Sprint epic 4G impressions

The Galaxy has a known problem with finding itself when using GPS. This is supposed to be fixed shortly. So in other words....yes, it's a problem, but it will not be for long.

Was fixed on the Epic (as mentioned in every review), you just need to enable using the network towers to assist the GPS. Google has mandated that it's turned off by default in the options.
 
This phone is awesome in every way. This is 100x better than my TP2. I'll be selling my TP2 soon!
 
Incase anyone wanted a working flashlight app for the epic the first I have seen to work is Tiny Flashlight+led, it works perfectly and its free. No widget for the home screen but its a start and it works perfectly
 
So I got this phone to replace my Evo and I love it. I have a dead pixel, but other than that the phone is great!
 
I just got an Epic, however I have to wait for it to ship in. :(

Anyone gotten a rooted 2.2 on it yet?
 
I just got an Epic, however I have to wait for it to ship in. :(

Anyone gotten a rooted 2.2 on it yet?

I don't think there is one, I have Vibrant. There is 2.2 for international Galaxy S, but that version doesn't play nice with US models..
 
my unit's camera is really weak. the screen is nice, but the phone as a whole feels a bit cheap... I'll be exchanging this for an Evo to compare.
 
I like how samsung lft the stock launcher as an option, it would be amazing if samsung left tha as an option when the phone is updated to froyo. Until then launcherpro is working great
 
I was having an issue pressing the back button on the bottom of the phone.
Same, except, I don't think it was just that button. It just seems like they respond better to a press than a touch. Almost like it's a resistive panel.

Was fixed on the Epic (as mentioned in every review), you just need to enable using the network towers to assist the GPS. Google has mandated that it's turned off by default in the options.
Anand didn't have much luck there. I would expect them to have played w/ those settings, but I don't recall any mention of it. Could be wrong...

...it would be amazing if samsung left tha as an option when the phone is updated to froyo.
It would be even more amazing if they along w/ all the other companies stopped molesting Android and let the OS alone. Or at least gave us the option. Looking at this greyed out uninstall button on the Blockbuster app settings page makes we wanna kool-aid man through a wall.
 
Anyone else having trouble syncing to vista 64? None of the drivers seem to work and I end up getting an error message saying unknown device couldn't be recognized.

All the syncing guides just talk about mounting the usb, not what to do if you have problems. I know I can do it wirelessly but come on. ..
 
It would be even more amazing if they along w/ all the other companies stopped molesting Android and let the OS alone. Or at least gave us the option. Looking at this greyed out uninstall button on the Blockbuster app settings page makes we wanna kool-aid man through a wall.

Totally agree, android is best stock and all these companies are just holding the platform back from advancing. I hope gingerbread starts to end these skins. Have you thought about rooting your phone? It was fairly simple and now I can delete anything my heart desires
 
I have been in an android love affair since I was able to kick the blackberry addiction for the original droid back in December. Over the past month I was using the international version of the galaxy s (only one with a front facing camera until now) but I couldn't live with edge data anymore. The epic seemed like it could fit the bill for me so I made the switch yesterday and I must say this phone without a doubt ROCKS

Dumb question but what do you mean edge data? I'm looking at getting the unlocked international galaxy s in order to use local sim cards in different countries. Or is this a dumb idea...
 
Dumb question but what do you mean edge data? I'm looking at getting the unlocked international galaxy s in order to use local sim cards in different countries. Or is this a dumb idea...

Kind of dumb. Edge is basically slower data on your device. It's so slow that often times data is not even worth to most users. For example: If I get an Iphone and put Tmobile SIM in it, then I would be stuck on Edge data since ATT uses different bands than Tmobile. Same thing with International Galaxy S. It does support US Bands as in you will be able to use Voice and Text with no issues, but data would be limited to EDGE ONLY. You will get less than 100kbps download in most cases. That's how edge is to me on Tmobile, on 3G I get over 4mbps at my house.

I'd recommend getting a branded galaxy S for like Tmobile or ATT, that way you will also get 3G speeds on your carrier.
 
