Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone - One Day FREE Shipping

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

Let me begin by stating that I am new to the smart phone market. I have always gotten one of the cheaper cell phones at the Sprint store. After years of frustration, I decided that it was time to make the move to a new phone. Having experienced only the simplest of web browsing and e-mail features of my old phones, I was expecting big things from the Epic. It did not disappoint.

I will freely admit I chose to buy the Epic on the launch day mainly because everywhere is out of the Evo. I didn't feel I needed to spend the extra 50$. I am still not sure if it is, but 50$ spread out over the life of my Epic isn't really that much of a cost difference.

Being new to these kinds of phones I really wasn't sure if I needed the hard keyboard or not. I will say I used it more in the beginning, but I do still use it. The SWYPE virtual keyboard had me a little intimidated at first, but am texting one-handed with ease now.

One thing I do think the Evo has is better widgets. I just don't like the aesthetic of the samsung widgets. I am sure some of you will/do like them, they just are not for me.




The big issue about these phones has been the battery.

* If you are expecting to leave your phone off the charger for a couple of days and get by. DON'T

* You WILL need to plug it in every night.
(if you talk briefly and turn off WiFi, 4g, GPS and don't go online you might be ok, but face it
we bought these things to do exactly that)

* With moderate mixed usage I make it through the day. I charge it every night. Not a big deal.

* Built in Task Manager is great for killing battery sucking apps.

One feature I love, is the cartoon option for taking photos. It will take pictures in the style of A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life.

I will probably add to this review when I discover more about the phone.

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint) 

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The initial plan was for me to upgrade to the Epic and my mom to the Evo (family plan) That way I got to get hands on with both phones and make my decision. Unfortunately, ma wasn't eligible for an upgrade so my master plan was foiled. Damn you Sprint, Obviously with the Evo being out of stock everywhere.. I was happy to get the Epic, since it was the phone I was leaning towards. Plan B- I figured Through B.B. I could start with the Epic, switch to Evo and back to Epic on day 30.

Epic- As a previous Palm Pre guy, I liked it in the hand. It felt good and very simliar to the the rounded shape of the Pre, only bigger. Noticeably bigger.. but what great phone isn't now days. As someone who has never used ONLY a virtual keyboard, I figured between that and the Super Amoled screen it was a no brainer, Epic all the way. The screen is Unreal. As said in each and every review, there's no question there. The keyboard initially had me saying "eh". It was very roomy, the exact opposite of the Pre. So it took me some time to get use to.. but once I did, I'll take that keyboard over the Pre's anyday. As for the phone and its software, Wasn't giddy but very nice.. However Android won me over. Wow, I thought WebOS was decent but Im a Droid dude now.. And probably for life. So this added to the excitement of the Epic most initially.

So its time to see if this phone can act as my new daily phone. I played with it alot, but not to the extreme and the first thing I noticed was "Crap, this battery is defintely worse than the Pre" but also expected from Epic or Evo reviews. Uncharged at 8am this phone was screaming for the charger by arrival home at 5pm. Which from some reviews I take that as good, as other (defected?) phones say they only got 3-5 hours before needing juice. Now here was a big hang-up for me. From 8% battery the Epic took 3.5 hours to fully charge to 100%?? WOW! My Pre took 30-45 minutes so this was definitely a distraction. But Im one who usually charges my phone while sleeping so I just figured I'd use the phone less, and make it last the day. That never was achievable but I figure I'd figure something out later because I did like this phone.

Day 10- I did encounter a major software issue with my phone that my AOL account would not push my emails. All settings were set correctly, and it would push for a couple time then stop. So I Figured it was about time to put myself on a waiting list at B.B for the Evo, as planned. To my surprise they had one. Guy at the store says he's never seen that happen, and sure enough 5 minutes in while changing phones, a guy comes in asking for the Evo. First Impression and I cannot explain why but... Giddy. This phone just felt better right off the bat. Better in the hand.. better first 30 minute impression playing with it.. This phone just right with it powered on or off. But I didnt want to get ahead of myself. My main issue was.. Battery. I thought the Epic was bad but heard this was even worse?! My plan initially was if I liked the Evo better.. I could always go with the 3500 MaH extended battery. The Epic has one on its way too, but for both it adss bulk.. And the last thing the Epic needs is bulk. So after playing with the Evo for about an hour with a Smile pastered on my face for unexplainable reasons I decided to charge it up and give it a test run the next day.

