Any interest in the upcoming Captivate?

[Jofaba]

Just heard about this phone tonight. It seems to be a direct competitor to the iPhone4/Sprint Evo/Verizon Inc/X.

Perks against the Aria besides any as-of-yet comparable hardware performance tests:

Bigger better screen
six-axis for gaming
Much more storage

My own opinion: the specs put the Captivate into a more 2 year friendly category than the Aria (which I put into a 1 year category).

No official release date yet and my last day to swap is the 25th or 26th. I'm not really riled up over this release, but it would be nice to have the option to upgrade if it turns out to be a great phone. To be honest, I'll be happy once the 30 days are up so I can stop second guessing my choice.

Any opinions on this phone? Any interest?

 

[kirbo20]

Can't wait to get it!! I love the Aria but I would love a 4 inch screen.

 

[AndrewAmazed]

I would love to but...
1. I've had terrible experiences with Samsung & their support after the purchase.
2. I don't really like their UI. Rather it be stock Android.
3. I can stick with the Aria for now.

but yes, the screen is really...nice and honestly, I really hope Samsung + ATT do(es) it right this time around.

 

[darkninja67]

I was thinking about the Captivate but I love HTC Sense. The specs of the Captivate look great, especially that display. The Aria was cheap and I like the small size.

Samsung makes great televisions, don't know a lot about their phones though.

 

[FreddieBoy]

Captivate is World Class phone. iPhone killer, promise !?! 4" Super Amoled screen, 16GB internal mem + external microSD (up to 32GB) 1 GHz V8 Hummingbird prosessor, HLNA (wireless connect to Big Screen & other devices), Android 2.1 (2.2 soon upgrade),3D capable, 720P video @ 30fps, 5 mpx autofocus camera (with latest killer software), Excellent UI (easy to use), social networking, 512mb ram, very fast graphics capability, extremely impressive style & design, with Carbon fiber design on back, etc. launch 7/21 !?!

 

[Jofaba]

This is the thread that introduced me to the model and there's a lot more info/discussion over there. My thread is specific to Aria owners thinking of switching, so hopefully we can keep the two conversations separate, but there are some important updates over there that I don't see a point in reproducing here.

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/107940-captivate-release.html

As I said, screen and storage are the only reasons I'm even entertaining dropping the Aria. Well, I have one more to add to that list: video recording. Has anyone managed to get smooth recording? All of my videos are horrendous. very late 90's webcam "video" like.

 

[SysAdmNj]

That iphone ui look alike alone is keeping me uninterested, no flash either. I think I rather wait for the next AT&T latest and greatest HTC device. I think they make nice devices, this Aria is more quality than I originally expected.

 

[rlb4]

What is the video recording specs for the Aria?

 

[Jofaba]

Shit! I forgot to include the link in my earlier post. Here it is (have also updated that post)

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/107940-captivate-release.html

That iphone ui look alike alone is keeping me uninterested, no flash either. I think I rather wait for the next AT&T latest and greatest HTC device. I think they make nice devices, this Aria is more quality than I originally expected.

I agree. That's my biggest turn off about the thing. I really like the Aria setup. One of the things I hate about the iphone is it's setup, which is identical to the Captivate. VERY disappointed in that.

I also agree that the Aria has greatly exceeded my expectations.

Also, no Flash? Shit I hadn't read that... that really sucks. Not even flash lite?

I'm not sure what the Aria video specs are, but my feeling is whatever they are, they're grossly misrepresented. Can I be real with you dawg? Video capture ****ing sucks on the Aria.

My list of reasons to shift to the Captivate continues to grow, but so does the number of days that the rumor mill keeps coming up with regarding a release date. If it's after the 25/26th then I'm stuck with the Aria for two years.

I'll be happy enough, but I've already maxed out the internal memory (and now I'm worried about updates leading to me having to start cutting apps that I want do to space constraints).

I'm pretty unhappy with the screen outdoors. Fingerprints are impossible to see around AND avoid, and even a clean screen is hard to see through.

Camera works great close up, but is washed out and boring with nature-style shots. Video is horrendous.

