Verizon Fascinate in stores today

By Phil Nickinson  | Sep 09 2010 | 8:50 am  | 34 Comments

Verizon Samsung FascinateJust a quick reminder that the Verizon Samsung Fascinate is available in stores today. In exchange for $199.99 (after contract and $100 rebate) and two years of your contract left, you get the latest in Samsung's Galaxy S line, plus a few (cough) customizations from Verizon, including the addition of Microsoft Bing. There's also the gorgeous 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 5MP camera with Flash and the speedy 1GHz Hummingbird processor. Still not sold? Check out these links:

So who's getting one today?

Phil Nickinson

Phil Nickinson Editor in Chief

"Phil is a recovering print journalist, editor of Android Central, subtitles and street signs."

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There are 34 comments

SkylineView01 says:

My Droid X comes in the mail today, I'll pass. An android phone without Google? That's blasphemous right there

tylavin says:

ordered mine yesterday, should be here today. Ill find a work around for the no Google thing that's for damn sure!

hotkoko says:

you know that phones with shitty BING doesn't have navigation

shizzy1427 says:

Download google maps and you have navigation for free.

judasmachine says:

I am still within my 30 days on my Droid X, but I don't think I'll make the switch. I played with a couple Galaxy S'es last night at BB. All I got out of the whole visit was a case for my Droid X.

Don't get me wrong it's a great phone, and technically faster than my X in the benchies, but it's just not for me.

moonoverparma00 says:

I don't get how this phone can have Bing on it. It's a Google phone!!!!

BoNg420 says:

Its not a google phone. The manufactures are free to do as they please with the OS and preincluded apps.

It will probably be rooted pretty fast or by same methods as other galaxy s phones fast, so you could get rid of bing.

Elvaxim says:

I just ordered mine :-) everyone needs to shut up about the wholE Bing thing. There will be a work around.

technomom says:

Will pass on this phone and root my Incredible ASAP to prevent further Verizon corruption.

chargerman65 says:

Will keep my X and Dinc and wife's D2. Hate Bing and the phone don't seem that Fascinating to me besides purchased 2 Samsung home theatre systems for the home 2 years ago gave a lot of money for each and after the first year one of them quite working and I had to replace it and now the other one is doing the same. Warranty was out on both. Have bad taste for Samsung products.

angermeans says:

It sounds like your the guy i need to talk to so if ya don't mind ill ask ya a question. So i currently have an ATT Nexus One and a Samsung Captivate, but i just got a great job at Verizon Wireless and get a great 50% discount on plans and it is to good to pass up.plus a chance to get off mediocre att service for the nations best verizon plus saving a load of cash im all over it. Anyways i put my phones up for sale today and i got rid of my Nexus One (i know sad day its the best phone i have ever owned and until recently i was never going to get rid of it but let's face it i am not keeping att and i am not keeping a phone i can't use or port). Ok so.my question is i am wanting one of the three droids you mentioned and i just can't make up my.mind so i thought i would ask your opinion. I love the AMOLED screen so the Dinc would be nice plus of all the skins sense is by far the best but after using a four inch screen i.gotta admit its tough to go back to 3.7". The keyboard and processor on the droid 2 look enticing but i have played with the x and i just cant stand their skin and i love flashing roms and although it is looking promising and there are a couple roms out the bootloader is still locked and that more than likely means no kernals etc (hope i am wrong). The X is the nicest of the group and i love the size of the screen and after using the hummingbird and powervr gpu on the captivate it will be tough to go.to the incredible but to be honest that is the phone i am leaning towards even with the smaller screen and snapdragon processor i still think its the best phone verizon has to offer to date. Sorry so.long just thought i would ask ya as you said you have the x and dinc and have access to the droid 2. I appreciate ur response if ya get the chance.

Alls i gotta say is good riddence att and the fascinate looks good.but.i am sick of the nagging issues with the galaxy s line. My captivate has been a great phone but.no matter how.much i try to.make it my everyday device i keep coming back to my nexus. Even after the lag fixes and all i just feel there is still to.much lag and the gps problems are to much im ready for a droid.

Stonewall#AC says:

Well if you order it online use code AAL50 and knock another $50 clams off the price.

2 phones for $149.00

asj2583 says:

What a waist of money! Verizon should know what consumers want and its not bing. Sooner or later the phone will be rooted and bing removed.

homewmt says:

Verizon doesn't give a SHIT what consumers want, Their a greedy company that only wish is to make money. I forget where I read it but I read an article about this long before the fascinate, Microsoft and Verizon were making a deal and I heard in the ranges of 500-600 million. thats 2/3 billion to use bing instead of google, it doesn't matter if the customer removes bing, a majority of customers don't even know what rooting is, and will keep on using bing. Microsoft and Verizon (and every company) are greedy.

icebike says:

A "waist of money"???

