a Nexus phone (you didn't think we hand-wrote all of these prompts, did you?) then use this rating to indicate how the latest version of Android looks to you.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Icons are a bit boring, side panels need more work and you cannot create your own themes.

I'm a Nova user but so far I'm on board for TouchWiz. I applied some basic themes (Vanilla, Android 6.0) and those assuaged any issues I had with the skin/icons. I also realized you still keep Samsung Pay and Edge panels even using another launcher so for me that's another nod to TW/Samsung for not hiding killer features while using another launcher. The Settings UI is much better and easier to digest. All the gimmicky "s" modes are gone or buried away from the Quick Settings. So I could roll either way. Overall I'd give this high marks knowing if I get bored I can always go back Nova.

Tolerable after disabling bloat.

touchwiz is better, but still not as good as nova. putting nova prime on it, and a new darker theme, this thing is slick. i love it. but i absolutely HATE the new, so called security feature, that makes you put in your password after a reboot, instead of just allowing you to use fingerprints. i mean, that's why we setup fingerprints, and i'm yet to understand how typing in your password in front of strangers is more secure than just using your fingerprint?

ive never disliked tw and don't understand why prefer opted for vanilla android, i mean N is only now bringing features that samsung phones have had for literally, years.

design is mediocre
not much change from samsung n8010 ui
as soon as root possible without losing any abilities/priviledges including google pay, samsung pay & my knox

Its a lil boring but better than ios. Looking forward to N.

The only bad thing with this year's Samsung skin is that we will recieve android 7 later. But we already have android n features like split screen view,clear all...touchwiz is full of features and that's why i like it. I don't care if i will have a 5k boost in score on antutu if i only have my phone to call and message people. Touchwiz is awesome.
Again,the only bad thing is that the devs need a lot of time to skin newer versions of android

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but the emojis for the S7E are IMO hideous (not stock Android) and impossible to change without rooting and voiding your warranty.
I can't link to them, but you can easily find them yourself and see if they fit your style.

I use Nova Prime and bought a custom TW theme from the theme store to give me the look I want in SystemUI, Phone, Messages, and such. I use a Cobalt Icon set, and custom wallpapers. It's very tolerable with this setup.

apprentice said:
Icons are a bit boring, side panels need more work and you cannot create your own themes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung theme editor...

stevae said:
touchwiz is better, but still not as good as nova. putting nova prime on it, and a new darker theme, this thing is slick. i love it. but i absolutely HATE the new, so called security feature, that makes you put in your password after a reboot, instead of just allowing you to use fingerprints. i mean, that's why we setup fingerprints, and i'm yet to understand how typing in your password in front of strangers is more secure than just using your fingerprint?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an Android thing now not a Samsung or TW thing. It does that on both my S7E and Nexus 6P.

RileyIssKing said:
Samsung theme editor...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My post was back in March, I bought a Note 7 but after the recall I am now back with the S7 Edge and it's much better now, especially with theming
.

The camera features are very difficult to access, thanks to the tiny buttons which fail to register everytime unless you are a sharp 'shooter' with your thumb. I wish they increase the size of in-camera buttons such as that of Large Eyes, Manual Focus arrows, etc. What do you all think of this?