Aria is a snappy little guy, but I do find it lagging a tiny bit sometimes which I can live with, but it'd be nice to have something a little faster.

Battery life is pretty good, but the advertised life on the Captivate is hard to not salivate over (really? bigger better screen and nearly twice the battery life?!)

 

[Ambictus]

Shit! I forgot to include the link in my earlier post. Here it is (have also updated that post)

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/107940-captivate-release.html



I agree. That's my biggest turn off about the thing. I really like the Aria setup. One of the things I hate about the iphone is it's setup, which is identical to the Captivate. VERY disappointed in that.

I also agree that the Aria has greatly exceeded my expectations.

Also, no Flash? Shit I hadn't read that... that really sucks. Not even flash lite?

I'm not sure what the Aria video specs are, but my feeling is whatever they are, they're grossly misrepresented. Can I be real with you dawg? Video capture ****ing sucks on the Aria.

My list of reasons to shift to the Captivate continues to grow, but so does the number of days that the rumor mill keeps coming up with regarding a release date. If it's after the 25/26th then I'm stuck with the Aria for two years.

I'll be happy enough, but I've already maxed out the internal memory (and now I'm worried about updates leading to me having to start cutting apps that I want do to space constraints).

I'm pretty unhappy with the screen outdoors. Fingerprints are impossible to see around AND avoid, and even a clean screen is hard to see through.

Camera works great close up, but is washed out and boring with nature-style shots. Video is horrendous.

Aria is a snappy little guy, but I do find it lagging a tiny bit sometimes which I can live with, but it'd be nice to have something a little faster.

Battery life is pretty good, but the advertised life on the Captivate is hard to not salivate over (really? bigger better screen and nearly twice the battery life?!)

When they say no flash they mean no camera flash. It will come with flash lite just as the Aria does.

Video on the Aria is 640x480, not sure of the frame rate. I haven't recorded video with it nor do I intend to for anything serious. Video recording on cell phones is still far behind, even on advanced phones like the EVO 4G and iPhone 4. There's still a good amount of tearing in the video.

As for am I interested in the Captivate? Nah. I love the Aria. Compact form factor and super responsive. It does everything I'd ask of it so I have no qualms about keeping it. The 4" screen to me is really pushing it. I like smaller devices. Also I don't like the Samsung UI from what I've seen and I won't pretend Samsung is my favorite phone manufacturer.

However I can see why people are drawn to it. Spec wise it's exceedingly nice.

 

[Donatron]

I'll chime in with my thoughts on the subject. I'm an Aria owner who is also looking into switching to the Captivate. Much like most, I didn't have much interest in the Captivate. But that has since changed.

First off. I love the Sense UI. That will the thing I miss most about the Aria (I'll also miss the small form factor, and optical joystick). Second, the iPhone look-alike UI isn't as much of an issue as I originally though. The reason: that UI is the app drawer, not the home screen. The home screen is still very Android like, especially when you place widgets on the screen. And since I very rarely pull up the app drawer (I keep my frequently used apps on my home screen), I can deal with the iPhone look. But to be honest, when watching YouTube videos of UI in action, the app drawer didn't really bother me like I thought it would.

As far as the screen, I think it's going to be a huge difference. It's physically bigger, it has a higher resolution, better color, and faster response. Whenever I play with an Evo or Incredible, I get jealous of their screens. With the Captivate, I won't have that issue. Especially since I find the Evo to be a little too big, and the Incredible's screen a little too small. The Captivate is right in the middle with the 4" screen.

Then there's the actual hardware. We all know that the Aria performs very well, despite its slower processor. But even so, it doesn't perform better than its Snapdragon counterparts. The Captivate's Hummingbird, on the other hand, has been shown to outshine the Snapdragon in 3D rendering. It has also been reported to be faster than the Droid X. Given that the Hummingbird is very similar to the iPhone's A4, it doesn't surprise me at all (GASP!! An Android owner who doesn't hate the iPhone!! lol). And also, having 16GB of internal memory will be very nice to have.

Also, Gingerbread rumors aside, the Captivate will likely last much longer than the Aria before becoming obsolete. As you said, the Captivate is my 2-year friendly, whereas the Aria is more 1-year friendly (even less if the Gingerbread rumors are true).

