10 Common Samsung Galaxy S7 Problems and How to Fix Them
Here are some of the main Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge problems and how to fix them. If you just bought a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge, you have chosen well. The...
26/09/2021
Here are some of the main problems with
Galaxy S7
and
Galaxy S7 Edge
and how to fix them.
If you have just purchased a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge, you have chosen well. Samsung's new devices are some of the finest, if not the finest phones on the market.
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This is why any type of bug or crash can be more than a little frustrating. Luckily, we're here to help.
Here is a list of the most common S7 problems and how to fix them.
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Wi-Fi issues
Reports suggest that some Samsung Galaxy S7 owners are experiencing issues with Wi-Fi, including (but not limited to) Gmail not syncing properly over a wireless connection.
This appears to be a bug that needs to be fixed by Samsung itself, but until then it looks like the problem may be Bluetooth related. Try disabling Bluetooth from the drop-down notification menu.
Others have found that disabling apps that use your location in the background can help.
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Power & Volume buttons stop working
Some have reported that the power and volume buttons stop working on their Galaxy S7. Needless to say, this is a pretty big issue if you're concerned.
As with most initial phone startup issues, a simple reset should fix the problem. This may seem counter-intuitive given the nature of this problem, but it works.
Although the power and volume buttons may seem unresponsive, holding the power and home buttons together should still reset the Galaxy S7. Once your phone restarts, the power and volume buttons should be responsive again.
Screen too sensitive
We've seen some Galaxy S7 users complain that the screen is just too sensitive, and that the palm rejection feature doesn't do its job of filtering out accidental touches to the edges of the screen.
This can be a particular problem for the Galaxy S7 Edge, for obvious reasons.
To turn off fast charging, go to Settings > Battery and turn off Fast Cable Charging. It's on by default, so chances are that if you haven't already turned it off, this could be the source of your overheating issues.
If you are experiencing overheating even when you are not using or charging your phone, it could be caused by a particular app. Luckily, the Battery Optimizer setting lets you prevent apps from consuming power when the phone isn't in use. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery usage > More > Optimize battery usage and tap on “All apps”. This will prevent apps from running in the background even when you are not using the phone.
If the overheating persists, you can try wiping the cache partition. With your Galaxy S7 powered off, press and hold the power, home, and volume up buttons until you see the Samsung logo, then release. This launches the S7's Android system recovery mode. Press the volume down button to scroll down the list of options, then select “Wipe cache partition” by pressing the power button.
If all else fails, a factory reset may be required. If that proves unsuccessful, it's time to send the S7 back to Samsung for a replacement.
Get the offer:
Galaxy S7 Edge - just £369.99 from Amazon
Watch: 5 Secret Samsung Galaxy S7 Tips, Tricks & Features
Set SD cards as “adoptable” internal storage
One of Android Marshmallow's coolest new features
is the ability to "merge" the Micro SD card with the internal storage. This allows the phone to treat the resulting memory as a single partition, making it easier to see how much storage is available.
Unfortunately, Samsung has decided that it will not support this feature with the Galaxy S7 and S7. Edge, though both handsets mark the return of the much-missed SD card slot. But that doesn't mean you can't undo Samsung's decision to snub adoptable memory.
Before jumping into the next fix, make sure to backup everything on your SD card as it will be formatted as part of the process.
First, go to Settings > System > About and tap on the phone's build number five times. This will enable developer mode. You can then go to Settings > System > Developer options and enable USB debugging.
Then download and install the
Android SDKs
on your computer and connect your S7 to the computer via USB. Open the command prompt on your computer and type "adb shell". Now type 'sm list-disks' to view the disk ID of your SD card.
With disk ID, now you can adopt MicroSD card as storage by typing 'sm partition disk:[enter your disk ID here] private'.
Now, when you go to Settings > Storage, you'll see all storage rolled into one, instead of a separate SD card option.
Warning: Camera Fail
The S7's new 12-megapixel camera just got better. bright performance and faster autofocus, but some users are reporting an unexpected error that prevents the camera from working. If you are one of the unlucky few to get the “Warning: Camera Failed” message, try a hard reset by pressing the Home and Power buttons simultaneously until you feel the phone vibrate and restart.
