Hands on review by BGR

[homegeek]

After reading it I am a little concerned that the phone feels like it is cheap plastic.

AT&T Samsung Captivate hands on! Boy Genius Report

We have just received our very own Samsung Captivate device and have put together some first impressions as well as some great photos. The Samsung Galaxy S is launching in some form or fashion on practically every U.S. carrier, and AT&T

 

[lordmaxx]

yes, unfortunately it seems samsung really wants to make sure they can claim the title for lightest phone. We can only hope that perhaps some 3rd party manufacturers will make some replacement covers made of nicer materials.

 

[sean76]

If it had a flash and a front facing camera, I'd most likely grab it. But at&t has become so bad as of late, that I probably won't be adding it to my ever growing phone collection. Still gonna check it out when it drops though...Screen is probably beautiful!

 

[huskerkurt]

Makes you wonder how the other versions feel. Almost every hands-on I read or watched from the June 29th Galaxy S event, people looking at the Captivate commented about how it felt the most solid of all the devices.

 

[shocker]

After playing with the Captivate all day I can say that it did feel very light but still felt very solid. The screen is AMAZING! It is hands down the best looking screen I have seen. Better than the Retina display on the iPhone 4 imo. I'm not to concerned with the no flash on the camera, though no phone shouldn't have one. What I am displeased with is the no front facing camera. I am torn between this phone and the Dell Streak.

 

[Donatron]

After playing with the Captivate all day I can say that it did feel very light but still felt very solid. The screen is AMAZING! It is hands down the best looking screen I have seen. Better than the Retina display on the iPhone 4 imo. I'm not to concerned with the no flash on the camera, though no phone shouldn't have one. What I am displeased with is the no front facing camera. I am torn between this phone and the Dell Streak.

Can you confirm that Google Navigation is installed? BGR says it's missing, but BGR isn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

[Jreitnauer7]

Can you confirm that Google Navigation is installed? BGR says it's missing, but BGR isn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I have a hard time believing that AT&T would remove this because of the complaints. This is one of the main reasons to get an Android phone. But Yes, If you could confirm that the AT&T Navigation is on your phone it would be great!

 

[homegeek]

After playing with the Captivate all day I can say that it did feel very light but still felt very solid. The screen is AMAZING! It is hands down the best looking screen I have seen. Better than the Retina display on the iPhone 4 imo. I'm not to concerned with the no flash on the camera, though no phone shouldn't have one. What I am displeased with is the no front facing camera. I am torn between this phone and the Dell Streak.

As much as I like the ideal of the Streak the 1.6 OS is a joke! If this is how far Dell is already behind then I dont know if I can trust them to keep up in the futures with OS upgrades.

 

[homegeek]

I have a hard time believing that AT&T would remove this because of the complaints. This is one of the main reasons to get an Android phone. But Yes, If you could confirm that the AT&T Navigation is on your phone it would be great!

I read that it can still be downloaded through the marketplace.

 

[ewingr]

Not much of a review. I'm hoping to see a real review, in-depth, like some of the SGS ones we've seen.

 

[rlb4]

It's funny, everyone seems to think that because the phone has a lot of plastic it is going to feel cheap. Yet most people cover their phone with a cheap plastic case.

 

[shocker]

I honestly didn't even look to see if google maps was there. I'll look tomorrow when i'm at work.

Yes 1.6 on the Streak sucks but I want to love it so bad.

 

[boriquazan]

This phone rocks people!!!!!! its still an android witch means you can change anything!! has the fastest cpu on the market and the fastest gpu for sweet gaming! gyroscope, accelorameter, surround sound that super sweet s-amoled which kills wifes ip4 ,and divx support and froyo comming out by late summer!! did i mention divx support? woohoo!

 

[maerlim]

I have a hard time believing that AT&T would remove this because of the complaints. This is one of the main reasons to get an Android phone. But Yes, If you could confirm that the AT&T Navigation is on your phone it would be great!

It's not unusual for a new phone to have some paid apps and some Google apps (like google nav) missing from the market, especially if it's before the phone's official release date. Google probably hasn't enabled the phone in the Market yet.

 

[Jahmakan]

Messed around with the demo model at work today; like many others have said, the phone is VERY light for it's size. After using other Android phones, one of the strangest things is that whenever you are in a certain area of the phone other than the Home screen and you "press" the Home button, it takes about a second before it actually responds and go to the Home screen. Not a big issue, but just use to it responding more rapidly. Overall nice phone though. Still trying to confirm off-contract price; if it is really $350, I'm buying it.

