Picked up two SF's today

[FragDroidX]

Even though the Fascinate didn't impress me during my time with it earlier this week I decided to give it a second chance after reading some of the positive posts by a few people here the last two days.

I will be testing one of the Fascinates along side my Droid X and the other will be tested along side my wifes Droid Incredible. They will be tested over the next weeks or so.

I used the Fascinate along side my Droid X for most of today. My experience with it today has not been what you would consider good. Here are my impressions after the first day.

1. After hearing about all the success stories with the GPS I was excited to get a new one and try it out. Well its sad to say that again the GPS did not function correctly on either my or my wifes Fascinate. I tried using GPS thru both VZ navigater and Google Maps and could not get a GPS fix at all while my wifes would see the sats but reported that her position was in another state. Very frustating after so many reported good results.
I called tech support and was told that nothing could be down to fix it at this time but that a fix is promised by the end of the month.

2. The capcative touch keys. These things just dont function properly. It takes 3-5 presses to get the keys to respond. I have read a few others here are having the same issue. Again I was told by tech support that it was a known issue, that a fix is not available at this time but it would also be fixed by the end of the month.

3. The capacitive touch keys part two. I would like to know what moron decided to have the backlight for the keys turn off after two seconds on a device that you can't see the keys unless you have the backlight on. I searched high and low for a setting to change the timeout and came up empty handed. Again tech support acknowleged the issue, reported no fix at this time, will be solved by the end of the month (sensing a theme here)

4. The charging port. The same moron that set the key timeout must have decided to put the port on top. I use my phone in my vehicle ALOT and also have to charge it in my vehicle ALOT. I very often have to talk on the phone while the phone is charging. I cannot do that since the charging port is on top. I know some are going to say just use a bluetooth headset. I would do just that but the Fascinate refused to pair with the only headset I had with me.

5. Talking on the phone. While call quality was clear and volume was fine both through the ear piece and speaker phone the phone would get very hot after only about 10 minutes use. Its would get hot enough that I would have to end the call to let it cool down. It did not get hot at any other time other then when in a call. Any others experience this?

6. The screen. The screen is very good. It worked very well in all situations. It is easily the best screen I have ever used in direct sunlight.
The contrast ratio is staggering. I will test it directly agaisnt the Droid X and Incredible and will report back with my findings.

7. Signal strength. Samsung phones are known for week atennas and the Fascinate is no different. While I did not drop any calls I did have an occasional call be very broken up. It would generally report 2 bars in good signal areas where the Droid X would have 4. In areas with weak signal the Droid X would still work fine but Fascinate would not. I am generally in good cell areas so I do not think this will really be an issue for me but thought it prudent to share.

8. Battery life seems decent. I did use it heavily today and the battery lasted about 12 hours before needing a charge while my Droid X usually lasts about 18 hours before needing a charge. I think it should get a bit better after a few charging cycles and as long as it gets at least 12 hours its a none issue for me.

So thats it so far. Although I am disapponted with it so far I really really want to like this device. Its multimedia capabilities are second to non and I look forward to using them over the weekend. I will be comparing camera's, camcorder's, music players, and video playback over the weekend and I think its going to be very nice. The multimedia capabilities on this phone are so good its almost as if the put all the hard work into them as opposed to the things I mentioned above.

No matter what I will be holding onto this device until the end of September to see if the firmware fixes the issues I am having so if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them

 

[Darkhan]

I get the same heat problem when talking. Its actually starting to annoy me.

 

[burningembers]

I like the quick timeout of the capacitive keys along the bottom, I hope that when they "fix" this "feature", that they let the timeout be a separate option from the back light timeout.

I talked on the phone for about 50 minutes straight and did not notice any odd heat issues, how long were you on it?

 

[FragDroidX]

I like the quick timeout of the capacitive keys along the bottom, I hope that when they "fix" this "feature", that they let the timeout be a separate option from the back light timeout.

I talked on the phone for about 50 minutes straight and did not notice any odd heat issues, how long were you on it?

It would get hot after about 10-15 minutes. After checking with my wife, her Fascinate does not get hot at all, even after a 1+ hour call to her mother. Even though the Fascinate is the last one released to one of the big 4 it almost seems like it was rushed out to soon. This thing has much potential thats what makes it so frustrating.

 

[ozzzy3z]

Thanks OP for your insights. I am in a 30-day window and have been curious about this phone's performance. I look forward to your final evaluation.

 

[wonsae]

Damn that really sucks. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones cause I didn't have of the problems you had so far besides the backlight on the soft touch keys.

 

[swyn]

I traded in my Droid 2 for the Fascinate this past Friday 9/10. Overall I am much happier with the device than I was with my Droid 2. I have not noticed the issues (besides the gps) you have described and if I were you, I would exchange it for a new one.