Related

[Q] [REQ] Motoblur (Droid X) Widgets/launcher

Is it possible to port the widgets that come with motoblur?
The contact widgets are pretty handy. I assume that the widgets are tied to the launcher (like our TWiz widgets), so I imagine the whole launcher would have to be ported. If that is the case, I've attached the launcher apk for anyone capable of determining these things.
If at all possible to port widgets without the Droid X launcher, that would be even better.
This is one of the most annoying launchers on android. Scrolling in between home screens disables the app tray button, and you either have to swipe up on the screen or wait a few seconds to open the app tray. The widgets on the other hand are okay. The droid X's UI was poorly designed and makes the phone feel bigger and clunkier than it really is.
Paging Dr B said:
This is one of the most annoying launchers on android. Scrolling in between home screens disables the app tray button, and you either have to swipe up on the screen or wait a few seconds to open the app tray. The widgets on the other hand are okay. The droid X's UI was poorly designed and makes the phone feel bigger and clunkier than it really is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. The Blur UI also feels sluggish and clunky. It is probably the most hated custom andorid launcher out there.
OP. Unless your willing to pay a dev 100 bucks in advance, nobody is going to do this for u lol.
Touch Wiz is infinitely better. I would actually say TW is better than stock.
kingkurry said:
Agreed. The Blur UI also feels sluggish and clunky. It is probably the most hated custom andorid launcher out there.
OP. Unless your willing to pay a dev 100 bucks in advance, nobody is going to do this for u lol.
Touch Wiz is infinitely better. I would actually say TW is better than stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW better than stock? Blasphemy!
I agree on all counts
TouchWiz is one of the best launchers. Launcher Pro is a close second. ADW/LP both don't have the same smoothness with all of the graphics at the highest level like TW does. They look awful compared to TW on default settings and choppy with it looking the same. I don't think you can get LP to display the same level of quality as ADW or TW.
heygrl said:
TouchWiz is one of the best launchers. Launcher Pro is a close second. ADW/LP both don't have the same smoothness with all of the graphics at the highest level like TW does. They look awful compared to TW on default settings and choppy with it looking the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I didn't care for the TW launcher in all of the demos i saw of the vibrant, but it really grew on my once i actually used it. It's fast, looks nice, and has smooth animations. Sorry OP if I sounded upset in my first response. I also have the droid X (for work) and think it's one of the biggest dissapointments out there. Moto nailed the build quality and screen size, but they stopped there. Terrible contrast, colors, poor UI, feels slow, 2D stutters, etc. It upset me to see the droidX voted more desirable than the vibrant on gizmodo today. People are morons. Yet it benches higher than the Vibrant because it has faster write speeds. Lol.
Moved to the Q&A sub-forum.
I understand that it was a development request, but we still want to keep the development sub-forum for threads which actually have development in them. If this gets anywhere, I will move it back.
As far as the launcher itself... I don't like it, either.
I haven't tried adw on this phone....mainly because I don't care about themes. But I use launcherpro plus mostly instead of touchwiz. There are a few things I like better about tw but lpp's dock is so much cooler. I would never consider motoblur on this phone but that's just me.
ha, well let me rephrase my request since everyone seems to hate the blur launcher.
I primarily want the droid x/motoblur widgets, but I assume they are attached to the launcher, so I requested the whole launcher to be ported.
If it is possible to port the widgets without the launcher, then that would be better. OP edited.
I wonder if the launcher requires the moto framework. If so, then it would require a whole ROM port, unfortunately. Let's hope not.

TouchWiz vs. Stock Android...

Given the features of TouchWiz... and the inherit delays for updates... what do you prefer? The features/UI... or the timely updates?
I prefer TW. It definitely adds a bit more functionality and some eye candy. The handy toggles in status bar, better clock, calculator, calendar etc are all nice. Also I like widgets like feeds and updates and daily breifing. They are light and nothing similar that aggregates multiple functions in one widget is available in market. And oh I cannot live without program monitor widget/task manager!
TW4 really brings some nice visual improvement and polish to the launcher. Dont know we will ever get it in Vibrant.
I would question the logic that TW is the reason for delayed updates when international galaxy S models are getting almost timely updates. In my opinion Samsung and TouchWiz should not be blamed for delayed updates in US. There is definitely carrier politics involved.
Stock for me. I don't use the widgets much and usually end up deleting them from ROMs even before in install a new one. And one big one for me is that I can't stand a side scrolling app drawer and vertical option in TouchWiz doesn't satisfy my vertical preference.
I think the best of both worlds (sorta) is TouchWiz coupled with ADW EX. For the reasons above
Tw is fine for me just don't like the launcher so I switched it w/ eugene's stock one and now its fine
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I am one of the few people who prefers TouchWiz over Stock Android. For me, Touchwiz is a perfect mix of the Iphone and Android. There are some features of the iphone that I really like such as the horizontal scrolling and the four icons at the bottom. That really makes a big difference. I like how with Touchwiz there are just the four icons at the bottom which make everything very easy when going to the main things you use. Also, TouchWiz was not really made to appeal to die-hard fandroids. In fact, it was probably made more than not to make it easier for people to switch from Iphone to Android. This way, more people buy Samsungs in the transition between Iphone and Android instead of HTC or Motorola or LG for that matter. I hope that was enough.
:complicated:
I like aosp better but id gotten used to tw for a while and it was quite mice... however ive never had a rom w/tw that feels entirely fluid so i ended up on cm7 with launcher pro to satisfy my ocd.
Tw is nice tho, if it were a bit more stable... just take into account that i liked it the way in came and i ended up using launcher pro when i had aosp.
Sent from a cell tower to the XDA server to you.
IMHO the gingerbread launcher in the android market seems to be the best UI for me. Its sleek, snappy, and overall a great daily.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

