Samsung Galaxy

270 'Samsung Galaxy' stories May 2011 - March 2016

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Samsung’s “Good Lock” UI for Galaxy devices is crazy, complex, and even brilliant in places

Edoardo Maggio Mar 29 2016 - 4:27 pm PT

It is no secret that Android users love to customize their devices. Without diving too deep into rooting, the Play Store already offers a great deal of apps capable of sneaking their way into the phone’s UI and changing profoundly how the handset operates for a lot of day-to-day use stuff – think third party launchers. The lock screen is obe area where a lot of developers have focused, even though the arrival of Lollipop mostly eliminated widgets’ integration and standardized its look.

Just when I thought Samsung may have ended surprising me with its software, however, it came up with one very smart trick up its sleeve. By updating the Samsung’s System UI (a core system application), an app called ‘Good Lock’ – downloadable on the Galaxy Apps store – not only changes the standard look of Samsung’s lock screen, but the very way notifications are managed, the toggles’ UI, and even the unlocking animation. It does so all while bringing widgets back with an almost radical and intelligent (if a bit complicated) redesign…

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Samsung unveils all-new metal-bodied Galaxy J7 and Galaxy J5 for 2016

Cam Bunton Mar 29 2016 - 3:37 am PT

Samsung has finally, albeit quietly, launched the new J-series handsets for 2016. The new low-end phones have improved specs on last year, and unlike previous generations, they come with a sturdy, sculpted metal chassis similar to the A-series phones. If the prices are close to those of last generation, these could be very competitive phones (at least by Samsung’s standards).

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Sprint begins Android Marshmallow rollout for Galaxy Note 5 users

Cam Bunton Mar 24 2016 - 4:12 am PT

Following on from Verizon, Sprint has started pushing out the Android Marshmallow update to its Samsung Galaxy Note 5 users. Customers on the nation’s fourth largest carrier with Sammmy’s flagship phablet should see the update become available over the next couple of days.

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Android Marshmallow to begin rolling out to Sprint’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge today

Abner Li Mar 10 2016 - 12:49 pm PT

Even though the Android N Developer Preview was released yesterday, Marshmallow is only on 2% of devices. The number should only increase as more OEMs release updates to last year’s flagship devices and starting today, Sprint is updating its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge variants to Android 6.0.

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The Galaxy S7 might have a ‘chipgate’ of its own, but most users probably won’t notice

Edoardo Maggio Mar 8 2016 - 7:01 am PT

Among the numerous changes made by Samsung with last year’s pair of Galaxy S6 flagships, the decision to stick with the Exynos 7420 everywhere the device was shipped stood out particularly. Common practice for the South Korean giant was to manufacture its high-end handsets with Snapdragon chips in the mainstream markets of Europe and the United States, while delivering an Exynos-powered experience in Asia.

Given the Snapdragon 810’s notorious over-heating problems, however, it was probably a good decision; but Qualcomm set to come back in full swing this year, obtaining a deal that sees US-bound Galaxy S7s equipped with their SoC. This, however, seems to have created major discrepancies between the two models’ performances; according to AnTuTu tests, a negligible 5% difference sets the two models apart as far as CPU power goes, while up to a massive 32% gap separates the greatly superior Snapdragon 820 from the seemingly under-performing Exynos 8890 in GPU-related benchmarks…

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Admire the Galaxy S7’s camera capabilities with this stunning video

Edoardo Maggio Mar 3 2016 - 3:51 pm PT

It is no secret that Samsung has stepped up its camera game significantly in the past few years. Particularly, starting with the Galaxy Note 4 at the end of 2014, the high-end devices of the South Korean giant have started to truly impress reviewers and customers alike, further cementing this perception with the strong performances delivered by the Galaxy S6 family as well as the latest iteration of the Notes.

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Watch the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge being bent, scratched, dropped, held underwater and burned [Videos]

Ben Lovejoy Mar 3 2016 - 4:58 am PT

So, you’ve managed to get early delivery of a shiny new Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, what’s the first thing you do with it? Try your best to destroy it is the answer from a couple of YouTubers out there.

JerryRigEverything put the device through scratch, burn and bend tests, while EverythingApplePro pitched the smartphone against Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus to see how it fared when submerged in water and dropped on the ground …

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Mophie Juice Pack for the Samsung Galaxy S7 up for pre-order in UK, likely to hit US soon

Ben Lovejoy Feb 24 2016 - 7:20 am PT

MobileFun has announced that the new Mophie Juice Pack for the Samsung Galaxy S7 is now available to pre-order at Mobile Fun for £89. It features a 3300mAh battery, so should roughly double the battery life of the new phone, and is the first Juice Pack to use Qi wireless charging.

