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Why I returned my Captivate for an iPhone 4.

bentroxell

Newbie
Jul 25, 2010
22
2
After getting to use the Captivate for about a week and getting fed up with it's problems, here is my take on the phone and why I returned it for an iPhone 4.

Here's what I liked and didn't like about the phone:

-Random lag, crashes, bugs, although most of the time it was pretty quick. (I was using launcher pro, not crapwiz)

-System sounds would randomly come on after I put them on silent when I opened up certain apps.

-The brightness was different on my home screen than in apps. I have no idea why.

-Touchwiz is terrible. It's a slow, rip-off of the iPhone UI. There was at least a 1 second delay from when i hit any of the buttons at the bottom of the device. Launcherpro is awesome, however and fixes most of the lag issues.

-GPS didn't work at all, this is one feature that i use A LOT. Completely unacceptable.

-Entirely too difficult to change the cursor placement on the thing

-Hard to select, copy, and paste text, could not be done in email

-Terrible reception, many times I would get network errors and dropped calls when my iPhone 3G NEVER had problems.

-Wifi issues. Not only did the device not have as good range as my 3G, it would randomly give me an error page on the browser on some networks.

-Proximity sensor didn't work all the time

-Phone fell asleep during calls

-For some reason the ringtone started out quiet? I don't really understand this one

-The text is quite hard to read and appears "grainy" to me. I actually thought it was harder to read than my old iPhone 3g. Compare the text to the iPhone 4 and it's game over.

-Sometimes when I opened up messaging and was still in a conversation with someone I would hit the back button to go back to see all my texting threads, but instead of doing so it would completely exit the app.

-When the phone is used in landscape for typing, you cannot see anything but the text box. I hate this. You have to find the "submit" or "send" or "post" button after you finish typing too. The iPhone just has the button reformatted right there for you.

-The phone is overall not as polished as the iPhone 4. This includes everything from OS to apps. The appstore crushes the marketplace IMO.

-Battery life is okay after charging and discharging quite a few times. A little bit better than my iPhone 3g but not on par with the iPhone 4.

-I didn't like the placement of the power button. Maybe it's because I'm used to the iPhone, but i wish it was on top.

-Backlight on the bottom buttons went off too fast for my liking though it was easy to memorize their positions. I wish there was a physical home button.

-No camera flash. I actually just want this feature so I can use my phone as a flashlight. A have a DSLR so I never really use my phone to take serious pictures.

-The browser sometimes cut urls up randomly in the middle where I guess it thought the url had stopped and random text started so I couldn't click some urls.

-Windows 7 64bit would not recognize my phone even with the drivers installed and the phone in "mass storage" mode.


+ I LOVED swype and haptic(I think that's what the vibrating is called) feedback on the keyboard

+ I LOVED the large screen and the amazing color/contrast, the blacks were literally black. The iPhone really needs a 4" screen. It's just the perfect size.

+ I LOVED the little notification bar at the top. That is just awesome.

+ The browser flies. It's extremely fast and is almost, and i mean just shy of being iPhone-like smoothness. I like double tap to reformat text, too.

+ It looks really nice, feels good in the hand.

+ Can do some cool things that the iPhone can't (download free music, make ringtones on the phone, cool apps, google voice). But IMO where both phones can do the same thing, the iPhone does it much better.

+ Widgets are pretty cool, but none of the weather related widgets ever seemed to update correctly.


I really, really wanted to love this phone, but it just had too many problems. I felt like I really had to tinker with it to get it to work properly, which shouldn't be the case. I am aware that a GPS update and Froyo are on the way, but I didn't feel like waiting around for some of the devices' problems to maybe be fixed.

I know many will disagree, but i think the iPhone 4 is the better device. It just WORKS. That's what I love about Apple... and no i'm not an Apple fanboy. The iPhone is the only apple device I own.

I will definitely give Android another try when 3.0 gets here, but until then the iPhone 4 remains king in the smartphone world.

I hope this thread helps some people who are trying to decide if the Captivate is the right device for them. Any questions or comments are appreciated.