Android UI and UX (Just converted from iPhone to Android)

Hello everyone,
For like 2 year now I still have iPhone 3G which was very relaxing (but now slow) so when I thought of update I thought about getting Android
So I got the Galaxy S2, It's a great phone with great hardware but I really guys dont know what exactly to tell you or what to say
but I find iPhone way more relaxing than Android and I really can't tell why
maybe the colors maybe the design of the android it self I really dont know
even though a lot of apps are available and everything is customizable but still
something is wrong for me and I dont know what it is, the motion and effects of the iphone are smoother or just better and gives you this great feeling and its not what it is on android
Also the keyboard, even though my screen is 4.3 inches and the keyboard is larger but I find that iPhone's keyboard is better it just feels good
My hope is very high with ICS 4 that Google would take care of UI and UX better than that, also organizing everything to make it easier or something
I know I'm not accurate but I just wanted to tell you guys to tell me what you really think and if its me only or everyone and also if you have a solution for this
Thanks
medorpg said:
maybe the colors maybe the design of the android it self I really dont know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Iphone uses a very high resolution IPS LCD screen ("retina" is just a fancy marketing word for that), not AMOLED based like the Samsung phones (thus color reproduction will not be the same). If you don't like the default colors, try another theme (system themes require root to change, launcher themes do not).
medorpg said:
the motion and effects of the iphone are smoother or just better and gives you this great feeling and its not what it is on android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a different launcher. Something like Go Launcher is pretty close the iphone. If that's not enough, try the MIUI ROM (requires root) for your phone if you haven't. MIUI is as close as you will get period to having an iphone while still having an android phone.
medorpg said:
Also the keyboard, even though my screen is 4.3 inches and the keyboard is larger but I find that iPhone's keyboard is better it just feels good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try another keyboard than the one the phone comes with (such a swype or swiftkey)? Generally the stock keyboard sucks.
Most iphone users that just start on android are not aware of the many replacement options (or if they are, they're not aware of specific ones that would solve their issues).
There's a saying that goes something like "If one is given infinite choices, some people will never be happy (since that they will forever think there is something better than what they currently have), but if one is told what choices they have, then they just grin and bear it, because that's all there is."
First thanks for your reply
but I already have Go Launcher and its okay for now
but actually I would like to install MIUI but I have a problem, I dont have a SD Card on my Galaxy S2 its just the internal memory so is there's anyway to install it without SD Card just using the internal memory ?
in both ways I will wait for android 4 I read about it and its really interesting that Google noticed that they have issues with their UI and I hope they solved this issue

