Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: Original Box

[USER EXPERIENCE] I bought my first ever Samsung smartphone on on 22 May 2016. Exactly 31 days later, I have to have my first visit ever to Samsung Service Center! Here are 3 thoughts on my experience.

1. Initial Disappointment
What happened was that out of no where, black shadows appeared on the LCD. I took photos of it but I didn’t remember to back up it before sending it in for repair…

S7 Edge is probably the best Android phone out there in terms of specs and features so to have it break after such a short period is really disappointing.

What's also disappointing is that I didn't sign up for the Samsung Concierge at the point of purchase. Otherwise, there is a chance I might get a 1 to 1 replacement as well avoid a visit to the service center, one of Samsung Concierge benefits is a on-site support.

2. Servicing experience
First off, there are two Service Centers for mobile devices, at Westgate and Plaza Singapura respectively. As a Northern citizen, both are as far as it can get.

Fortunately, there is virtually no queue at Westgate. I got attended to in 1 minute or so.  A very young staff, Brian, attended to my case which requires no explanation given the black bars on the screen and no hardware damage ruling out any phone abuse.

Brian reappearing from the door to the room where I suppose all the technicians sits, confirmed a AMOLED panel replacement is necessary. Then he gave me a few papers to release Samsung from any liabilities arising from the loss of data. Also

Brian also denied me a spare phone when I asked for one because Samsung is offering me an “express service” where I could pick up my repaired S7 Edge on the same day, 6 hours later.

3. Disappointment Aftermath
Samsung did a professional warranty job. My S7 Edge is fixed on the same day and its been 3 days, so far so good.

Yet I could not avoid the disappointment of a brand new flagship breaking down after just 31 days.

While the servicing is professional, I am probably still a little sore over the lack of sentiment for a poor user whom waited so eagerly for his first ever Samsung smartphone, and a flagship, only to have a defective device.

I mean there I am a disgruntled customer with a defective flagship device, and I was met with a host of cold shoulder responses; to have my screen protector removed and thrown away due to screen replacement, to be without a spare phone for 6 hours, and of course the travelling time and cost wasted.

Maybe I am a novice when it comes to warranty, this is probably my first time sending in a device under the warranty period, so I didn’t know the standard. Perhaps, this is my own luck to have randomly gotten a defective device.

One certain thing is though, S7 Edge is really a brilliant phone despite my misfortune. I would give it a go again for now. Hopefully it doesn’t break down on me again.

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Samsung Galaxy J3 2016: On Samsung Singapore Web

[NEW GADGET] Samsung Singapore’s press release in late May, the release of a new budget series Androids, Samsung J3 and J5 2016 4G. These are Samsung’s latest budget Androids and the 2 models are very similar apart from the screen size and rear cameras.
 
J series are marketed as the Samsung budget smartphones series so they certainly won’t match up against any of the flagships out there. At the same time, with the advancing standards of mobile technology, budget line-ups are increasingly usable and impressive despite the budget prices.
 
Case in point, J series boast a 5" 720p super AMOLED display, quad-core 1.5Ghz processor  plus Android 5.1 Lollipop, ensuring a decent day-to-day experience. A big mention also goes to the Quick Launch Camera feature, where double clicking on the physical home button will bring up the camera. This is one feature that I really like on my S7 Edge. Of course there are many ways to easily bring up the camera but this way certainly seem much faster and feels like a real camera in some ways.
 
Throw in a decent 8MP snapper and a back cover featuring a “Samsung Note 3/4” plastic leather-texture outlook, the J series seems to made for a group whom like the previous generation of Samsung design DNA on a budget.
 
Samsung J3 and J5, 5” and 5.2” respectively, possesses popular display sizes these days, making retail prices of S$268 for J3 and S$348 for J5 look fairly decent.
 
Unfortunately for Samsung and fortunately for consumers, at these budgets there are a whole brunch of options are out there.
 
Like Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro or not, Nexus 5x 16GB, OnePlus X, Asus Zenfone Series… Perhaps the growing export market in Singapore is giving consumers here more options, more than half of the list are export sets only. ie. parallel imports.
 
In fact, at the recently concluded PC Show 2016, I saw yet another Samsung budget with a 5” display. The Samsung On5.
 
