Exchange ActiveSync won't sync contacts on Android

I have a Galaxy S7 Edge with Android 7.  I spent hours looking through the many threads reporting the same issue where hotmail/outlook/live contacts are not showing up in your native contacts app.  Here is what finally worked for me:

First, I have two devices.  First, a Galaxy S7 Edge that is shattered but working.  The contacts have always sync'd fine on that device.  Second, a new replacement Galaxy S7 Edge that is fresh off a factory reset, but otherwise setup exactly the same with the same OS version, apps, etc.

So, to recap, the shattered device was syncing contacts, the new device was not.  After deleting and re-adding my hotmail account several times and trying various settings on the new device, I finally gave up and decided to try exporting my contacts from my old device manually.  Export/Import procedure: Contacts app -> Settings -> Import/Export contacts -> Export -> copy *.vcf file off the old device with USB cable -> copy *.vcf file on the new device with USB cable -> Contacts app -> Settings -> Import/Export contacts -> Import.

All my contacts were there, but I was concerned about syncing still.  Just for fun, I added a new contact to my old phone that I new was still syncing correctly.  Low and behold, it immediately showed up on my new device that, before manually importing the contacts, was not syncing.  So, it appears somehow the import process kickstarted the syncing...

Hope it helps someone else.

Wow this is ridiculous.  I'm just sticking with Google Docs and their email and contacts.  I have the Note 5 on the latest Android and created a test contact and it is not syncing at all with Outlook.   It should sync right away.   Every time I try something with Microsoft there is always extra steps to set up right and some type of hassle.  I feel like they're going in the right direction with recent Windows 10 updates and their Surface products are great but they need to put more effort into Android.   And one still can't create contacts from the Android Outlook app!  And you can't create filters on Android, you can with Google's Inbox! And this issue w/ contact sync has been going since 2013!!

I deleted the Exchange account and reloaded and my contacts showed up.  Also check outlook.com to see if your contacts are the same as your outlook program.

Hi,

The account WON'T synchronize out of the box! You will receive a mail from Microsoft stating that you prefer not to use the Outlook app - and to use a third party app you have to open a link. Click on that link, it will unlock your mail client for the synchronization of your MSFT account data

Ridiculous, I found that solution on a blog after spending hours of resetting accounts, re syncing contacts etc...

I hope this help!