If restarting didn't fix the problem, go to Settings > Applications > Application Manager and open the Camera app. Tap Force Stop, then from the Storage menu, select Clear Data and Clear Cache.
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Hope this solved the problem, but if not, we can try something else.
With your Galaxy S7 powered off, press and hold the power, home, and volume up buttons together until you see the Samsung logo, then release. This launches the S7's Android system recovery mode. Press the Volume Down button to scroll down the list of options, then select “Wipe Cache Partition” by pressing the Power button. Once the cache is cleared, restart the phone and see if the issue has been resolved.
And thanks to
TrustedReviews
The Old-Rag-timer reader who provided us with this workaround:
The culprit is Smart stay. Go to Apps > Settings > View and disable Smart stay. Restart the S7/S7 Edge and your camera will work again. Smart stay uses the front camera to "know" when you look at the screen and there is a software conflict when trying to start the rear camera. I understand Samsung is aware of the issue and is working on a fix.
If all else fails, return the phone to the store you bought it from or contact Samsung about repairs.
Wet speakers
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are waterproof with an IP68 rating, which means they can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. Waterproofing is a welcome return to the Galaxy series after the S6 removed the feature introduced by the S5.
There doesn't seem to be any major issues with the S7's waterproof claim, but some people are noticing that the sound from the speakers is distorted once the phone gets wet.
Get the offer:
Galaxy S7 Edge - just £369.99 from Amazon
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The S7 has a rubber gasket around the charging port and headphone jack to keep water out. To prevent water from entering through the speaker holes, Samsung has added a screen behind the holes that prevents water from entering but still allows sound waves to exit.
This design means you don't need delicate flaps to protect your phone's holes and ports, but it does mean that water droplets can collect there, especially the speaker holes, causing a sound distortion.
All you have to do is wait an hour or two for the phone to dry. You can dab it with a towel or tissue to remove some of the moisture, but try to avoid drying your phone with a hair dryer as the high heat could damage the components.
Distracting always-on display
Always-on display (AOD) is a cool new feature that lets you see the time and date, calendar, and even an image on your S7 screen when the screen is off. It's a convenient way to check the time and see if you have any notifications without waking your phone.
This certainly falls into the category of first world problems, but every minute or so the image or information that is being displayed moves to another area of the screen. If you have your phone next to you or sitting on your desk, it can get a bit awkward.
Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent the AOD from moving. In fact, it is designed this way to prevent screen burn-in on the AMOLED display.
If the AOD is starting to bother you or you just want to save battery, open the Settings app and go to view > AlwaysOnDisplay. Just tap the toggle at the top of the menu to turn it off.
Bluetooth connection issues
There are reports that some S7 and S7 Edge devices are experiencing Bluetooth issues that prevent the phone from connecting to certain car audio systems and headphones. Users claim that the S7 does not send contact information or music correctly via Bluetooth. Samsung hasn't officially acknowledged the problem yet, but there are workarounds that might fix it.
Open Settings > Apps > Application manager, tap More, then select Show system apps. Now if you scroll down you should see an app called Bluetooth Share. Tap on it to open it.
Forcing Bluetooth sharing to stop as well as clearing cache and data seems to fix the problem for a number of users.
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Wiping your phone's cache partition (scroll down to Warning: Camera failed to learn how) also seems to fix the problem for some people.
Laggy Touch Wiz
The Exynos 8890 (or Snapdragon 820) processor, 4GB of RAM and the latest Android 6 software make the S7 a real beast of a phone. It feels a lot faster and more responsive than the S6, but if you still find it lagging in places or a bit sluggish, that's likely a symptom of the infamous TouchWiz skin.
As with any Samsung phone, if you're unhappy with TouchWiz, you can hide it with a launcher, disable specific features like S-Voice, or as a last resort, root your phone.
Installing a third-party launcher, such as the Google Now or Nova launcher, is the easiest way to speed up your phone. It changes the theme, icon style, wallpaper and animations and in most cases makes your phone faster and more responsive.
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Video VI has already been generated for this page.
At the time of writing, the S7 and S7 Edge are running Android 6.0.1 - so all you need to do is download and install a launcher from the Google Play Store - no updates, factory resets or root required.
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If you have any issues with the S7 or S7 Edge, let us know in the comments below.