My impressions with the samsung epic 4g

**fry8** · 08-19-2010, 11:37 AM

So I go to play with the samsung epic 4g today and the phone certainly is one of the best android phones out. Upon first impressions, the phone simply looks gorgeous; nothing on the phone looks cheap, it has a nice heft to it, and the black and chrome on the phone is as some would could it "tasteful." If your looking for a smaller version of the evo in terms of size, definitely look elsewhere because this phone is just as big and slightly thicker.

When first powered on, one will definitely notice the blast of vivid rich colors that are produced from the super amoled's screen, everything simply pops out. One thing to note however is that I did notice a screen door effect on the particular samsung's screen that I was playing with, while a few weeks back I went to T-mobile to play with the vibrant and noticed no such screen door effect. I am going to assume it's just this particular model's screen that is having this effect, because I believe all the galaxy s phones have the same screen.

Samsung definitely went the extra mile to make this phone incredibly fast and responsive. Scrolling is phenomenally smooth, pinch to zoom works flawlessly and apps load very quickly. I did not notice any lag like the other galaxy s phones that occurs when one exits an app by pressing the home button, which is much appreciated.

The capacitive buttons on the bottom will take some getting used, especially because the buttons don't stay lit even when the phone's screen is currently in use (although there may be a setting to fix that). Sometimes when I press the menu or back key for instance it seems as if the phone doesn't register the command. However, after hitting the button dead on the phone had no problems registering the command and it seems as if the issue is with accurately hitting the capacitive buttons.

The keyboard on the phone definitely is nice and big, certainly very usable. The spacing is very nicely done on the phone and I can definitely see myself typing fairly fast on the keyboard.

So that's the epic 4g in a nutshell, it's similar to the other galaxy s phones, but their are some features that make the epic 4g stand out for the better. If you guys have any questions please feel free to comment below. Thanks.

**cr3amy** · 08-19-2010, 11:57 AM

wth is a "screen door effect"?

glad to hear about the smoothness

**fry8** · 08-19-2010, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by cr3amy

wth is a "screen door effect"?

glad to hear about the smoothness

The screen door effect is an effect that is visible on some lcd screen that makes the screen appear as if there is a screen door on top of the screen.

courtesy of mobileburn

**Ya Boi D** · 08-19-2010, 12:20 PM

So even though the screen size is slightly smaller than the Evo's, you're saying the overall size of the device is just as big & slightly thicker?

**fry8** · 08-19-2010, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by YaBoiD

So even though the screen size is slightly smaller than the Evo's, you're saying the overall size of the devce is just as big & slightly thicker?

That's correct. The evo has more screen real estate, while the epic has more of border on the screen.

courtesy of engadget

**cr3amy** · 08-19-2010, 12:27 PM

Does it actually feel and look as wide and tall as the evo when you're not directly comparing them? Or does your brain make it seem smaller...

**fry8** · 08-19-2010, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by cr3amy

Does it actually feel and look as wide and tall as the evo when you're not directly comparing them? Or does your brain make it seem smaller...

Good question. It doesn't look as big as the evo at first glance because the evo has more screen real estate, but when it's in your hands you definitely know it's a big phone. It does not feel cheap however which is nice and in my opinion the epic fits comfortably in the hands and doesn't feel too big. It is rounded on the top and bottom so it fits a little bit better in your hands than the evo, because it contours to your palm. I also feel that the evo is not too big however.

**Ya Boi D** · 08-19-2010, 12:38 PM

In those pix, the Epic looks slightly narrower & the rounded shape looks like it's easier to hold than the Evo, do you find that true? Also, when the Epic is rested like that, does the camera lens make contact on the surface its laying on like the EvO does?

**caliskimmer** · 08-19-2010, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by cr3amy

wth is a "screen door effect"?

glad to hear about the smoothness

here ya go, cr3amy, this should help. Apparently, it's when every pixel has a black box around it.

**caliskimmer** · 08-19-2010, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by fry8

The screen door effect is an effect that is visible on some lcd screen that makes the screen appear as if there is a screen door on top of the screen.

courtesy of mobileburn

I'm pretty sure that's because it's a Pentile Matrix display.

**cr3amy** · 08-19-2010, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by caliskimmer

here ya go, cr3amy, this should help. Apparently, it's when every pixel has a black box around it.

Weird. I freakin hope this is a bad-handset-issue and doesn't affect all the Epics...

**xxandres1126xx** · 08-19-2010, 01:13 PM

if you still have the phone, would you mind installing quadrant and seeing what kind of score it gives. I wanna see if its the same as stock vibrant and captivate before the lag fix issue or if its faster since it doesnt have the internal sd

**caliskimmer** · 08-19-2010, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by cr3amy

Weird. I freakin hope this is a bad-handset-issue and doesn't affect all the Epics...