Ok so.. I drilled this phone! Work was slow that day and I was on it almost 'all' day. Kinda like I was the first day with Epic only just alittle more. First impression.. by 5pm my phone still had 46% Battery. What??! I thought this battery was suppose to be worse. I really wanted this thing drained so I could see how long it took to charge. So I turned on everything.. 4G, GPS, internet.. just to drain the battery. By 10:30pm I got it down to 6%. I figured ok.. let's test it. Put it on the charger and checked it at 11:30pm. Mind you like clock work the Epic, would charge roughly 30% battery per hour, so after one hour charging the Evo... from 6% to 72%. Ok I'm in love! Not only is the battery better than almost any phone ive ever had, it charges 2 hours faster than the Epic. On top of that, my AOL emails pushed as set in my preferences. This phone had me at hello and I admitted to what I thought after first laying my hands on the EVO... This phone will not be traded on day 30.




Breakdown:

Screen- Epic screen is like watching an HD tv.. Its awesome! But the Evo's isnt too shabby either, and will not have you thinking damn I REALLY wish I had the Epic's screen. As well the .3 difference in screen size is noticeable nice.

Keyboard- Epic has a great keyboard and my biggest fault to the Evo is the fact I havent gotten use to using the vitual one yet. if ever?.

Battery- No contest. Epic= Terrible! Evo= Great! Light to medium use I could probably find a way to make the Epic's power supply last a full day. Under the same conditions I could make the Evo's last 2 days plus! Ive never had a day where I had to pre-maturely charge my evo. Even with medium to heavy usuage where the Epic would literally shut off by 5pm.. The Evo would hit the charger at bedtime with more than 10% everytime. As I write this.. My Evo has 32% battery with 22 hours since last charge. And yep I've used it today.. Both these phones are awesome, its almost impossible not to.

Touchwiz/Sense- I dont know if this is one of the subconsciuos reasons I love the Evo over the Epic? Something tells me it might be but cant explain why. HTC just seems more polished in my opinion.

Interent- Both seem equaully fast, with the edge maybe even going to the Epic. Considering its not even running Froyo yet, thats impressive. As for the fluidity only.. Definitely the Epic. Simply smoother.. But the Evo still surfs nicely.

Camera- Epic's camera is great. And I read reviews and tests that it has a slight edge over the Evo. From the onscreen I can see it, Every Picture looks amazing on the super Amoled. But onced tranffered over to CPU.. Still good, but the screen has alot to do with it. I actually think the evo wins in picture quality but the Epic has the edge in Video and software (which is one of my favorite things about the Epic, Love the cartoon pics) But their are too many great camera apps in the Market to make me forget about 'The Simpsons' option.


Tangibles- Evo Evo Evo! Hold both in the hand and it just seems like a tyson vs. me prized fight. Not that the Epic feels bad. But its bulky, and with an extended battery as a neccessity, it would be a brick. The Evo's squared construction suprised me, I thought it would have been the opposite. As well, the two part construction of the Epic eventually becomes an irritant. And the power button is in a position that I dont think I'd could ever get use too.

I could probably go on and on in comparisons. But the bottom line is both of these phones are incredible. Expecially if your upgrading from something inferior. However, I'm really surprised to see any Evo owner switch over to the Epic. Unless you use your phone to watch moves and T.v alot, It just doesnt compute to me. Both phones have their advantages (ie. Epic has a superior internal and external speak to the Evo, But as well has an annoying "buzzing" sound when on the phone.) But the Epic has some huge issues the Evo doesn't. If the Epic is the phone for you I get it, and you have one super phone.. But if you haven't given the Evo a 10 day test yet to compare, you're making a mistake. It's worth the wait.

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint) 

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

Swype set the world record for text messaging speed. Swype only makes the phone that much sweeter. It comes as the default on-screen keyboard. I chose this as my next android phone because the idea of only being able to clumsily input text on an on-screen keyboard like on all the other new Android device scared me. I am a QWERTY kind of guy.

However, Swype has an extremely accurate algorithm. I find myself responding to text messages in 2 seconds as opposed to 15! It even adds emails and names from your contacts to its dictionary so that you can swype your complicated email! Whenever I know the words I am going to type are in the dictionary, I just Swype it. Its amazingly fast and almost never fails! If I need to type a password which is full of symbols, I pull out the QWERTY. Its godlike.

It really is the phone for the power-user. I spend all day using this phone. (I can't help it; its fast, responsive, intuitive, and beautiful.) I am astounded each time I check the battery, sure that it must be approaching the end of its life, and each time I am relieved to know that I can continue multitasking away.