*Some of the issues I experienced are most likely hardware related and should not be present on all devices
 
Well, we're not gonna hate you for going to iPhone. I am exactly the opposite. I came from an iPhone 4 to the Captivate and I haven't looked back. I've not had quite the GPS issues that others have. The biggest advantage for me is being able to make calls. The Captivate has a better receiver IMO than my iPhone 4 had. I can make, receive and maintain a call with no bars indicated where the iPhone 4 could not with two.

Enjoy the new phone...they are a nice device.
 
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good write up. Its really a personal preference - both are very nice devices.

For me, I am a power-user and love to hack things, and I can get over the Captivate's primary flaws (avg battery, horrible gps, etc).

I had the i4 for about 3 weeks, and swapped it for this, and I am content.
 
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I really, really wanted to love this phone.
This is a shame. Samsung NEEDS to acknowledge to their customers that they are working on fixes for this phones most notably the lag and gps. I'm getting this phone tomorrow. If I experience the same issues, and there isn't word from samsung on fixes being released, then I will be taking it back. I'm not sure if I would get the iphone, back to verizon or what. I'm really liking the 4" form factor...not too big or small.
 
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I woke up this morning to a dead phone. It wont charge and wont turn on. I too am experiencing all of the issues you have and will probably take it back to ATT this afternoon for the iphone after this most recent issue. I really, really wanted to love this phone.


just remember this before you take it back and exchange for a different device. All cellphones are assembly line made. Perhaps your phone has a defect. about 1 in every 11 do. Do your exchange based on what you need from the phone for yourself.

As a personal reference I have used an iphone for almost 3 years. I bought the iphone 4 and was talking it up to everyone of my buddies until I realized I was just becoming another fanboi. when i checked out the captivate and really looked into what it could do it changed me within an hour. i can now open my phone, immediately add an appt to my calendar, click on my bosses name to send him the updated appt to his email and see all my notifications without ever leaving that home screen. sure to get it just right it took some tinkering, but 3 years later i still can not do any of these things on my iphone no matter what i do.

:thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking: DECISIONS Decisions decisions

My pros and cons: in each direction

Samsung pros vs iPhone cons:

Samsung: swype is awesome after you get used to it
iPhone: Keyboard is decent sized but i have bigger fingers and there is no alternative for that

Samsung: device reacts much faster (using ADW launcher personally )
iPhone: compared side by side to 3gs, can't "see" a difference

Samsung: Simple design for multitasking makes things so much easier
iPhone: whoever designed that multitasking needs to get a new job, half the time it would be quicker to launch the app then run through that 4x1 list of endless apps on the iPhone

Samsung: this is for android in general, create ringtones, browse files, DRAG AND DROP!!! I have a page dedicated to files i need access to immediately ( i used astro file manager to do this ) and it is a HUGE time saver.
iPhone: no matter what you do you have no control over filesystem on the phone. half the time i sync my phone i either sync my wifes contacts into mine as well. I have to use cloud apps for my important files and they are not very quickly opened

Samsung: display, i watched clash of the titans on samsung, AWESOME, also with the option for bright lighting conditions it makes it very viewable even at the park
iPhone: Really crisp, should have made screen bigger though, without anti glare protector sucks outside

Samsung: Much much much better signal
iPhone: Just hold it different ( i'm a lefty )

iPhone pros vs Samsung cons:

iPhone: GPS, way faster and on spot almost all the time
Samsung: half the time doesn't work (waiting for fix)

iPhone: instantly syncs to pc for music, videos, etc....
Samsung: definitely took some know how to get it to kinda sync, no kies support and being that is "default" option I can see how that would annoy some less tech savvy folk

iPhone: App quality is better almost every time
Samsung: Getting better (check out asphalt HD ) but still android market place is way behind.

iPhone: ipod feature, better UI for music and videos
Samsung: ok, but music player is something to laugh at. ( btw looking for some good ideas for music player replacement, did not like Mixzing either )

iPhone: still at this point more stable OS, less freezes, crashes, etc...
Samsung: although very few compared to other android, still gets force closes, sometimes widgets don't update after charging ( thought I had plently of time before appt, turns out my beautiful widgets home froze an hour and a half off real time )

Well those are my main things. The iPhone has a lot to offer and there is a reason why they sold almost 4 million in a month. However once I weighed everything out the Captivate showed me why it is there to get sh*t done, not to be just a piece of eye candy that only likes in when I hold her certain ways.:rolleyes:
 
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I have none of the issues the OP experienced. Not one force close yet and I have had the phone since launch. I think the Launcher apps just don't work well with Touchwiz.

