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The Samsung Galaxy S 4G picks up where the Vibrant left off, adding 4G HSPA+ speeds of up to 21Mbps, a front-facing VGA camera, enhanced battery life, and Android 2.2 with Flash 10.1 support. The rest of the phone is strikingly similar to its 3G predecessor, even down to the disappointing lack of a camera flash. T-Mobile also dangles the carrot in front of its customers by preloading the movie Inception onto the phone in order to show off the Galaxy S 4G's Super AMOLED screen. This is a classic T-Mobile incentive, and one that should make Christopher Nolan happy. James Cameron got his jollies with Avatar preloaded on the Vibrant. According to numbers, the Samsung Galaxy S 4G is T-Mobile's fastest phone to date when it comes to network speeds, as long as you live within range of the company's advanced towers. For the rest, the Samsung Galaxy S 4G is just another Galaxy S phone. Let's take an in-depth look at the Samsung Galaxy S 4G.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy S 4G did not fall very far from the Vibrant's mold when it came to architecture. In fact, the faades of both phones are nearly identical, sporting 4-inch 800 x 480-pixel Super AMOLED screens and standard Menu, Home, Back, and Search haptic feedback touch controls. However, the Galaxy S 4G adds a front-facing VGA camera for video chat via QIK. Just like the Vibrant, the Samsung Galaxy S 4G is thin and easily pocketable. When it came to screen resolution, our experience was identical to the Vibrant'sInception looked fantastic on the super bright screen, and we had no trouble viewing in direct sunlight.
The only noticeable difference is the Samsung Galaxy S 4G's back panel, which features an iridescent gunmetal paint job that shifts when rotated in the light. We liked the swanky looks of the Galaxy S 4G over the Vibrant's odd bubble pattern designthe Galaxy S 4G just stands out. Unfortunately, the Samsung failed to incorporate an LED flash in the back of the Galaxy S 4G, and that costs them some major points, as you'll find out in the Camera section.
External controls remain simplified, with a roster that consists of an undersized Volume control, 3.5mm audio jack, Power/Lock button, and USB terminal with sleek sliding cover. Underneath the phone's back panel lurks the preloaded 16GB MicroSD card in a slot that houses up to 32GB, SIM card, and larger 1650 mAh battery compared to the Vibrant's 1500 mAh juice box. The Samsung Galaxy S 4G displays some noteworthy design improvements, but it's not enough to significantly distance the phone from the Vibrant.
Software and Interface
The Samsung Galaxy S 4G emulated the Vibrant when it came to our overall interface experience. The phone is governed by a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and features a TouchWiz interface in conjunction with Android 2.2 OS. Although the Vibrant didn't ship with Android 2.2, it received an upgrade to keep up with the times. So, in terms of hardware speed, both phones were very similar, minimizing the learning curve to a flat line. The smartphone offers Stereo Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, and calling over WiFi for a guaranteed signal. Flash 10.1 support is also part of the package, and the Samsung Galaxy S 4G allowed us to watch our embedded YouTube review videos right from within the browser with a lag-free performance.
It's not that the interface on the Samsung Galaxy S 4G is underwhelmingit's still a great system. However, not much has changed since the Vibrant, which places Samsung in a definitive safe zone. Either that, or it means the clock was ticking and Samsung had to crank out a 4G phone in order to stay on top of the competition (TouchWIZ 4 will for instance be powering the Galaxy S2). We still found solace in the little eccentricities on the Galaxy S 4G's interface that attracted us to the Vibrant in the first place. For instance, in order to call a contact, all we have to do is swipe to the right across their name and left to text message them. We could also assign individual sounds for emails, texts, and other notifications, which were levels of customization not offered by many other devices.