The screen is simply breathtaking. The phone comes with several vivid backgrounds to show off the beautiful display. The technology is baffling. You can even use the back of your fingernail on the touchscreen just as easily as you can with your finger. That is how close the capacitor is to the screen. It is also why this phone is also incredibly light. I still can't help but appreciate how vivid the colors appear on the screen. I put the screen on the lowest brightness setting, and the vividness of the colors give the illusion that the screen really isn't dim at all -- which means you can increase your battery life without decreasing your experience.

It truly is epic: The Android ROM that comes on the phone is modified. Generally I like vanilla Android. And yet everything they changed is an improvement! When you hold down the home button, you not only get your recently opened applications, but a button right there for a Task Manager! You can end all applications as fast and as easily as you can reopen them, and multi-task. Its amazingly intuitive. That's not all, my dear power users, for they even included a file manager right out of the box. I was about to go get the essentials from the Android Market and was shocked to see it included. It really shows how much thought was put into making this phone the perfect match for any tech-savvy Android user.

They also changed the skin, and the application drawer. I personally didn't like the application drawer at all, coming from vanilla Android. It was cartoonish and didn't seem to fit. However, it is easy to change it back to the vanilla Android app drawer, and I recommend that every EPIC 4G owner at least try out the original app drawer -- Not only does it look better, but its slides in and out 3x times faster than the TouchWiz app drawer.

Here is how to change to the default app drawer:

1. Press Menu (from home screen) -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications.
2. Press Menu -> Filter -> All
3. Scroll down and find "TwLauncher", and click on it. (Trust me its there)
4. Click "Clear Defaults" on the TwLauncher detail page.
5. Press the HOME touchkey on the phone. (It'll ask you if you want to use TouchWiz, or the default one. We want default)
6. Check "Set as default" if you don't want to be asked each time you press home AND
7. Select "Home" (the first choice)

Now you will have the default Android app drawer, which is much faster. IMHO it looks much better too. The rest of the skin looks great. They changed the dull flat grey with a vibrant blue. They changed the indeterminate progress bars to look like rays of the sun instead of a spinning wheel. Everything about the phone is beautiful.

All in all I feel like this phone is a masterpiece of intuitive design. The excellent Swype algorithm as well as the qwerty keyboard, and the layout of all the buttons on the phone seem to have been carefully tinkered with to perfection. Everything about both the hardware design, and the software additions seem to have been designed by engineers who were making a phone that they themselves wanted to use. It feels like a labor of love, and I can sense it each and every time I use the device.

Post Review:

I originally received an EPIC 4G from Best Buy on release day, and my friend got his from Sprint. I told him my battery life was terrible. He said his lasted the whole day. I was wondering what kind of phone he must have had before to say that he was getting good battery life, because my phone was dying in around 4 hours! When we met up at work, I noticed his phone was a lot cooler than mine! Mine was blazing hot. We checked the battery statistics on both of our phones and they seemed to be identical. We switched out our batteries. When I put his battery in my phone, for about 2 minutes, and he put it back in his phone, his phone reported that the battery had depleted 15% !!! That means my phone was sucking the life out of his battery as well as my own, so we deduced the problem must be with my phone, because we kept all other variables the same. That same day I went and traded it in for another one, and lo and behold, my battery in the new device lasted me the whole day.




It seems that a small number of these are defective. If you are pretty sure your device is to blame, change it for another one!

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint) 

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

I have been playing around with both phones and because I belong to Sprint for the rest of my life's tenure, I shall let you know that these are the two best phones available in the market but let's compare which is better at what.

Appearance - The Evo 4G does not have a slide-out QWERTY keypad like the Epic. The Epic despite the keyboard is about an ounce lighter in weight and that says a lot about the AMOLED screen and the absolutely flawless design on this phone. The charging port is located on the TOP of the phone and also has a little slide you need to drag open before accessing the MICRO USB/Charger. The phone looks a terrific black (like the best looking iPhone, oh yeah we care, no sarcasm) when the screen is not on. UNLIKE THE EVO, the standby key is on the right hand side of the phone and does the same thing. On first appearance, the design of the Epic is mouth watering. I've always found Sidekick like phones cheesy and even that DROID from VERIZON looks very plastic to me but I shall diss no more, the Epic might just win on this account (but I know plenty of Evo users who would disagree but this is my opinion). Because of size, weight, 4-inch screen (Evo's 4.3), design of the slide out, the Epic wins this round.

