The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were released early this month and brought very important updates to the S6 and S6 Edge. However, it’s not all sunshine and you must know that the Galaxy S7 phones also get their fair share of shortcomings.
Even though the company has added some needed features like water-resistance and expandable storage to the S7, there are some things that we just don’t like in the new flagship. Let’s take them one by one.
1. Always-on display
While we appreciate Samsung’s effort to simply the user experience by providing an always-on display to show time and notifications, it was simply not needed. Nobody wants to see the time every moment, and this feature also causes some battery drain. Thankfully, you can disable this feature in settings.
2. Larger battery, But No Improvement in Battery Life
The Galaxy S7 comes with a 3,000mAh battery, and the Galaxy S7 Edge gets a 3,600mAh battery. However, the phones come with Quad HD displays and the haevy TouchWiz UI that contribute to consistent battery drainage. Fortunately, there’s fast charge, so you won’t have to wait much for a fully charged battery.
3. Edge is More About Design Than Function
The Galaxy S7 Edge looks pretty with that curved display, but when it comes to functions, it really isn’t needed. For instance, many Edge features can be accessed just as easily from the Home screen or the apps tray. We think that Edge screen still has a long way to go until it becomes something extremely useful.
4. No Silver Color Option for the S7
The Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ were the only phones to receive the gorgeous Silver color option in August 2015. However, they were made available only in Asia or through online retailers. The Galaxy S7 Edge comes in Black Onyx, Gold Platinum, and Titanium Silver colors. however, the Galaxy S7 model does not come in the Titanium Silver scheme, which is really very frustrating when you are already paying a bomb.
5. Fingerprint Authentication Takes Longer
In case you don’t know, fingerprint authentications in the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge is a two-step process. You first need to press the home button and then need to slide down your finger on the button to register your fingerprint and unlock the screen. Almost all the other Android phones with fingerprint sensors let you unlock the screen and register the fingerprint at the same time, so the Home button (if there’s one) remains un-pressed.
6. App Trays Inside App Trays
The Home screen has tried to make the UI cleaner by sorting some app shortcuts together into specific folders. The main app tray keeps apps for Google, Amazon, carrier apps, stock Samsung apps, etc. Within the tray, Google has got its own folder for its apps like Maps, Gmail, etc. This makes the UI look even more busy. Thanks to Samsung, that is customizable and can be changed as per your taste.
7. All U.S. carrier models have locked bootloaders
If you love tweaking Android devices, you will know that Verizon and AT&T devices come with locked bootloaders that are difficult to bypass. This is why T-Mobile is preferred by many users. However, all the carrier models of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge come with locked bootloaders, even T-Mobile. This makes it almost impossible for advanced users to configure the specs of their device as per their preference.
Verdict
You won’t find most or any of these features a deal-breaker and the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are still one of the best flagships in the market right now. But we do hope that Samsung addresses these issues in the next flagship.