Product By Sprint
Average customer review :
 Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint) Rating on December 9 Rating: |
Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)
 | Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint) 3.5 out of 5 from 144 user reviews. |
Technical Details
- Android-powered phone with 4G wireless connectivity (also compatible with 3G networks), 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display, and slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- Sprint TV and Amazon MP3 Store enabled; GPS turn-by-turn directions via Sprint Navigation; access to thousands of apps from Android Market
- Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (with optional hotspot capability); 5-MP camera with HD video capture; front-facing VGA camera for video chats; microSD expansion to 32 GB; Bluetooth stereo music
- 1500 mAh battery provides extended talk and standby times; released in August, 2010
- What's in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 16 GB microSD card, quick start guide
Product Description of Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)
Amazon.com Product Description
The perfect all-in-one device for staying connected, getting work done, and enjoying the latest in entertainment while on-the-go, the Samsung Epic 4G runs on Sprint's new and expanding 4G network, offering simultaneous voice and data connectivity and download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. Additionally, the phone can still connect to 3G data services in areas not currently served by Sprint's 4G network (learn more about Sprint's 4G network below). The 4G-enabled Samsung Epic helps you stay connected to work and friends as well as enjoy HD videos, gaming, and more. |
Running the Android 2.1 operating system, the Epic 4G brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services millions use every day, including Google Search by Voice, YouTube, and Picasa. The Epic 4G also provides easy access to both personal and corporate e-mail, calendars, and contacts supported by Exchange Server and Gmail. And through Android Market, you'll get access to thousands of useful applications, widgets, and fun games to download and install on your phone, with many more apps being added every day.
The forward-facing VGA camera makes it easy to have video calls using the two-way voice and video service from Qik (upgraded account service required), while the 5-megapixel camera on the back also offers HD video recording (720p) for playback on your HDTV.
With built-in mobile hotspot functionality, the Epic 4G also allows up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices--including laptop, camera, music player, video player, or any other Wi-Fi-enabled device--to enjoy the benefits of 4G speeds on the go. Other features include music downloads from the Amazon MP3 Store, microSD memory expansion (16 GB card included; optional 32 GB cards supported), HDMI audio/video output, and up to 6 hours of battery life (learn more about power management on the Samsung Epic 4G).
 It features a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and onscreen keyboard with Swype technology. |
Sprint's Blazing Fast 4G Network
Sprint 4G offers a faster wireless experience than any other U.S. national wireless carrier, and Sprint is the only national carrier offering wireless 4G service in 32 markets (with more coming online soon). Sprint 4G delivers download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, giving this mobile phone the fastest data speeds of any U.S. wireless device available today. Sprint 4G network coverage is expected to reach 120 million people by the end of 2010.Sprint 4G services dramatically increase download speeds for photos, videos and large files. You can download a favorite song, picture, sitcom or large video in seconds, not minutes, or watch live streaming video- all while on the go, not just from the home or office. Additionally, businesses can benefit from the fast connectivity speeds of 4G. Some examples include:
- Real estate agents can conduct virtual property tours.
- Construction teams using 4G in the field can save valuable time by sharing schematics with engineers online.
- Insurance companies can speed their claims management through real-time communication with on-site adjusters.
- Health care professionals can improve their ability to remotely monitor patients.
- Emergency first responders can rapidly assess and coordinate disaster action with real-time on-site video and audio.
- Photojournalists can instantly transfer high-resolution images to the newsroom.
A Movie Theater in Your Hand
When Samsung Media Hub launches on the Samsung Epic 4G, it will be the first and only 4G handset to feature a video store with movies and TV shows available for purchase or rental and video content set up for an HD-like entertainment experience on a handset screen.The Epic 4G will also share user-generated video content with other devices thanks to Samsung's exclusive AllShare service, which wirelessly shares stored music, pictures and HD video to other DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified home electronics--including HDTVs, monitors, digital cameras, printers and more. Through AllShare, you'll be able to capture moments with the phone's camera and camcorder and wirelessly show them to friends or family on a DLNA-certified HDTV or download music from a PC to the Epic 4G and take it on the road.
Ideal for Gaming
The Epic 4G's brilliant Super AMOLED touchscreen display offers the best representation of color on a mobile phone that matches original content more than 100 times the contrast quality of other leading displays. It also features faster response time (which reduces "ghosting" images), wide viewing angles to prevent blurring or distortion, and a thinner design to offer more accurate and responsiveness to touch.In addition to the dynamic screen, the Epic 4G's six-axis motion sensing uses an accelerometer and geo-magnetic sensor to fine-tune its ability to interpret simple movements and provide an optimal gaming experience. When the phone tilts up and down or left and right, the game can immediately respond in the same direction. To get you started, a demo of the popular Asphalt 5 racing game is preloaded.
