Epic 4G review Engadget

[androidpirate]

Epic 4G reviews

Epic 4G review -- Engadget

GPS issue still exists according to engadget. Slashgear says it doesn't as pointed out by Vtective.

"Surprisingly, the now-infamous AGPS bug is still alive and well right now on the Epic. We're not sure how Sprint can justify releasing it with this bug now so well-known, well-documented, and critical to the operation of the phone -- seriously, it cannot find you most of the time -- but we suppose it'll just get fixed at the same time as the remainder of the Galaxy S models in September. In other words, unless we see a quick firmware update prior to the 31st, don't expect Google Maps to work particularly well out of the box."


Cnet:
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/...er#reviewPage1

Gizmodo review:
Sprint Epic 4G Review: The Best 4G Phone

Slash gear:
Sprint Epic 4G Review - SlashGear

 

[Shadnic]

I'm really disappointed about the lock screen. I really loved the look of the vibrant/captivate lock screens, and the missing puzzle piece feature was pretty neat. Now the epic's looks less streamlined and doesn't do anything interesting. Certainly not something I'll complain about after this tiny rant right here, just a minor annoyance. Don't see why they'd change it.

 

[vtective]

Strange. Slashgear reports that they had no issues with the GPS. I guess we'll know when we get OUR hands-on.

Best of all, the GPS issues which many have reported affecting Galaxy S family devices aren’t apparent on the Epic 4G, with our review unit proving capable of quickly establishing a fix and tracking it accordingly.

http://www.slashgear.com/sprint-epic-4g-review-1597717/

 

[Darth Pooh#CB]

I also had no issues using the device with GPS. The first time I didn't bother because I didn't think of it; when the other Galaxy S devices had issues, it was the first thing I tried on my second go-round.

It just didn't have it for me... Although for others, trying to get a lock in an urban jungle is always almost difficult to accomplish.

 

[Darth Pooh#CB]

I'm really disappointed about the lock screen. I really loved the look of the vibrant/captivate lock screens, and the missing puzzle piece feature was pretty neat. Now the epic's looks less streamlined and doesn't do anything interesting. Certainly not something I'll complain about after this tiny rant right here, just a minor annoyance. Don't see why they'd change it.

Root > non-root

It's one of my top priorities for porting.

 

[Aero]

I don't take either review seriously on the gps issue. it is a big question and it is not that hard to determine whether almanac and ephemeris download are triggered by apps, populated by the network, and cached by the device (the "a" in agps); as well as comparative number and signal to noise of sats (the rest of gps) as they ar acquired.. These relatively objective findings could have been tested alongside a couple of otehr devices with all being tested by: rtn, and hard rest, soft reset, and hot start in the same location checking triggering with a couple of standard apps, (google maps and sprints nav) and we would know.

on WM6.5 with Efficasoft GPS Utlities I can see the azimuth, ID, declination and signal to noise of each sat as well as not just the HDOP of the fix, but the PdOP and VDOP and have used that to really check comparative GPS on wm handsets.

This is the 64,000 question.

Absent that Endgadet, Cnet and Slash should have ASKED Samsung or Sprint whether it is fixed or not. PS Flacks spin but thy would incur too much liability to lie about that.

I know on WM we had a variety of devices with subtle problem. On some for example GPS would not be triggered by some programs. On some if a triangulation fix was established (the estimated "accurate to 600 meters" from towers )the handset would not go onto.

On some handset the simple fact that they were apparently designed for use where any data (again the A in aGPS is a data service while the "GPS" is not) incurred a charge, the" a" was off by default. In other cases cache was not flushed or was always flushed, making hot starts a problem.

 

[Darth Pooh#CB]

I don't take either review seriously on the gps issue. it is a big question and it is not that hard to determine whether almanac and ephemeris download are triggered by apps, populated by the network, and cached by the device (the "a" in agps); as well as comparative number and signal to noise of sats (the rest of gps) as they ar acquired.. These relatively objective findings could have been tested alongside a couple of otehr devices with all being tested by: rtn, and hard rest, soft reset, and hot start in the same location checking triggering with a couple of standard apps, (google maps and sprints nav) and we would know.

on WM6.5 with Efficasoft GPS Utlities I can see the azimuth, ID, declination and signal to noise of each sat as well as not just the HDOP of the fix, but the PdOP and VDOP and have used that to really check comparative GPS on wm handsets.