For the social networker, the phone offers Buddies Now, which compiles a list of your favorite Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pals and tosses them into a virtual Rolodex with synched status updates. There's also the all-encompassing Feeds and Updates widget that acts as a contact-wide bulletin board, and the Samsung Galaxy S 4G supports numerous photo sharing accounts like Flickr, Photobucket, Kodak, and Snapfish. Video chat users can jump on QIK, which is also preloaded, and the phone has Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for email. Of course, the Android Market, Gmail, Maps, and other Google services are part of the package, and let's not forget about Inception being preloaded as well.
Although the Samsung Galaxy S 4G appears to be a well-equipped speed demon, we did experience some minor lagging, quite similarly to the Samsung Vibrant. For instance, while using TeleNav GPS, the application simply froze and disabled the rest of the phone until we powered off and back on. There is a handy Program Monitor that allowed us to monitor RAM memory and kill active applications, and that came in handy for smoother OS operation and battery conservation. The phone also has doubleTwist, which synchs iTunes music, playlists, videos, and pictures via AirSync. We're impressed with the versatility of the Galaxy S 4G, but it's not that far removed from the Vibrant.
Call Quality/Battery Life
Like the Samsung Vibrant, we had nothing to complain about with the Samsung Galaxy S 4G when it came to call quality. Despite the hubbub of traffic and town noises, we were able to have unmolested calls, thanks to the phone's polished microphone system. Although Samsung upgraded the Galaxy S 4G's battery to a 1650 mAh pack, we only discovered a minute boost in phone stamina. Naturally, we tested games, took pictures and video, browsed the Internet, and made calls, but by the end of the day, the phone was hurting for some electrical juice. Our advice is to keep an eye on the phone's Program Monitor and make sure the brightness of the phone is not set to maximum.
Camera
We actually had a better experience with the 5-megapixel camera on the Samsung Galaxy S 4G than we did with the Samsung Vibrant. We're not sure if Samsung changed the glass or tweaked the sensor a bit but all of our bright light testing ranked among the better phones we've seen in this class. At times, the phone had a tendency to oversharpen, but for the most part, colors were natural and detail was uninhibited.
Unfortunately, Samsung chose to omit a flash for the second time on the Galaxy S 4G, so we had to shoot in Night mode any time the lighting was not favorable. Night mode worked surprisingly well, however, but we found that it was difficult to capture blur-free images because of the shutter speed sacrifice. The bottom line is that the Samsung Galaxy S 4G needed a flash, and it didn't get one.
The same applied to video mode. 720p bright light performance was good, although it didn't live up to the same standard as the phone's still image quality, thanks to its unpredictable frame rates and occasional lack of detail. Still, we were able to attain some decent footage up until the lights dimmed. Without a Night mode or Flash to shoot with, video mode at night was essentially useless.
On the plus side, the Galaxy S 4G has a stellar camera interface, just like the Samsung Vibrant. We have numerous Scene modes, Shot Modes, manual controls, and a new Default Destination option, which lets us choose where we wanted the images to ultimately end up. The Front Facing Camera also came in handy for self-portraits, and for most users, the camera will be fine in bright light. But we're still bitter about that lack of flash!
Samsung Galaxy S 4G infoSync Diagnosis
The Samsung Galaxy S 4G has sung, and we have listened. But rather than walk away feeling entirely refreshed, as one would having seen an emotionally-clad symphony, we were left feeling like we just saw a cheap sequel to a box office smash hit. It was good, but included a lot of the same material. Obviously, the phone shines with its HSPA+ speeds and upgraded software, but we hear it mumbling "We're not so different, you and I," to the Samsung Vibrant.
The bottom line is this. If you live within 4G territory, then we'd recommend the Samsung Galaxy S 4G. It is T-Mobile's fastest phone to date, after all, in terms of network speeds. But if you're stuck in 3G land, the Samsung Vibrant will suit you just fine. Also, if you want an enhanced OS experience, T-Mobile offers the most awesome Nexus S for a sheer Android 2.3 Gingerbread cockpit. However, the Samsung Galaxy S 4G id definitely not a revolution when compared to the first round of Galaxy S phones released last year.
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