Snappyness

So I've seen this word thrown around a lot since switching to Android from my old iPhail 3G (yes, I actually lived with that horrible laggy device for ~4 years) and in comparisons between Android and iOS (which I'm not trying to get into here). I've also read lots of people saying Jelly Bean was supposed to be 'snappier' compared to ICS. I wasn't sure if they were referring to lag as in fps or a delay in reaction. My Note II is currently stock 4.1.1, but I'm definitely noticing some delay in games, such as Air Hockey, between moving my finger on the screen and the paddle moving in the game, for example. It's quite noticeable in apps like Maps too. I had the Galaxy S III for a short time before I decided I wanted the bigger (and better specs) Note II, but not long enough to make any comparisons. My question is, is there a way to increase the snappyness without doing anything too dramatic, such as flashing a different ROM, etc. Or will a ROM like beanstown106's Jelly Beans help? Or is this a problem that is inherently part of Android operating system/devices? Thanks in advance.
marcmy said:
will a ROM like beanstown106's Jelly Beans help? .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you that flashing beans ROM made absolutely no speed difference whatever over my previous debloated/rooted stock ROM (and I didn't really expect it to)
One thing is, it is noticeably laggy when running the inferno galaxy live wallpaper, but pretty much instant response with regular WP.
The "snappieness" in individual apps is really down to the app itself combined with phone specs.
Poorly coded apps may have lag.
High end apps may push the hardware harder and cause lag.
I would bet its mostly the former when it comes to the Note 2.
Samsung also put touchwiz on these phones, which does affect overall performance to some degree. If we get the ability to remove much of it in favor of AOSP versions, then it should perform a little better overall.
The differences between iPhones and Android... is that Apple focuses on user interaction over all other things. So this means they will sacrifice performance in other areas to ensure that user interactions are kept smooth, or at least keep the appearance of smoothness. For example, iOS will stop loading web pages when you start to scroll the screen, so the CPU can focus on smooth scrolling. This means that the page will never finish loading if you keep scrolling around on the screen. Android does not do this or these kind of things. The new "project butter" implemented in JB is designed to help smooth out the interface and user interactions, without sacrificing performance in other areas. Its not perfect though, and it requires good specs and more power than the iOS way of "one thing at a time".
Great response ty very much. I guess next question is will we be able to get those AOSP versions later on or are we SOL in that department?
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Depends on which version you have.
I am on Verizon, so my device is locked down, other versions are not.
This device is also unique in the fact it has a Wacom stylus and functionality, so that must be considered.
Often times, you can swap things out without too much issue. AOSP lockscreen instead of touchwiz lockscreen... AOSP launcher instead of touchwiz launcher... without too much trouble. Problem is, underneath the ROM is still touchwiz... or at least that is how it worked on HTC Sense phones. (this is my first touchwiz device) HTC do a lot of work to the underlying framework which meant wholesale replacement of everything wasn't possible, so it depends on how much Samsung changed Android to put touchwiz on it.
Basically they "DE-Touchwiz" the phone and do some background tweaks for added performance, plus they "de-bloat the ROM. (they remove all the unnecessary crap that the carriers and Samsung put in, that served them some benefit, but not benefit the users) The advantage of this method is that you can keep much of the functionality of the stylus.
Another method is to use a ROM based on stock, but tweaked and de-bloated. This usually retains all the functionality of the device as it came out of the box... but the performance is usually only a little better than stock, and less than one where the AOSP stuff has been put in. This method does allow you to keep most of the stylus functionality.
As far as straight up custom ROMs based on AOSP...
They usually offer the best performance for a given device, having no extra crap, and being tweaked for performance... But you will lose most if not all the stylus functionality. Some ROMs may have limited stylus functionality, but they have to put that in themselves, meaning more work on their part.
As far as performance gains... I can only speak of HTC Sense devices with sureness. Where pure AOSP usually had significant improvements to performance/battery life. (mostly due to how extensive Sense is, touchwiz may be better in this regaurd) "De-sensed" ROMs where they removed all of the Sense stuff they could and replaced with AOSP equivalents, had good performance increases. "De-bloated" and tweaked but otherwise stock ROMs had some improvement.
But as was said, the stylus functionality is something that must be considered when looking at ROMs
After using AOSP ROMs quite extensively in both of my two Galaxy 3s, I have no desire whatever to run those type ROMs in my Note 2 (and lose things like pen functionality).
I could never see any performance difference whatever (except maybe in useless benchmarks) between a completely debloated TW ROM with all the features working perfectly and a buggy AOSP ROM in my G3s (and I tried every G3 ROM available at least twice).
Posters where constantly claiming this ROM is PERFECT when discussing any AOSP ROM but two posts later someone else would post "can anybody get NFL Mobile to work??" The next post would say "that has never worked in AOSP but I never use it anyway so who cares........"
Good call. I'd rather keep most functionality
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
You could go into a store and try some of those games out on a DNA. Hopefully some are free so you don't have to put your google account in the play store and then clear the data. The DNA's gpu is much faster. It sounds like it's the app coding though. I don't have any input lag with on screen buttons playing GTA or N64oid, and emulators are pretty heavy on the processor.

