Vibrant Vs. Incredible Vs. Captivate... which would you choose?

[itpromike]

So I'm finally down to three phones and I need to decide. Now as I understand it AT&T doesn't allow sideloading of apps on the captivate but you can get around this by rooting your phone and the captivate and vibrant root's have been released correct? I like the vibrant/Samsung's screens aside from the blue tint on everything which is annoying but the Droid Incredible feels like a sturdier device... the Captivate/vibrant feel pretty plastic and cheap. Now as I also understand it, the Captivate and Vibrant are way faster than the incredible... What I care about the most is screen quality and speed... also the ability to root and take off the customized Samsung/Sense UI stuff... What would you guys suggest?

 

[Medion]

All Galaxy S phones are faster than the Incredible, and have a superior screen. If you can hold off, the Fascinate (Galaxy S on Verizon) will be out in October.

With that said, you're comparing phones on different carriers. It's been said numerous times before, but when you pick a carrier based on the phone, and not the other way around, you lose. You should look at where you live, and where you tend to travel. See which carriers have good coverage there. After that, you should then narrow it down by price.

All oh the phones you listed are outstanding choices. So, first pick the carrier, then the plan...then the phone.

 

[BigCiX]

For the record, the Vibrant and Captivate are the same phones except different design and carriers. Also vibrant comes packed with Avatar.

 

[Ynomrah]

All Galaxy S phones are faster than the Incredible, and have a superior screen. If you can hold off, the Fascinate (Galaxy S on Verizon) will be out in October.

With that said, you're comparing phones on different carriers. It's been said numerous times before, but when you pick a carrier based on the phone, and not the other way around, you lose. You should look at where you live, and where you tend to travel. See which carriers have good coverage there. After that, you should then narrow it down by price.

All oh the phones you listed are outstanding choices. So, first pick the carrier, then the plan...then the phone.

Yes, this is most important above all else.

But besides that though i would recommend a galaxy s phone for sure. superior speed and display. Also keep in mind that if your rooting just to get a different layout, it might be more valuable to check out some of the customer themes such as launcher pro or pandahome ect. This way you might be able to keep your warranty and still have a different layout if thats what your only looking for with rooting.

 

[damewolf13]

So I'm finally down to three phones and I need to decide. Now as I understand it AT&T doesn't allow sideloading of apps on the captivate but you can get around this by rooting your phone and the captivate and vibrant root's have been released correct? I like the vibrant/Samsung's screens aside from the blue tint on everything which is annoying but the Droid Incredible feels like a sturdier device... the Captivate/vibrant feel pretty plastic and cheap. Now as I also understand it, the Captivate and Vibrant are way faster than the incredible... What I care about the most is screen quality and speed... also the ability to root and take off the customized Samsung/Sense UI stuff... What would you guys suggest?

My Incredible is WAYYYYY faster than my Vibrant, and has been since day 1.
If you are going to root it really doesn't matter which phone you get but if you are going stock, do not get the Captivate unless you don't mind that AT&T will hold your Android os captive for all practical purposes.

 

[Medion]

Just to add to what damewolf stated:

In terms of hardware, it's Hummingbird > OMAP > Snapdragon. Despite this, HTC seems to have done a better job in terms of making their devices smoother and more responsive. So if you have absolutely no plans to root, and just want a cleaner, more response UI, go with the Incredible. However, it has to be said, 720p video playback doesn't work on the Incredible. The other devices can do it reliably.

 

[jroc]

If I had to chose it would one of the Samsung phones, if the reception is better than the Inc. I've been burned in the past by having a phone with a weak antenna. Reception is always my first priority. Everything else is 2nd. But for everything else, the Samsung phones would get picked first.

The one thing HTC phones that run Sense UI have over other phones is Sense UI. Sense UI is just that good. TouchWiz, its hard to say if the UI is good or not cuz the Samsung phones have that lag issue, that can be fixed with rooting.

If rooting is a top priority, the Samsung phones all the way. Root and do the lag fix and the phone will probably fly out your hand...lol

 

[itpromike]

Thanks for all the replies guys! Actually I don't care about carrier as I have an iPhone4 and android would just be a secondary phone to customize and play with. Rooting and installing a new ROM will probably be my first priority. I've had other Androids before so I know I'll need to root to get the full potential. With that being said and taking rooting into account, will the captivate/vibrant still be slower than the Incredible or will the galaxy phones fly circles around the Incredible once rooted and the lag fix applied? I did have an Incredible when it first came out but took it back because I wasn't particularly impressed with the speed and I wasn't fond of Sense either... Now that there is root I'm sure this is fixed. I'm looking for the best combination of speed even while customized and screen quality.... So with that said which one fits that? ;-?
Oh yeah and I know the galaxy phones have dedicated gpu's from the same family of gpu's the iPhone uses; does the Incredible have a dedicated GPU of this calibre? Ability to play graphic intensive and high quality games is a must.

 

[Medion]

Thanks for all the replies guys! Actually I don't care about carrier as I have an iPhone4 and android would just be a secondary phone to customize and play with. Rooting and installing a new ROM will probably be my first priority. I've had other Androids before so I know I'll need to root to get the full potential. With that being said and taking rooting into account, will the captivate/vibrant still be slower than the Incredible or will the galaxy phones fly circles around the Incredible once rooted and the lag fix applied? I did have an Incredible when it first came out but took it back because I wasn't particularly impressed with the speed and I wasn't fond of Sense either... Now that there is root I'm sure this is fixed. I'm looking for the best combination of speed even while customized and screen quality.... So with that said which one fits that? ;-?
Oh yeah and I know the galaxy phones have dedicated gpu's from the same family of gpu's the iPhone uses; does the Incredible have a dedicated GPU of this calibre? Ability to play graphic intensive and high quality games is a must.

Samsung Galaxy uses PowerVR SGX540 (rated at 1 gigapixel fill-rate, and 28M triangles/sec)
Iphone 3GS/4 both use PowerVR SGX535 (1 gigapixel, 14M tri/sec)
Droid 2/Droid X use PowerVR SGX530 (500 megapixel, 14M tri/sec)
Droid uses underclocked PowerVR SGX530 (250 megapixel, 7M tri/sec)
Snapdragon uses Adreno 200 (133 megapixel, 22M tri/sec)

So when it comes to the GPU, the Galaxy S phones kill anything that uses a current Snapdragon. The fill-rate is what is what's really holding back the Adreno.

As for the CPU, I'll generalize here.

Snapdragon - ARMv7 based Scorpion core (NOT an A8 like some state). Advantages over A8 is 5% faster clock for clock, and ability to be used in a multi-core configuration. Basically, it's more future proof.

TI OMAP - stock Cortex A8, but currently running at 45nm, so better on battery life than Snapdragon (this will change with the new Snapdragons coming out)

Hummingbird - modified Cortex A8, 10-20% faster multi-threaded performance, but also 45nm so with better battery life as well.

So in terms of CPU, it's Galaxy > Snapdragon/OMAP (depends, do you want 5% more performance, or significantly better battery life?)

So in conclusion, the Galaxy phones have more horsepower than the Incredible. If you plan to root and run custom ROMs, it should be the platform of choice.

 

[Mistiq]

^^^said everything I was thinking but made it sound intelligent^^^^