Call Reception / Loud Speaker -> While playing music, I noticed the Epic was a little louder than the Evo is but at full volume, it can be a tad too loud too which is obviously such a WELCOME FEATURE. The Evo has a loud speaker alright and also a dedicated home page where you can easily play your music but what matters is the sound because both phones offer excellent customization.

Battery Life - This is one of the primary reasons the Epic is likely to do good. I fume when I hear people say the DROID X has a better battery life than the Evo. On Epic, the AMOLED screen ensures you don't need to charge this phone more than once a day. I managed to make this last for atleast a day but I did find the battery readings to be inaccurate from time to time. Maybe this happened because I was trying the phone on Airplane mode and then switching to CDMA so that could be it. There was a difference in the battery life, sometimes the bar would be short and sometimes substantially longer. Maybe it is just a software update that is required but at the end of the day, You can have all the features on a phone but what matters a lot is battery life and the Epic takes this round too. By getting the Evo you will need to buy an extra battery unless you like carrying your wires everywhere you go. If you're getting the Evo make sure you get an extra battery charger and oh save yourself some money and NEVER INVEST ON EXTENDED BATTERIES. You wouuld think Samsung and HTC are more clever than not to have come out with the extended battery in the first place. Feel free to discuss, throw things at me on the comments column.

Screen Brightness - HTC Evo is about AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN, absolutely incredible brightness, it's like watching the most expensive HDTV sometimes. The phone even on low brightness is surprisingly bright and I always appreciate brightness. While the Epic is not dull, I'll be lying if I say the screen is as bright as the Evo or even comes close to taking this round. The Epic has a jaw dropping display but the brightness and screen quality while you're on a webpage makes Evo the winner here. The brightness may come at the price of battery life but when you drive a HUMMER, you worry not about the battery life but about the drive.

Build Quality of Plastic on the BACK - The Evo certain feels a little more solid and smooth. The back on the EVO is better than the INCREDIBLE. Evo's kickstand is an added feature but the quality of the plastic on the Evo is 15% better than the Epic when you're holding the back though Epic is quite good as it is. **Caution** Do not remove Epic's back size by the SPEAKER, you may damage the phone cause you're such a strong individual, locate a small opening at the end and then LIFT UP the back plastic covering the battery. The back is obviously not RED like the HTC EVO.

Bundled Accessories - Epic comes with a 16gb card, in ear earphones, a thicker BASIC manual I haven't opened and read yet. The Evo comes with an 8gb card and no earphones. They both come with a Micro USb Cord which coverts into a wall charger. I have tried and used almost all earphones bundled with phones and have never seen any Sprint phone with such good quality "in-ear" earphones which provide NOISE CANCELLATION. An excellent extra for the fifty bucks you pay depending on where you're buying the phones from. 16gb is like having 2 x 8gb cards.


Mobile Hotspot - DRAW 

Task Killer App - If you hold the home button down on the Epic, an excellent task killer pops up. It is so easy and fun to use that this alone was a big big big deal for me. I've used it on the Evo before but it's just so much hassle free and cleaner on the Samsung, it tells you the percentage of the CPU being used for variety of apps in REAL TIME! Deal-MAKER for me. EVO owners, please correct me if I'm wrong.

CAMERA *BIG DEAL FOR ME* - Epic. Epic. Epic. Epic. The customization is Godly. Samsung is slowly becoming very clever. The camera quality is that of a digital camera, I dare say. Also if people are moving and pause for a second, the phone still takes an absolutely astounding photograph. The Evo makes things yellow and although it's 8megapixel, the camera doesn't quite seal the deal. The other thing is that the Evo doesn't have that many customizations for the camera. Samsung has pulled a magic trick with this one. Some envious Evo users tell me that because the screen looks better on the Epic, the images look better but if I were to upload these to my computer, there'd be a difference. This is my response to people who say something like that. How often will I be uploading these pictures? Maybe once in four days, I will be mostly viewing them on the phone so I don't care about that. Mind you, though I haven't uploaded anything yet, I shall upload them and send you a sample picture if you request one. PLEASE BARE IN MIND, while the SAMSUNG has more options, it will take a real techoholic to want to figure out each and every feature, I'm still getting WARMED up to it.