 Mobile Hotspot capability shares the 3G or 4G experience with up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices (see larger image). |
Key Features
- Ultra-fast 4G connectivity with simultaneous voice and data capability (peak download speeds of more than 10 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1 Mbps; average download speeds of 3-6 Mbps)
- 3G data speeds (EVDO Rev A.) in areas not yet served by 4G (peak download speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1.8 Mbps; average download speeds of 600 kbps-1.4 Mbps)
- Ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.
- Built-in mobile hotspot functionality allows up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 3G or 4G experience on the go with a laptop, camera, music player, game unit, video player, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device.
- Powered by the Android operating system (version 2.1) with deep integration of Google services and access to thousands of apps to customize your phone via the Android Market.
- 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor speeds up everything--from playing games to watching shows to opening files from work.
- Swype input system allows you to input text faster and easier by gliding your finger around the keyboard, moving from letter to letter in one continuous motion. The Swype technology then calculates what word you're intending to type (learn more below).
- Samsung Social Hub provides one stop for all your updates integrates all your social networking services, messages, personal and business e-mail, calendars and contacts.
- 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display (480 x 800 pixels, 16 million color depth) is one of the thinnest, most responsive full-featured smartphones in the industry.
- 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder with auto-focus and HD video recording (720p)
- Forward-facing VGA camera for making video calls. Two-way voice and video capability will be available as an upgrade to the preloaded Qik app on the phone to enable conversational, interactive, real-time sharing between mobile devices or from mobile-to-desktop.
- Included 16 GB microSD card with support for optional cards up to 32 GB.
- Bluetooth connectivity (version 2.1) includes profiles for communication headset, hands-free car kits, and the A2DP Bluetooth profile--enabling you to wirelessly stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones or speaker dock.
- Instantly download e-books from Skiff, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo
- Access to personal and corporate e-mail with Microsoft Direct Push Technology and HTML support. Send and receive email from multiple corporate and personal email accounts. Also, get wireless email access to popular commercial POP3 and IMAP accounts like AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo!
- Instant messaging via popular services including Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger.
- View documents including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF on the go to maximize your productivity
- Visual Voicemail gives you quick and easy access to just the messages you want to listen to by letting you go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages.
- Full HTML Web browser
- Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off
- 3.5mm stereo headset jack
- Memory: 1 GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
The Samsung Epic 4G weighs 5.46 ounces and measures 4.9 x 2.54 x 0.56 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery provides long talk and standby times. It runs on Sprint's 4G network as well as the 800/1900 CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A frequencies.
What's in the Box
Samsung Epic 4G handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 16 GB microSD card, quick start guide
Sprint Services
- GPS capable with Sprint Navigation: This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone--by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, "Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street." As you approach the turn, you will hear, "Turn right on Elm Street." Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it's easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.
- Sprint TV enabled: With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including the NFL Network, ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.
- Stay Sporty with Sprint: With NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, instantly connect to the NASCAR information you want, when you want it. Follow NASCAR action from practice to race day with real-time leaderboard and alerts. Get exclusive access to your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with real-time driver stats, breaking news and more. Live in-car audio, race radio, NASCAR on SPEED and other audio/video only available on select phones. Visit sprint.com/speed for details. To access, just text "NASCAR" to 7777 on your Sprint phone or visit the Sprint Digital Lounge to download NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile (standard text messaging and data rates apply).
This phone also provides access to Sprint Football Live--free for any phone with a data plan. You'll be able to follow all the live play-by-play action with the Live Game Center for both pro and college football games, as well as stay on top of the pro football draft with a Live Draft Tracker and in-depth analysis and bios on nearly 500 top prospects. Access by texting "FOOTBALL" to 7777 on the handset to download Sprint Football Live from Sprint Digital Lounge (standard text messaging and data rates apply).
Learn More
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An alternative to the Android virtual keyboard, the Swype virtual keyboard allows you to input text by swiping the finger with one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard. Based on testing, speed and accuracy are equal to or better than the traditional keyboard-tapping method. You can activate the Swype keyboard by pressing and holding in a text field, wait for popup to appear, click Input Method, and then select Swype.
In the image to the left, the word "quick" was generated from tracing the path shown above in a fraction of a second, by roughly aiming to pass through the letters of the word. A key advantage to Swype is that there is no need to be very accurate, enabling very rapid text entry.
