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Always On Display demo on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

posted by Nick T.

Feb 25, 2016, 10:16 AM

Always On Display demo on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

On the outside, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge look familiar. The two aren't very different from last year's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge+, at least not when it comes to design. But under the hood, you get a ton of new goodies, including a faster processor and a better camera. And on the software side of things, the S7 and S7 edge have gained a few neat abilities. One of them is called Always On Display.

In a nutshell, the idea behind Always On Display is to have the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge show basic information on the screen while in stand-by. This can be a clock, a calendar, or a static image, to give a few examples. You also get tickers for your missed calls and unread messages, along with a battery level indicator.

Now, you're probably thinking that having the screen lit at all times will drain the Galaxy S7 battery faster. And while you won't be wrong to say that, we must point out that an AMOLED screen's pixels draw power only if they're not showing black. That's why Always On Display uses black backgrounds, thus consuming minimum amounts of power. As a matter of fact, the feature could improve battery life, as you won't have to turn on the whole display anymore just to see the time. But you may disable Always On Display if you really want to.

For an in-depth demo of Always On Display in action, check out the images and video below, where we go hands-on with it on a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. And if it sounds like something you'd enjoy using, do let us know in the comments!

UPDATE: To clarify, widgets and images shown by the Always On Display have their location changed every once in a while. This is to avoid screen burn-in – a degradation of the screen caused by displaying a static image for long periods of time.

Always On Display demo on Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

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9.0

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User Rating:

8.5

Based on 19 Reviews

Display 5.1 inches
2560 x 1440 pixels

Camera 12 MP (Single camera)
5 MP front

Hardware Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM

Storage 32GB, microSDXC

Battery 3000 mAh

OS Android 8.0 Oreo
Samsung TouchWiz UI

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PhoneArena Rating:

9.0

Read Full Review

User Rating:

9.3

Based on 33 Reviews

Display 5.5 inches
2560 x 1440 pixels

Camera 12 MP (Single camera)
5 MP front

Hardware Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM

Storage 32GB, microSDXC

Battery 3600 mAh

OS Android 8.0 Oreo
Samsung TouchWiz UI

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47 Comments

52. gehrig

Posts: 423; Member since: Apr 17, 2014

That guy needs to shave his arms.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:20 PM 0

54. S.R.K.

Posts: 678; Member since: Feb 11, 2016

Well said. He's way to hairy.

posted on Feb 26, 2016, 6:49 AM 0

50. hellonerds

Posts: 334; Member since: Aug 27, 2013

my note 4 has screen burn :(

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 8:23 PM 1

51. S.R.K.

Posts: 678; Member since: Feb 11, 2016

Faulty unit.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 8:50 PM 0

45. kevin007in

Posts: 327; Member since: Oct 28, 2015

yeah and that ALWAYS ON feature first appeared on NOKIA LUMIA SERIES ... !!! ts TRUE

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 6:37 PM 0

46. catze86

Posts: 731; Member since: Dec 07, 2015

Yeah, and then appear on Edge panels as Night clock. It shows everything I need.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 6:58 PM 0

53. pegasso

Posts: 285; Member since: Nov 27, 2011

i'm sorry to dissapoint you, but Lumia is not the first. some old Symbian phones (and some feature phones) had the "always on" feature long before Lumia.

posted on Feb 26, 2016, 1:51 AM 1

55. catze86

Posts: 731; Member since: Dec 07, 2015

Every Nokia have this. Nokia 3200 can do this.

posted on Feb 26, 2016, 9:31 AM 0

56. kevin007in

Posts: 327; Member since: Oct 28, 2015

agreed NOKIA was the first to use this beautiful tech.

posted on Feb 26, 2016, 7:31 PM 0

31. AlikMalix unregistered

That black screen with faint text looks so nice with curved glass. Samsung really got their designs right lately.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 12:10 PM 7

36. DnB925Art

Posts: 1168; Member since: May 23, 2013

Yup. I think a lot of the criticism by both the public and the media about design got to them in the last year plus (starting with the A series). When compared to Apple and even to other Android OEMs like HTC and Sony, they had to do something to pair the arguably best hardware with design, both externally and internally with the continued refinement of Touchwiz. It's good that all those OEMs (Apple included) help push each other. Competition is good.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 1:36 PM 0

41. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

You think anyone is goign to design a phone that looks better than the Edge, without doing the same exact thing? The Edge is an award winning design. Other phone could also win a design award, but I don't see it happening all that soon. The Dual-edge curved design is simply very innovative and hard to beat move. If this was poker, this would be a Royal Flush.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 2:41 PM 1

28. RaulBlas

Posts: 47; Member since: Mar 31, 2014

I believe that Motorola's version of this feature is way better. It let's you "peek" the notifications content very quick. Once you have used it, you start loving it. Besides, the screen is not always on. It flashes every now and then when you get notifications.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:41 AM 0

29. catze86

Posts: 731; Member since: Dec 07, 2015

Well, I believe. For Edge series owners, every features you have mentioned on your beloved Moto device are not something new. We didn't MM to have this feature.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:52 AM 0

15. gjkiii

Posts: 41; Member since: Oct 25, 2013

Can something like this be pushed onto the Note 5 via software updates?