Played with one. Screen is nice. My CyanogenMod Evo kicks its ass at everything else though!
 
Dumb question but what do you mean edge data? I'm looking at getting the unlocked international galaxy s in order to use local sim cards in different countries. Or is this a dumb idea...


For some reason samung decided to only install the front facing camera on the sprint epic, and the international version of the phone model i9000. The version i9000 supports 3g bands that only work overseas thus rendering it useless for tmobile and att&t 3g bands. How ever the phone does support band 1900mhz which at&t uses in some parts of the us but I am not sure how much of their coverage it is {the other frequency they use is 850mhz}

there is the canadian samsung galaxy s vibrant sold by bell which has both at&t 3g frequencies and a front facing camera. If someone can smuggle one accross the border and unlock it they could one sweet option for at&t
 
Have you thought about rooting your phone?
I have yet to do that w/ a phone because I still haven't found one I liked. I got my DROID 2 replacement in today, but it's flat...like the first DROID and the inside bottom of the LCD is cracked. Why did this thing come sliding around in a box? :rolleyes:

I'll run to VZW tomorrow and try and get some answers because...

You will get less than 100kbps download in most cases.
that is what I'm getting from Verizon on the D2 right now. Dial up is not the good times. Call quality suffers as well. Hilarious to have an antenna issue on this phone after they went after Apple.

EVOs are real nice.
Took another look @ one as I was leaving the mall today. I really, really like that phone. The 2 hour battery life...not so much. :(
 
I have yet to do that w/ a phone because I still haven't found one I liked. I got my DROID 2 replacement in today, but it's flat...like the first DROID and the inside bottom of the LCD is cracked. Why did this thing come sliding around in a box? :rolleyes:

I'll run to VZW tomorrow and try and get some answers because...


that is what I'm getting from Verizon on the D2 right now. Dial up is not the good times. Call quality suffers as well. Hilarious to have an antenna issue on this phone after they went after Apple.


Took another look @ one as I was leaving the mall today. I really, really like that phone. The 2 hour battery life...not so much. :(

Seriously, the battery life is quite a bit better now than it was at launch. HTC has cleaned up a lot of the offending apps and made things quite a bit better.

IMO, it's the best phone going right now. The Galaxy S line does have a nicer screen, and the CPU/gpu combo is more powerful, but touch wiz is a dog, and samsung isn't exactly well known for their mobile phone support.

Furthermore, if rooting and custom roms are your thing, the EVO has community support in spades. You ought to pick one up, try it(Sprint's thirty day guarantee deal) and see what you think.
 
Seriously, the battery life is quite a bit better now than it was at launch. HTC has cleaned up a lot of the offending apps and made things quite a bit better.

IMO, it's the best phone going right now. The Galaxy S line does have a nicer screen, and the CPU/gpu combo is more powerful, but touch wiz is a dog, and samsung isn't exactly well known for their mobile phone support.

Furthermore, if rooting and custom roms are your thing, the EVO has community support in spades. You ought to pick one up, try it(Sprint's thirty day guarantee deal) and see what you think.

The battery life is not really much better from what have heard. What exactly did HTC do to improve it?

You say its better yet only give reasons why the Epic is better. Besides screen size the Evo literally has nothing on the epic in a technical sense.

Im still on the fence between both of these phones but i honestly have a hard time finding any reason to get the Evo over the Epic besides the xda-dev community.
 
The battery life is not really much better from what have heard. What exactly did HTC do to improve it?

You say its better yet only give reasons why the Epic is better. Besides screen size the Evo literally has nothing on the epic in a technical sense.

Im still on the fence between both of these phones but i honestly have a hard time finding any reason to get the Evo over the Epic besides the xda-dev community.

I had the EVO and really didn't like it at all. It was a bit too big and bulky. I may try the EPIC once it gets rom custom roms ported to it.
 
