I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my Samlag Jankity S7 Edge

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 05/31/2018 at 10:18 • Filed to: None

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The unlocked Galaxy S7 Edge that I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is regularly pissing me off. I don’t care about its iridescent silver finish and curved screen when it’s less functional than my wife’s cheap Moto G5+ at basic smartphone tasks like Google Maps and streaming music. Fuck this phone.

On paper, the S7E ticked all my boxes, and even introduced me to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But no matter what I do, including a recent factory reset, it lags like crazy on Google Maps, and streaming music. Doing anything else when either of these things is in the background is unreasonably slow, and doing them together drags the phone to a crawl. Oh, and I use Google Maps and stream music together all the damn time. Plus there’s the little Samsung annoyances like their multitasking view and lock screen notifications sucking compared to regular Android. I’m not a stock Android purist but I just can’t take it any more.

I don’t want to spend new flagship phone money, and the need for Verizon compatibility limits my options in the unlocked world where more phones tend to only work on T-Mobile and AT&T. I just switched from T-Mobile back to Verizon because of coverage at my new office.

I’m looking at used examples of the OG Pixel XL. They’re now under $300. I’m also sorta kinda considering the Moto Z2 Force. It has a pretty good camera, I like Motorola software, the fingerprint sensor is on the front which I like, and in theory you can add a wireless charging Moto Style Shell to the back of it, but this particular item is no longer widely available. I could probably find one if I wanted. The downsides are it’s not unlocked, there’s no headphone jack, and its ShatterShield screen is so soft you can scratch it with your fingernails, requiring a screen protector on a supposedly shatter-proof screen.

I’m not moving on either of these right away, because Motorola has 3 other phones that may or may not all be announced at an event on June 6: the Z3, Z3 Play, and One Power. So far only the Z3 Play specs have leaked, and while its Snapdragon 636 is less powerful than I’d prefer, it could work. Much less is known about the other two.

More to come. Fucking Samsung. How the hell do they sell so many phones?

UPDATE: After writing this post I decided to play around with the phone more to see if I could make any options. I lowered the resolution from 1440p to 1080p, and turned on Force GPU Rendering in Developer Options. It’s made the phone generally decent to use although not jank-free. I don’t like that I’m not able to use the full resolution of the screen, but this has at least prevented me from hastily buying a used Pixel XL 1 before Motorola announces their new phones in a couple days.

Discerning > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:27

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I have a standard S7 and it’s crap. My personal one is crap, my one for work is crap, my fiance’s is crap.

It lags, the camera acts up, and it’s generally very frustrating.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:28

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I have a Pixel 2 XL and absolutely love the thing, the only downside is that since it doesnt have the words Samsung or Apple on it cases are hard to come by

Future next gen S2000 owner > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:28

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I’m a cheap bastard, but the missus and I upgraded to Moto G5+’s last fall. I really like it. It does everything I need it to do and then some. Sometimes I move faster than it likes, could use a bit more RAM but I’ve seen good battery life.

I don’t understand why people spend more.

PartyPooper2012 > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:29

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I have an S9 and i have a protective screen on it. I don’t know if thats the culprit, but I have similar issues. Buttons are placed at edges of curved screen and become unobtanium. Many times (i suspect due to protective screen) I also cannot “press” buttons or scroll.

Usually when I call it piece of shit a few times, I manage to get my oversized fingers on that miniscule button in the corner of a curved screen

Textured Soy Protein > Future next gen S2000 owner 05/31/2018 at 10:33

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The G5+ is a great phone for the money.

But the screen is ok at best. It’s kinda dull and I’m always finding myself bumping the brightness higher on my wife’s.

The camera can produce good results in daylight but often you have to tap on something to focus and meter for that, otherwise the camera app doesn’t expose scenes with bright and dark areas very well. In low light the camera is blah.

Mercedes Streeter > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:36

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How the hell do they sell so many phones?

Because like they work exceptionally well when they’re brand spanking new and are the top of the line...but give it a few years of usage and updates (both software and generation) and they start falling apart. iPhones seem to have this problem, too.