Cut and Past works great, but you have to get into the Cut and past selection buy holding down the 123 key, otherwise it is impossible to move the cursor. Cut and paste does work in email.

I had an iPhone and I found every app i had before in the Market. I also get better widgets and notifications then the iPhone. On the iphone, I have to hit home, swipe to unlock, then enter a pin - just to see my email counter. Android gives me a notification visible from lock screen.

Windows 7 64 works fine for me. Browser loads more pages, faster then iphone.

But my favorite thing - no dropped calls.

I think the iPhone 4 is nice, but to fragile. It requires a case because 2 sides are glass. That, and I got tired of having to jailbreak every release just to get basic notifications. It is a good phone, but not for me anymore.
 
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I'm pretty close to returning my captivate and going with a droid x. The GPS, general lag and random shutdowns are very surprising. It would be one thing if this was a phone that was just out, but the Samsung Galaxy S has been out for well over a month and the issues are still the same. There does not seem to be a timeframe for a fix to the GPS issue so I'm not confident that it will come before my 30 days are up. The delay in fixing the GPS issues and Samsung's poor history of supporting their phones is pushing me towards returning the phone and using my Nexus One until Froyo comes out for the Captivate.
 
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I have both phone so Ill make a brief comment.

-Entirely too difficult to change the cursor placement on the thing
-Hard to select, copy, and paste text, could not be done in email

I wish all Android phones had a trackpad like the Nexus One,Desire and Incredible.

-The text is quite hard to read and appears "grainy" to me. I actually thought it was harder to read than my old iPhone 3g. Compare the text to the iPhone 4 and it's game over.

This is the problem with all AMOLED screen. It is called Pentile Matrix sub-rendering. Great for video, photos but horrible for text. I notice it as well but have in mind, it is the best implementation of AMOLED.
 
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I have both phone so Ill make a brief comment.



I wish all Android phones had a trackpad like the Nexus One,Desire and Incredible.



This is the problem with all AMOLED screen. It is called Pentile Matrix sub-rendering. Great for video, photos but horrible for text. I notice it as well but have in mind, it is the best implementation of AMOLED.

I really, REALLY dislike the iPhone 4's screen. To me it's all washed out, almost blurry-appearing, though it's not actually blurry.

The only way I can think of explaining it, is picture the Captivate screen, with a piece of wax paper over it.

T
 
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I have not had any of the problems as stated here. Maybe the gps slightly but I am able to get several to lock on in a few seconds, but I do have a regular gps if I ever needed it but I've only used it once and had it nearly a year.

My last phone was a blackberry, and while I have fewer bars sometimes I never have dropped a call or had bad reception and call quality has been great.

My wifi works great, I hardly ever use 3g because everywhere I go has wifi and use it constantly.

I have not had a single lockup or shutdown, a few times it has frozen but for no more than 3 seconds.

My battery works great, I get through an entire day easily and hardly ever put it down, my cousin has worse life with his iphone4 but thats just my experience. Not to mention I can buy another battery if I want and replace it.

My biggest problem with the iphone is that it is made of glass, who does that? Oh lets make an item that most people drop daily out of glass, good thinking Jobs.

Also the 3.5 inch screen is too small for me, 4 inch of the samsung >>>> i4

Touchwiz isnt great, its not as bad as people make it seem in my opinion though, but I use ADW and its great. To put it simply though I'd rather have touchwiz and the ability to use widgets over the UI of iOS.

For me I would pick this phone (captivate) every single day over the iphone and its not even close, but that is my opinion.
 
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Well, we're not gonna hate you for going to iPhone. I am exactly the opposite. I came from an iPhone 4 to the Captivate and I haven't looked back. I've not had quite the GPS issues that others have. The biggest advantage for me is being able to make calls. The Captivate has a better receiver IMO than my iPhone 4 had. I can make, receive and maintain a call with no bars indicated where the iPhone 4 could not with two.

Enjoy the new phone...they are a nice device.

