Phones Galaxy S7 Edge vs. iPhone 7 Plus - a rant

[Pd1987]

I guess I'm just here to rant a bit. The S7 Edge is an extremely beautiful piece of hardware (sans case), and a personal favorite of mine, along with the iPhone 7 plus. I go back and forth between the two pretty regularly.

I both love and hate my blue coral s7 edge. It's absolutely stunning and looks so much better in person than in photos and videos. That said...why can't it get through the day on a full charge? Come 5pm and it's down to 40%. It's just mind boggling. My iPhone is at 50% in the late evening! I stream music to my car through bluetooth just about every day, stream music through headphones while at the gym just about every day, use snapchat and instagram heavily throughout the day, snap pictures...all this, every day with location enabled and don't worry AT ALL about battery life. With the s7 edge I have constant battery anxiety. I hate it so much because I really do love the phone itself and actually do enjoy Android. It's really a pity. Why should I have to cripple my phone (less accurate GPS, disabling this and that...) for it to last the day? Also, I like the notifications on Android, they are just so unreliable sometimes. iOS's are always reliable. As vanilla as iOS is, everything just works and is so refined. For that I don't mind what I paid for the phone.

Anyway, I just needed to get that out. I'm probably just going to sell it because it's just not worth using since I have to worry so much about it. I won't even consider buying the S8 as beautiful as it is...bummer!

 

[mclld]

So at 5pm with 40% you cant make it to bed without recharging?

 

[The Game 161]

Had same issues with my S7 edge. by 4pm most days it was down to 20-30%. battery life on the 7 plus is miles ahead of what S7 edge was for me personally.

 

[Pd1987]

So at 5pm with 40% you cant make it to bed without recharging?

I could, obviously. It is annoying, however to always be worried about the battery. Sometimes topping off during the day isn't possible.
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Had same issues with my S7 edge. by 4pm most days it was down to 20-30%. battery life on the 7 plus is miles ahead of what S7 edge was for me personally.

Same here. The 7 plus's battery life is incredible

 

[Yankee512]

Same here. S7 Edge is my work phone, and iPhone 7 plus is my personal phone.; The S7 Edge was rated beter than my 6 plus or even than the 7 in some reviews. It doesn't come close. No android phone does and has ever gotten close to the iPhone battery life. I barely use it, and its down to 50% and my iPhone is at 70% at the end of the day with lots of use.

 

[Klyster]

I have an S7 edge, my colleague has a 7 plus.
Guess who gets better battery life over a day?

I'm getting home with 70 to 80 percent but I'm not on Facebook all day like her lol

 

[Yankee512]

I have an S7 edge, my colleague has a 7 plus.
Guess who gets better battery life over a day?

I'm getting home with 70 to 80 percent but I'm not on Facebook all day like her lol

Doubtful when mine is never used for FB or anything during a work day and it's down to 50% right now from 6am. But I will say FB drains either phone very rapidly.

 

[Klyster]

Doubtful when mine is never used for FB or anything during a work day and it's down to 50% right now from 6. But I will say FB drains either phone very rapidly.

Finished work, early finish, it's 2:36pm and I'm at 90% was 100% at 7am, bearing on mind that I havent used my phone much seeing I had work to do... make that 89%


upload photos to paste code

 

[Pd1987]

Same here. S7 Edge is my work phone, and iPhone 7 plus is my personal phone.; The S7 Edge was rated beter than my 6 plus or even than the 7 in some reviews. It doesn't come close. No android phone does and has ever gotten close to the iPhone battery life. I barely use it, and its down to 50% and my iPhone is at 70% at the end of the day with lots of use.

Yeah, my s7 edge battery drops while it's just sitting there. I don't get it. I've tried everything!
[doublepost=1494043509][/doublepost]

Finished work, early finish, it's 2:36pm and I'm at 90% was 100% at 7am, bearing on mind that I havent used my phone much seeing I had work to do... make that 89%


upload photos to paste code

How?? Is yours an Exynos version?