Textured Soy Protein > PartyPooper2012 05/31/2018 at 10:40

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My dad’s job was issuing him whatever phone he wanted to replace his Moto Droid Turbo 2. He asked my opinion and said the IT guy recommended the S9. I told him I replaced my Moto X Pure with an S7E and if he likes the nice clean Motorola software he should get the Pixel 2 XL. He...picked an S9+ instead.

bob and john > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:41

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weird, I have a base S7 and its been reasonably peachy. but I do have issues with the maps not working if its locked for a bit.

I do miss my old Sony Z3 time to time. that was a FANTASTIC phone that met a very unfortunete end to a rock on a freeway on the motorcycle. RIP.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:45

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I buy phones from Samsung’s “Galaxy A” line. All or most of the same features as the S series but for half the price. I currently have this and I’ve had no issues with it whatsoever. It’s not verizon compatible though.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:47

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I’ve got the original pixel XL and it’s fantastic. No wireless charging, but whatever. It would be nice but I can deal. Biggest issue I have with it, Bluetooth audio sometimes cuts for a split second. That’s it. Everything else does exactly what it’s supposed to do. Doesn’t lag when updating, great battery life, fantastic camera. I’m keeping it until it dies.

fintail > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:48

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I had one of these when I was a Note 7 refugee. I seem to recall it being laggy even when new. I was not unhappy to see it go.

I now have a Note 8, which is great save for a decrease in battery life after every update - this one won’t be with me through the year.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:50

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I have had the same phone for over 2 years now. It was really good for 6 months to a year and then went to crap. actually on the previous version of android, it lagged worse, so at least its improving...or i’m getting used to it.

If I want to run google maps on my phone I just have to accept thats the only thing I’m gonna do with the phone until I don’t need to use maps anymore. I think a big cause of the lag is the phone is thermally throttling because it overheats. I notice it a lot using apps like google maps or playing games (which I hardly do anymore) or if I’ve been outside in the sun and the phone gets hot.

LOREM IPSUM > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 10:54

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I’m thinking Oneplus 6 to replace my Note 5, which I have no complaints about.

8 gigs of ram and 256gb of storage should do me quite nicely.

Textured Soy Protein > Mercedes Streeter 05/31/2018 at 11:00

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I’ve only had mine 8 months though. There was a little herky jerkyness from the start but its performance with music streaming and Google Maps is atrocious.

Textured Soy Protein > bob and john 05/31/2018 at 11:02

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I miss my Moto X Pure that this S7E replaced. But I really wanted a fingerprint scanner.

Textured Soy Protein > LOREM IPSUM 05/31/2018 at 11:04

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If I did OnePlus or any other GSM-only unlocked phone, I’d have to roll with AT&T, since T-Mobile coverage at my office and my parents’ vacation house is crap. But I’m unsure if AT&T is actually ok at my office because I couldn’t find anyone who works here on AT&T, and I didn’t want to go through the hassle of switching to find out. Plus the cheap prepaid plans on Verizon’s network are more desirable.

Textured Soy Protein > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 05/31/2018 at 11:06

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I never had issues with Google Maps on my old Moto X Pure, and my wife’s cheap Moto G5+ also handles it fine. Crazy that a more modern flagship phone can’t handle it, and even worse that just streaming music in the background while going stuff like Chrome or Facebook would cause any noticeable lag, but it does.

Textured Soy Protein > fintail 05/31/2018 at 11:11

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I’ve played with my dad’s S9+ and that’s bigger than I want to mess with. In general, I don’t like too huge of phones, and now I have a separate iPhone 6S from work. The nature of our business is such that the necessary security requirements for using a personal device with work email were more access to my personal device than I wanted to give up, so now like many other people in DC I roll with work and personal phones. I don’t carry both on me at all times but for the times I do, I don’t want a giant personal phone, but the regular S8/S9 are smaller than I’d like, and I’m hesitant to go back to the Samsung well after this experience.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 11:12

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I bought a Galaxy S4 back in the day. I’m never going back to Samsung after that experience.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 11:14

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All of the Android-powered Samsung phones my brother has had turned into a laggy mess within a month of purchasing them. The native applications were designed by someone who really hated the average end user, and not only that, when it was combined with the grating lag, ended up with plenty of frustration.