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:12 AM 0

24. Norris

Posts: 121; Member since: Jun 26, 2015

I'm sure pretty sure soon there will be several apps for this on XDA.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:38 AM 0

11. JMartin22

Posts: 2426; Member since: Apr 30, 2013

I would never use this feature on AMOLEDs lol. There's almost no generational improvements between the Note5 and the Galaxy S7s for their display panels. They either need to put more focus onto increasing the longevity of AMOLEDs or switch to a new, more efficient technology in QLEDs.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 10:55 AM 2

17. joeytaylor

Posts: 957; Member since: Feb 28, 2015

It does improve over the Note 5 in some areas

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:23 AM 2

19. tedkord

Posts: 17529; Member since: Jun 17, 2009

Best screen available to better best screen available. How much generational improvement do you want?

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:26 AM 2

27. joeytaylor

Posts: 957; Member since: Feb 28, 2015

Haha...."better best" I love it

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:39 AM 0

32. JMartin22

Posts: 2426; Member since: Apr 30, 2013

Best available still isn't at its full potential and certainly lacking with LCDs in some areas. Burn in is still a real legitimate problem, so is efficiency on anything over 65% Avarage Picture Level. It personally still annoys me to see an AMOLED screen that's excellent out of the box, look all murky and dim after just 5 months of using it because it's slowly burning out. LCDs don't have this issue, they look and perform their best even after a year of usage.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 12:14 PM 1

38. ph00ny

Posts: 2084; Member since: May 26, 2011

When was the last time you had a burn in on AMOLED display personally?

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 2:30 PM 0

44. JMartin22

Posts: 2426; Member since: Apr 30, 2013

Since every AMOLED device I've owned. Galaxy S2, S3, S4, S5, Note 4, S6, and Note5.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 5:32 PM 0

47. medtxa

Posts: 1655; Member since: Jun 02, 2014

It's already at it's full potential if it can't be improved more at the time, yeah after 1.5 year i noticed some burn in though its not that noticeable most of time, still won't back to lcds greyish black though.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 7:35 PM 0

25. abdoualgeria

Posts: 928; Member since: Jul 27, 2015

Check displaymate's review on gs7 display

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:38 AM 0

33. JMartin22

Posts: 2426; Member since: Apr 30, 2013

I read it, and I read their bi-annual assessments each year of the Galaxy S and Note series. But I still see the deficiency of AMOLEDs that are degrading over time just from even having the screen on. If you have contrasting images like black and white in the display, it makes the screen burn in more rapidly

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 12:17 PM 1

40. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

Samsung doesn't use AMOLED displays, they use Super AMOLED which is a better technology and screen burn-in is as rare as people getting struck by lightning. Why is it still being brought up? If screen burn-in was that much of a problem, they woudlnt even be using the technology. Both Samsung and LG both use OLED displays on TV's and other devices and appliances with no issue whatsoever. Screen burnin? Other than some videos I have never seen it in real life. It is so rare that it shouldnt even be talked about. When it rains outside, do you hear people being afraid of getting hit by lighning? NO. Why? Because it rarely ever happens. There are billions of lightning strikes in a year...yet maybe less than 5 people will get hit directly. Most people who have gotten hit, were hit indirectly and lived to talk about it. The only known direct hit I ever heard about was a man in Florida who him and his buddy were out in the ocean. One guy was scubba diving. When he surfaced as they were trying to leave, he was struck and killed.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 2:39 PM 1

10. spiderpig2894

Posts: 597; Member since: Jan 10, 2012

What about screen burn? It's rare for users but I've seen demo units of S6 with screen burn because it's always on.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 10:54 AM 0

13. TyrionLannister unregistered

It is not static and moves with time. So no such issues to worry.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:03 AM 3

16. bambamboogy02

Posts: 842; Member since: Jun 23, 2012

Well, the round analog clock is somewhat static. At least the round part, and dial. Only thing that would move are the arms on the clock. When you sleep, that image, as described above will be static for at least 4-8 Hours (How ever long you sleep). Plus how ever long your screen is off through out the day. I believe burn in will happen. At this point, only time will tell.

posted on Feb 25, 2016, 11:22 AM 0

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