Evaluations About Samsung Epic 4G Touch

While the rest of your world has been enjoying the Samsung Galaxy S II for some time now, the U.S. has had to sit by and wait for its turn. Fortunately, the time has ultimately come and the Android superphone will likely be available through many carriers this fall. Sprint is 1st out from the gate, launching the Samsung Epic 4G Touch on September 16 for $199.99 having a two-year contract. Because the successor to the common Samsung Epic 4G Touch, the smartphone loses its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but gains a more quickly dual-core processor, larger and sharper Super AMOLED Plus touch screen, much better cameras, and much more. The phone is around the big side, which will hold some at bay, but for those who can deal with the size, the Epic 4G Touch won't disappoint.

Style

At 5.1 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide, the Samsung Epic 4G Touch is often a large device. The width makes it tougher to grip the phone, specifically should you have smaller hands, and it really is not a handset that very easily fits into a pants pocket. It really is not going to be for everyone. That mentioned, just like the Samsung Infuse 4G, it really is also really thin and light at just 0.38 inch thick and 4.5 ounces, so the smartphone is simpler to manage than one would believe.

Plus, you may be willing to take care of the phone's larger size if you get a glimpse from the 4.52-inch, WVGA (800x480) Super AMOLED Plus touch screen. The spacious show and also the vibrant colors make it fantastic for viewing Web pages and multimedia. You will find slightly sharper screens on the market, like the qHD (960x540 pixels) show on the Motorola Photon 4G, so pictures and text aren't very as smooth, but we nonetheless found the Epic 4G Touch's screen easy to study.

The touch screen is responsive. The smartphone provides both Swype and Samsung's virtual keyboards. It registered all our taps, and we were capable to very easily navigate by way of the menus. In addition to utilizing the typical touch interface, you are able to also use motion gestures on the Epic 4G Touch. With the settings turned on, it is possible to flip the phone to mute it. With two fingers on the screen, you are able to tilt to zoom in and out in the Gallery and browser. Flicking your wrist left or appropriate (panning) can move a residence screen icon when you happen to be holding it. Double-tapping the best with the phone prepares the Vlingo-powered Voice Speak app for voice commands though you're driving. However, panning and zooming weren't as responsive as we'd like. Although the majority of the motion controls might not figure into your daily use, this type of gesture functionality adds welcome options normally.

Below the display, you are going to find touch-sensitive buttons for the menu, home, back, and search functions. The left side capabilities a volume rocker, although the best spine features a power/lock button. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack on top rated in the device along with a Micro-USB port on the bottom. Inside the right-hand corner just above the display, there's an LED indicator light and within the left-hand corner can be a 2-megapixel camera for video calls. The back on the phone functions an 8-megapixel camera and an LED flash.

There is certainly a microSD expansion slot behind the battery door. The latter has a textured surface, so the phone doesn't really feel so slick, but like several Samsung smartphones just before it, the Epic 4G Touch includes a plastic construct. Some metal accents or components would go a extended way in making it feel like a far more premium handset.

Sprint packages the Samsung Epic 4G Touch with just the basic accessories, which include an AC adapter, a USB cable, and reference material.

User Interface

The Samsung Epic 4G Touch runs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread as well as Samsung's latest TouchWiz 4.0 user interface. We're often much less enthusiastic about custom interfaces--they occasionally add undesirable complexity and unremovable apps, and are usually slower to update to new OS versions. Nonetheless, TouchWiz 4.0 includes a couple of factors going for it, some carryovers from earlier versions of TouchWiz. There are actually seven household screens, for instance, along with the notification pull-down menu has icons for easily turning on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 4G, and sound profiles.

Customizing the dwelling screens is created easier, having a carousel-like setup that allows you to move through the many panels to add and remove shortcuts and widgets simultaneously. Previously, you had to complete a long-press on one screen to change it and then repeat the approach if you wanted to change yet another page. You may also now resize Samsung Reside Panel widgets and there is a extra fluid motion when scrolling by way of widgets lists and residence pages.

A number of the adjustments are purely cosmetic, but they undoubtedly add some polish towards the UI. There are actually also some valuable additions at the same time, for instance an integrated job manager that displays all of your active applications, downloaded apps using the option to uninstall, RAM status, and technique storage. Also good: the ability to now capture screenshots by basically pressing the energy button and home key simultaneously.