The only Samsung device that my entire family managed to enjoy was the Samsung Brightside, an old touchscreen/slide keyboard phone that featured just another generic Brew Mobile Platform implementation. It was built like a tank, and because you never could demand much out of it, it never really did cause any of us issues.

My current phone - a Droid Turbo - has had plenty of issues, all related to build quality of components:

• The screen beneath the Gorilla Glass cracked somehow. $150 down the drain to get a remanned phone under warranty (not even sent back for a repair, wtf?)
• The remanned phone still had the same issue as my first Droid Turbo where dust and grime got in through the speaker mesh, and settled behind the front-facing camera.
• The remanned phone recently had its USB port fail. Every single micro-USB cable that I attempt to plug in flops about uselessly.

bob and john > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 05/31/2018 at 11:16

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which SUCKS in the middle of a ride.

Textured Soy Protein > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 05/31/2018 at 11:31

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Even used on Swappa they’re over $600 and I’m not trying to spend that kind of money.

Textured Soy Protein > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 05/31/2018 at 11:36

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I had basically no issues with my Moto X Pure that I had for a couple years. The USB port may have been getting slightly loose but also the cable I had been using in my car was worn out and it was fine with other cables. Only reason I got rid of it is I wanted/needed a fingerprint scanner which it didn’t have.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > bob and john 05/31/2018 at 12:08

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It’s so brief I barely notice it. Like milliseconds. And maybe only happens once an hour.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 12:34

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I have the smart phone equivalent of a Mitsubishi Mirage. It’s the J somthing 7? (I don’t remember). Oddly enough it’s a few years old and it hasn’t slowed down a bit. I just delete the cache and such when it starts to slow down a little and it’s as fast as it was new, which isn’t anything to complain nor write home about.

Maybe it had less bloat ware on it than the higher end phones? Idk.

Lokiparts > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 12:47

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I am still using an original Google Pixel That I bought in 2016, and it still is just as fast and smooth as the day that I bought it... if not smoother, thanks to the updates it regularly gets.

Normally I am one of those people who is always upgrading at least once a year but the Pixel is the first phone I’ve ever owned where upgrading just doesn’t feel necessary. The camera is still so good, and the phone so smooth, that if it wasn’t for the fact that the battery is starting to get degraded I would probably keep it indefinitely.

As it stands based on my experiences with this phone I’ll probably be picking up a Pixel 3 to replace it when they come out. But if you need a good inexpensive unlocked phone, the original Pixel is still a fantastic choice.

Also I wish you had posted this like a week ago. Woot! was selling refurbished Pixels for $200 - $250 depending on the size and storage. I seriously had to resist the urge to buy another one even though I literally would have had no use for it.

bob and john > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 05/31/2018 at 12:59

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ditto.

Textured Soy Protein > Lokiparts 05/31/2018 at 13:27

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B&H has brand new 32 GB OG Pixels for $349 or $449 for 128 GB, but I want the XL.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 13:31

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Samsung bloat always pisses me off. Stock, vanilla android is SOOO good. Idk why the garbage Samsung throws on there is so popular. The hardware is pretty good but damn, I think I hate Samsung more than Apple when it comes to software. Ehhh that might be a little too far, I can’t stand IOS but at least the Samsung is still Android somewhere under all the crap.

I say this even though I have a Samsung phone currently. I miss my Sony Z3 compact but man that thing was way too fragile for my lifestyle. Small, decent phones are hard to come by though.

Lokiparts > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 13:42

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Amazon currently has “Certified Refurbished” Pixel XLs for $228 and $278 for the 32gb and 128gb versions. Although the reviews make them sound more like used phones than refurbs. So you might be better off looking a the second hand market.

Link: http://a.co/aF59bOI

For what it’s worth I have used both and honestly I prefer the smaller Pixel. The only real benifit of the XL is that it definitely has better battery life. But the small one still gets me through an average day.  

Textured Soy Protein > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/31/2018 at 13:50

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Samsung bloat, as far as the software itself, doesn’t bother me too much. I don’t like the extra steps to open a lock screen notification vs. stock, and the recent apps card view isn’t as good, and the settings is needlessly redone, but overall it’s no big deal to me. What I can’t forgive is the overall shitty performance when streaming music and/or using Google Maps.

