Samsung Epic 4G Is Fast and Bright, but No iPhone Killer

by Nicholas Kolakowski

With its built-in keyboard, the Samsung Epic 4G (right) is both thicker and heavier than AT&T’s Samsung Captivate (middle) and T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant (left), two other phones based on the Samsung Galaxy S model.

As with the rest of its Samsung Galaxy S brethren, the Samsung Epic 4G comes loaded with Android 2.1, although an Android 2.2 update is apparently promised soon.

The Samsung Epic 4G includes a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 50,000:1 contrast ratio and resulting brightness and contrast.

The Epic 4G’s apps page. Note the icon for the 5-megapixel camera, which takes notably clear shots.

The Epic 4G with physical QWERTY keyboard deployed.

A detail of the Epic 4G’s sliding-out keyboard. Notice the flatness of the keys.

The Epic 4G’s tweaked GPS pinpointed the phone’s location with a high degree of accuracy, even in urban and deep-woods environments.

As with the other Samsung Galaxy S phones, the Epic 4G includes a “skin” of Sprint apps, including Sprint Navigation, Sprint Hotspot and Sprint TV.

The Samsung Media Hub, which is supposed to offer an extensive library of media content, hasn’t been launched quite yet; however, Android offers easy access to YouTube and other multimedia features.

The Super AMOLED screen translates into sharp images for both video and e-reading.

The Android Marketplace includes thousands of apps and games, although many duplicate the same function.

In theory, Sprint’s 4G network allows for faster app-downloading in select areas with coverage.