Samsung really dropped the ball this year. In the long run I see them losing against the Chinese brands because they're doing exactly what Samsung is doing. Getting big with low and midrange phones.

Samsung really does not have that premium feel, I look at the OS and just laugh. Shame becuz design wise S7 looks nice.

The only Android phones that have a classy feel are Xperias. They're so good even Apple copied the Z's power button placement, and Apple never copies things like that but sets trends. The new Xperia XZ looks awesome btw.

Getting the OnePlus 3 instead. Similar to S7 in performance and quality for half the price.

Or the Redmi Note 4, a great device for 1/4 of the price.

I actually like Samsung's OS...

I just hate it when it just goes full lag and goes nuts. Like any other android device I've used, it happens about 5 times per month, and is a few minutes long. Not exactly something I'd complain about, but it can happen at the worst times(like needing to make an urgent call)

Apple copies everyone. And then when someone copies them... They litigate.
The next iPhone is also set to remove the Headphone jack, which is a pretty terrible idea in a long list of terrible ideas.

With that said... And this is coming from a Note 5 user... Samsung dropped the ball with the Note 5, no MicroSD and no removable battery is feature regression, the Note 7 mended that to a degree, but this blunder is just that a blunder.
And the Note 5's official wireless battery extender case blocks off the Note 5's camera, which was crap.

As for Sony... Xperia is very solid, but Sony have also had an even far worst record than Samsung in regards to Battery's.

I *almost* bought my first Sony product in almost a decade though with the Xperia Z5 Premium, but opted to buy the Note 5 outright instead, it was to good of a deal to pass up... But that 4k screen was tempting, just a shame it's only 5.5" when I was wanting something as big as 6".
Even though the Note 5 is only 5.7" but I wasn't willing to go with something like a Huewei or cheap chinese, hopefully with the Note 8, Samsung decides to differentiate the Note lineup a bit more from it's main Galaxy line and push the device size up a bit.

Also... Samsung can shove that glass back where the sun doesn't shine. It looks good for a whole second after cleaning it and it makes the device twice as fragile.

I personally like the glass. Every Android phone is basically becoming the same looks and feel with their aluminum body stuff so Samsung doing something different with their designs is a good imo. It is strong enough to withstand most basic things from the tests that I saw. Heck, it's even more durable than some so called "aluminum" body phones in bend tests like Nexus 6P, HTC M9 and Iphone 6 Plus.

Obviously something like a HTC 10 will be able to withstand more than a s7 but thats why I have a case on it. The main reason I like it tho is that it allows wireless charging. My car for example as a wireless charger so I just put my Galaxy S7 on it and bam, it starts charging. Or if I go to starbucks, they also got wireless chargers too! Its just more convenient imo and it makes them stand out from every other phone in the market.

100 mAh less than the S7 Edge+ must be the one that caused this. :P

I don't like Apple but Samsung can go screw themselves with what they turned the Note Series to. I was looking to upgrade my Note 4 which I was patiently holding off from making an S7 upgrade. The disappointment was surreal.

If there's only a high spec phone that matches the Note's S Pen. I'd totally forget about Samsung completely. They're going full Apple with their approaches with Style over Substance for the Note series.

wow they if Apple really is considering removing the headphone jack then they've lost their minds, that is business suicide. I would bet more than half of all smartphone users plug in headphones now and then to jam to tunes.

Absolutely bizarre decision if true

I do believe SONY learnt the "premium" design language before Samsung. My S3 looked like a toy compared to the first Xperia Z. 

However, I am done with playing the waiting game with Android manufacturers, you never for how long your device will be supported and updated to the latest Android. Samsung supported their S3, their flagship, for only 10 months, so we didn't get Android Kitkat, their reasoning? Not enough RAM, which is a hilarious lie giving that KitKat's MAIN goal was to make sure Android runs well on devices with low RAM, as low as 512. So yeah, fuck off Samsung. 

My take-home point, I will only invest in Nexus/iPhone devices, and the current Nexus wave doesn't impress me. Looking forward to Google's next attempt. 

As for the headphone jack removal, I don't think it's a terrible idea if, AND ONLY IF Apple replaces the Lightening connector with a USB-C port, but they are not doing that, so Apple can fuck off too.

I don't mind the headphone jack removal at all, but I'd rather buy new USB-C headphones that work on all of my electronics than buy lightening headphones that will only work on my freaking iPhone, not even Macs will be compatible with those lightening headphones.

It is a terrible idea. You will then be forced to buy a break-out cable or you will not be able to charge your phone and use your headphones at the same time.

If they replaced the Headphone Port with USB-C and replaced the Lightning connector with USB-C so the device had two USB-C ports, I would be all for that, but that isn't the direction they are taking things... Apple also tends to be allergic to industry standard plugs/ports like USB that almost every other phone and device on the planet supports.

The irony is... There are alternatives to Aluminum and Glass.
Personally I prefer the rubbery matte polymers, gives you great grip... Doesn't look like garbage as it never picks up fingerprints or scratches easily... Allows for wireless charging... Is cheap and lightweight... And can withstand impacts.

It's far from strong enough. I had my Galaxy Note 5 for two days. TWO DAYS. And it slipped off my desk (Other materials tend not to be as slippery) from about waist height.
It cracked the back, bounced and cracked the screen.
$400 AUD later and a replacement of both, I was back in action.

And you try to convince me it's strong enough? Far from it, if it was my old Nokia Lumia 920... It would have survived the fall without a scratch.

Again, there are alternatives to both Aluminum and Glass, Aluminum though wouldn't have cost me an extra $400 AUD.

So you like the aesthetics of the glass, but then decide to hide it in a cover anyway? Where is the sense in that? I never had my Nokia Lumia 920 in a cover, because even when I dropped it, it always survived... And I had that phone for years.
Plus, having a case on it makes the phone awkward to mount to my Bike as I have to take the phone out of the case all the time to fit it in the waterproof enclosure.

My Lumia 920 had wireless charging a good 3-4 years ago, loved it. - There are other materials you can build these devices from where you can retain such functionality.