Google Sync - The google sync on both phones immediately got all my contacts into the phone, there are a ton of applications so if you have a gmail account even with a blackberry, all your contacts are gonna be SYNCED with either the EVO or the EPIC. Google has a very funny deal-sealing way of having the google sync on the BLACKBERRY. If you're dumping your blackberry, make sure you do google sync and sync all your contacts before activating the EPIC. Ask a store rep to do it for you before buying it BLINDLY from them.

BROWSING - Browsing on the Evo is the best browsing I have ever seen. It still wins over the Epic by just a single point. Epic still gets a 9/10 while Evo because of it's multi-touch gets a perfect 10. There is no lag while browsing or using the touchscreen at all. This is a dream come true for people who've ever had the Samsung Instinct from two years ago. These two phones make my Blackberry look so bad and that's one thing to love and admire about Androids, the fact that they have such capable awesomse fast, intelligent browsers. I have no complaints whatsoever. I have an iPod touch and its half as good at best and I'll tell you the iPod touch is amazing. EVO wins by a life because it's the best at it. Epic is still about two and a half times as good as my Sprint BOLD.


On-Screen Typing : On screen typing on the Evo is way better because of HTC's on screen Qwerty. Swype comes built in with the EPIC. I've never used it, I don't believe in it, just looks too cheesy. Evo has a great typing mechanism but EPIC assumes that unless you're typing casually, you will use the physical keyboard to type. The Evo's typing is better than the iPhone's or the iPods. I haven't played with the iPhone 4 yet.

SLIDE OUT / PHYSICAL KEYBOARD : I will go for the Epic over the Evo because it has a wonderful, non-cheesy, idiot proof keyboard slide out. This is the best addition possible besides the camera and the bundled accessries. I despise the Moment's keyboard in comparison though Moment isn't a bad phone. The EVO is supposed to be Sprint and Samsung's replacement for the SAMSUNG MOMENT.

I've been away from my 2 day old Epic. I will discover more things and shall let you know. Any cons? The capacitive keys on the front could've been a touch more responsive. On the Evo they seem more responsive. I'm in no hurry for the Samsung Epic to get 2.2 and I'm sure they won't disappoint.

Wallpapers look brighter, more alive, sleeker, sexier, more sophisticated on the Epic. When you're in your menu on the Evo you go from top to bottom while on the Epic, if you click Applications you go left right right right. So it's horizontal menu browsing on the Epic and vertical on the Evo.

There is so much more for me to discover. I told someone earlier this year that no phone will ever match the iPhone but technology has an astounding way of shocking me. I'm an absolute geek and am glad that the Epic exists. It's like action sequences on the Lord of the Rings : Twin Towers while Evo is like the Matrix chase scenes from Reloaded. Both are feature packed phones but I love to type and the additional keyboard is fantastic for typing.

Wi-Fi Browsing : If both phones were used on the Wifi, the Epic is blazingly fast and obviously an easy hands down winner. I didn't try browsing on both using the 3G signal in Manhattan though it loaded a youtube video and downloaded an mp3 rather fast.

MISCELLANEOUS THINGS: Epic comes with a game, it also a Samsung HUB, it doesn't have an HDMI port but has something called DLNA which enables you to wireless connect the phone with compatible televisions and monitors. The AMOLED screen is Samsung's proprietary format I read somewhere, Samsung will invest $2 Billion in the next year or two for making screen for all touchscreens.

I'm sorry about how random this review might seem but I really wanna go back to playing with the Epic so see you later. My conclusion is obvious from the subject.

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

BEFORE YOU READ BELOW PLEASE READ THIS: Make sure you set aside time to play with this. Your girlfriend or wife is going to hate you for it if you don't. ......haha..trust me I learned from experience.

I was a blackberry user for years, and I never wanted to switch. But I wanted to see what 4G was like. Sprint is testing 4G in many more markets than are on their website (Many places in the San Francisco area and Los Angeles). Here is a break down of the pros and cons

1. Once you get use to "Swype" typing, you'll never use the keyboard. I bought this phone becaue of the physical keyboard (since I came from a blackberry) but I never use it. "Swype" is great. Go look up a video.

2. Battery life is pretty good despite what people say. Since the Amoled screen does not use power with black pixels. I made my wallpaper solid black. Improved battery life drastically. Trust me on this! .....Now if you use 4G it drains your battery quickly. See below. Also charging time takes a long time. It takes maybe twice as long to fully charge this phone than a blackberry and the MaH is only slightly stronger (1500). Use the "Power Widget" to very easily turn on/off things like 4G, Wifi, Adjut brightness. This will help greatly.