Switching between 3G and 4G coverage
When switching between 3G and 4G coverage, the Samsung Epic 4G may experience a very brief interruption of data service as the device switches network connections. During this brief interruption, applications attempting to access data may be unable to do so and may display an error message. Below are some examples of how to proceed if an error message appears on the device. Other data-usage applications may experience a very brief interruption and will continue functioning once the network handoff is complete.
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Review of Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
295 of 315 people found the following review helpful.
The Epic 4G might just win this.By Harkanwar Anand
I have been playing around with both phones and because I belong to Sprint for the rest of my life's tenure, I shall let you know that these are the two best phones available in the market but let's compare which is better at what.
Appearance - The Evo 4G does not have a slide-out QWERTY keypad like the Epic. The Epic despite the keyboard is about an ounce lighter in weight and that says a lot about the AMOLED screen and the absolutely flawless design on this phone. The charging port is located on the TOP of the phone and also has a little slide you need to drag open before accessing the MICRO USB/Charger. The phone looks a terrific black (like the best looking iPhone, oh yeah we care, no sarcasm) when the screen is not on. UNLIKE THE EVO, the standby key is on the right hand side of the phone and does the same thing. On first appearance, the design of the Epic is mouth watering. I've always found Sidekick like phones cheesy and even that DROID from VERIZON looks very plastic to me but I shall diss no more, the Epic might just win on this account (but I know plenty of Evo users who would disagree but this is my opinion). Because of size, weight, 4-inch screen (Evo's 4.3), design of the slide out, the Epic wins this round.
Call Reception / Loud Speaker -> While playing music, I noticed the Epic was a little louder than the Evo is but at full volume, it can be a tad too loud too which is obviously such a WELCOME FEATURE. The Evo has a loud speaker alright and also a dedicated home page where you can easily play your music but what matters is the sound because both phones offer excellent customization.
Battery Life - This is one of the primary reasons the Epic is likely to do good. I fume when I hear people say the DROID X has a better battery life than the Evo. On Epic, the AMOLED screen ensures you don't need to charge this phone more than once a day. I managed to make this last for atleast a day but I did find the battery readings to be inaccurate from time to time. Maybe this happened because I was trying the phone on Airplane mode and then switching to CDMA so that could be it. There was a difference in the battery life, sometimes the bar would be short and sometimes substantially longer. Maybe it is just a software update that is required but at the end of the day, You can have all the features on a phone but what matters a lot is battery life and the Epic takes this round too. By getting the Evo you will need to buy an extra battery unless you like carrying your wires everywhere you go. If you're getting the Evo make sure you get an extra battery charger and oh save yourself some money and NEVER INVEST ON EXTENDED BATTERIES. You wouuld think Samsung and HTC are more clever than not to have come out with the extended battery in the first place. Feel free to discuss, throw things at me on the comments column.
Screen Brightness - HTC Evo is about AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN, absolutely incredible brightness, it's like watching the most expensive HDTV sometimes. The phone even on low brightness is surprisingly bright and I always appreciate brightness. While the Epic is not dull, I'll be lying if I say the screen is as bright as the Evo or even comes close to taking this round. The Epic has a jaw dropping display but the brightness and screen quality while you're on a webpage makes Evo the winner here. The brightness may come at the price of battery life but when you drive a HUMMER, you worry not about the battery life but about the drive.
Build Quality of Plastic on the BACK - The Evo certain feels a little more solid and smooth. The back on the EVO is better than the INCREDIBLE. Evo's kickstand is an added feature but the quality of the plastic on the Evo is 15% better than the Epic when you're holding the back though Epic is quite good as it is. **Caution** Do not remove Epic's back size by the SPEAKER, you may damage the phone cause you're such a strong individual, locate a small opening at the end and then LIFT UP the back plastic covering the battery. The back is obviously not RED like the HTC EVO.
Bundled Accessories - Epic comes with a 16gb card, in ear earphones, a thicker BASIC manual I haven't opened and read yet. The Evo comes with an 8gb card and no earphones. They both come with a Micro USb Cord which coverts into a wall charger. I have tried and used almost all earphones bundled with phones and have never seen any Sprint phone with such good quality "in-ear" earphones which provide NOISE CANCELLATION. An excellent extra for the fifty bucks you pay depending on where you're buying the phones from. 16gb is like having 2 x 8gb cards.
Mobile Hotspot - DRAW
Task Killer App - If you hold the home button down on the Epic, an excellent task killer pops up. It is so easy and fun to use that this alone was a big big big deal for me. I've used it on the Evo before but it's just so much hassle free and cleaner on the Samsung, it tells you the percentage of the CPU being used for variety of apps in REAL TIME! Deal-MAKER for me. EVO owners, please correct me if I'm wrong.