1.3MP front-facing camera, 8MP rear camera (the 5MP sensor on my Epic sucked ass for some reason), HDMI out, and of course, the kickstand :)

The extra horsepower in the Epic is great and everything, but unnecessary. Do you seriously play graphics-intensive 3D games on a 4-inch touchscreen? The keyboard is next to useless... With the customs ROMs and kernels for the EVO, you can get the 30fps cap removed and have a fast-ass phone with a bigger screen, better cameras, and HDMI out, if that matters to you. I felt that the build quality on my Epic was a little lacking (not to say that the Evo doesn't have its issues), but I can't deny that it was a pretty nice phone overall. The screen had ridiculous contrast and was a little over-saturated, but to the average consumer, I can see why it's a selling point. However, I noticed a crazy screen-door effect on it.

I'm still waiting for my Evo to see how it stacks up in real-life usage. I think the Epic has more potential for the future, IMO.
 
Besides screen size the Evo literally has nothing on the epic in a technical sense.
The ability to read words instead of inkblots. Also, white = white, not blue, yellow = yellow, not the sun. I honestly feel like at any moment the screen is going to leak out on me.

...over-saturated, but to the average consumer, I can see why it's a selling point. However, I noticed a crazy screen-door effect on it.
That would be AMOLED's apparent inability to get color right. It's like one of those wide gamut monitors, but worse. Have any of you seen this forum on one? It's like the colors are shooting out of the screen into a big messy pile of...something.

The SDE...that would be the pentile matrix and it's wonderful ability to mutilate text. It's nowhere near as sharp as the D2.

It's really too bad, cause I was looking forward to the Fascinate. It feels great in hand, screen size is perfect, way, way snappier than my D2. But I just can't get past that text or the colors.
 
Im still on the fence between both of these phones but i honestly have a hard time finding any reason to get the Evo over the Epic besides the xda-dev community.

This right here was/is the deciding factor for me. It's that important.

Considering the ease in which you can root, flash a new recovery and get to the custom roms/undervolted kernels, etc, makes all the difference in the world.
 
Let's no forget that the epic has been out for a little over a week so give the devs some time to catch up. And as for the screen goes I am posting this from my epic and hardforum looks great. I don't know all the technical details, but the screen always looks stunning to me. Honostly both phones are amazing and you would not be making a wrong choice either way. Props to sprint for actually selling phones people want
 
The ability to read words instead of inkblots. Also, white = white, not blue, yellow = yellow, not the sun. I honestly feel like at any moment the screen is going to leak out on me.


That would be AMOLED's apparent inability to get color right. It's like one of those wide gamut monitors, but worse. Have any of you seen this forum on one? It's like the colors are shooting out of the screen into a big messy pile of...something.

The SDE...that would be the pentile matrix and it's wonderful ability to mutilate text. It's nowhere near as sharp as the D2.

It's really too bad, cause I was looking forward to the Fascinate. It feels great in hand, screen size is perfect, way, way snappier than my D2. But I just can't get past that text or the colors.
All the colors on mine are fine.... in fact, the Evo had more of a blue tint.

Only thing I don't like about mine so far: WTF is with this battery!? 3 hours!?!
 
All the colors on mine are fine.... in fact, the Evo had more of a blue tint.

Only thing I don't like about mine so far: WTF is with this battery!? 3 hours!?!
My colors look great too. I like having blacks actually show up as blacks. I watch a lot of shows on my phone and it's nice to be able to actually see things in the darker scenes (which makes up 99.9% of entertainment these days it seems).
 
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The battery life is not really much better from what have heard. What exactly did HTC do to improve it?

You say its better yet only give reasons why the Epic is better. Besides screen size the Evo literally has nothing on the epic in a technical sense.

Im still on the fence between both of these phones but i honestly have a hard time finding any reason to get the Evo over the Epic besides the xda-dev community.

To me, screen was great as far as size, but 4" isn't all that much smaller... Besides, Epic more than makes up for it with amazing SAMOLED screen... it is miles above the EVO. EVO's screen blows, it looks very pixelated when it is next to the Nexus one for Example.

I had the EVO and really didn't like it at all. It was a bit too big and bulky. I may try the EPIC once it gets rom custom roms ported to it.

