![]() ![]() There's no HTC BoomSound-like stereo grill on the S7 or S6. I also continue to be disappointed in Samsung's use of one speaker that shouts out the bottom of the phone's frame. The S6 doesn't have these gaming perks, even if its screen looks every bit as good for games and movies. This is incredibly handy for people (read: everyone) who accidentally hits these buttons during crucial gaming moments. ![]() Samsung's S7-only gaming app suite is topped off with an ability to limit GPU performance in an effort to save battery life, disable all incoming notifications and lock the navigation keys (meaning the back, home and multitasking buttons along the bottom). Meant to be more than a container app, it also takes in-game screenshots, records live gameplay footage and can even broadcast you playing the game in a little Twitch-like window using the front-facing camera. Not only does the S7 make gaming feel snappier when loading up an intensive, 3D app, it offers a new Game Launcher. There's a lot going on with both phones, especially on the S7 with its record-breaking specs and always-on display, but neither of these new features take a toll on the day-to-day battery life. It's only being outclassed by its replacement, after a year of holding onto the best phone title. Its Samsung-made Exynos 7420 processor, available worldwide, dominated every other Android phone out there in 2015, and it had a healthy 3GB of RAM. The Galaxy S6 comes close to the S7 speeds, and it has 64GB and 128GB options for internal storage in addition to the entry-level 32GB. Internal storage comes in just 32GB so far. The S7 packs in 4GB of RAM, like the the larger Samsung Galaxy Note 5, and that means you can open as many apps and Chrome tabs as you'd like without slowing down this smartphone powerhouse. That's a requirement for Verizon and Sprint users to make calls. Plus, the Qualcomm chip contains the essential bands for the US carriers, including CDMA. But the speeds of both are once again record-breaking for an Android phone. Samsung's Exynos chip fared noticeably better than the new Snapdragon processor in our dual S7 benchmarking tests. The rest of the world gets Samsung's Exynos 8890 chip. ![]() In the US, the phone marks the debut of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor. There are actually two flavors of the S7 System-on-a-Chip (and no, you can't order one over the other like you're configuring a computer). The Samsung Galaxy S6 was never a specs sheet slouch, but the Galaxy S7 is more powerful in every way, starting with its top-of-the-line processor, or processors. Galaxy S6 might gain some of these new features when Android 6.0 Marshmallow eventually rolls out to their phone, but there's no telling when that will happen. A large shortcut appears right above the home button when initiating Now on Tap. Accessing Google Now is still possible on the S7, but now it's a two-step process. The Galaxy S6 doesn't have Google Now on Tap, so holding the home button throws you right into Google Now. That's instead of copying the unfamiliar name, closing the messaging app, opening Chrome and pasting it into Google. The newest version of Android brings onboard Google Now on Tap, a feature that scans what you're looking at and provides contextual background information and shortcuts.ĭid someone young and "with it" mention a hot, new singer you never heard of in a message? Or maybe you cited a politician way before their time? Now on Tap does the heavy lifting of looking that information up - just hold down the home button. What I'm liking most is Android 6.0 Marshmallow and Samsung's Game Launcher. In Europe, it's been overtaken by a similar news curation app, Upday. The leftmost homescreen is once again Flipboard in the US. The S7 further tweaks the icons with a flatter design and changes the quick settings pull-down menu, making it easier to access everything at once. While not completely clutter-free, there's a lot less to protest about on either phone. Samsung found a way to make its complicated interface customizable without appearing to be overbearing. Maybe the word hasn't gotten out to S5 owners waiting to upgrade, maybe they've already moved onto a Nexus phone in disgust? Its menus became cleaner and looked more sophisticated in 2015, and the company doubled down on software polish for 2016. ![]()
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