It’s not yet showing up on the company’s U.S. site, but is likely to appear both there and in Mophie’s Amazon store shortly. A direct pound to dollar rate would price it at $124, but I’d expect it to be rather cheaper when it hits the USA …
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Speck offers Clear Protection for the new Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge

Sponsored Post Feb 22 2016 - 7:00 am PT

Samsung’s latest flagship devices bundle in several new features and capabilities, and they critically cap off these additions with shiny new black, silver, and gold color schemes, so the best way to protect the new device is the award-winning transparent CandyShell Clear from Speck. Samsung has done many things to improve the reliability of the new Galaxy smartphones, including new waterproofing and dust-resistance technology, but the devices will still be prone to damage from drops, scratches, and nicks.

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Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge – Hands-on with Samsung’s latest stunning flagships [Video]

Cam Bunton Feb 21 2016 - 5:54 pm PT

Earlier this evening, Samsung finally took the wraps off its next generation Galaxy S-series smartphones. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge take what was great about the previous year’s flagships, and improve areas which needed it. In some ways, even going back to features we’ve missed.

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Samsung officially announces Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

Cam Bunton Feb 21 2016 - 10:11 am PT

After months of rumors and speculation, Samsung finally announced its next flagship handsets at a crowded event here in Barcelona. Thousands of tech journalist watched on as Sammy took the wraps of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge which, in many ways, are the upgraded models we needed from the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge launched in 2015.

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Samsung Galaxy devices with Android Marshmallow get better browsing and multitasking

Cam Bunton Feb 17 2016 - 4:17 am PT

Samsung has already shown off the new Edge panel for devices like the Galaxy S6 Edge and Edge+ which comes as part of the Android Marshmallow update. Today, it detailed some of the other, perhaps more important, additions coming to Galaxy phones with Android 6.0 which started rolling out two days ago.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge hit the FCC before next month’s launch

Abner Li Feb 4 2016 - 10:36 am PT

Not every company can schedule their FCC certifications to drop the day their product is announced. It’s still a few weeks until Samsung’s Galaxy S7 event, but the device has already passed through the agency.

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Samsung officially announces Feb 21 Galaxy Unpacked event

Abner Li Feb 1 2016 - 1:18 am PT

Samsung has officially announced that they are hosting a Galaxy Unpacked event on Sunday, February 21st at MWC 2016. The widely expected event was actually leaked earlier today, but now we have a time and an official teaser video.

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Press renders of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge leak out, and they look familiar

Abner Li Jan 29 2016 - 2:19 pm PT

Update: Evan Blass has now tweeted images of the back of the phone.

Part two.

(Background: https://t.co/JT6X0g8sBu) pic.twitter.com/SOtHYAJexu

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 1, 2016

Evan Blass has quite thoroughly leaked LG’s and Samsung’s next flagship devices. Today, he revealed what appears to be the first official looking renders of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge…

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Android Marshmallow for Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Note 5 rolling out from next month according to sketchy leaked schedule

Cam Bunton Jan 25 2016 - 4:32 am PT

Samsung is historically a little behind its Android-making competitors when it comes to rolling out major software updates for its smartphones. So it’s no surprise to see that Marshmallow hasn’t yet officially landed on any Galaxy series devices. If a leaked roadmap is anything to go by, that could be about to change…

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Leaked Exynos 8890-powered Galaxy S7 benchmarks show up on Geekbench and AnTuTu

Cam Bunton Jan 21 2016 - 5:59 am PT

galaxy s6

With the Galaxy S7 widely expected to be officially unveiled at an event next month, rumors and leaks are on the rise for Samsung’s next generation flagship smartphone. For some time we’ve been hearing that Sammy is working on both a Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 equipped version of the S7. Over the past couple of days, claimed leaked benchmarks corroborate those rumors, and the others we’ve heard over the past few months.

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Detailed Samsung Galaxy S7 renders published as Spigen cases land on Amazon

Cam Bunton Jan 7 2016 - 3:28 am PT

With the Galaxy S7 expected to make its first official appearance next month at MWC in Barcelona, the number of leaks has increased, as has the quality of those leaks. We recently saw what claimed to be the schematics for the upcoming Android-powered flagships. More recently, some high quality renders were published by uSwitch, in collaboration with @OnLeaks.

