In a smartphone beauty contest, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge would be extremely tough to beat. It’s not just a pretty phone, though. It’s also powerful and feature-packed, but it’s not perfect. We’ve been digging around to see what Galaxy S7 Edge problems are cropping up most often online. We’ve identified a few issues here, and we’ve got ideas on how to fix them or work around them. The first thing you’ll want to do, to safeguard that slippery, fragile, fingerprint-prone glass, is to snag a new case. Related : The best Galaxy S7 Edge cases Problem: Bloatware The scale of your bloatware problem with the Galaxy S7 Edge will depend on which carrier you’re with and whether you feel that any of the preinstalled apps are actually worthwhile. Samsung still hasn’t shaken the habit of replicating perfectly good Google apps, and you’ll find that every carrier includes a number of often useless applications. Potential solutions : The most obvious thing to do is uninstall anything you don’t want. Frustratingly, you’ll find that preinstalled apps can’t always be uninstalled, but you can at least disable them. The easiest and quickest way to do this is via the app drawer. Tap Edit at the top right, and then select the apps you want to uninstall or disable. If you decide that you want something you disabled back again, then you can always find disabled apps in Settings > Device > Applications > Application manager and scroll over to the Disabled- one. If you’re determined to get rid of carrier and Samsung apps completely, then you’re going to have to root your device. This is potentially risky, especially because you’ll trip Samsung security service, KNOX, which disables Samsung Pay and some security features. Glitch: Overly sensitive touchscreen and buttons A lot of people are finding that the touchscreen and the touch navigation buttons below it are simply too sensitive. This results in accidentally launching apps or selecting things when handling the phone. Some people are also complaining about mistyping, because even hovering over a portion of the screen is enough to make a selection. Workarounds : Cases can have an impact on screen sensitivity. If you’re using a case already, try removing it to test whether there’s any difference. Some cases will alleviate the problem for handling, simply by providing a raised bezel and wider frame that you can touch without accidentally hitting the screen. Galaxy S7 Edge cases are a good idea for protection anyway, so it might be worth getting one. A screen protector can reduce the screen sensitivity and protect your screen from scratches. Unfortunately, it’s tough to find one that fits the curved screen of the S7 Edge perfectly, and they’re prone to rolling up at the edges. Potential solution : There have been quite a few complaints, so it’s possible Samsung will dial down the touchscreen sensitivity in a software update. Go to Settings > System > About device > Software update to check that you have the latest version of TouchWiz. Issue: Overheating There have been reports of overheating, with a number of new owners saying that their Galaxy S7 Edge is getting uncomfortably warm. It’s worth remembering that new phones will tend to get unusually hot the first day or so, simply because you’re downloading and installing a bunch of apps and games. You’re also probably using the phone a lot. Wait until everything is installed and updated before you judge whether there’s an overheating problem. Workarounds : If you notice the overheating primarily when charging, then you can do a couple of things to combat it. Firstly, don’t use the S7 Edge while it’s plugged in and charging. Secondly, go to Settings > Battery and toggle Fast cable charging off . Potential solutions : The first thing to try is a simple restart. Hold down the Power button and the Volume down button together for around ten seconds. The S7 Edge should reboot. There’s a chance that a specific app is causing the problem. If you notice that your S7 Edge is getting hot, even when you aren’t actively using it, then go to Settings > Battery > Battery usage > More > Optimize battery usage and select All apps . Toggle it on for each app. This should prevent the apps from draining battery in the background, which also produces heat. If you’re still having problems, you should try wiping the cache partition. Turn off the phone, then press and hold the Home , Volume up , and Power keys together. When you see the Samsung logo you can let go of Power , but wait until you see the Android logo to release the other two. You should get the Android System recovery menu. Use Volume down to highlight wipe cache partition and Power to select it. When it’s done, press Power to select Reboot system now . Your last resort is to factory reset the S7 Edge, but this will completely wipe your phone. Back up everything precious first, and then go to Settings > Personal > Backup and reset > Factory data reset > Reset device , enter your PIN or password and tap Delete all . Don’t restore a backup or reinstall the same apps immediately after factory resetting, try using the phone for a while to see if the overheating is still an issue. If you have a problem with overheating after a factory reset, then it’s time to contact your carrier, retailer, or Samsung about a replacement handset. Problem: No adoptable storage on MicroSD card Google added something called “adoptable storage” into Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which allows the internal memory and a MicroSD card to be effectively merged. Samsung chose not to support it, arguing that people want to be able to use their MicroSD cards to transfer files between their phones and other devices. If you do want to merge your MicroSD card and use adoptable storage, then you’ll be glad to know it is possible, if a little fiddly. This method was posted by Paul O Brien at MoDaCo. Use it at your own risk. Potential solution : Start by backing up everything on your