This is the 64,000 question.

Absent that Endgadet, Cnet and Slash should have ASKED Samsung or Sprint whether it is fixed or not. PS Flacks spin but thy would incur too much liability to lie about that.

I know on WM we had a variety of devices with subtle problem. On some for example GPS would not be triggered by some programs. On some if a triangulation fix was established (the estimated "accurate to 600 meters" from towers )the handset would not go onto.

On some handset the simple fact that they were apparently designed for use where any data (again the A in aGPS is a data service while the "GPS" is not) incurred a charge, the" a" was off by default. In other cases cache was not flushed or was always flushed, making hot starts a problem.

Ah, the old 800w days. That was some tedious testing / retesting. Eventually Palm stated: That is the way it's supposed to work; which is/was a total lie.

I personally believe it's a cache issue... nothing major but it still requires major testing, as to avoid more scrutiny. They ARE trying to reverse the American public's view of them...

 

[Aero]

Ah, the old 800w days. That was some tedious testing / retesting. Eventually Palm stated: That is the way it's supposed to work; which is/was a total lie.

I personally believe it's a cache issue... nothing major but it still requires major testing, as to avoid more scrutiny. They ARE trying to reverse the American public's view of them...

yeah with Palm they actually stated in advertising material "aGPS and standalone GPS" whcih quite specifically means it takes advantage of faster acquisition if the carrier network is available (aGPS)but also works off of carrier range ("standalone GPS'). it turned out in the end that standalone was disabled, and that the handset could never get a fix, in any amount of time without first confirming it was talking to the carrier.

As if that wasn't bad enough it was Palms endless, ENDLESS lies about the problem, and then their finally making a "FAQ" with a new definition of Standalone GPS completely the opposite of what all engineering papers, trade publicans, FCC applications, and all existing formal and informal definitions of the term. A page out of George Orwell.

i do agree that it is likely a caching issue. my testing of my kids friends captivate indicates that it is, but he adjustments don't survive a hard reset. The mixed results some are reporting I take with a HUGE grain of salt because no one saying "that didn't help" of the fixes actually gives the nubmer of sats, hdop, or ever states they tried it side by side with a different model with an rtn, or a hard or soft reset. So I have literally read no valid testing from anyone claiming to have the problem. A huge number of people don't realize you are not going to get sats in most buildings anyway, and a huge nubmer don't realize that various versions and settings of google maps do not have snap to streets and any GPS will wander if the software doesn't snap to streets.

Those of u who have been through issues of GPS on smartphones from the variety of problem, causes and subtleties know that the basics haven't been answered even with complaints.

Then again with Samsung acknowledging some problem the question on the EPIC is objective and all of the reviewer should have asked it of Sammy: "Is the fix applied on Epic or not"

 

[jfenton]

All I know is that SprintNav works like a charm on my BB and I use it all of the time for work.

I'd be screwed if it doesn"t work on the EPIC.

 

[steveholtam]

The review has been edited indicating the gps issue HAS been fixed.

"[Update: We just spoke with Samsung, who told us that Google is now requiring that the "use wireless networks" setting for location-based services be turned off by default in Android devices -- in other words, no AGPS unless you manually enable it. Sure enough, we went into Settings, found that it was disabled on the Epic, turned it on, and we were good to go. No GPS bug!]"

 

[messiah143]

Engadget gave the Epic 4G 8 of 10. Really excellent review on this powerful smartphone.

 

[Aero]

The review has been edited indicating the gps issue HAS been fixed.

"[Update: We just spoke with Samsung, who told us that Google is now requiring that the "use wireless networks" setting for location-based services be turned off by default in Android devices -- in other words, no AGPS unless you manually enable it. Sure enough, we went into Settings, found that it was disabled on the Epic, turned it on, and we were good to go. No GPS bug!]"

Teh review is wrong and well all know it. samsung is now contradicting itself. It knows there is a some problem and now they are claiming the tweet from last week was untrue and no fix is coming?

What other makers have agps off by default when this google requirement has always been there?

Agps off by default means for 95% of users the GPS performance will be significantly worse than all competitors. You and I may know how to fix it, even make the fix sticky, but 95% of users do not go into settings.

This is supreme corporate doublespeak