3. 4G..It drains your battery, and mean quickly. God's honest truth......3G is fast enough. I mean 4G was cool to test out, but it really doesn't make a difference when browsing. Maybe downloading music or video (yes) but how often do you do that. When it comes to apps and browsing 3G is fast enough. I teathred my phone to my laptop, and the 4G speeds were barely faster than 3G. 3G speeds were about 1MB per second download. 4G was 1.2. Now if you run a network speedtest on the phone at [...], it's fast...4-5 MbPS.

3. Customization - Awesome, nothing like it. I love it. No complaints. You'll love it.

4. Feel of the phone - Overall a little too thick for me. Once you add it the protective case, that thing aint goin in your pocket. It makes it to thick. So if you like a thin phone, this one is not for you. As I mentioned above, with the "Swype" technology you'll never find yourself using a keyboard. The keyboard also "wiggles" around a bit.....

5. Charging Port - Kinda funny that's its on top of the phone, but not a big deal.

6. Bluetooth - Great Quality (3.0 BT technology). Good reception from a number of Bluetooth pieces I've tried. It's also cool streaming podcasts /music to your bluetooh. Cool feature.

7. Apps - App market is great. Again customizing this phone is one of the greatest features. Apps will randomly start for some reason. I don't know if they suck up battery life or cpu usage. The sprint guy told me they don't.

8. Unlocking the phone - PHone has an auto lock. You have to touch the power button and then slide the screen to unlock. Get an app on the market for this called "Screen Mode" to customize this. Now I can lock / unlock my phone by just hitting a button.
9. Youtube videos are great to watch on here you can watch them in HQ. Sometimes when you do, you'll have to reset your phone for it to work. I know it sounds funny, but this is a minor flaw. Youtube in HQ is great!

10. E-mail and Web Browsing. Seamlessly hooked up to my company's exchange. So much more superior than using a blackberry in that regard. The way you can view the e-mails and attachments are great. Also synced with Yahoo and Gmail. Again. Awesome. No complaints.

11. Web Browsing - NO other phone like it! plain and simple it's great.

12. The google search feature. I know this is available on other droid phones. But the voice activated or type features are awesome!

13. Phone reception / quality - Perfect.

Overall. If you can get over the thickness you'll love it.

Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

I currently work in the wireless mobile industry and this device is simply stunning. Everything from the very fluid interface and the awesome and currently, top-of-the-line graphics are the best you can currently get. The power VR chip in this phone rivals pretty much anything out there. Another thing that I truly love about this phone is true DLNA support, which is essentially capable of home-networking to ALL of your DLNA Home Theater equipment. Also, the speed is nothing short of stunning. The 4G on this device offers a much more pure experience on this phone and it actually rivals some DSL and Cable Technologies in raw speed. I understand that 4G is not available everywhere yet, but it is a new technology and Sprint is rolling it out and at an incredible rate. By this time next year, most Americans will probably have 4G coverage at either there home location or a nearby popular place or city. With that being said, in areas where there is 4G, this phone is ridiculous. The touch screen is absolutely fluid and clear. The super AMOLED screen, despite what a lot of critics will say about the technology is currently the nicest I have seen and I have seen ALL the different display tech out there and the colors and blackness on this screen are perfect. Hold the phone up in a pitch black room and all you will see is icons floating in the air. All in all, I have had a lot of time with this phone and it has everything everyone could want. It has the best display tech, it has 4 different ways to type or text and that includes, swype, thumb-tap, voice-to-text and a flip-out keypad. Even with the $10 premium data package, it is still cheaper then other companies with similar coverage and phones and you also get the addition of 4G. I loved the EVO 4g when that came out, but this takes home the cake, for me. This is literally the best phone on any carrier right now and it's on Sprint! If your even considering this phone,don't even read any further or hesitate, buy it right now and whatever your thought is on it, you will still be amazed and surprised if you buy it even if you think you know about this phone... now I just need to add a second one to my cart and I am ready to go!

Earlier this week I shattered my iPhone screen, so rather than pay 100 dollars to get a phone I am already starting to hate(IOS4), I went ahead and switched to Sprint. With ATT I was paying 98 dollars and that is with my 15% discount. Sprint, I will be paying about 85 dollars which includes the insurance plan. I have only had the phone now for about 24 hours and after a good wall charge, I am happy with the phone. More so than I ever was with the iPhone. The display is pretty nice to look at. The keyboard is nice when writing long emails.

To save battery life, shut down things you are not using. Hold down the home button to get to the task manager.