Lastly, there's the price. The captivate is rumored to be $199 w/ contract. That's only $70 more than the Aria. That's a small price difference for the amount of phone you're getting.

 

[SysAdmNj]

Shit! I forgot to include the link in my earlier post. Here it is (have also updated that post)

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/107940-captivate-release.html



I agree. That's my biggest turn off about the thing. I really like the Aria setup. One of the things I hate about the iphone is it's setup, which is identical to the Captivate. VERY disappointed in that.

I also agree that the Aria has greatly exceeded my expectations.

Also, no Flash? Shit I hadn't read that... that really sucks. Not even flash lite?

I'm not sure what the Aria video specs are, but my feeling is whatever they are, they're grossly misrepresented. Can I be real with you dawg? Video capture ****ing sucks on the Aria.

My list of reasons to shift to the Captivate continues to grow, but so does the number of days that the rumor mill keeps coming up with regarding a release date. If it's after the 25/26th then I'm stuck with the Aria for two years.

I'll be happy enough, but I've already maxed out the internal memory (and now I'm worried about updates leading to me having to start cutting apps that I want do to space constraints).

I'm pretty unhappy with the screen outdoors. Fingerprints are impossible to see around AND avoid, and even a clean screen is hard to see through.

Camera works great close up, but is washed out and boring with nature-style shots. Video is horrendous.

Aria is a snappy little guy, but I do find it lagging a tiny bit sometimes which I can live with, but it'd be nice to have something a little faster.

Battery life is pretty good, but the advertised life on the Captivate is hard to not salivate over (really? bigger better screen and nearly twice the battery life?!)

I mean, Im enjoying the Aria but like you I'm running out of memory which is going to bug me more than the other negatives you mention like 1. outdoor screen visibility 2. bad camera overall with no flash to boot 3. video camera just as bad and no dedicated button to take shots/vid is another negative for me BUT I've been having a good experience so far that I dont really let these negatives bother me or I dont really notice as I just dont use the camera/vid. I mean, I've tried but was pretty agravating especially with low light shots which is just impossible.

I will look at the samsung captivate, though. I hope it comes out in July as I also have 30 days to return the Aria which ends in July. I actually would love a complete phone with an excellent camera and hd video. You wont be getting one at the same size the Aria is, which is pretty compact and better than I expected but lets see. Hey, Droid X comes out soon

 

[Jofaba]

I'm locked to ATT though, unfortunately, or I'd be all over the Inc or X.

I "settled" for the Aria and I'd still be "settling" for the Captivate.

As far as the camera goes... I keep hoping that I'll grab a top ranking Android phone and fall in love with the camera, as that IS very important to me. I know that I won't be taking award winning shots with my phone, but nice vibrant pictures would be nice, and it is possible. I will probably never be 100% happy with whatever camera is included, but I'd like to be 75% or so. Enough to feel comfortable leaving the house without a dedicated camera every day. But... unfortunately... still no damn flash on the Captivate either =(

 

[SysAdmNj]

I'm also sort of locked, but yes now that you mention it. I do miss a decent camera and video, even my blackberry took better photos(with flash) and video. I'm going to definitely check out the Droid X next week. As I've said before the main thing holding me back is being able to use voice/data at the same time which you cant with Verizon. But with all that said, Captivate will be At&t's latest and greatest Android device. It might not be so bad, we thought well I didnt think the Aria would be able to hold its own. I was wrong

 

[Donatron]

Here's a video that was posted in the Captivate forums. It gives you a good idea of how the UI looks. As you can see, it feels very Android-like. The only time it ever feels like iPhone-like is when you open up the app drawer. But even then, it didn't even bother me as much as I thought it would. But if you really don't like it, you can change it to a list view (as shown in the video).

YouTube - Samsung Galaxy S software - AndroidCentral.com

 

[Ambictus]

At first when I saw the Galaxy S it was just a picture of the phone with the app drawer open so it looked like an iPhone. I actually thought it was damn funny that they'd rip off Apple like that(at the time I was thinking it was the main UI). Then someone pointed out that it wasn't the actual UI which allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief. However, I don't feel Samsung's UI is going to be as good as Sense.