 

[ConceptVBS]

Messed around with the demo model at work today; like many others have said, the phone is VERY light for it's size. After using other Android phones, one of the strangest things is that whenever you are in a certain area of the phone other than the Home screen and you "press" the Home button, it takes about a second before it actually responds and go to the Home screen. Not a big issue, but just use to it responding more rapidly. Overall nice phone though. Still trying to confirm off-contract price; if it is really $350, I'm buying it.

There should be a fix about that. Supposedly samsung knows about the slight lag.

 

[crashcarruthers]

It has both Google Navigation: AT&T Samsung Captivate hands on! Boy Genius Report
"Update 2: We have received word from some AT&T sources and readers, and Google Navigation is actually supported on the Samsung Captivate. You have to update to the latest Google Maps through the Market, then enter an address to get driving directions to, and then you can click Navigate. There isn

 

[subie41ife]

just about one week to go!!! I cant wait for this phone!

 

[shocker]

I have a hard time believing that AT&T would remove this because of the complaints. This is one of the main reasons to get an Android phone. But Yes, If you could confirm that the AT&T Navigation is on your phone it would be great!

Our phone at work definitely had it. Checked today

Messed around with the demo model at work today; like many others have said, the phone is VERY light for it's size. After using other Android phones, one of the strangest things is that whenever you are in a certain area of the phone other than the Home screen and you "press" the Home button, it takes about a second before it actually responds and go to the Home screen. Not a big issue, but just use to it responding more rapidly. Overall nice phone though. Still trying to confirm off-contract price; if it is really $350, I'm buying it.

Confirmed the 350 no contract price at work today with as many "higher ups" as I could and they said that is the price.

There should be a fix about that. Supposedly samsung knows about the slight lag.

I installed the LauncherPro Beta to replace the TouchWiz which I don't care much for anyways and it was MUCH faster. There is also a lag fix for the Samsung Galaxy i9000 that should also apply to the Galaxy S series. Turning off live wallpapers did make a slight difference.

 

[linuxdood]

They still make you pay the same rate for the plan as someone with a subsidy. Is the reason people have a phone under contract that they simply want to get rid off and have no choice?

 

[Jahmakan]

They still make you pay the same rate for the plan as someone with a subsidy. Is the reason people have a phone under contract that they simply want to get rid off and have no choice?

True, but in this case it gets a little weird. If you buy this phone "on contract" for $199 and for whatever reason at some point canceled that contract, you could pay anywhere from $80 (cancel at very end) to $325 (cancel at very beginning) additional to the $199 you already paid. That means it's possible to pay $500+ for a $350 phone. Most people that buy these phones don't think about these things BEFORE they buy and get stuck in situations like the one I just described; blog/tech website regulars like us are in the minority.

 

[shocker]

True, but in this case it gets a little weird. If you buy this phone "on contract" for $199 and for whatever reason at some point canceled that contract, you could pay anywhere from $80 (cancel at very end) to $325 (cancel at very beginning) additional to the $199 you already paid. That means it's possible to pay $500+ for a $350 phone. Most people that buy these phones don't think about these things BEFORE they buy and get stuck in situations like the one I just described; blog/tech website regulars like us are in the minority.

If you look at the Captivate website on ATT it shows the ETF is only 175 for some reason on this phone. Look at the "fine print" at the bottom. I'm pretty sure the "contract" price + ETF can not exceed the full retail.

Samsung Captivate? Android? Smartphone ? Coming Soon ? Wireless from AT&T

 

[Jahmakan]

If you look at the Captivate website on ATT it shows the ETF is only 175 for some reason on this phone. Look at the "fine print" at the bottom. I'm pretty sure the "contract" price + ETF can not exceed the full retail.

Samsung Captivate? Android? Smartphone ? Coming Soon ? Wireless from AT&T

Aaah, you are correct. I find that very strange; from this I aeeume at&t must get a really "good" price on these phones from Samsung.

 

[lordmaxx]

well, something that helps is that most of the major parts are made inhouse with samsung...I'm sure that is cutting down on cost for samsung. And they may be selling them cheaper to really turn people to their brand.

 

[shocker]

well, something that helps is that most of the major parts are made inhouse with samsung...I'm sure that is cutting down on cost for samsung. And they may be selling them cheaper to really turn people to their brand.

Yeah I think that is the biggest contributing factor is that pretty much everything is inhouse. It's also a great marketing attempt to get more people to buy Samsung Android devices. They are chasing Motorola and HTC at this point.