My timing was perfect. I was returning to the U.S.A after an extended stay abroad. The Galaxy Note 7 would be out in a couple of weeks. I pre-ordered the Note 7. When I got it, I was extremely happy with the phone and its features having moved from a Note 3. My bliss, however, was not to last very long! You know the saga of the Note 7. My ending was to purchase a used 64 GB Note 5 and hope for a good step to Android 7 later on.
A few months passed and my wife's S7 was updated to Nugat but I was disappointal that it didn't bring a lot of the Note 7s Touchwiz enhancemats with it. My wait with my Note 5 continued, but nevertheless I was satisfied with the Note 5. A great phone and the 64GB version did not leave me feeling space constrained or speed needing.
A couple of days ago, I finally received the long awaited upgrade. I am very happy to say that it was a great upgrade and only left me wanting in a couple of areas!
The Interface was very much like that of the Note 7. Folders now consisted of pages - a much enhanced version of the pop-up endless Scrolling tray.
Blue light filter was also included!
The system tray was enhanced and how tethering is much easier to access. I am still undecided about the tighter integration ofthe Samsung finder app that moved the screen cast feature of nearby devices there. Previously it was a separate entry on the system tray pull down menu.
The S-pen popup Menu is actually better than the Note 7s and now provides the ability to add many items to the quick launcher ! I am not sure what the limit is, but it is a great enhancement.
Multi-window is also much improved with the ability to open every app as split view or floating. This is in large part due to Google's enhancements to Android 7.
There are Many more enhancements in this upgrade with a lot not visible in the interface ... however, there is at least one enhancement they should have done, but didn't. The "Screen Off Memo " S-Note is still the default Note application along with s-memo. Many May be very glad thatis the case. I personally prefer S-Note for one reason - synchronization with evernote. But Samsung Note did bring a huge enhancement to the Screen Off Memo feature ... multiple page notes! I fell quickly in love with this feature and used it a lot on my Note 7. It was one of the first things I checked on my Note 5 after the upgrade to Nougat. If someone knows if there is a easy way to switch this and get multipage screen off memos, please comment!
A last word on the never Samsung Note application. It is a very nice application that does a great job integrating various forms of Note taking: type, lists, ink, drawing/painting... I think it may be better than One Note ... but please fix the synch options!
Use of the stylus is much improved as are the inpat screen across the phone! Everything is much smoother and is probably the best Rom update SAMSUNG has ever pushed! Really, the only Serious negative aspect is it makes justifying upgrading to the next phone much harder which means I will likely not step to the Note 8 for a couple more years unless my phone dies a horrible death! Enjoy your nougat upgrade... I am!