Don, you mentioned that though the Aria is snappy the Captivate will likely "last much longer before becoming obsolete". I just have to ask what constitutes a phone becoming "obsolete"? In my experience Samsung is content in just allowing their hardware to muscle through whatever it can and not optimizing their software which makes things simply usable. Personally I'll stick with a highly polished Froyo that runs well over a sloppy implementation of Gingerbread that runs marginally well. I've had several Samsung phones and not a single one has run smoothly. I know this isn't just my experience. Not to mention my last Samsung phone, the Eternity, had the touchscreen slowly become less and less calibrated and responsive after a year. It was getting to the point of unusable.

As for the camera? I find the pictures to be just fine, no they're not dedicated digital camera quality but they are pretty good for a quick shot. In the next couple years I imagine we'll start seeing cameras pop up on cell phones that can hang with dedicated point and shoots(this is one place we can be thankful of the iPhone, they'll help push other manufacturers to up their camera quality).

One last thing about Samsung. Despite all my problems with them I won't say that I hate them and their products, I just don't have a lot of faith in them to make the most of what they have. Also I know they've really been focusing on their phone business lately so things might be getting much better from them.

Anyway... that's just my $5(I know it was a hell of a lot more than $0.02). I have to say it's interesting to see what people's criticisms/views of the phone are and though I don't agree with most of them I can definitely understand where they come from.

 

[Donatron]

I agree that I Sense is much nicer than Samsung's UI. So it's a trade-off. The Aria's UI vs the Captivate's hardware. Considering that the UI is mainly just eye candy and widgets, and the software functionality is still the same between the two (same OS and apps), I'm leaning towards the Captivate's hardware.

As far as becoming obsolete, I was referring to the hardware specs. Yes, the Aria is quite snappy now, but who's to say that it will continue to be for the next 2 years. Take a look at the iPhone 3G. The phone runs quite poorly with iOS4 (even though many of the new features have been disabled). Granted, the 3G is already 2 years old, but it was also a high-end phone at the time it was released (which allowed it to last that long), the Aria is a mid-range phone (so would likely only last 1 year before becoming obsolete). Also, who knows how well Flash 10.1 on Froyo is going to run on the Aria. Flash is extremely processor dependent. You can see the difference when comparing two desktops. I see no real why processors won't make a huge difference on our phones as well. And then there's Gingerbread. You only mention the UI since that's all we know about it at this point. But who's to say there won't also be some additional features to come with it as well. Also, there are going to be more updates after Gingerbread. Most likely feature-centric updates. I'm going to want those as well. The Captivate will likely be able to handle those updates far better than the Aria (assuming the Aria would be eligible for those updates at all).

Although we all like our Aria's, we have to admit that we would've preferred the Desire if it was available on AT&T. The reason being: the hardware. Unfortunately, we're not getting the Desire. So we're left with a choice: hardware or Sense. Some will choose hardware, others will choose Sense. It comes down to personal preference.

 

[Ambictus]

Here I was typing out a long winded response again, then I started looking over it and thought "I think I'm just reiterating what I've said before...". So... all I have to say is:

Can't wait for the Captivate to come out so I can at least play with it and see if I stand by my assumptions

 

[thx10538]

I'm seriously torn between the Aria and the Captivate. I'm beholden to AT&T, but its actually not a bad thing because my family plan has a great deal and in Alabama, AT&T has great coverage. Its the only carrier that works in my father's hospital, which is interesting.

Honestly, I wish the Aria was just the Droid Inc. I don't see why AT&T wanted an HTC Legend-level device rather than a Desire-level device (which is analogous to the differences between the Aria and Incredible). Maybe before the end of the year (when I upgrade) they'll have a higher-end HTC droid available, because Sense UI really does seem to be the best of the best in Android.

The Samsung does look mighty fine though. The 4" screen, the thinness, the processor...all very tantalizing. The plastic-y, bland design? Not so much. I imagine I'd have to play with them side by side to see if I couldn't live without the Captivate's screen and power.