 

[mib1800]

Yeah, my s7 edge battery drops while it's just sitting there. I don't get it. I've tried everything!
[doublepost=1494043509][/doublepost]
How?? Is yours an Exynos version?

Turn off Google Now feeds and Location History. Dont leave your games running in the background.
Usually the culprits for quick battery drain during standby.

 

[Pd1987]

Turn off Google Now feeds and Location History. Dont leave your games running in the background.
Usually the culprits for quick battery drain during standby.

Google now isn't enabled, neither is location history. No games running in the background lol.

 

[Klyster]

Yeah, my s7 edge battery drops while it's just sitting there. I don't get it. I've tried everything!
[doublepost=1494043509][/doublepost]
How?? Is yours an Exynos version?

Yep, New Zealand gets the exynos versions.
You can buy Snapdragons but they are parallel imports usually.
It's worth noting that I didn't actually do much with my phone as I was working, as you can see from the minute on screen time.
I usually have WiFi off too as I prefer 4G and accumulate heaps of roll over data.

 

[5105973]

Galaxy S8+ Snapdragon 835 is more comparable to the IPhone 7Plus in my experience. But everyone gets different results and my lifestyle and phone use is very different from yours. I don't use Snapchat or Instagram as I'm an old bat. Back when I used Facebook that killed my 6S Plus battery pretty fast.

 

[Pd1987]

Yep, New Zealand gets the exynos versions.
You can buy Snapdragons but they are parallel imports usually.
It's worth noting that I didn't actually do much with my phone as I was working, as you can see from the minute on screen time.
I usually have WiFi off too as I prefer 4G and accumulate heaps of roll over data.

That's what I thought. Of course the battery won't drain if you don't touch the damn thing lol. Yeah the s7 edges with snapdragons are typically awful!
[doublepost=1494082492][/doublepost]

Galaxy S8+ Snapdragon 835 is more comparable to the IPhone 7Plus in my experience. But everyone gets different results and my lifestyle and phone use is very different from yours. I don't use Snapchat or Instagram as I'm an old bat. Back when I used Facebook that killed my 6S Plus battery pretty fast.

I might try the S8+, though I said I wouldn't. It's just so beautiful! I use Facebook but only in the browser. I can't stand the app!

 

[5105973]

That's what I thought. Of course the battery won't drain if you don't touch the damn thing lol. Yeah the s7 edges with snapdragons are typically awful!
[doublepost=1494082492][/doublepost]
I might try the S8+, though I said I wouldn't. It's just so beautiful! I use Facebook but only in the browser. I can't stand the app!

FB in the browser was painfully crippled back when I tried it a year ago. They were trying so hard to get us all on their intrusive spyware apps. I still have my account with them but made it dormant so I no longer appear to be on FB. I disabled the app on my S8+.

I really liked my S7 Edge and S7 but yes, my husband and I both had our complaints about battery life. Neither of us has any problems getting through the day with our S8+ but I do use dark modes when available in apps. I do have wireless charging pucks around. My husband does great using his S8+ for business use, but he, too, has a charging puck at work and one built into his car. We've gotten to the point where we might have been charging without thinking about it. Wireless charging is really awesome that way. Did you make use of it when your had your S7 Edge?

If you fly or commute a lot and won't have charging options available to top off, a Plus sized IPhone is probably still the better bet for you. I say that because I did do some US coast to coast flying and traveling with my iPhones and they survived the trips with some charge left. Even my iPhone SE held up well during my trips.

I can't really encourage you to try the S8+ because my usage, while extensive, is very different from yours. I do stream music, take a lot of photos and videos, do my emails, some texting on the stock texting client and read Kindle and surf the web. Reading Kindle I can easily get 8 hours screen on time with half of it on default settings and half of it on dark mode. It's the Instagram and Snapchat usage that are the unknowns for me. I do not currently do anything to attempt to optimize my battery life. I do have some location services disabled for privacy, but not for battery optimization. I hate to be tracked.

If you do get an S8+ let me know how it survives your usage patterns. That would be a good test of the battery life for sure.

 

[4jasontv]

Google now isn't enabled, neither is location history. No games running in the background lol.