CAMERA *BIG DEAL FOR ME* - Epic. Epic. Epic. Epic. The customization is Godly. Samsung is slowly becoming very clever. The camera quality is that of a digital camera, I dare say. Also if people are moving and pause for a second, the phone still takes an absolutely astounding photograph. The Evo makes things yellow and although it's 8megapixel, the camera doesn't quite seal the deal. The other thing is that the Evo doesn't have that many customizations for the camera. Samsung has pulled a magic trick with this one. Some envious Evo users tell me that because the screen looks better on the Epic, the images look better but if I were to upload these to my computer, there'd be a difference. This is my response to people who say something like that. How often will I be uploading these pictures? Maybe once in four days, I will be mostly viewing them on the phone so I don't care about that. Mind you, though I haven't uploaded anything yet, I shall upload them and send you a sample picture if you request one. PLEASE BARE IN MIND, while the SAMSUNG has more options, it will take a real techoholic to want to figure out each and every feature, I'm still getting WARMED up to it.
Google Sync - The google sync on both phones immediately got all my contacts into the phone, there are a ton of applications so if you have a gmail account even with a blackberry, all your contacts are gonna be SYNCED with either the EVO or the EPIC. Google has a very funny deal-sealing way of having the google sync on the BLACKBERRY. If you're dumping your blackberry, make sure you do google sync and sync all your contacts before activating the EPIC. Ask a store rep to do it for you before buying it BLINDLY from them.
BROWSING - Browsing on the Evo is the best browsing I have ever seen. It still wins over the Epic by just a single point. Epic still gets a 9/10 while Evo because of it's multi-touch gets a perfect 10. There is no lag while browsing or using the touchscreen at all. This is a dream come true for people who've ever had the Samsung Instinct from two years ago. These two phones make my Blackberry look so bad and that's one thing to love and admire about Androids, the fact that they have such capable awesomse fast, intelligent browsers. I have no complaints whatsoever. I have an iPod touch and its half as good at best and I'll tell you the iPod touch is amazing. EVO wins by a life because it's the best at it. Epic is still about two and a half times as good as my Sprint BOLD.
On-Screen Typing : On screen typing on the Evo is way better because of HTC's on screen Qwerty. Swype comes built in with the EPIC. I've never used it, I don't believe in it, just looks too cheesy. Evo has a great typing mechanism but EPIC assumes that unless you're typing casually, you will use the physical keyboard to type. The Evo's typing is better than the iPhone's or the iPods. I haven't played with the iPhone 4 yet.
SLIDE OUT / PHYSICAL KEYBOARD : I will go for the Epic over the Evo because it has a wonderful, non-cheesy, idiot proof keyboard slide out. This is the best addition possible besides the camera and the bundled accessries. I despise the Moment's keyboard in comparison though Moment isn't a bad phone. The EVO is supposed to be Sprint and Samsung's replacement for the SAMSUNG MOMENT.
I've been away from my 2 day old Epic. I will discover more things and shall let you know. Any cons? The capacitive keys on the front could've been a touch more responsive. On the Evo they seem more responsive. I'm in no hurry for the Samsung Epic to get 2.2 and I'm sure they won't disappoint.
Wallpapers look brighter, more alive, sleeker, sexier, more sophisticated on the Epic. When you're in your menu on the Evo you go from top to bottom while on the Epic, if you click Applications you go left right right right. So it's horizontal menu browsing on the Epic and vertical on the Evo.
There is so much more for me to discover. I told someone earlier this year that no phone will ever match the iPhone but technology has an astounding way of shocking me. I'm an absolute geek and am glad that the Epic exists. It's like action sequences on the Lord of the Rings : Twin Towers while Evo is like the Matrix chase scenes from Reloaded. Both are feature packed phones but I love to type and the additional keyboard is fantastic for typing.
Wi-Fi Browsing : If both phones were used on the Wifi, the Epic is blazingly fast and obviously an easy hands down winner. I didn't try browsing on both using the 3G signal in Manhattan though it loaded a youtube video and downloaded an mp3 rather fast.
MISCELLANEOUS THINGS: Epic comes with a game, it also a Samsung HUB, it doesn't have an HDMI port but has something called DLNA which enables you to wireless connect the phone with compatible televisions and monitors. The AMOLED screen is Samsung's proprietary format I read somewhere, Samsung will invest $2 Billion in the next year or two for making screen for all touchscreens.