I really want an Aria, but I'm afraid that you all are correct in saying its a 1-year device vs the Captivate's 2-year probable lifespan. Plus some people raised the Gingerbread question in a different thread, and with Google claiming to go nuts with Android updates, I could see the Aria becoming a Last Gen phone before I could upgrade again...which would be sad.

So I'm still sticking to waiting it out. Maybe AT&T will come to its senses (ha, get it) and get an HTC EVO equivalent device (an HD2 with Android would be just fine), but until then, I think the inner geek in me has to lean toward the Captivate.

(The iPhone 4 is incredible, but its too delicate and the antenna are just too big of turn offs for me)

 

[Donatron]

The Samsung does look mighty fine though. The 4" screen, the thinness, the processor...all very tantalizing. The plastic-y, bland design? Not so much.

I was also very turned off by the plastic look of the Captivate when it was first announced. Luckily, the actual phone looks much nicer person than the renders on AT&T's product page. I think it actually looks quite nice.

YouTube - Samsung Captivate hands-on - AT&T's Galaxy S

 

[Donatron]

I also like that the Captivate uses DLNA to interact with other DLNA devices. I have a Samsung LCD at home that also has DLNA. So I can stream my videos to the TV wirelessly. And since the Captivate can be used as a remote control for DLNA-enabled Samsung devices, I will be able to access the TV's menus from my phone to switch the video source to my phone.

A small perk, but still a nice one.

 

[Ambictus]

and with Google claiming to go nuts with Android updates, I could see the Aria becoming a Last Gen phone before I could upgrade again...which would be sad.

?

Google has said the opposite of that. Once Gingerbread is out we're going to start seeing more time between releases. They feel they've hit the point that they can take more time on releases instead of feeling urgency to implement new features. Which is another reason I feel comfortable in my decision to go with the Aria.

 

[Ambictus]

One thing I haven't addressed yet is the issue of people saying they're running out of storage space. Just a heads up that this will be the case with the Captivate as well until 2.2 is implemented on the device. The Captivate has 512MB of ROM just like the Aria. Once 2.2 arrives on both devices you'll be able to store apps to the SD card(which you can do now with a program and reformatting your SD card) and internal storage. The Aria can have up to 32GB of storage via microSD. The Captivate can have up to 32GB of storage via 16GB internal and 16GB on microSD.

Edit: Ok, seems I may be eating my words on this. Despite having read that the Galaxy S was a 512RAM, 512ROM +16GB storage I can't find it again. If the 16GB is indeed implemented as ROM then I'm completely wrong.

 

[thx10538]

?

Google has said the opposite of that. Once Gingerbread is out we're going to start seeing more time between releases. They feel they've hit the point that they can take more time on releases instead of feeling urgency to implement new features. Which is another reason I feel comfortable in my decision to go with the Aria.

Oh, I guess I misread the article about android updates.

So you're happy with the Aria? I know that if I pulled the trigger on it I'd love it, but if I compared it with a 'superphone' I'd probably not want the smaller screen res and processor. I don't know, I'm gonna wait to see if all '5' androids really come to fruition (and I hope the Dell Aero is dropped in favor of a higher-end Motorola and/or HTC)

 

[Ambictus]

Oh, I guess I misread the article about android updates.

So you're happy with the Aria? I know that if I pulled the trigger on it I'd love it, but if I compared it with a 'superphone' I'd probably not want the smaller screen res and processor. I don't know, I'm gonna wait to see if all '5' androids really come to fruition (and I hope the Dell Aero is dropped in favor of a higher-end Motorola and/or HTC)

Oh I love the Aria and I'm highly doubting the Captivate will... captivate me enough to switch. As for which phone to get, well that all comes down to personal preference. Though it seems that you won't be upgrading for a while so I wouldn't worry too much about what's available until it's time to upgrade. It's fun to speculate on what's coming out though.

I imagine by holiday season(which is when it seems you'll be ready to upgrade) they'll have at least a couple more Android devices that are higher end. It seems Motorola's in bed with Verizon so I don't think we'll get a high end Moto any time soon, but I could definitely see a nice HTC coming around to compete with the Captivate.