What do you like about your Epic? Potential new owner here.

[redfishblue]

I am torn between an Optimus and an Epic (posted a which-phone-should-I-get question in the general forum if you want to weigh in).

My question is - what do you like best about your Epic? What makes it, in your opinion, worth the extra up-front and monthly cost? I'm hoping to find things that I would value (or conversely, that wouldn't matter to me) to help guide my decision.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DeathMoJo]

For me it came down to functionality. I have always been the guy who owns the cheaper phone. I never really saw a need for all the fancy phones. When I did my research with this one because it could be my all-in-one device. I use it everyday for talk,text, web browsing, gaming, watching shows/movies, listening to music and using it as a scheduling/work aid. I feel by using it in all these rolls that ill save in the long run with buying other electronic items.

Now the main reason I chose the epic was I felt it was Sprints best phone at the time. I prefer to send texts and emails from an actual keyboard and loved the screen over the evo. Also, I didn't want to get a cheaper phone and regret the purchase later. It was a huge step up for me but the overall phones functionality and features justified spending $250 vice $50 to $100 for other phones since I usually keep phones for years.

 

[saxologist]

I am torn between an Optimus and an Epic (posted a which-phone-should-I-get question in the general forum if you want to weigh in).

My question is - what do you like best about your Epic? What makes it, in your opinion, worth the extra up-front and monthly cost? I'm hoping to find things that I would value (or conversely, that wouldn't matter to me) to help guide my decision.

Thanks in advance!

My kids have optimus s nice phone but cant compare to raw power of video and display (like a roman candle). Battery issue solved here. Waiting for 2.2 but not that concerned

 

[dan330]

I agree with deathmojo...

add up the cost of all the other equipment you might need to purchase.
cheap phone $free
mp3 $150
camera $75
GPS $100
Game Sys: $100
internet device: $100
pain for carrying all that around $$$

 

[DeathMoJo]

I agree with deathmojo...

add up the cost of all the other equipment you might need to purchase.
cheap phone $free
mp3 $150
camera $75
GPS $100
Game Sys: $100
internet device: $100
pain for carrying all that around $$$

That is where i am at. Having a GPS for the car, nintendo dsi, sony mp3 player and the phone. I realized i could consolidate all and it would work for me and then will sell off the extra stuff and make back the cost of the phone.

That is also the reason why i took the insurance on the phone as well and picked up the Seidio case and screen protector. I have the Otterbox case on order as well.

 

[Epicurean]

I agree with deathmojo...

add up the cost of all the other equipment you might need to purchase.
cheap phone $free
mp3 $150
camera $75
GPS $100
Game Sys: $100
internet device: $100
pain for carrying all that around $$$

Movie Player $100
Flashlight $5
Scientific Calculator $75
Level $5
Metal Detector $100 (used)
Police Scanner $50
WiFi Hotspot $100 (must be rooted)
Sleep Machine $25
Heart Rate Monitor $100
Tricorder (Tricorder? Yes, Tricorder!) Priceless

(OK, I just made up the prices, YMMV)

 

[GrooveRite]

You guys are great! lolol

To be honest with you, I love my Epic because watching a movie on this phone is just SSOOO damn good!! Its like taking a HDTV and shrinking it to your hands. So damn good!! ....oh and it does other things that I love as well. I'm all about entertainment so gaming and movie watching is what keeps me happy!

I got my gf the optimus and she loves it because of the size. She thinks the Epic is more of a guy phone because its too big for her small hands. Great phone but no where near the power and capability of the Epic.

 

[dangerdat]

Media server to PS3 and Xbox.

 

[rounsy222]

I like the keyboard and the all in one fuctionality that this provides.

 

[Kelmar]

The screen is what sold me on the phone.... LOVE the screen!

 

[Damar1979]

I love this phone due to all of the aforementioned things that the others before me have said. Awesome screen first and foremost! You cant find another android screen that isnt a galaxy s phone that looks this damned good! It is like having an HDTV in the palm of your hands. And not only that (and this is something that rarely gets mentioned about the epic or other galaxy phones), the screen is probably the toughest screen out there due to it being gorilla glass! The chances of it either cracking, scratching or breaking is highly unlikely (you can even ask a sprint rep about that)! Plus the camera is higher megapixel than the optimus (3meg to 5 for the epic), and has better options to take photos with! A8 cortex hummingbird processor is the best processor you can get at the moment (which is in the epic), and it makes videos, apps and especially games run smoothly as can be. This phone can handle whatever is being thrown at it in a nutshell. If you like multimedia (movies, games etc.) As well as other functions that you will probably use day to day, this is the phone you want. Also, the keyboard has been rated across the board as the best qwerty keyboard around! (Even better than blackberry qwerty's). Yanno, if they call the LG phone optimus... they should re-label the epic ultra magnus!

 

[DavidBeier]

Deathmojo hit the nail on the head. Like him, I've always gotten the cheapest phone I could. I realized recently that it would be useful to get a smartphone to keep up with my business. When I decided to take the plunge, I realized that the phone could serve as a great all in one device and thus it was worth it to get a nicer one. Now I don't need to worry about getting a new MP3 player and I don't need to worry about getting a snapshot camera (I use my pro Camera for big stuff on the Epic for everything else).

