Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsok phone, "you get what you pay for"
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2021
so, my old S7 screen started to flicker (turns out to be a common problem and, reading in to some complaints, Samsung don't seem bothered) so, having had samsung mobile products for at least 20+ years i decided to remain "brand-loyal" and buy this for the short-term. As my current Sim-only contract will be up in a few months i will get a whole new contract and a smart "state-of-the-art" phone then, and this one was to be used as a standby. i like to protect my investments so, i purchased a "non-genuine" leather case and a "non-genuine" glass screen protector. these arrived within a day of the phone so i had little chance to test it fully before adding the protection. a few days in to owning this phone, i noticed the upper third of the screen was less or occasionally "non" responsive. tapping icons (and even hitting icons) had no effect. no apps located in the upper third of the screen were responding. the swipe-down menu from the top of the screen, not working, side-swiping the screen to take a screen shot, not working, volume and side-button screen shot, not working...... occasionally, the screen would change from bright to dull without me even moving from one ambient light area to a different one. i spent hours looking for the screen shot settings, nothing. hours checking and re-checking the auto brightness and "blue light" settings, all off and as for "screen sensitivity" settings....... nothing.
so, you can imagine that, right now, all my "PC" filters have broken and i'm ready for a fight......
i dumped a list of my concerns on to Samsungs FB site and 2 days later, received a messenger response...........
try this,,,,, (nope)
try that,,,,, (nope)
look at this setting,,,,, (done that already)
look "here" for sensitivity settings,,,,, (no, nothing there matched their description)
look "there" for screen capture settings,,,,,,( and no, nothing there either)
honestly, it was like the guys on the other end of the Messenger chat were looking at a different level of Android (or a different phone)
"ok, try it in safe mode to see if there are any apps interfering with the settings"
no, no change, what next.......?
try removing the glass screen protector as a "non genuine" protector "could" cause this!
(so, [i can now feel the hairs on my chest and neck growing exponentially] a non-adhesive glass screen protector will drastically change the sensitivity on ONLY THE TOP THIRD of the screen? and will it also change the brightness / blue-light settings AND COMPLETELY REMOVE THE MENU SELECTIONS FOR SCREEN CAPTURE AND SENSITIVITY??????
(don't fink-so!)
at their request, and to satisfy their suggestions, i have removed the screen protection and just to be on the safe side, removed the non-genuine leather case (in case the phone is in some way "offended" by the new leather jacket i bought it.
guess what...........
sensitivity levels have not changed, i still get the same, random, occasional unresponsive touch to the upper third of the screen. i've not experienced the screen brightness / blue-light scenario yet (early days there) but, after re-checking EVERY menu setting, there are still no sensitivity settings (so, the screen protector and it's leather jacket are not to blame after all!!)
i will be back on to Samsung presently.
i believe this phone may have a 2 year warranty, let's see if i'm Messed about by Samsung for another 23 months an a few days!