Well said! I came from a iP4 that I had for 3 weeks, before that a 3gs that I used for 1 year. There are alot of problems with the iP4, the proximity sensor was the big one that pushed me over the edge. Well, that and SJ's little tirade during the press conference they had a few weeks ago. Instead of saying they would fix a major hardware flaw he gave the fanboys a free case!
The ip4 is a great gadget. apple knows how to make a great media device but they fail with the phone part. The captivate signal is so much better than either of my 3gs or the iP4 were. I can now make and receive calls where I couldn't before. I always blamed at&t for my signal problems, but it was the iphones.
 
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The only way I can think of explaining it, is picture the Captivate screen, with a piece of wax paper over it.

I think it is the other way around. Do yourself a favour, google "Pentile Matrix" or search on this board. I think there is enough real information for you to know that it is the biggest drawback of AMOLED and Super AMOLED screens.

The original poster is absolutely correct in his assertions.
 
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A few things to answer some questions about the original post. I am not denigrating his choice.

The brightness was different on my home screen than in apps. I have no idea why.


This is most likley due to leaving auto brightness on.

Touchwiz is terrible

So get launcherpro or ADW or one of the other 10 android launchers. This is what android is all about. Choice.

Hard to select, copy, and paste text, could not be done in email
This is fixed in 2.2

When the phone is used in landscape for typing, you cannot see anything but the text box. I hate this. You have to find the "submit" or "send" or "post" button after you finish typing too.
There is a go button on the keyboard so you dont need to find any button.

Many of the other complaints seem to be due to a defective phone.
 
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I really, REALLY dislike the iPhone 4's screen. To me it's all washed out, almost blurry-appearing, though it's not actually blurry.

The only way I can think of explaining it, is picture the Captivate screen, with a piece of wax paper over it.

T

I have to agree with mrspeedmaster. I have compared the two side by side several times and the iphone4 screen is much sharper with text, has more natural colors and a whiter white. The Captivate has more pop due to it's higher contrast and oversaturated colors. Also, the Captivate's white has a blueish tint. Despite this and its other problems(all phone's have their share including the iphone4), I'm still planning on getting the Captivate.
 
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why i don't care about your choice ...

Hahaha, OK, that was pretty funny :D

I kind of agree in that people just don't take back their phone and move on with the Apple product, there seems to be the need for a "sour grapes" type post on the way out.

re: i4 vs. SGS Display

I didn't think the i4 display was better (text-wise) than the SGS (when I sat with both for about 30 minutes). It could simply be I'm hitting a biological limitation where I'm not able to resolve any more detail over a ~260PPI display and being able to display bigger fonts in the same relative display area is better for me. Same thing with this setup I'm typing from: I have a 17" notebook, 1680x1050, and a 22" display, also 1680x1050 and even though the 22" has less DPI (same res over a larger display area), the bigger font, increased screen real estate for me is preferable.
 
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I have to agree with mrspeedmaster. I have compared the two side by side several times and the iphone4 screen is much sharper with text, has more natural colors and a whiter white. The Captivate has more pop due to it's higher contrast and oversaturated colors. Also, the Captivate's white has a blueish tint. Despite this and its other problems(all phone's have their share including the iphone4), I'm still planning on getting the Captivate.

Sorry - I don't even BEGIN to like the i4's screen - I don't use text enough to get past the bland wax-paper look of the i4's screen.

I agree, text is tack-sharp, but the rest sucks.

Want to compare?
Download Speedtest.net app on both, and then look. Just look. The colors absolutely SUCK on the i4. Even the backflips's screen has better colors. It literally looks like there's a sheet of wax paper over the display. If it were a picture, I'd say the white balance was off, or overexposed, or a combo of both.

Now, unless something is set incorrectly on these two i4's at home, which very well could be. They're both set at "auto brightness," as my Captivate is. Since they're not MINE, I haven't changed any settings: one is my youngest son's, the other i4 is the wife's.

T
 
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If it were a picture, I'd say the white balance was off, or overexposed, or a combo of both.T

I don't have either phone but I have compared them several times at different stores. I like the Captivates colors except for the blueish tint if whites especially in the browser. There has even been a few threads about the tint on this forum and the Vibrant sub forum. Do you not think think there is a blueish tint of whites when compared to the iphone4 in the browser?

Here is the one from the Vibrant forum:
http://androidforums.com/samsung-vi...whites-whites-have-gray-tone-anyone-else.html
 
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