[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Real Life Review] jshamlet:
I wouldn't say "love", but I'm growing to like it. My last Samsung device was a Galaxy S2 Skyrocket (i727). I departed for HTC after the epic fail that was the i727 Jelly Bean official release. I will say that I love my HTC One M8, despite its lackluster camera and quirky Sense UI, largely due to the speakers (still the best I've found on a phone) and the ability to S-off, which gives full control over the device.

I have much more mixed feelings about the S7 Edge. Before I begin, I will say that I went with the edge variant of the S7 because of the larger battery and display. I actually felt the "edge" was a gimmick - net negative, not a positive, and I'm still not sold on it. However, that said, it hasn't been as bad as I imagined. It really only causes problems when I'm trying to use the onscreen keyboard. The added battery life makes up for it, though. I still don't feel like the S7 has "great" battery life, but I'm not nearly as paranoid as I have been in the past about it.

However, despite not being sure about the edge feature, I do love the way the phone looks - I got the Onyx version, and combined with the AMOLED's deep blacks, the phone looks amazing. I put it in an Otterbox defender, so I don't see the glass black, but it is a gorgeous device still. The solid black glass front is classy looking.

I also love the camera on this phone. It is actually better than the camera on my wife's iPhone 6S plus - and she was envious when I started taking better shots than she was. (Her phone was the reigning champ before due to the One M8's not so hot camera) Everything about taking and manipulating pictures is worlds better. I'm truly impressed by this phone's picture taking capabilities. The low-light capability is astounding and the AF is very fast. Definitely one of the perks of getting a Samsung flagship.

I'm not so fond of stock launchers, so Nova Launcher is my first install. I noticed that the TouchWiz home was improved, but not nearly enough to make me actually use it. Thus, I only interacted with the stock launcher for about 5 minutes. However, I dumped the Sense launcher as well - I just prefer NL. So, no comment on that. However, most of the stock apps are actually usable, which is nice. I've started using the built-in Memo app, music player, etc. instead of the third party apps I replaced all of the stock HTC stuff with. The major exception is the mail client, which is broken for me. Otherwise, I really like a lot of the stock Samsung stuff. Samsung Pay, in particular, has been fun to play with.

I also really like the thumbprint reader. It was one of the few features on my wife's phone that I was envious of, as it makes unlocking the device and signing into things SO much easier. The S7's reader is quick and accurate, and easily as good as TouchID. It does miss occasionally, but overall I have come to really like it. I wouldn't have bought it for the reader, but I've come to use it a LOT.

The phone app itself is a bit annoying, but only because I'm right-handed. However, the phone app on the M8 was also annoying, so that's a wash. In the case of the S7, the answer button is just outside of reach of my thumb, so I turned on the hardware answer functions. It's different from what I'm used to but it works reasonably well. Obviously this is a common problem, as there is a special mode just for this. I knew this going in, though, as I played with the phone in the store. It's just part of owning a "large" phone.

The loudspeaker, however, was a real disappointment coming from the One M8, though I recognize that those were probably the best speakers anyone has ever put in a phone. That said, the S7's speaker is so much worse that I had to change my ring tone because it sounded more like a death rattle than a song. Not a biggie, and it works fine as a speakerphone, but definitely not one of this device's finer attributes. At least the headphone DAC is solid.

Perhaps most disappointing, however, is all of the customization options that have been neutered by Samsung. Basic stuff, like themes and fonts are now out of reach unless you want to buy stuff in their Galaxy Apps store. I guess I was spoiled by Sense, where you could do all of that for free and install any font you like. The font situation in particular is horrendous, as you can ONLY install monotype licensed fonts from the Galaxy store, and they barely have any decent fonts! Even repackaging the stock Android fonts would be an improvement. It feels very iPhone like in that regard, and I'm not thrilled with the direction Samsung has gone. It's not enough to make me hate my phone, but it sure took the shine off and dropped me from "love" to "It's a nice device - I'm sort of fond of it"

I feel like this device could be a phone I could love, but there are just too many rough edges or things that rub me the wrong way. It feels like Samsung is trying to copy all of Apple's shtick, right down to the annoying bits.