For those of you that have followed my blog, and I have no delusions of grandeur here and know I’m speaking to a whopping 6 people, I’ve had the opportunity to review a couple of great devices. I was rightfully amped when I got the opportunity to review the EVO 3D, stoked when I got a crack at the Motorola Photon, but now I’m on a whole different level with the opportunity to put the spotlight on the Samsung Epic 4G Touch. I’ve been waiting for a crack at this device for several months and I’m extremely excited because this phone has been kicking @$$ worldwide, if you don’t believe me just Google “Samsung Galaxy s2 reviews” and see what happens. The technical specs of the device are nothing short of impressive and the display is beautiful. To be honest it’s gotten kind of ridiculous because I find myself just staring at the display amazed at how detailed and colorful it appears. I’m going to have to admit that I cheated a bit and activated this device a few days ago while I was wrapping up the Photon review, I just couldn’t wait. What did my cheating bring me? A cracked screen! In the midst of messing around with the device and constantly taking it out of my pocket I pulled off the token suicide leap and dropped the device right on the lower left hand corner on a concrete floor. Aside from the cracked glass and damaged pride all is well, I’m still able to fully leverage the phone’s touch screen and I survived the hazing I received from my Product Ambassador peers. Quick history and naming lesson for those new to Samsung’s Galaxy S phones; Samsung’s Galaxy S line is a multi-carrier line of devices with each carrier’s version slightly differentiating itself from a hardware perspective. Sprint’s version of the first Galaxy S phone was dubbed the Epic and in true brand marketing fashion the second generation, Samsung labeling as Galaxy S II, was bestowed with the Epic 4G Touch title. The noticeable differences with Sprint’s version of the Galaxy S II are the larger screen, 4.52” vs 4.3”, and a larger capacity battery, 1800mAh vs 1520 to 1750mAh. Let’s get the spotlight of scrutiny going by discussing the display tech and the motion features Samsung has incorporated into their Android overlay.
Super AMOLED + (Samsung working on a longer display name)
When the specs on the on the Epic Touch’s display started popping up I was initially disappointed that the resolution was only going to match the original Epic, at 800 X 480, and lower than the previous two phones we’ve discussed which had the QHD display measured at 960 X 540. I don’t want to get overly techy here but it turns out resolution rates aren’t the only defining characteristic of display quality. The plus in the Super AMOLED title means that sub pixilation and contrast ratios surpass the original version significantly. Sub-pixels are a way for displays to pack in more detail and color representation per pixel. In the case of the Epic vs. the Epic Touch we’re talking about a tech improvement that provides 50% great sub-pixels, and the more pixels/sub-pixels a display has the clear the image. The following image does a good job of illustrating the improvement.
When the original Epic launched it was by far the best looking display that I had the opportunity to view and the reason why I purchased it over the original EVO. Suffice to say if you can make an image on the original Epic look hazy in comparison you have achieved something, kudos Samsung for raising the bar. Another other display spec that I would like to mention is the contrast ratio. If you’ve heard the term contrast ratio thrown around before but aren’t quite sure what it represents the following is the best explanation I could find:
“Measures the difference between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks a display can show. The higher the contrast ratio, the greater the ability of a display to show subtle color details and tolerate ambient room light, or light washing. . “ (wikipedia)
The contrast ratio for the Epic Touch comes in at an impressive 150,954:1. (meaning the brightest white is 150K times brighter than the darkest black) Is that good? The magic eight ball says “it is decidedly so”. For reference I researched the leading LCD HDTVs on the market and found most ranged from anywhere from 10,000:1 to 100,000:1 with a handful of very high end models in the 1,000,000:1 territory. With the ability to rival HDTV specs the Epic Touch provides a display won’t leave you wanting for better imagery. Geeky tech facts aside you really need to see this screen to fully appreciate it. I have a couple of live wallpapers downloaded and as I mentioned above I’ve caught myself just staring at amazed at the detail and colors. Simply put this display is beautiful, enough said.
Android in Motion
All Android devices, in a given generation, start with the same basic Android platform; it is up to each manufacture to add the secret sauce to differentiate their user’s experience. It is going to take more than one post to cover off on all the features Samsung delivers in their latest version of Touchwiz so we’ll start with their motion based add ons. Samy has decided to enhance user control over by providing the following four motion based commands:
1. Turn Over- flipping the device over mutes incoming calls and notification sounds, nice touch when you are in a meeting with your superiors or clients and your “Baby got Back” ringer sounds off. (damn you Sir Mix a Lot, not now!)
2. Tilt- while placing two touch points on the screen you can tilt the device backward and forward to zoom in and out on your web browser and gallery. The pinching command is still available but how cool is it to lean over to a friend and say “watch this”.
3. Panning- allows you to move app short cut icons and widgets between your homescreens and app menu screens. A simple long touch of the icon/widget will activate the panning capability then you simply tilt left or right to navigate to the final resting place.
4. Double Tap- gangster influence has again reached the mobile world! (see photon review) This function is pretty smooth allowing you to tap the device twice, hence the double tap name, while in Car Home mode to bring up voice commands. This is a nice feature to initiate hands free control while driving which is something we should all be mindful of.
In order to leverage these functions you will need to go into the settings menu and turn them on so don’t spend hours jacking around with the device before you figure this out. (I warned you) There are several other cool features embedded in Touchwiz 4.0 but I will end for now and live to fight another day.
So just in case you can’t tell the device has gotten off to a great start in here the Spotlight. From here on out I will try not to sound like a gitty school girl with a crush but I can’t promise anything. So far this thing has lived up to the hype and I’m looking forward to digging into the nuances over the next several weeks. Until next time Spotlighters, be good and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
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