Samsung Epic 4G

“The Super AMOLED display is gorgeous, the hardware keyboard is a requirement for some and the 1GHz Hummingbird processor is snappy. The Epic plays well to both the professional and multimedia crowd, and will find a home in many pockets because of this. It is a versatile device that offers anything a user could want. Though the portfolio may only be two strong right now, Sprint has yet another 4G winner on their hands with the Samsung Epic 4G. Of course, it you don't enjoy the Epic 4G for one reason or another, you can safely choose the EVO 4G, which is also a remarkable device with great specs and execution.”

“Let's take our attention away from the specifics of this phone for a second. Speaking in more general terms, it's really impressive that Sprint has already managed to release two very high-end, exceptionally desirable devices built specifically to take advantage of its 4G network. In fact, we'd say that the Epic and the EVO -- even more than the Pre -- have vaulted Sprint from its status as an also-ran to perhaps the most gadget-savvy carrier in the US today. If you'd asked us 18 months ago whether we ever thought we'd be saying that, we'd have laughed at you. Of course, the Epic can't just be geeky, it's got to be good -- Sprint isn't out of the danger zone yet for subscriber churn, and it's going to need average Joes and Janes to buy these right out of stock. In other words, it needs to parlay the buzz that the EVO generated into a permanent slow burn, and the Epic is a critical part of that equation.”

“Once you swallow its size, there's very little to complain about with the Epic. The screen looks great with games, media, or even just browsing the menus. Audio, both with calls and media playback, is loud and crisp. Photos look good. Webpages load quickly and cleanly. And managing extra services like the porta-hotspot system couldn't be easier (though the speeds we got on our connected PC were sub-megabit downloads). On the downside: The Epic turned in just 4½ hours talk time, which is pretty sad for a phone with such vast amounts of room for a battery. And we weren't big fans of the slide-out keyboard, which features keys that don't stick up enough and are hard to hit with anything except a fingernail. At the same time, on-screen typing was jarring thanks to the overly-active rumbler beneath the display.”

“The device is quick, responsive, and — perhaps most importantly — you feel like you are using Sprint’s flagship device (even if technically it isn’t). Would we have loved a key on the keyboard moved and maybe a better video capturing experience? Yes… but that didn’t really hinder our overall impression of the device. At the end of a phone review we always ask ourselves: could we use this device day-in and day-out as our primary phone? And we are happy to report that in regards to the Epic 4G the answer is: absolutely. Combine the flexibility of Android with a rock-solid keyboard and high-end features and you have yourself a winner. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Epic 4G to anyone and truly wonder which of the two 4G handsets Sprint considers its flagship. The device is priced $50 higher than the EVO 4G, but if you need to have a physical keyboard — and don’t mind the TouchWiz UI and Android 2.1 — it’s money well spent.”