1. After hearing about all the success stories with the GPS I was excited to get a new one and try it out. Well its sad to say that again the GPS did not function correctly on either my or my wifes Fascinate. I tried using GPS thru both VZ navigater and Google Maps and could not get a GPS fix at all while my wifes would see the sats but reported that her position was in another state. Very frustating after so many reported good results.
I called tech support and was told that nothing could be down to fix it at this time but that a fix is promised by the end of the month.

I have had GPS problems with mine as well. Indoors, it's almost impossible to get a lock, out doors, it has taken 1-2 minutes to achieve a lock. Once locked, I have had no issue with the device losing the signal.

2. The capcative touch keys. These things just dont function properly. It takes 3-5 presses to get the keys to respond. I have read a few others here are having the same issue. Again I was told by tech support that it was a known issue, that a fix is not available at this time but it would also be fixed by the end of the month.

I've had no issues with the touch keys on mine. In fact, I have noticed them to be a good deal more responsive than of my Droid 2.

4. The charging port. The same moron that set the key timeout must have decided to put the port on top. I use my phone in my vehicle ALOT and also have to charge it in my vehicle ALOT. I very often have to talk on the phone while the phone is charging. I cannot do that since the charging port is on top. I know some are going to say just use a bluetooth headset. I would do just that but the Fascinate refused to pair with the only headset I had with me.

Personally I like where the charging port is, but then again I rarely use my phone as a phone and always use a head set. I had no issues with my Plantronics 520 however. Paired quickly and performed well.

5. Talking on the phone. While call quality was clear and volume was fine both through the ear piece and speaker phone the phone would get very hot after only about 10 minutes use. Its would get hot enough that I would have to end the call to let it cool down. It did not get hot at any other time other then when in a call. Any others experience this?

I've talked for over an hour on mine and mine does not get hot at all. In fact my Droid 2 got warmer than my Fascinate.

7. Signal strength. Samsung phones are known for week atennas and the Fascinate is no different. While I did not drop any calls I did have an occasional call be very broken up. It would generally report 2 bars in good signal areas where the Droid X would have 4. In areas with weak signal the Droid X would still work fine but Fascinate would not. I am generally in good cell areas so I do not think this will really be an issue for me but thought it prudent to share.

While I have not had my Droid 2 and my Fascinate side-by-side as best memory serves the signal seemed close to my Droid 2. Maybe a bit less. I got 2-4 bars at home on my Droid 2, and the same on my Fascinate.

I have noticed a few other random bugs so far myself. At one point, the Fascinate would fluctuate between a good signal and no service every 5 seconds or so. When rebooting, the issue was solved. I have yet to have it recur.

Once so far, when turning the phone on (I'm one of those crazy people that turn his phone off at night) the phone showed that I was roaming. After a few minutes, it was still present. Again a reboot solved the issue. Again, I haven't had the problem repeat itself.

I knew the GPS problem was going to be there when I got the phone and I know it will be fixed eventually. I rarely use my phone for navigation, so waiting a month isn't much of an issue for me. I love the form factor honestly I can say I have experienced no performace issues with the phone (I am still using the Touch UI). Normally I use ADW but the phone currently runs so smooth that I may not even bother with it. Overall, I have to say I am very pleased with the device.

 

[SirKronan]

I'm wondering if the phone overheating could be related to your signal issues, as well. I wouldn't expect it to be as good as a Motorola Droid variant, but I wouldn't expect it to be that much worse either. Perhaps yours has actual hardware issues and needs replaced. There's no way I would accept a phone getting so hot like that on just a 10 min phone call. That would worry me big time.

 

[tystevens]

Sorry to hear you aren't completely enjoying your phone.

After using mine since Thursday, I'm happy to report that I'm not having any of the issues you've reported.

My GPS works great, for the most part. If I turn it on in-doors, it takes a few minutes to track me down. Outside, it locks on in 30 seconds. I've used Google Nav a few times, and it works very nicely.

Capacitive buttons are responsive on my phone, and I actually like that they don't stay on for too long. After using the phone for a few hours, I don't need to see them anyway. And I can see the white markings in typical ambient light, anyway. I like them the way they are.

Haven't noticed heat build-up, but I haven't been on the phone for more than 10 minutes. I'm not a real long talker, so probably wont ever be an issue.

I see where the charging port on the top could hamper talking on the phone while plugged in; haven't tried to do that yet.

Not writing this to rebut the OP in any way; just to point out that we're not all having these issues. Hope yours get solved!

 

[xliderider]

I'm 90% sure I'm returning my Fascinate on Wednesday for a Droid X. Well let me rephrase that, I'm returning my Fascinate and then waiting for a Droid X LOL.

I like the Fascinate and think that most of the problems can be worked out with software updates; however, I need a phone that has better reception than the Fascinate. That will most likely not improve by much even if they come out with an updated radio file (I forget what they are called ATM) as I believe the Fascinate doesn't have the hardware comparable to the Motorola devices in regard to reception and call quality.