So, I take a little issue with this. It should be assumed that stock features of a phone should be on all day. The battery life of my device with the radio off is useless, and I think for the most part people would agree that would be a poor way to measure its performance. Then people say, "oh, well turn off the gps, bluetooth, and and be sure to quit all of your apps". The device is sold as having alerts from merchants based on location, wirelesss connectivity with headphones and smart watches, and the ability to run apps in the background. So shouldn't those things be a factor in how long the battery should normally last?

I get that there is no way to predict usage for everyone, and that the manufacturers want the best battery life number they can advertise, but I really think we need to start making these organizations accountable for how they represent them. Here is my proposal for determining battery life that will, for obvious reasons, never be done:

Stock phone with all features enabled, wifi on but not connected, holding an 80% signal streaming MST3K via the netflix app until it powers down.

Of course, I could see someone like Linus or NCIX doing it.

My S7 has now been off the charger for 44 minutes and has already lost 1% battery. I expect to lose 10% of my battery in 7 hours and 22 minutes assuming I do nothing else with it. If, however I had been using my device for 44 minutes I would be under 80% battery.

I don't know. I ramble. I just keep thinking that we test GPUs and CPUs with unrealistic stress tests, but for some reason we review phones by comparing it to "my typical workload".

 

[Pd1987]

So, I take a little issue with this. It should be assumed that stock features of a phone should be on all day. The battery life of my device with the radio off is useless, and I think for the most part people would agree that would be a poor way to measure its performance. Then people say, "oh, well turn off the gps, bluetooth, and and be sure to quit all of your apps". The device is sold as having alerts from merchants based on location, wirelesss connectivity with headphones and smart watches, and the ability to run apps in the background. So shouldn't those things be a factor in how long the battery should normally last?

I get that there is no way to predict usage for everyone, and that the manufacturers want the best battery life number they can advertise, but I really think we need to start making these organizations accountable for how they represent them. Here is my proposal for determining battery life that will, for obvious reasons, never be done:

Stock phone with all features enabled, wifi on but not connected, holding an 80% signal streaming MST3K via the netflix app until it powers down.

Of course, I could see someone like Linus or NCIX doing it.

My S7 has now been off the charger for 44 minutes and has already lost 1% battery. I expect to lose 10% of my battery in 7 hours and 22 minutes assuming I do nothing else with it. If, however I had been using my device for 44 minutes I would be under 80% battery.

I don't know. I ramble. I just keep thinking that we test GPUs and CPUs with unrealistic stress tests, but for some reason we review phones by comparing it to "my typical workload".

I completely agree, and that's my biggest problem with it and most people who extend their batteries by crippling their phones. Why should I have to do that? Why should I have to keep chargers everywhere I go? I want to go to disneyland and be there all day, while using my phone, and not worry a bit about it!
[doublepost=1494084341][/doublepost]

FB in the browser was painfully crippled back when I tried it a year ago. They were trying so hard to get us all on their intrusive spyware apps. I still have my account with them but made it dormant so I no longer appear to be on FB. I disabled the app on my S8+.

I really liked my S7 Edge and S7 but yes, my husband and I both had our complaints about battery life. Neither of us has any problems getting through the day with our S8+ but I do use dark modes when available in apps. I do have wireless charging pucks around. My husband does great using his S8+ for business use, but he, too, has a charging puck at work and one built into his car. We've gotten to the point where we might have been charging without thinking about it. Wireless charging is really awesome that way. Did you make use of it when your had your S7 Edge?

If you fly or commute a lot and won't have charging options available to top off, a Plus sized IPhone is probably still the better bet for you. I say that because I did do some US coast to coast flying and traveling with my iPhones and they survived the trips with some charge left. Even my iPhone SE held up well during my trips.

I can't really encourage you to try the S8+ because my usage, while extensive, is very different from yours. I do stream music, take a lot of photos and videos, do my emails, some texting on the stock texting client and read Kindle and surf the web. Reading Kindle I can easily get 8 hours screen on time with half of it on default settings and half of it on dark mode. It's the Instagram and Snapchat usage that are the unknowns for me. I do not currently do anything to attempt to optimize my battery life. I do have some location services disabled for privacy, but not for battery optimization. I hate to be tracked.

