The Android interface has become a very popular smartphone operating system since its inception. But Motorola has pretty much cornered the market on Verizon's network. As more phone manufacturers get on board, the competition is getting more fierce and the phones are getting better and better.
Enter the Samsung Fascinate, a Galaxy S 3G smartphone and one of the latest offerings for the holidays from Verizon Wireless.
Initial reaction
What comes to mind immediately is the speed of the phone. While it has the same processor speed as many current phones (1 GHz Hummingbird processor), it just seems quicker. Impossible, you say? Well, hear me out.
The Samsung boots much quicker than its Motorola counterparts. In fact, when comparing it to a Droid X, the Fascinate started 12 seconds faster than the X. And, the interface is lightning fast. I have yet to see another phone this responsive to navigating through applications. It is amazingly snappy.
While Internet browsing is only slightly faster on the Fascinate than the Droid X, I did notice something when comparing the two phones with the same YouTube video clip.
While the Fascinate started the YouTube about two seconds faster than the Incredible, the Incredible brought up a much higher resolution video than the Fascinate. You can change the default resolution on the Fascinate to a higher one, but you will sacrifice an extra couple seconds.
Design
The Fascinate uses the KISS method. Keep it simple, stupid. The design is basic: a slender phone with rounded edges and a plastic back. It feels lighter than most phones but it isn't slippery in your hands and fits nicely in your pocket without the added weight. It's bigger than the Incredible but smaller than the Droid X and fits nicely in my hand. It's very similar in size to the iPhone 3Gs.
The Samsung has a four-inch Super AMOLED touch screen that is stunning. Text is sharp and the colors are vibrant. Direct sunlight didn't effect the clarity of the screen too much, either.
The Fascinate uses four, touch-sensitive shortcut keys: menu, home, back and search. It takes some time to memorize the position of each of these buttons because they're not always lit until they're touched.
The volume rocker is on the left, the right side houses the power button and the top has the headphone jack and Micro-USB port. There is no dedicated button for the camera, so you'll have to use the on-screen button for taking pictures.
Phone
The clarity on the Fascinate was superb. Plus, there were no issues of having the phone turn off when held to your ear. That has been a problem with some of the Motorola Droid phones.
Voice dialing with numbers and words was extremely impressive. I even tried talking faster to trip up the phone. I tried tricking it again by handing it to my 6-year-old son. I had him say, "call home," and sure enough, it did.
You can boost the audio quality by plugging in headphones and switching on the 5.1 channel surround sound. This feature, however, doesn't work with the built-in speaker.
Battery
It's tough to give an educated review of a battery when you don't have a phone for a significant length of time.
However, the Fascinate did extremely well, lasting nearly two days with moderate use. A 2200 mAh high capacity extended battery is available and I'd recommend it if you consume a heavy amount of data. It is sold with a back cover and will alter the size of the phone.
Camera
I'm not usually enamored by most cell phone cameras, but the photo and video quality that the Fascinate offers raised my eyebrows.
The Fascinate has a 5 megapixel camera, which took great pictures outdoors and very nice pictures indoors, both with and without the LED flash.
I was impressed by the shutter speed, the adjustable settings (ISO, scene modes, image stabilization and all the other features you get from a very good point-and-shoot camera.
A very cool feature that the Fascinate offers is face detection focus mode. When using it, a box appears and follows your subject's face as it or the camera moves. When taking a picture of multiple people, it creates multiple boxes. I tried it with up to five people in a photo and the Fascinate didn't disappoint.
Video was also impressive out of the Fascinate, which shoots 720p at 30 frames per second.
Software
Like the other Galaxy S phones, you get two keyboard options -- the traditional keyboard or Swype. I'm starting to like Swype more and more, but Better Keyboard is still a handy download from the Android Market.
The Fascinate uses a new widget, including Feeds & Updates and Buddies Now. Feeds & Updates streams Facebook, Twitter and MySpace updates or any combination of the three. Buddies Now is kind of like a favorites list of contacts that you want at the touch of a button.
One interesting tidbit is that Verizon locks the search engine on the Fascinate to Bing.
Other details of note
As always, I continue to be impressed by the 3G Mobile Hotspot application. The app actually saved me at work the other day when the firewall blocked me from syncing some documents on my MacBook Pro. I turned on the Hotspot app, switched my laptop to its wireless network and the sync was flawless. It really saved me a lot of time. I averaged transfer speeds of 2.47 Mbps down and 0.64 Mbps up.
If you've read my other reviews, you know I work in an area with weak cell phone service. However, I only lost service once during my trial and it was for mere seconds before it returned.
Conclusion
It seems that the Android phones are getting better every month. So, do you get a Motorola Droid or do you go with the Samsung?
Personally, I like the Fascinate a bit better than the others. And, I'm not alone. Samsung just announce that they have unseated Motorola as the leader in Android phone sales. It probably helps that the Galaxy S phones are available on other carriers than Verizon, while Motorola is not.
It comes down to speed, screen and a device that does it all for me. If you need a tactile keyboard, go another route. But if I were buying an Android device today and didn't care about the Bing lockdown, DLNA or HDMI, I would strongly consider the Fascinate.
Specs
Data: 3G, EVDO, 1xEVDO, Wi-Fi
Size: 4.91" x 2.52" x 0.41"; Weight: 4.1 oz.
Battery: Type1500 mAh
Display: 16.7 million colors; 480 x 800 pixel resolution; 4" AMOLED Touch Screen
Camera and Video: Anti-shake, auto-focus, touch-to-focus, blink and smile trigger, panorama, flashLED; Megapixels 5.0; streaming video
Bluetooth, 2GB internal storage, up to 32GB microSD card
Processor: 1 GHz Hummingbird Cortex A8
Other: GPS, voice dialing, 3.5 mm headset jack; touchscreen