I'm sorry about how random this review might seem but I really wanna go back to playing with the Epic so see you later. My conclusion is obvious from the subject.
**UPDATES**
Samsung Epic has four buttons when you slide out the keyboard. One is for the Home, one is the back key, one is the menu, one is the features Key. These behave just like the FOUR buttons on the front beneath the screen when viewed vertically.
I'm falling in love with the wallpaper options. The HTC Evo has something called scenes and the profile customization is exciting, I wonder how ANDROID 2.2 will look on the EPIC.
Please buy an invisible shield when you buy this phone, I'm looking for an Anti-Glare one for $10. Any suggestions?
I saw a lady with the Samsung Epic today, she had a cheesy black plastic case on her EPIC. POOR CASES can make the Epic look like the Samsung MOMENT (Sorry, Moment owners, no offense, just honesty). I am not going to use any case for this phone, what a waste of a gorgeous phone.
I also thought I should add a note that I have never bothered investing in a SAMSUNG phone for myself but the EPIC really made it an easy decision. The Galaxy S series is remarkable. I live in New York and get no 4G but I do get unlimited data downloads, video calling and that's all. I don't mind the $10 extra fee but it may hurt the price conscious user but SPRINT is still a better deal than the other carriers so don't OVER THINK it.
**11/01/2010 Update**
4G has been launched in NEW YORK and I can download a 3mb song from gmail in 13 seconds.
Shazam takes a second to tell you the name of the song that's playing.
Does consume a lot of battery though.
UPDATE 05/06/2011 - To people who are thinking about getting the Epic, there is soon going to be a new 4G phone so please RE-CONSIDER because there is the NEXUS S out. It doesn't have a keyboard mind you and yes it is based on Sprint's WIMAX 4G.
90 of 95 people found the following review helpful.
READ THIS REVIEW!! :DBy S. Samra
BEFORE YOU READ BELOW PLEASE READ THIS: Make sure you set aside time to play with this. Your girlfriend or wife is going to hate you for it if you don't. ......haha..trust me I learned from experience.
I was a blackberry user for years, and I never wanted to switch. But I wanted to see what 4G was like. Sprint is testing 4G in many more markets than are on their website (Many places in the San Francisco area and Los Angeles). Here is a break down of the pros and cons
1. Once you get use to "Swype" typing, you'll never use the keyboard. I bought this phone becaue of the physical keyboard (since I came from a blackberry) but I never use it. "Swype" is great. Go look up a video.
2. Battery life is pretty good despite what people say. Since the Amoled screen does not use power with black pixels. I made my wallpaper solid black. Improved battery life drastically. Trust me on this! .....Now if you use 4G it drains your battery quickly. See below. Also charging time takes a long time. It takes maybe twice as long to fully charge this phone than a blackberry and the MaH is only slightly stronger (1500). Use the "Power Widget" to very easily turn on/off things like 4G, Wifi, Adjut brightness. This will help greatly.
3. 4G..It drains your battery, and mean quickly. God's honest truth......3G is fast enough. I mean 4G was cool to test out, but it really doesn't make a difference when browsing. Maybe downloading music or video (yes) but how often do you do that. When it comes to apps and browsing 3G is fast enough. I teathred my phone to my laptop, and the 4G speeds were barely faster than 3G. 3G speeds were about 1MB per second download. 4G was 1.2. Now if you run a network speedtest on the phone at [...], it's fast...4-5 MbPS.
3. Customization - Awesome, nothing like it. I love it. No complaints. You'll love it.
4. Feel of the phone - Overall a little too thick for me. Once you add it the protective case, that thing aint goin in your pocket. It makes it to thick. So if you like a thin phone, this one is not for you. As I mentioned above, with the "Swype" technology you'll never find yourself using a keyboard. The keyboard also "wiggles" around a bit.....
5. Charging Port - Kinda funny that's its on top of the phone, but not a big deal.
6. Bluetooth - Great Quality (3.0 BT technology). Good reception from a number of Bluetooth pieces I've tried. It's also cool streaming podcasts /music to your bluetooh. Cool feature.
7. Apps - App market is great. Again customizing this phone is one of the greatest features. Apps will randomly start for some reason. I don't know if they suck up battery life or cpu usage. The sprint guy told me they don't.
8. Unlocking the phone - PHone has an auto lock. You have to touch the power button and then slide the screen to unlock. Get an app on the market for this called "Screen Mode" to customize this. Now I can lock / unlock my phone by just hitting a button.
9. Youtube videos are great to watch on here you can watch them in HQ. Sometimes when you do, you'll have to reset your phone for it to work. I know it sounds funny, but this is a minor flaw. Youtube in HQ is great!