What he said... I hated taking my EVO to the gym with me, I could always feel it in my pocket when i played bball, when I jogged.
 
After about a week with this phone I'm definitely buying it. I opened a new line to get it, but going to take it back in a few days, then buy the phone. Once Sero accounts are able to use this phone for $20 extra I'll put it on my sero line.


I will say I don't care for the keyboard too much. That's the only thing my HTC TP2 has over it, IMO. The keys are too close and just don't have the feel that the TP2 gives me. I feel like I'm making so many mistakes when I'm trying to type something on it. Hopefully I'll get used to it.
 
I will say I don't care for the keyboard too much. That's the only thing my HTC TP2 has over it, IMO. The keys are too close and just don't have the feel that the TP2 gives me. I feel like I'm making so many mistakes when I'm trying to type something on it. Hopefully I'll get used to it.

Had that problem.... I'm quickly adjusting to the keyboard though.
 
So I'm having issues getting the phone to connect to my rig via bluetooth.... Any ideas?
I get 'invalid pin' from the device.

Also.... it is possible to transfer files via bluetooth, right?
 
Funny, because the people developing the roots and custom ROMs for the Galaxy S phones disagree with you.

Edit: Especially since the Epic shares the same file system as the Vibrant, i9000 and captivate.

Funny...

"Lag Fix:

SGS has very very good hardware, but it has some parts of it's hardware poorly implemented. The filesystem that Samsung chose to use is custom-built using FAT32 as a base, RFS. It has a lot of the problems that FAT32 has, and should have been left back in the 90s, or even the 80s.
One of the big issues with it is how it handles multiple requests - it blocks. It blocks everything. When your mail app wants to read the mail you just tried to view, but your twitter app is busy writing a new tweet it just received, your mail app is forced to wait."

Source: http://samsungcaptivate.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_Optimize_the_Captivate_for_Speed
 
Not sure exactly why that was quoted, as it doesn't seem to disprove me at all. The Epic has the SAME file system, except it uses faster NAND flash instead of the internal MicroSD that the Captivate and Vibrant uses. This part was proven by the ROM devs. Hence, even if you WERE forced to wait on the Epic, you wouldn't even notice. Honestly now, have you even played with the Epic as compared to the Captivate?

Funny...

"Lag Fix:

SGS has very very good hardware, but it has some parts of it's hardware poorly implemented. The filesystem that Samsung chose to use is custom-built using FAT32 as a base, RFS. It has a lot of the problems that FAT32 has, and should have been left back in the 90s, or even the 80s.
One of the big issues with it is how it handles multiple requests - it blocks. It blocks everything. When your mail app wants to read the mail you just tried to view, but your twitter app is busy writing a new tweet it just received, your mail app is forced to wait."

Source: http://samsungcaptivate.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_Optimize_the_Captivate_for_Speed
 
I had the EVO and really didn't like it at all. It was a bit too big and bulky. I may try the EPIC once it gets rom custom roms ported to it.

You do know that the EPIC is larger than the EVO right?

6.97 cubic inches for the Epic vs. 6.24 cubic inches for the Evo.

Epic is both longer and thicker, while being very marginally more narrow.

Epic is half an ounce lighter, though.
 
You do know that the EPIC is larger than the EVO right?

6.97 cubic inches for the Epic vs. 6.24 cubic inches for the Evo.

Epic is both longer and thicker, while being very marginally more narrow.

Epic is half an ounce lighter, though.

Maybe im crazy but with the epic being lighter and having the rounded edges it feels like a smaller phone.

because of the rounded edges your numbers are misleading. Going by dimensions it would be 6.97 if it where a cube, but its not.
 
Maybe im crazy but with the epic being lighter and having the rounded edges it feels like a smaller phone.

because of the rounded edges your numbers are misleading. Going by dimensions it would be 6.97 if it where a cube, but its not.

True, however the dimensions are still valid. The Epic is longer and thicker, while slightly more narrow. And don't forget, the Evo is not perfectly cubic either (in fact is probably less so as the back is not flat).
 
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