Unfortunately, this is a Pentile Matrix display. What other phones have is an RGB lcd display. The difference is that in every pixel, blue and red are actual squares while green is a stripe. This is done to keep the blue color alive longer as it does not last as long as other colors for whatever reason. The Epic will be shipping with Pentile Matrix and we will all be having a screen door effect unless if we could somehow soft mod the screen so everything is blurrier. That is the only way to fix the screen door effect on the software side. Otherwise, Samsung would have to replace ALL the screens with something that either uses an AMOLED without Pentile Matrix or they would have to use a super TFT screen.

**cr3amy** · 08-19-2010, 01:34 PM

Interesting... well then I guess I hope it's not noticeable from a normal distance from my face

btw, blue will always burn out faster, red the slowest (blue light has more energy than red light)

**c64guy** · 08-19-2010, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by caliskimmer

Otherwise, Samsung would have to replace ALL the screens with something that either uses an AMOLED without Pentile Matrix (like the Incredible's) or they would have to use a super TFT screen.

FYI, the Droid Incredible's AMOLED screen also uses the Pentile Matrix.

**caliskimmer** · 08-19-2010, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by cr3amy

Interesting... well then I guess I hope it's not noticeable from a normal distance from my face

btw, blue will always burn out faster, red the slowest (blue light has more energy than red light)

Well, the good news is that people are reporting with the other SGS phones that as long you are not putting your phone REALLY close to your face, then you get used to it really quickly and people have said that there aren't that many problems with being able to read the text.

**caliskimmer** · 08-19-2010, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by c64guy

FYI, the Droid Incredible's AMOLED screen also uses the Pentile Matrix.

Really? I read in another forum that it doesn't use Pentile Matrix. Hmm, I guess they were wrong. Thanks for the correction!

**fry8** · 08-19-2010, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by YaBoiD

In those pix, the Epic looks slightly narrower & the rounded shape looks like it's easier to hold than the Evo, do you find that true? Also, when the Epic is rested like that, does the camera lens make contact on the surface its laying on like the EvO does?

It is easier to hold than the evo and I will check later tonight about the camera.

Originally Posted by aim1126

if you still have the phone, would you mind installing quadrant and seeing what kind of score it gives. I wanna see if its the same as stock vibrant and captivate before the lag fix issue or if its faster since it doesnt have the internal sd

I will run those benchmarks tonight and let you know.

**xxandres1126xx** · 08-19-2010, 02:40 PM

I will run those benchmarks tonight and let you know.[/QUOTE]

thank you so much

**Ya Boi D** · 08-19-2010, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by fry8

It is easier to hold than the evo and I will check later tonight about the camera.

I will run those benchmarks tonight and let you know.

Thanks! Subscribed

**drizek** · 08-19-2010, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by cr3amy

Interesting... well then I guess I hope it's not noticeable from a normal distance from my face

btw, blue will always burn out faster, red the slowest (blue light has more energy than red light)

You do notice it. I was pretty annoyed by it on the captivate. People here got mad at me for pointing it out, but it is there.

It is a sacrifice you make for the higher quality relative eto hoer displays, and i can see myself getting used to it. It does however make the screen look more pixelated than an lcd with a much lower pixel density.

I think i am so used to holding my 3" pre really close to my face that i held the captivate a littler clsoer than i needed to, but even when i moved it away slightly it was still noticeable.

**duallydave** · 08-19-2010, 05:40 PM

The screen door effect is visible on most plasma TVs if you look at them close, there was a lot of discussion on this at avsforum when the plasmas were first coming out. Seems like a non-issue to me, I can't see that close without reading glasses anyway, which is one of the reasons for wanting a larger display.

**duallydave** · 08-19-2010, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by caliskimmer

I'm pretty sure that's because it's a Pentile Matrix display.

A penile what?

**caliskimmer** · 08-19-2010, 06:13 PM

I noticed it as clear as day on the Vibrant, but it didn't bother me a bit. Felt like the old iPhone that I own at the moment except with better colors.

**ConceptVBS** · 08-19-2010, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by fry8

Sometimes when I press the menu or back key for instance it seems as if the phone doesn't register the command. However, after hitting the button dead on the phone had no problems registering the command and it seems as if the issue is with accurately hitting the capacitive buttons.

Trust me. You wouldnt want the capacitive touch buttons on the bottom to be overly sensitive. A slight touch would register the button and send you out of a page long email you were composing just 2 seconds ago. There is a reason why Samsung made the capacitive touch controls slightly less responsive, and this is the reason. The benefit of a more aesthetically pleasing and functioning button outweights the extra thought required to press the button in the right spot.