Samsung Captivate Android Phone Reviews
While I was very impressed with crispness of the iphone screen; I powered on the captivate and I was even more blown away by the vibrance of the super AMOLED screen. I have spent all day playing around with the phone and have not noticed any sluggishness whatsoever; which was something I feared when looking through online reviews..
I mean c'mon it has the fastest processor out there. Also I read a blog that was spreading a rumor that the Galaxy S phones have a death grip like the iphone 4.. this is completely false as I live in New York where the iphone 4 has problems and have not been able to replicate the effect using multiple grips. So in conclusion I can't say that the phone is an iphone killer for sure.. but it is in my book.
It all comes down to personal preferance. I have used the iphone os before and compared to the customizability of Android it comes off as old, locked-to-a-grid and bland.
Samsung Captivate Android Phone (AT&T) Specs
- Network: 3G HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100, 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
- Camera: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, video capture 720p @30fps
- Video Call Camera : VGA
- Processor: ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor
- OS: Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair)
- Model: Candybar Full Touchscreen
- Screen: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches, TouchWiz 3.0 UI, Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Touch-sensitive controls, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Swype text input
- Memory: internal 16GB storage, 512 MB RAM, external microSD up to 32GB
- Connection: GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 12, HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11
- b/g/n; DLNA, Bleutooth v3.0 with A2DP, microUSB v2.0
- Battery: Li-Ion 1500 mAh , stanby Up to 750 h (2G) / Up to 576 h (3G), talk time Up to 13 h 30 min (2G) / Up to 6 h 30 min (3G)
- Application: SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS, Games
- Color Options: Black and Grey
- Browser: HTML, JAVA Via third party application
Description And Features
With integrated Google technology, the Samsung Captivate brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services millions use every day, including Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, GTalk instant messaging (with presence capabilities), YouTube, and Picasa. The Captivate 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 Captivate has a large 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display that provides brighter, thinner, and higher-resolution than traditional screens. Samsung's innovative display technology makes watching movies, viewing videos and playing games come to life like never before, even in bright light and outdoor environments. And messaging is simple and easy with the Captivate's virtual QWERTY keyboard with Swype technology, which allows you to input text faster and in a more intuitive way with one continuous finger motion across the screen keyboard.
At 0.39 inches (9.9mm) thin, the Captivate is the thinnest Android smartphone on the market, and it packs in a 16 GB internal memory plus 5-megapixel camera/camcorder with auto-focus and HD video recording (720p resolution). Other features include fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 3.0 technology for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, microSD memory expansion (for optional cards up to 16 GB in size), and just under 6 hours of talk time.
Samsung Social Hub
Offering one-stop shopping for all your updates, the Samsung Social Hub all your social networking services, messages, personal and business e-mail, calendars and contacts. It's built around Messaging and Contacts, both of which initiate the sending and receiving of information--whether it is e-mail, instant messaging, social network updates or SMS messages. Additionally, calendar information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar, and social networking services are displayed together in one calendar with two-way synchronization.
The familiar text messaging experience is enhanced with group messaging and "reply all" functionality for up to 10 contacts, a threaded conversations format, a consolidated inbox, and enhanced multi-media display.
Another Samsung Captivate Android Phone Reviews
If you're looking for a capable and versatile smartphone, then you absolutely must consider the Captivate. I think most of the other reviewers have covered the basics of how the Captivate compares to the iPhone (and beats it), so let me mention a few features that you might not know about.
1. The phone supports syncing with Exchange out of the box. Not only does it sync e-mail, but it also handles contacts and calendar. I use it for my work e-mail, and it performs flawlessly. Needless to say, you can also connect via POP3 and IMAP.
2. VPN access is also available for those who need to connect to their corporate networks.
3. The basic browser is quite capable, but if you want something else, then you can choose Dolphin Browser, Opera Mini, or Skyfire, to name a few.
4. Although MS Office documents and PDF's aren't supported out of the box, Quickoffice for Captivate and Adobe Reader are free downloads.
5. Google Navigate offers free voice-guided, turn-by-turn GPS navigation. No need to pay AT&T for their service.
6. Wi-fi access is silky smooth. To enable it, pull down the notification drawer at the top of the screen and touch the wi-fi button. Wi-fi will turn on, and if you have never connected to an available network, a list of what's available will appear. Choose the network you want, enter any required login information, and click Connect. That's it, and, from then on, the phone will automatically connect to that network if it's available.
7. I want to mention a little-known app called Google Shopper. Install it, and you'll be able to shop for books and CD's by simply starting the app and pointing the camera at them. The app scans the cover or barcode and shows you prices from online and local merchants. Much faster than having to manually look up titles while you're standing in a bookstore aisle. College students wondering how badly the campus bookstore is ripping them off on textbooks compared to other sellers will appreciate this app.
8. And I can't forget to mention the Captivate's voice recognition capabilities. You can search by voice, and, if you switch the default keyboard from Swype to standard Android, you can use voice dictation for almost anything that you can type. And while it does make mistakes, they don't happen often.
9. Google Voice is available for the Captivate, something Apple will probably never allow on the iPhone. Need separate phone numbers for work and personal use? Then Google Voice is what you're looking for.
9. And finally, if you need or want Push-to-Talk similar to the service that Nextel offers, well, there are several free apps for that. They will only connect you to other Android users running the same app, but, for a business needing to have this functionality and interested in getting several Android phones, then such a solution is worth looking at. The apps are still a little rough around the edges, but give them a little time to mature.
My point here is that, although this is one beautiful phone, it's also extremely good at handling business tasks. Yes, it handles Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter beautifully, but it will also keep you in touch with colleagues and clients as well, if not better than, any other smartphone out there.
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