10. E-mail and Web Browsing. Seamlessly hooked up to my company's exchange. So much more superior than using a blackberry in that regard. The way you can view the e-mails and attachments are great. Also synced with Yahoo and Gmail. Again. Awesome. No complaints.
11. Web Browsing - NO other phone like it! plain and simple it's great.
12. The google search feature. I know this is available on other droid phones. But the voice activated or type features are awesome!
13. Phone reception / quality - Perfect.
Overall. If you can get over the thickness you'll love it.
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
Great - I chose over EVO 4GBy M. Cordoba
Just wanted to share where my point of view comes from before I start:
- This is my first Android phone
- I used a Palm Pre for the past year and a half (love it, really hard to give up)
- I used an EVO for about 3-6 hours, side by side with the Epic. Plus:
- I read about 50 different professional reviews online about both the Epic and the EVO to decide which one to buy
Quick Review (if you want all the details read more below)
Cons:
- Battery Life
- Too many hidden Apps open by themselves all the time (Android inherent and not just this phone)
- VGA front camera (lower resolution than phone screen...)
- No SMS/IM integrated area/application (you have to open 2 different apps at least)
- Back camera lens comes all the way out, so I am constantly putting my fingers all over it.
- Youtube videos come out in low quality, small rectangle (lots of wasted space, the EVO uses HQ videos that expand the entire screen)
Pros:
- Super Amoled screen. It is truly gorgeous.
- Android Market Place (90,000+ applications and counting)
- Fast (I use the phone for web browsing quite a bit, this one loads pages faster than even the EVO)
- Design: plastic matte back keeps it finger print free, front glass piece, flushed black design looks really good.
- Main camera quality. Wow. For pictures with good light, you can truly leave your point and shoot camera at home. Picture quality is really, really good.
- Graphic processor can be 40% faster than EVO. I won't be playing games much on it at all, but I figured some people will be interested in that.
- Includes decent headset and a 16GB micro sd card.
What I didn't care for:
- Physical keyboard (I chose this phone despite it. The keyboard is fine, I just find myself using the touchscreen keyboard 95% of the time) I would have loved to have a skinnier phone, or a beefier battery over the physical keyboard. However, I must confess that when I am going to type a long email, I slide out the physical one, I can type a lot faster on it, and it's overall more comfortable.
- Android buttons are backlit (Home, Menu, Back and Search) so they will be using up battery all the time they are on. By default they hide after a few seconds. For someone unfamiliar with Android it was really annoying to have to guess which button to press (you cannot see them at all) to get to the option you were looking for. You need to go to the settings and make this last as long as the screen is on - at least at first. The nice part about it, is the phone looks clean and totally black when watching a video, playing a game, reading a book, etc.
Why I chose over EVO:
- Faster web page loads (tried both side to side with the same wifi connection and read reviews online)
- Screen
What the EVO has that I like better:
- HTC has proven that it will update to new versions of Android in a timely fashion. Samsung on the other hand...
- HD youtube that uses all the screen real estate
- Build quality - feels heavier and more durable (it's a close call, but it feels more expensive than the Epic)
In-depth review:
My main complaints with a small review of each portion.
1. Battery life
By comparison my Palm Pre lasted me more, about 24 hours with normal use - granted about 18-22 of those hours where standby - however with data sync enabled, so chat, emails were synching every hour or so, and google chat was constantly on.
What I did to get better battery performance:
* download Advanced Task Manager (allows you to see all the open apps draining your battery, you'll be surprised how many apps android likes to open - more on that later. Use this program to constantly kill the 10+ programs that creep up on the background) NOTE UPDATED: After using the phone more, I while I believe this helps, it doesn't help very much, you might gain a few minutes a day, the big saver for me is the next one:
* download Juice Defender (the free version) (allows your phone to turn off features when the screen is off. Like 3g, you can customize to connect and synch at specific intervals, like once every 2 hours or so) when the screen is off - simple but genius.
* Screen brightness all the way down (it is still plenty bright, I left it just 1 level above, to enjoy that screen more) I also want to point out that
* No live backgrounds or widgets that constantly connect online on your home screen (facebook, etc)
* if you have a weak 4g signal, turn it off (downtown I can use 4g, but the radius of the antenna coverage is about a mile at most). Note - what drains the battery is not 4G itself, is the phone connecting/disconnecting constantly between 3G and 4G to retrieve data. IF you have strong 4g coverage you'll be fine.
Optional things to increase it further:
* Turn off background sync (this has a decent impact, but even accessing the marketplace somehow requires background data to be active, so a lot of application won't work. If you don't charge your phone overnight, turn this off then.
