Pebble Blue (In Person) Impressions

[Biopsidy]

First off, I posted this also in the T-Mobile forum because that was the model I got the chance to see in person and play with, but I figure it was worth posting here since I'm not discussing network performance and they all are the same other than that.

Local T-Mobile just got a Pebble Blue live demo and I got a little time to play with it and here's my takeaways.

Likes

• The Pebble Blue is amazing looking. People are right, pictures simply don't do it justice. It looks so good in person and definitely stands out in a very good way.
• The weight of the phone "seems" marginally heavier than say the S2, but in a very good way. It feels more substantial and very well built and not cheap feeling like Samsung has been criticized for in the past.
• The phone is big, but it definitely fits comfortable in the hand and I'm a small guy. For comparisons sake, the HTC One X and Razr Maxx actually feel large and uncomfortable to me and even though on paper the S3 is bigger it definitely fits nicely in the hand and doesn't feel as big as the others. Kudos to Samsung.
• The screen is sharp. Real sharp. Only us geeks will complain about it being pentile but honestly if no one had said it was Pentile only those people who literally would take a magnifying glass to it would notice. It's bright, but not as bright as say the One X, but once again, only something you'd notice in side-by-side or if you've seen the One X and just have a good memory. The screen colors though i think are more accurate than the One X. This, of course, is personal preference. Bright and oversaturated One X or a little more subtle, but (I think) more accurate colors S3.
• Touchwiz is definitely toned down in a good way and as someone who has loathed Touchwiz to the point that it's kept me away from Samsung products (*cough* me *cough*) I'm happy to say it's quite nice and refreshing. Perhaps maybe I'm just tired of using things like GoContacts or something, but I definitely didn't mind the stock apps this time around. It would have been nice had they stuck with the ICS layout instead of the Gingerbread, but the screen, color selection and gestures make up for it.
• It's neat that the stock SMS app has customization settings for changing the background and text bubble colors/style. I didn't notice if you could select background colors beyond the half a dozen that were present for each setting, but it was still nice to see you have the option.
• The phone is fast as you'd expect...at least on their non-adultered demo unit. No problems launching app after app and jumping between apps. Didn't miss a beat.
• Camera is rock solid and at least in my quick impressions it was every bit as good as the One X that people compare it to. It's fast, excellent color reproduction (at least in the well lit room that I was in) and had a great dynamic lighting effects to the images that made them seem semi-professional despite being auto settings.
• Did I mention how crazy sexy the Pebble Blue is? I did? Well, it's worth mentioning again. Definitely happy I preordered this color. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT IN PERSON.
• Home button feels solid and is "clicky" in a sophisticated way. For you iPhone fans, you'll feel right at home. It's narrow, but I didn't feel like it was uncomfortably narrow and has a solid feel to it.
• I didn't like the calendar in pictures, but for some reason, Samsung's calendar is quite nice in person. The layout just seems like it should be that way stock. Easy to use, good looking and functional.

Dislikes

• Home button response time (I read that this is easily remedied though by getting rid of the S-Voice double tap) is a little slow. Definitely takes 1-2 seconds to do anything if you just press it once.
• Doesn't use stock ICS folder behavior, meaning you cannot drag an icon on top of another to create a folder. You have to use old screen way of going through menus to create and then name AND THEN drop icons into it. I'm ASSUMING Samsung did this because of that new patent that was just revealed (Samsung Invents New Ways of Handling Folders on Android - Patent Bolt) and possibly to avoid lawsuit with Apple (can they sue Apple for this even though ICS has it stock?). This is a big enough gripe for me that I will end up using Apex or Nova. Otherwise, honestly have no gripes with the stock launcher.

Overall, considered me very satisfied...and that was just after spending a little time with it in store.

 

[bmsara]

How is the home button color wise? Is it still the violet, standing out from the rest of the phone?

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Android Central Forums

 

[Biopsidy]

Hmm I didn't pay a while lot of attention but from memory it seemed to be the exact color of the phone. I didn't think it looked any different than the rest of the phone

 

[junglejunkie]

I have the pebble blue, and I too was worried about the color of the home button before I actually had it in my hand...let me reassure you that the color is spot on. It is designed to match the back of the phone and it does. You won't be disappointed.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Android Central Forums

 

[bmsara]

Yea I was deciding on which one to get... which one looks better in ur opinion?

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[LoveMyPhone]

How is the home button color wise? Is it still the violet, standing out from the rest of the phone?

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Android Central Forums

Home button color is the same as the back of the phone!

 

[bmsara]

Cool. I think I may choose the blue! Thanks!

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[beh]

I have the blue version and I love it. I agree with all of the "pros" mentioned by HighTechToid as well as the con of the slowness of the Home button. But the phone is so positive I am extremely pleased to have it. The Home button is, as mentioned, the exact color of the rest of the phone but it is also the only portion of the front that is not under Gorilla Glass so it does look a bit different than the rest of the front face. But I find this to be positive attribute.

I think that anyone who actually has one in hand will be very impressed with the color matching the over all design of the phone.