Sony has a new XZ2 Compact, although I personally hate smaller phones. My work phone is an iPhone 6S and I’m like, why is this so small?

Textured Soy Protein > Lokiparts 05/31/2018 at 13:51

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I don’t like small phones. My work phone is an iPhone 6S and it feels tiny to me. It fulfills its purpose of giving me mobile access to work stuff without giving me company too many security permissions on my personal device, but I don’t like it.

Lokiparts > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 14:00

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That’s fair. Everyone has different preferences, which is why I was glad Google offered the two models. Which the best part was that with the original Pixel phones, aside from the screen and the battery the big and small versions were effectively identical.

Coincidentally I actually have a 6s for work too. The small Pixel is just about the same size but a little thicker. The funny thing is I just got upgraded to the 6S from a 5S... now that phone was too small. It was like a fat credit card with a screen.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Lokiparts 05/31/2018 at 14:15

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I second the Pixel vote. My day 1 Pixel is still as smooth as day 1, even running the P beta like it is now. On Oreo it’s even smoother than launch. Battery life is still great too.

Lokiparts > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 14:20

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I just looked around a little more and Newegg has new Pixel XLs for $430

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2TY7CD9595

Textured Soy Protein > Lokiparts 05/31/2018 at 14:51

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I like medium-large phones. My old Moto X Pure was 5.7" but actually easier to hold than my 5.5" S7E because of the curved back on the X Pure. Also there was a dimple for the Motorola logo below the camera and most cases did a cutout for both the camera and the dimple which gave a good place to rest my index finger when using the phone one-handed.

My case on my work phone has a similar cutout for the Apple logo and it makes the already small phone even easier to hold.

Textured Soy Protein > Lokiparts 05/31/2018 at 15:23

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Can’t tell from that listing if it’s the USA unlocked version or international, so I’d be hesitant to try.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 15:53

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Haha I just like my phone to fit in my pocket comfortably! I have a Nexus 7 tablet and an ancient windows laptop for when I want a bigger screen around the house. I am not going to watch videos on my phone so the smaller the better. I love seeing people who still rock an iphone 4, that is my dream size phone. But tablets are all but obsolete nowadays so it kind of makes sense to just have one device somewhere in between the size.

It’s less about the apps and more the UI that is the issue. Everything is flashy and annoying. Using Nova as my launcher made a boatload of improvement but there are still annoying samsung quirks in the way. My wifi turns itself on and connects to remembered connections, even if I turn it off. This annoys me because I usually turn it off for a reason. The wifi happens to be slower than my data connection or there is a stupid sign in window I dont feel like dealing with at the moment. But out of nowhere my phone will just do its own thing and connect. The lock screen and quick setting pull down are also just weird. I’ve gotten used to it but I still just love how smooth my Nexus is, even after 4 years of owning it.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 21:08

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Weird, I got mine shortly after it was released in May 2016 and it’s still working fine - no speed issues whatsoever.

It uses the stock Android interface, but I do miss having the actual stock Android system. My previous phone was the Nexus 5 but its battery life became so short pretty quickly that I mostly bought the S7 Edge for its battery.

Definitely want to go back to a Google phone the next time I buy now that they have a phone with a big battery,

Textured Soy Protein > gin-san - shitpost specialist 05/31/2018 at 21:49

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After making this post, I tried again today to drop the resolution down to 1080p and give it a restart, and then used Google Maps and Pandora on my drive home from work. It was somewhat better, but not what you would expect from a flagship phone. Even from a couple years ago. It’s often fine, even speedy, it just hates working well with Google Maps. It was at least tolerable if not particularly smooth on 1080p. That’s the default setting so if you never changed it up to 2K you may not have experienced the crap I was going through. But both my old Moto X Pure with a Snapdragon 808 and 2K display, and my wife’s Moto G5+ with a Snapdragon 625 and 1080p display, are smoother in Google Maps than my S7E. I hate that if I pick up my wife’s cheap G5+ to change a setting or do something for her, it’s noticeably smoother than my S7E.