Having these things on will let the device last you the entire day with normal-light use. You can choose to only turn these apps when you need them. I know most people charge their phones over night, but I am usually out and about in the later afternoon/night so I have gotten used to charge the phone at work, since I am always at my desk. My goal is for the phone to last me from 5pm to about 1pm the next day (when I'll start to charge it)
Basically without the changes above, the phone drains about 5% of it's battery per hour when in "idle". With all those changes it goes down to about 1% or less. The phone is truly in idle then. (Updated10/03/10: simple having Juice Defender and setting it to disable data access when the phone is idle does the trick)
Much has been said about how the Super Amoled screen save battery because the black pixels are off. This is one of the reasons the black levels are so deep - there is no light (unlike the EVO screen for example).
However, this is not presently the case. I am not sure of the reasons - it's possible that the actual lit pixels (any other color) use so much power as to offset the gains from the black pixels. Either way, after using the screen for maybe 30 minutes (for a game) my battery indicator (checks all the power on the phone and how it's being used)
Claims that the 30 minutes I used it, used about 15% of the battery life.
To give you a clear picture - I just started testing to see how long it would last with all the optimizations and light use (which I do several times a week)
- The screen has been on for probably 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes.
- I had a 25 minute phone call, and made a couple of short calls (less than 2 minutes)
- I have sent and received a total of about 10 texts
- Browsed the web for about 30 minutes (using 3g)
- Browsed the web for 10-15 minutes (using 4G)
- Watched about 5 minutes of Sprint TV (over 4G)
- Streamed Pandora for about 45 minutes or so. (using 3g)
- About 15 minutes of email checking, responded to 1 email.
- About 40 minutes of listening to MP3s from the external speaker and headset (about 20 mins each)
- Some minor things (like alarm clock settings, used the alarm this morning, synching emails manually a couple of times, turning on/off 4G, using Advanced task manager to shut off applications that start running in the background, etc)
The rest of the time, say around 20 hours, it's been in idle.
Currently the phone has been off the charger for just over 25 hours. And the battery use says:
Remaining charge: 27%
Standby: 49%
Display: 19%
Voice calls: 14%
Phone idle: 13%
Media server: 4%
Android system: 2%
The good news is that you can make it last about 30 hours with light use. But you do give up a lot of the functionality that makes the phone special. (syncing constantly).
If you are playing games, and listening to music, it will last about 4 hours. The one day I played a game for like an hour, the "display" indicator said the screen had used 55% of the battery (out of 6 hours unplugged). With medium use and no optimizations (other than lower screen brightness) I had to charge twice a day, it really wouldn't last much. At work without using the phone it lost about 50% of the battery life for example. (not even 1 text, that was simply the phone synching things and connecting/reconnecting to 4g/3g by itself. Note - I am beside a window and have strong 3g signal.
Another advice - given how much battery life the screen uses, I'd recommend changing whatever applications you can to use a dark theme (and by dark I mean black). Basically black background with light text. Same with your background image.
2. Not Epic specific but Android as a whole - apps sucking memory all the time, no way to close them other than by downloading a custom application. I'm not sure what the point of it is, or why they are doing it, but that's the route Google decided to go with Android.
3. VGA front camera (spending just a couple of dollars more would have allowed it to have a 1.3MP camera so that it works better with all the apps coming up - skype. It is lower resultion than the screen of this phone, making video chat look bad... Not sure why they didn't spend the extra money on the better front facing camera (the EVO has a 1.3 one for example)
4. Currently no app in Android to combine chat/sms/im in a single location. I couldn't even find anything in the 90k + apps in the Android market. Basically, the Palm Pre (and Blackberry as well) you open up a Contact to chat, and you have all the text messages and instant messages from google talk, facebook chat, etc. So you can follow the whole conversation you've had with someone. In Android (and the custom layer added by the many manufactureres, in this case touchwiz is lacking such a feature. You may not think it's a big deal, but it's what I miss the most about my Pre - thought it's close between that and the ability to close applications and true multitasking - webOS (palm pre's) card system is light years ahead of what anyone iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian)
5. Cannot change "most used" icons on the bottom of the phone. This one falls on Samsung and their touchwiz user interface. I like the fact that they let you keep 4 icons on every one of the 7 home screens, so no matter where you are you have quick access to the Phone, Contacts, Text Messages App, and the all application icon. While convenient, those happen to NOT be my most used apps. In fact, only 1 of those 3 are. And Sprint/Samsung decided to not let you choose which are your "most used" applications. Here is to hoping they realize how backwards that is, and actually release a patch that lets you choose those applications. (Like say: email, web browser...)
