Samsung Epic 4G (Android) Phone - Sprint

[krazyivan]

Review as promised:

First a little history of my past phones. I started in the mobile phone world with a Sony Erickson phone with a little known company called Voicestream. They later folded or were bought out by T-Mobile. I then started with pre-paid cells and used an old Motorola phone for many years. I married and soon outgrew prepaid services. I moved to Sprint and have had Samsung branded phones ever since. I had a Samsung A640, M540(Rant), and lastly a M800 Instinct. The Epic 4G is my first true smart phone. The Instinct was the best dumb phone I have had.

So, as you can see, I do not have another smart phone in my inventory of experience to compare to. I have played with Blackberries for work purposes but never on the level that I have had with the Epic. I am forced to compare with the closest thing I have to the Epic. The iPod Touch and the Palm T|X. Lets start.

UI:

I am a technical person as most of us on this forum are. I don't know if that is good or bad when it comes to reviewing gadgets. We just get things that non-techies find annoying or cumbersome or difficult (can you say digital optical real time recording?) . I have to say I feel right at home in Android. I was up and running within minutes and had the general feel for how things work within the same time frame. Some people feel Android needs some work. I see a well laid out phone UI that I can handle and hit the ground running. This I hope you take with a grain of salt as I am a Linux user and have a bias. I will leave it at that. I suspect that just as Linux is not for everyone, Android will have it's specialty audience. I suspect that it cannot be that bad with the incredible growth rate/acceptance that Android phones are enjoying right now.

Screen

This is literally no contest. The Epic screen is gorgeous. The iTouch, although very crisp and clear, is just left in the dust by that Samsung 800x480 AMOLED screen. The Palm T|X Screen, well, yeah. The Epic screen blacks are pitch black making the screens contrast just jump at you. An example, when in the application screen it is very hard to see where the edge of the black screen starts and the border of the black plastic bezel begins under certain lighting conditions. Pictures taken on previous cell phones like the Rant (1.3MP camera and the Instinct (2.0MP) benefit greatly by being viewed on the Epic's screen. In full sunlight the screen is readable. Not the best but way better than the LCD of just about any of my previous phones. The exception being the Ericson, but that had a green LCD. The difference is like night and day compared to the Instinct and the iTouch. One thing is for sure, I will want a AMOLED monitor for my computer when I can afford one.

Processor

The Epic is powered by a 1Ghz hummingbird processor. It is speedy and I have yet to see any lag. I have read other people complain about other Samsung 'Droid offerings that are sluggish in comparison. That had me a little worried but that worry has been abated.

Accessories.

When I purchased my Instinct, I received a spare battery, external charger for said battery, case, USB cable, 4GB memory card, Driver CD, stylus and a separate AC charger. No special package, it came this way from Sprint. Surely, due to cost cutting measures, the Epic comes with a USB cable, AC adapter, 16GB memory card. That's it. The Instinct spoiled me very much. I don't like the USB cable. It feels like solid core wire and is very difficult to wrap and tie for travel. The USB/AC adapter on the other hand, is very compact. I do wish it had a retractable plug like some of HTC's offerings.

Battery Use

I am not a heavy user but I will text, play games and surf the net on my phone. My instinct could go a solid 24 hours before needing a charge. Yesterday, I powered up my phone at 6:10 am, I read email, returned some texts, downloaded two apps, checked Facebook several times throughout the day, sent several picture mails throughout the day, made three phone calls and just generally explored the phone. I get home from work close to 5pm and my battery showed a 34% charge via Battery Status Pro app. Not great but definitely better than what I was expecting. Today I had a little less activity (did not download any apps and sent fewer picture mails) and I have a 56% charge at 9pm.

Conclusion:

As a first time Android user and a first time smart phone user, I am impressed. As the list of applications grows I am sure I will have plenty to keep me busy. At $250, I do think it is a little steep plus all the taxes that Sprint imposes for the privilege of saying you have 4G, although you can't use it also makes one think twice about taking the plunge. In the end I did, and so far I have no regrets. Let's see if that changes when I get my first bill.