Software (ease of use, features, etc)

When you hand your phone to granny to take a photo of you, can she get the job done? Rate this thread to express how you deem the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge's camera software. A higher rating indicates that the software is easy to use, fast, uncluttered, and inclusive of advanced features for when you need them.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
This and the lack of foreseeable root are really the only two negatives regarding this device. Google's apps are just superior at every corner.
Messenger is more sleek than Messages
Chrome is now as smooth as Internet, but scrolls faster, accesses all my stored passwords, can share history with my computer.
Google's keyboard doesn't shove my friends emails into regular typing like Samsung's.
Gmail is much more appealing than Email.
Contacts and Phone - does anyone know how to get Google's variants working on a Verizon S7e?
Love the phone, but am loving it so much more with each Google app I add to replace one from Samsung.
Software features of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge are very neat. TouchWiz is overall very much improved and device has a great build quality. Multi Tasking Features are amazing, pop-up view windows, and single hand usage tweak by Samsung itself is responsive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K42A_PQLzHc
Waiting for tasting AOSP but it will kill many features
I'm about to return the phone due to software. TouchWiz is hell. I come from a Motorola and a Sony phone, those phones offered experiences close to stock Android with some added features.
Using this phone is incredibly complicated. The settings section is a mess and it crashes when you try to change the do not disturb options. The soft keys are just wrong. I have half of my ram consumed by Samsung apps and duplicate apps for everything.
The phone is just sad, this is not an android phone. I'll give it a shot for the weekend, otherwise I'm going to swap this for the HTC 10.
Now that I expressed my rage, could someone advice me on making this phone bearable?
pepinocho9 said:
I'm about to return the phone due to software. TouchWiz is hell. I come from a Motorola and a Sony phone, those phones offered experiences close to stock Android with some added features.
Using this phone is incredibly complicated. The settings section is a mess and it crashes when you try to change the do not disturb options. The soft keys are just wrong. I have half of my ram consumed by Samsung apps and duplicate apps for everything.
The phone is just sad, this is not an android phone. I'll give it a shot for the weekend, otherwise I'm going to swap this for the HTC 10.
Now that I expressed my rage, could someone advice me on making this phone bearable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too come from a Sony device, and I love the S7 Edge. Sony software is very stable, and "minimalistic" compared to Samsung, LG and Huawei's customization, but damn it, I'm not hating it. I owned the first Galaxy Note. Yeah, you want some buggy and laggy TouchWiz crap? Take a good look at how things used to be, and then come back to the S7 and tell what you think.
The problem isn't that today's TouchWiz is bad, because it's not even close to being bad. It's just you that can't adapt to TouchWiz, so you curse at it and make sure to tell us what you think. TouchWiz isn't close to being "stock Android", and it's your own fault if you even thought that to begin with, but it's smooth, quick and there aren't any huge bugs (that I'm aware of). The camera software is awesome, the battery is awesome, the display is awesome, the design is awesome, but I guess you don't like the looks of the "notification center" and the Settings-app? You can theme those, and I recommend you install the "Material Design" theme from the theme store. It's free. You can also remove the annoying "Quick connect" thingy in the notifications by tapping "edit" and then disable it there (at the bottom). Then install Nova Launcher or Google Now Launcher.
The real issue here though is that you think there are too many options. Think about it. I get it. I really do, but this is such a first world problem that I can't even... :laugh:
But alright, I've already mentioned the themes and stuff, so give me/us some more details on exactly what's annoying you, and we'll see if it's easily changeable.
I luv it samsung s7 egde
Came from a HTC m8, and I do like the phone. As much as I use to rag on my girlfriend about her wanting samsung...they did right by me on it with waterproof alone. I did want the 10 though but this phone is keeping me content

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