subject: Comparative Review Of The Samsung Fascinate [print this page] To counter the iPhone, Samsung released the Galaxy S, an all-new Android-based smartphone series. Samsung took a huge step forward into the market by releasing the Galaxy S to four major U.S. carriers. This series includes the Captivate for AT&T, the Epic 4G for Sprint, the Fascinate for Verizon, and the Vibrant for T-Mobile. As you might imagine, the differences here are more than simply variations in service and service plans. So without further ado, let's examine what distinguishes these four Galaxy S phones.
However, to understand what sets one apart from the other, we need to know what comprises a Galaxy S series phone. Noteworthy components include a 1 GHz Hummingbird CPU, 512 MB RAM, support for 16/32 GB MicroSD cards, a 5.0-megapixel camera, 802.11 Wi-Fi, and a PowerVR GPU (SGX540) powering graphics on that gorgeous 4.0-inch Super AMOLED screen. This screen proves to be the perfect balance between 3.5/3.7-inch screens and those 4.3-inch beasts. Lastly, running the whole show is the Android 2.1 clair operating system, and support for the Android 2.2 Froyo OS is forthcoming.
All carriers list their Galaxy S series phones at $199.99 except for Sprint, which lists the Epic 4G at $249.99. That extra $50 gets you a front-facing camera and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Only the Fascinate and Epic 4G include a 16 GB MicroSD card, but both the Vibrant and Captivate have 16 GB internal storage. Fascinate includes 2 GB while the Epic 4G only 1 GB. Another advantage of the Fascinate and the Epic 4G is that they can serve as a mobile hotspot for up to five devices. Plans are all in the same ballpark. At the low-end, you have AT&T's minimum plan for the Captivate that comes in at ~$1,500. At the high-end, you have Verizon's maximum plan for the Fascinate that comes in at ~$3,100.
Overall speaking, these phones are absolutely brilliant and are put at the top of their carrier's line up. Nevertheless, despite all those similarities, the phones are quite different in implementation, and consumers are going to want to take a close look at all four prior to deciding. One area to pay particular attention is default software since all four phones include a diverse selection that is well beyond the stock clair. Consumers should note that typos riddled the software on AT&T's Captivate at launch, and AT&T only included access to AT&T Music rather than Amazon MP3. You can uninstall all of the software we tested save Sims 3 on the Vibrant, which is a bummer if you're not a Sims 3 player.
It was an extremely close race, but we concluded that the Samsung Fascinate was the best out of the series. We also spent a fair amount of time examining Fascinate accessories after we had settled on the device, and that uncovered more good news for Galaxy S fans. All four phones are close enough alike that Samsung Fascinate accessories and Samsung Fascinate chargers work just as well on the other three models, and we imagine this works all ways.