Samsung released the On Series in China only as far as I know, and comes in two models, On 5 and On7, 5” and 5.5” display respectively.
 
Thus it complicates things a little for consumers whom aren’t savvy with the smartphones market where there are more than one option at a certain price point. Case in point would be Galaxy J3 and On5 (as well as J3 export sets!). They are very similar in specifications, barring the super AMOLED screen on J3 versus a TFT screen on On5. Big difference I would speculate.

Local warranty is the other noteworthy difference. Around S$70 higher, J3 would give a peace of mind with local warranty where else any warranty promised with a Samsung On5 in Singapore is really going to be a street shop warranty.

It could be easy to get lost while comparing the two, so here a table I use when comparing them.

It’s nice to have options though, especially when it comes to gadgets!

Link – Samsung Press Release: Galaxy J3 and J5 in Singapore

Samsung Galaxy J3 2016 4G (SM-J320G/DS)		Samsung On5
Local set RRP S$268 Export set S$268 +/-20	Price	Street price S$198 +/-10
Local Set with local warranty	Warranty	Export Set only
Unclear what could the processor for the local set! Could be Snapdragon 410 or Exynos 3475 or … Quad-core 1.5GHz (Local set spec)	Processor	Exynos 3475 Quad Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7
Adreno 306	GPU	Mali-T720
1.5GB	RAM	1.5GB
Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen 5.2”, 1280 x 720	Display	TFT capacitive touchscreen 5.0”, 1280 x 720
8GB	Storage	8GB
MicroSD	Expandable Storage	MicroSD
8 MP	Rear Camera	8 MP, f/2.2
5 MP, f/2.2	Front Camera	5 MP, f/2.2
Dual SIM – 4G (1 slot support 4G at any one time) (export set may have only 1 SIM)	SIM	Dual SIM
Android OS, v5.1 (Lollipop)	OS	Android OS, v5.1 (Lollipop)
2600mAh	Battery	2600mAh
142.3 x 71 x 7.9mm	Size	142.3 x 72.1 x 8.5 mm
138g	Weight	149g

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[Hands-On] Placed among the most prominent spot of the shopfront, its like a Flagship device that Newstead wants to ensure you don't go into the shop without having one look at it. No, I am not talking about Samsung Galaxy S7.

It's the new Huawei P9.

Even in a market with no lack of awesome smartphones, Huawei P9 manages to impress if early reviews are anything to go by. So much so that Huawei P9 is probably the best phone Huawei has made till date (excluding Nexus 6P and could make a run for the likes of Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s in the Singapore market.

Huawei P9 is such a good deal on so much levels.

Starting with its design. The P9 looks solid if unspectatcular in the front. I think the Huawei logo is what probably made the phone less sexy. The back of the phone is a better story with a black bar at the top and the word "Leica" is written in a bigger font and prominent. The story is even better when I picked up the phone. P9 feels solid, well-built, thin and light in the hand. All-in all a premium feel. I find the metallic back design too be less inspiring as there are too many Chinese device with a such design, quoting the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Pro 3, Oppo R9 and of course iPhone is probably the inspiration of all.

Then there is the Leica factor. Besides contributing to the excellent image quality, it also single-handedly gave the P9 a different social status. Huawei have been making decent phones for a few years now but besides the Chinese market, it hardly cause excitement. I mean honestly, i haven't really heard anyone locally talk about a Huawei phone until now! What's more, Huawei built two rear cameras into the P9 and claims "more light and clarity".

Finally its the price tag and the whole package that you getting for a price of S$768 (Suntec City, Digital Lifestyle store on 29 May 2016). It's a flagship with very little to criticise. Putting the P9 beside any flagship and its a decent fight. A clean Android variant EMUI creates a zippy experience getting round the phone, good display screen is 2016 flagship sharp and a Leica lens to boot. Huawei also offers an unusual 2 years warranty on most if not all their local smartphones.

Interestingly, there is another Huawei P9 variant, the Huawei P9 Plus. There 3 major differences; the bigger 3D Touch-enabled screen, an AMOLED panel, and an AF 8MP snapper with f/1.9 aperture.

The Huawei P9 Plus appears to be unavailable locally on the official Singapore website.

For in-depth review - GSMArena Huawei P9 Review
Official Web - Huawei P9 Singapore

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