Joe6pack > Textured Soy Protein 05/31/2018 at 23:20

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I am a big Motorola fan. They kinda fly under the radar. I have a Droid Turbo 2 and can’t say enough good things about it. It’s damn near indestructible which I need while wrenching.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Textured Soy Protein 06/01/2018 at 05:16

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Apple

Textured Soy Protein > pip bip - choose Corrour 06/01/2018 at 08:39

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I’m already stuck with an iPhone 6S for work and I hate the phone itself and having to carry two phones. I’m just going back to the land of Android that hasn’t been messed with, i.e. a phone from Google or Motorola. OnePlus would also be right up my alley but they don’t have the network compatibility I need. Just need to wait and see what Motorola announces on June 6.

Spanfeller is a twat > Textured Soy Protein 06/04/2018 at 10:03

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My Nexus had just began to slow down after a year and a bit of usage, same is not true of the PH1 that lagged pretty much from the first day (what a shitty phone) but nothing compared to the huawei lite I had; it did not stream music in the background, it just couldn’t handle it! So I switched back to a two year old iphone, had some reasonable restrictions put in (most apps don’t background refresh) and it is zippy as ever! I don’t blame the manufacturers as much as I blame developers, I think that developing an app for an Iphone takes lack of ram into consideration a lot more!

Textured Soy Protein > Spanfeller is a twat 06/04/2018 at 10:10

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The problem with Android phones is that not every manufacturer optimizes their OS builds for smoothness. They’re all customizing Android in some way, some more than others. I’ve had good luck with Motorola phones, their software is usually nice and clean and smooth. They’re not perfect, especially when it comes to putting out updates in a timely fashion, but overall I like their software.

Spanfeller is a twat > Textured Soy Protein 06/04/2018 at 10:44

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I

Fucking

Hate

Skins

It’s why I bought the 6p and the ph1; supposedly neither has an android skin like touchwiz

Textured Soy Protein > Spanfeller is a twat 06/04/2018 at 12:00

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I actually thought about the PH-1 as it does everything I need, in theory.

The Moto Z2 Force also appeals to me a lot, but it has that stupid plastic ShatterShield screen that might protect the screen from shattering, but collects scratches way too easily. Also unlike Motorola’s cheaper phones, it does not come in a universal unlocked version that will work on Verizon. In the US they made a bunch of carrier-specific versions, each of which has limited radio bands and carrier bloatware.

Spanfeller is a twat > Textured Soy Protein 06/04/2018 at 12:38

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The PH1 sucks... I thought the same as you, but it seems like the “cheap premium naked android phone” niche that the nexus covered is dead.

Textured Soy Protein > Spanfeller is a twat 06/04/2018 at 13:10

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I would be all over a OnePlus if they had the network compatibility I need but they don’t work on Verizon.

I’m hoping that Motorola gets their act together with their premium models. They do a great job with the G series but the Z series is a bit of a mess. The One Power looks like it has some potential, even if it has a stupid notch. The Z3 series could be good, if they become carrier-universal.

https://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-phones-releasing-2018

Spanfeller is a twat > Textured Soy Protein 06/04/2018 at 13:24

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I miss the days of the HTC and Samsung Google Play editons tbh.

Motorola must be good, it was/is owned by google, no?

Spanfeller is a twat > Textured Soy Protein 06/04/2018 at 13:24

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I miss the days of the HTC and Samsung Google Play editons tbh.

Motorola must be good, it was/is owned by google, no?

Textured Soy Protein > Spanfeller is a twat 06/04/2018 at 13:49

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Google owned Motorola for a while but sold it to Lenovo a few years ago. They’ve continued with their clean mostly-stock Android builds with a few handy additions. The problem is the last good high end phone hardware they made was the X Pure / X Style in 2015. Lenovo has laid off a lot of Motorola people and while the software is good, they’re bad about updating it. I had an X Pure that I bought in 2015 and it didn’t get a Nougat update until like September 2017.

They’re starting to make some Android One phones with updates handled by Google. There is an Android One version of the X4 but it’s only available through Google Project Fi and it loses the handy (but not absolutely crucial) Motorola. software tweaks. The One Power is also supposed to be Android One. Hopefully it has Motorola tweaks. Nokia has managed to add a few of their extra nice things to Android One.

About a year ago Google bought most but not all of HTC to work on Pixels.