As we’ve heard and read many times already, the S7 is unlikely to depart from the current design language of Samsung’s smartphones. It’s an all metal and glass affair, with a back which curves towards the edges a lot like the Galaxy Note 5. Not including the protruding camera, the phone is expected to measure 7.9mm thin, 142.5mm tall and 69.5mm wide. If accurate, the phone will be shorter, narrower, but slightly thicker than the Galaxy S6, more than likely to make space for the rumored bigger battery.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDd8_NrkH7I]

As well as these detailed renders which claim to accurately show the dimensions and design of the next Samsung flagship, a number of cases have already turned up for sale on Amazon, including a bunch from well-known manufacturer, Spigen. Some — like the transparent Ultra Hybrid — are available to order now with an expected release date of April 1, 2016. Cases from other manufacturers claim to be available from as soon as next month.

With the phone(s) not being official yet, it’s unlikely any of the images with the case listings are accurate. In fact, most appear to be renders of the current crop of Galaxy smartphones. What’s more, there’s always a chance the manufacturers haven’t received accurate schematics yet. We expect that once the phones are official, manufacturers will update the images.

While we expect many of these rumors and leaks to be accurate, it’s always reading with a helping of caution. Nothing is official until Samsung confirms it.

Report: Galaxy S7 will see hefty battery upgrade, water resistance, and a microSD slot

Abner Li Jan 4 2016 - 1:39 pm PT

In the last few weeks, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7 has been pretty well leaked. This morning saw an image of its front panel, as well as more detailed specifications. In a report, VentureBeat confirms those things and reveals some new tidbits about the device.

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Galaxy S7 front panel and specs allegedly leak, corroborate earlier rumors

Cam Bunton Jan 4 2016 - 4:40 am PT

With Samsung expected to launch its next flagship Galaxy S lineup within the next couple of months, the frequency and number of leaks is increasing. Over the past 24-48 hours there have been a few notable leaks showing off the front panel of the redesigned smartphone, along with specifications and models numbers of the next generation Galaxy devices…

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Samsung Galaxy A9 officially announced w/ 4,000mAh battery, 6-inch display & octa-core processor

Cam Bunton Dec 23 2015 - 11:56 am PT

Having only recently been leaked online through unofficial and official sources, the largest of the Galaxy A-series family of devices has now been announced by Samsung. The Galaxy A9 has been unveiled and features a collection of impressive specs which should easily satisfy the desires of any consumers looking for a (presumably) inexpensive phablet…

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Samsung Galaxy A9 TENAA listing seemingly confirms 6-inch, full HD display, 3GB RAM, more

Cam Bunton Dec 23 2015 - 2:04 am PT

A short while ago a hands on video and promotional poster leaked indicating that Samsung will be launching a bigger version of its Galaxy A-series smartphone for 2016. It shared the same design language and some of the same specifications of the recently launched Galaxy A3, A5 and A7, albeit in a larger package. Although it’s yet to be officially announced by Samsung, the A9 has appeared on TENAA, suggesting a launch is right around the corner…

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Sketchy post suggests Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for Galaxy Note 4 is rolling out, with Note 5 S-Pen features in tow

Cam Bunton Dec 7 2015 - 8:28 am PT

File this under ‘sketchy’: One of NapiDroid’s editors has apparently managed to get his hands on an early release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The Hungarian blog posted a number of screenshots showing some of the anticipated changes. Among them, the one which really stands out is the revamped selection of S-Pen tools.

What’s unclear is how widespread this software release is or if it’s genuine. A major update happening to land on an Android blogger’s phone is a little too coincidental, and there’s no knowing if other Note 4 users in the same country have seen it too. Perhaps it’s blind luck, or perhaps it’s been fabricated. There are no images of the actual device running the software, and the ‘about phone’ screenshot could quite easily have been altered to show the Galaxy Note 4’s details.

As shown in the screenshots below, you’ll notice the new multi-colored Air Command menu redesign, which comes in from the side of the screen, rather than floating on top. What’s more, it looks like the Note 4 will also be receiving the Note 5’s ability to scribble notes on the lock screen, even when it’s in standby.

As well as that, we see one of Android Marshmallow’s settings menu features, which shows when your device last received a monthly security update. In this case, the Note 4 received the December security patch. The screenshots also suggest we’ll see a slight TouchWiz redesign, although the drop-down notifications/settings drawer is largely the same.

2016 Samsung Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 officially announced, equipped with fast-charging, Samsung Pay support, OIS cameras, more

Cam Bunton Dec 2 2015 - 7:00 am PT

It’s not quite the end of the year yet, meaning we still have a few more weeks for companies to squeeze in some product announcements before 2016 rolls in. Samsung has just officially announced its Galaxy A-series of phones for next year and — from the spec sheets alone — they look like decent alternatives to pricey flagships…

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