MicroSD card or you’ll lose it. You’re going to need to download the Android SDK onto your PC, so you can use the Android Debug Bridge. On your S7 Edge, go to Settings > System > About device > Software info and tap on Build number until you unlock Developer mode . Now, go back to Settings > System > Developer options and toggle USB debugging Connect your S7 Edge to your computer via USB and open the command prompt on your computer. Type adb shell . To get the disk ID for your MicroSD card you need to type sm list-disks . In Paul’s case it was disk:179:160 , but your number will probably be different. Once you have the ID, you can adopt it as storage, so the MicroSD card will appear merged in Settings > Storage on your phone. To do this, type sm partition disk:179:160 private . But substitute your disk ID for disk:179:160 . If you prefer, you can actually keep some of the MicroSD card for transferring files and convert some to internal storage by typing sm partition disk:179:160 mixed 50 . But, once again, substitute disk:179:160 for your disk ID. Glitch: MicroSD card pop-up A lot of S7 Edge owners have complained about a persistent SD card pop-up, which says “SD card, For transferring photos and media” with the option to Explore or Eject . It can be swiped away, but it will return after every reboot, and for some people it just keeps popping up, seemingly at random. Potential solutions : This pop-up should only appear when the MicroSD card is mounted, which is why it happens after a reboot. If it pops up without you rebooting, then there may be a problem with your card or the slot. The first thing to try is to turn the S7 Edge off and remove the card. Now, take it out and replace it very carefully in position, then slide the tray closed very slowly. If the problem persists, then try using a different MicroSD card, just to make sure that the card is not at fault. There’s a chance that the tray is seated properly, or it’s some kind of hardware fault. If it’s really persistent and it’s bothering you, then you could contact your carrier, retailer, or Samsung and try to get a replacement handset. Issue: Lag and stutter The Galaxy S7 Edge is a fast smartphone with cutting edge specs, so you may reasonably expect lightning fast performance, but there are reports of some lag and stutter. A lot of people are blaming Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, but others are claiming that performance is silky smooth for them. There are a few things you can try to combat lag. Potential solutions : Try wiping the cache partition. Turn off the phone, then press and hold the Home , Volume up , and Power keys together. When you see the Samsung logo, you can let go of Power , but wait until you see the Android logo to release the other two. You should get the Android System recovery menu and use Volume down to highlight wipe cache partition and Power to select it. When it’s done, press Power to select Reboot system now . If you haven’t already unlocked Developer mode , then go to Settings > System > About device > Software info and tap on Build number until you get a message about being a developer. Now, go back to Settings > System > Developer options and scroll down to Windows animation scale , Transition animation scale , and Animator duration scale . All are set to 1x by default, but you can set them to 0.5x or even off. This might make the S7 Edge feel a bit snappier. If you’re specifically having trouble in games, then check the Game Launcher in your app drawer and consider changing the settings. Turn power saving off, if you have it on. You could also try turning Game Tools off to see if it makes a difference. Your last resort is to factory reset your S7 Edge, but this will completely wipe your phone. Back up everything precious first, and then go to Settings > Personal > Backup and reset > Factory data reset > Reset device , enter your PIN or password and tap Delete all . Don’t restore a backup or reinstall the same apps immediately after factory resetting, try using the phone for a while and see if lag is still an issue. Be watchful for anything that causes lag after install. Bug: Home and multitasking buttons not working We’ve seen a few reports about the Home and the Recent apps or Multitasking buttons not working. They’ll work as normal, most of the time, but occasionally fail. The Back button continues to work properly, but some people are finding that the Home and Recent apps buttons are just randomly unresponsive. Potential solutions : A simple restart is fixing the problem for some, but it can return. Hold down the Power button and the Volume down button together for around ten seconds. You should see the S7 Edge reboot. There’s a good chance that an app is causing this issue, so look at what you’ve recently installed. We saw one report about Car Mode causing the problem, but it doesn’t seem to be a common thread for everyone suffering. It may be worth trying safe mode to confirm that a third-party app is causing the issue. Turn your S7 Edge off and then press and hold the Power -button. When you see “Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge” on screen, let go of Power, and press and hold the Volume down button. Keep holding it until the phone restarts, and you should see safe mode in the bottom left corner. If the problem is gone, then a third-party app is the cause, and you can try uninstalling one-by-one or do a factory reset and reinstall selectively. You can just reboot to get out of safe mode. Remember that a factory reset will wipe your phone, so back up first. When you’re ready, go to Settings > Personal > Backup and reset > Factory data reset > Reset device , enter your PIN or password and tap Delete all . That’s all the Galaxy S7 Edge problems we’ve found so far, but check back because we’ll be adding more as and when we discover them. If you have any issues or solutions you’d like to share, please post a comment.



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