If you do get an S8+ let me know how it survives your usage patterns. That would be a good test of the battery life for sure.

Yeah I just can't get on board with leaving chargers everywhere. Maybe I'm being petty and unreasonable, but why should one have to do that? I like to be out and about and use my phone to snap pictures, send snaps, etc and I hate to worry about battery life when I'm out and doing things. The other day I was driving and streaming apple music to my car stereo via bluetooth (s7 edge) and the battery was dropping 1% every few minutes, and the screen was off... Unbelievable! My iPhone can go way longer while streaming without dropping a percentage point. Oh well

 

[nviz22]

The S7 Edge is a trade off. Better screen, more features, newer technology, just not as refined OS. Apple controls everything from the software to hardware. Samsung contends with different processors and is improving software over time. Apple just happened to be one of the best software wise in the game to start. If Apple tried to implement everything first, then their software could be more unreliable.

 

[Tsepz]

Interesting, I don't have a problem getting a full day on my S7 Edge, whether On Power Saving or Not.

This was with Power Saving yesterday:

And then this is without Power Saving, again a full day with plenty of usage as you can see with screen on time

 

[Pd1987]

Interesting, I don't have a problem getting a full day on my S7 Edge, whether On Power Saving or Not.

This was with Power Saving yesterday:

And then this is without Power Saving, again a full day with plenty of usage as you can see with screen on time

That's fabulous battery life! Alas, yours is probably the Exynos variant .

 

[Tsepz]

That's fabulous battery life! Alas, yours is probably the Exynos variant .

It is Exynos, indeed

I'm in South Africa, we generally get the European models.

 

[Pd1987]

The S7 Edge is a trade off. Better screen, more features, newer technology, just not as refined OS. Apple controls everything from the software to hardware. Samsung contends with different processors and is improving software over time. Apple just happened to be one of the best software wise in the game to start. If Apple tried to implement everything first, then their software could be more unreliable.

I definitely agree. The one thing I always think when I use android is that it's lacking some refinement and finesse.
[doublepost=1494088560][/doublepost]

It is Exynos, indeed

I'm in South Africa, we generally get the European models.

That's what I thought. Not fair!

 

[Tsepz]

I definitely agree. The one thing I always think when I use android is that it's lacking some refinement and finesse.
[doublepost=1494088560][/doublepost]
That's what I thought. Not fair!

Samsung need to stop dealing with Qualcomm SoCs, they have no idea how to optimise Touchwiz for them at all.

I get the feeling the reason they use Qualcomm in the US variants is due to some patents and agreements they made many years ago that I'm sure they regret everytime they want to launch a device in the US market.

 

[QueenTyrone]

My note 5 gets 5 days of standby and about 15 hrs battery life..my 7plus is no where near that./shrug

 

[4jasontv]

Interesting, I don't have a problem getting a full day on my S7 Edge, whether On Power Saving or Not.

This was with Power Saving yesterday:

And then this is without Power Saving, again a full day with plenty of usage as you can see with screen on time

No disrespect because I could only wish for such good performance, but where I live a day is 24 hours. I'm up at 5 AM and in bed by 1 AM. So your phone wouldn't make it for me either.

I am curious though, do you have GPS, bluetooth, and wifi turned on all day? How many email accounts do you sync? Do you only have one phone number? Is battery save mode turned on? Do you use the always on display? How many bluetooth devices do you use at a time? What widgets do you use? I've needed to use two calander apps because I can't find one that lets me have two different widgets with different info on each. How much data do you use a month?

You look like you use it a fair bit, so I am just trying to see how hard you push it compared to me. Cause I am at 2hr 49m and I am already at 82% on my S7. Chrome at 5%, screen at 3%, OS and system at 2% and play, idle, live mail, and standby at 1%. Nothing else. I charge it at least 2 to 3 times a day.