As for what specifically made me want the Epic over the Optimus, it was the following:

1. Power - I was debating the Optimus when a friend who had an LG Ally told me that he wished he had gotten a more powerful phone because some of the more sophisticated apps he had would run really slowly. Since I planned to hold onto the phone for a while, I didn't want a bottle neck power wise.

2. Screen and Multimedia Capabilities - I'm a grad student in the USC Film School and thus one of the most important functions of my phone had to be the ability to play a variety of video files. I asked A LOT of people and was told that the Epic the most flexable video player of all the Android phones and it had the best screen. This pretty much sold me.

3. Keyboard - I just can't type a long e-mail on the touch screen. There's no way I can edit a text file or tweak a screenplay. Considering this is a big part of why I wanted a smartphone, the keyboard was a must.

4. Camera - I had been debating getting a cheap powershot camera since my DSLR is too big and bulky for everyday use. It's not just the MP count (5 vs 3) but also the overall quality. I asked a number of people who were familiar with digital photography and every knowladgable person told me that the Epic's 5 mp camera was even better than the HTC Evo's 8 mp one. Online comparisons proved it. The Optimus just wouldn't have been worthwhile as a camera.

And that's pretty much it. I've been told that the Optimus is one of the best mid-range phones around but the Epic is really a top of the line, all bells and whistles, mammoth. Considering the OBSCENE amount of money most smartphone plans cost, I'd like to get the most out of it I can by having the best phone. In my case, I got the Epic through Amazon wireless so it was only $100 instead of $250.

 

[Epic/Style]

The Epic does have an outstanding display, but without Android 2.2 or 2.3, I would not touch this handset with a 10 foot pole right now. I would go with the Evo or go TMoble with the new Google offering with 2.3. Froyo and Gingerbread are way more advanced than people here will care to admit because they never used it long term and can't have it thanks to Samsung. Who knows if the Epic will EVER get anything more than 2.1. Why take the chance and get stuck with a phone with an out dated OS and poor support from Samsung. What 4G phone do you see Sprint touting on TV that is better than IPhone and everything else on the market,,hint its made by HTC. Why? its because Sprint feels its there best most advanced offering right now not the Epic.

 

[dbpaddler]

Big gorgeous screen. Spacious keyboard. Best in class processor (for the most part). It's pretty damn light and the build quality is nice. Some might argue about the light cheap feeling of it, but they are just equating weight with quality (usually an Evo owner).

2.2/2.3? I'm rooted running ext4 and Quantum 2.5 DK28 build. This phone will flat out smoke anything else out there with the ext4 mod. In some cases it's just in a different league. For the first time I feel like it's as smooth as an iphone.

 

[Vinman18]

if you dont mind not being able to watch videos from websites, than the phone is ok

I cannot believe that with the cost of this phone, it's missing a decent flash player

 

[dbpaddler]

Do any of the flash apk's work on the epic?

With the ease of rooting the epic it's almost a no brainer to not harp on the froyo update and just take a little initiative. Titanium backup is by far the best backup app out there that is only available by rooting. The ability to change the file structure to ext4 is huge for performance. At this point I look at it like I just paid for the hardware and am relying on the xda developers for software. just might be running gingerbread before the official froyo release hits.

 

[Stoney62]

Do any of the flash apk's work on the epic?

With the ease of rooting the epic it's almost a no brainer to not harp on the froyo update and just take a little initiative. Titanium backup is by far the best backup app out there that is only available by rooting. The ability to change the file structure to ext4 is huge for performance. At this point I look at it like I just paid for the hardware and am relying on the xda developers for software. just might be running gingerbread before the official froyo release hits.

EXACTLY!!!!! Even if you have to flash it a couple times to get it right. In the meantime we with a working DK28 will enjoy all the wonderful things all the wusses are missing out on and complaining about not having.

 

[dbpaddler]

And if you're rooted, you should do the ext4 mod. With titanium backing everything up, it's a joke to restore, even more so if you cough up a few dollars for the pro version. And if you d the mod, the quantum rom will even do an automatic restore of your apps. That surprised me. The other ext4 rom is the midnight one. Both are nice.

 

[iclimb513]

if you dont mind not being able to watch videos from websites, than the phone is ok

I cannot believe that with the cost of this phone, it's missing a decent flash player

WTF are you talking about? Skyfire browser plays flash based vids.

Doofus.

 

[Seddy]

With me it was all about the keyboard. I went from an Instinct to a Moment and haven't looked back. The EVO is nice and all but I simply cant stand a full touch-screen device. As many others have said, the screen is a dead giveaway. The EPIC has the BEST screen i've seen on a wireless device and i'm glad I own one. The speed of this baby is phenomenal - coming from the Moment i'm used to a laggy phone, but I was blown away with how fast I was able to do things compared to the Moment. The built in hotspot is a must have especially if you travel like I do, and now I never have to worry about paying out of pocket for hotel internet access.

Another thing the Optimus doesn't have - a 4G radio. Even if you dont live in a city with 4G (like myself), odds are you'll travel to a 4G city and once you turn on that 4G radio you'll be glad you got yourself an Epic.