UPDATE 10/03/10 (more on battery life)
I have slowly started enabling more services (turned background synch on, not running "advanced task killer" as much) but have kept the Juice Defender on. I must say, that the phone does quite well in general just with the Juice Defender. I have been getting about 50 hours with very light use, and have had no problem with my regular use to charge around noon each day. In fact, it usually has about 35-40% charge left then. The big trick is juice defender - basically the phone is incredibly efficient when in idle - a lot more so than any other Android phone. Samsung is doing something quite well with it's processor during that time. Today before charging it up, that phone had been unplugged for 54 hours, and still had 12% of battery left. Again, this is light use. When using it constantly, (say watching a couple of movies for example) the battery will be gone completely. Basically Juice Defender is awesome, the free version is plenty, but I am going to purchase the pro version of the app just as a thank you for the developer. It really has made the phone usable for a couple of days with light use, something I thought impossible when I first purchased it.
UPDATE 10/14/10 (battery...)
After the latest firmware update, battery drainage while idle became really poor again, maybe worse than ever. The main culprit according to the indicators is "cellphone standby", I have tried all the normal tricks without luck, it's draining about 4% per hour while on idle (3g is disabled, screen is off, nothing can sync during this time) I have tried multiple things, but ended up finding a running DRM service introduced with samsung media hub recently, shutting this off improved this after a phone reset. Note - Media hub enables this service in the background and it connects every 11 seconds to a server, so it keeps your phone processor from sleeping as well as keeping your data connection turning on. I must say that despite disabling this, the phone is still not as efficient as I had it before, but at least good enough again. Again, it's another reason to consider going HTC (EVO) over Samsung (Epic) - HTC is working harder on Android software updates, and don't have a DRM service running in the background killing your battery life.
Now for the positive things:
1. Speed
The device is simply fast. With 4g on (or using wifi), it feels like I'm on a PC browsing the web. Pages load within a couple of seconds. It feels about 3-4 times faster than the Palm Pre. It consistently took about 1 or 2 less seconds than the EVO on my tests. This cannot be understated for me, since this is one of the 2 big reasons I chose it over the EVO. I use it for most of my web needs. Opening apps is quick, etc.
2. 4G - it's faster than the wifi (2mbs) I use at home, so it feels very fast. Obviously it's just starting so I don't get the super high speeds, but it's about 2-3 times faster than 3G in my area. Unfortunately as I said, it's only available downtown in my area. But still, they say by year end it'll be covering most of the area. We'll see. I feel like I am a bit more ready for the future with 4G, if speeds increase I'll have the benefit already.
UPDATE 10/11/10: You can actually see tiny little pixels on the screen if you look hard enough. I don't mind them, but some people do. For comparison purposes, you cannot easily distinguish pixels on the EVO, the iPhone 4, and most other high resolutions phones. This is strictly an issue with the Super Amoled screens.
3. Screen. You can read it anywhere, see it anywhere. Even diehard EVO fans cannot claim thire screen is better. It's basically a fact that this screen is the best on the market. iPhone 4 has a higher resolution, but color saturation and black levels are just stunning. Watch a movie on this phone vs anything else and there is just no comparison. Not saying EVO and iPhone screens are bad, it's just that this one is superb.
4. Applications. (Android in general) I couldn't get an app for my bank on the Palm Pre, it's in Android. Then you have the barcode scanner to check prices, google goggles to see information on landmarks by taking a picture (claims 80% accuracy) and more. The integration with Google Voice is simply awesome. You can just select it to use it on international calls, so you just dial directly to your friends/family abroad and pay GoogleVoice rates (really cheap) while using your regular phone app. It's very seamless.
Conclusion:
You really can't go wrong with the new phones out there. Android OS has matured enough, and these phones are premium products. The Epic's screen and speed makes it stand out from the crowd enough to give it a slight nod above everything else out there. Android though, lacks the unity/polishness of webOS (Palm Pre) or iOS (iPhone) but makes up for it with the effort Google is putting to optimize the speed, the integration with google service, and freedoms for developers to create applications with few restrictions. This phone leverages all of it very well. It also provides a physical keyboard for those who want it (it is very big and easy to type on). I wouldn't recommend this phone for "work use" because if you constantly need to be synching and retrieving emails/calendar updates while you are in meetings (and any areas with low signal strength) it will blow through your battery life and you will be an unhappy customer. But for personal use, it's among the best cellphones, if not the best, out there.
See more Reviews of Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)
CREDIT by Amazon.com
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