How did we get on the subject of money belts? I thought we were talking about the Fascinate.

jimmyk0789 says:

I got one for my mom this morning and the Bing crap isn't that bad the only thing I don't like about Bing is that the maps don't have voice turn by turn so for all the people complaining about Bing try before u by and if u really wana try the Bing app is in the market so don't get ur panties in a bunch its still a good phone

sjenkins1009 says:

Ordered it today and waiting for the Fedex Confirmation that it is at home. Will have to try it out and see how it goes. I am not a fan of Bing, but after having the Vibrant and moving back to VZW due to signal problems, I am willing to give it a try. How bad can it really be? For those with issues with maps, as Phil pointed out in his video, you can go back to Google Maps, just download and set up the app.

hotkoko says:

doesn't anybody care that BING phones don't have navigation on it??

prakash99 says:

Is it so hard to download Google Maps/Nav from the Market and install it? Just takes a couple of minutes or less.

prakash99 says:

The Bing integration does not prevent anyone from downloading Google Maps/Nav. I just got my phone. Installed google maps/nav and gave it a test run. GPS was spot on! And navigation was flawless!! Does it matter that it does not come preinstalled? Most of us don't like Bing. So all we have to do is throw the icons into the trashcan. The only other issue is Google Search. Well, we can work around it by making google the default homepage of the browser OR saving a bookmark to google.com on the homescreen. Simple.
So, folks. This Bing issue is an annoyance ... but not a biggie. And certainly not a dealbreaker.
I am just customizing my phone right now and lovin' it.
I will have to say this phone is as good as DX, Dinc or D2 - minus Froyo, which will come our way soon.

Viper says:

Thank you very much for posting this. I'm sick of listening to these whining babies about the whole Bing thing. To see that it isn't a problem will hopefully reduce the number of tantrums. This phone is an amazing piece of machinery which is far superior to anything currently available from Verizon (including my DInc :(, though that will be changing :)).

icebike says:

Without google as your search engine, your voice search, and the ability to customize the searchable items also becomes pretty crippled.

If you can install the Google Search from the market, then fine.

If not, its FAIL.

The impact goes way beyond just the search engine you see on the web page.

rmaybach says:

Can anyone confirm that Google Maps/Navigation are or are not available in the Market on the Fascinate?

Edit- just saw the above comment

hotkoko says:

I saw a video where they truer installing Google map and search on the fascinate and couldn't. and another where they did a Google search and Bing came up. so Google wont wrk unless rooted

emaan1 says:

They knew people would be up in arms about this 'bing' crap and therefore have a buy one get one free at launch!

When have we seen a super hot phone being launched as BOGO FREE??

icebike says:

Well said.

Microsoft is paying for that extra phone. Write them a thank you not, then root it.

GalaxyNole says:

I'm impatiently waiting for the FedEx truck right now and can't wait to get my Fascinate. And to everyone who's cursing the phone, I hate Bing too, I hate it on my laptop and I'll hate it even more on my phone. But I'm not gonna let Bing or Verizon keep me from getting an awesome phone, especially when I know a root is just around the corner.
I think the real problem with Bing on this phone is the idea of being FORCED to use Bing with no option to change it(even though 99% of people on this site would have rooted the phone anyway)I guess I'm just sayin if you like the phone don't let Bing stop you from getting it and if you don't like it just get another awesome Android phone. Sorry about the rant, enjoy your Fascinates everyone.

geocomp says:

I agree completely with you. I am glad you said it, because otherwise I would have. I am tired of the people hating this phone just beacuse of the Bing thing. If you don't want it fine, don't get it, but you haters need to quit being such whiners about it. Let us that do want the phone enjoy the day.

icebike says:

People calling others "haters" simply because they point out foolish carrier choices should really wait until after their 16th birthday to start calling names. Nothing destroys a rational argument faster than using a juvenile phrase.

martyr2k6 says:

Some could say the same about calling others juvenile. I know I am being hypocritical here, but by giving attention to those you call juvenile, you are in fact stoking the fire you are aiming to put out...

The carriers aren't foolish... they know people will go out and buy one or more of the phones that they put out every month or so, because SOME people just HAVE to have the "latest and greatest". It's actually a very smart tactic. Just look at a certain company who just announced their new lackluster iterations of their line of pmp's... They do it every year like clockwork and people become rabid over them...The only one truly worth buying is the one with the camera now...

Personally I think the carriers are making a killing. This one to everyone talking about how evil Verizon and/or Microsoft and Samsung are... heaven forbid they try to make money on selling massive prodcts. Maybe someone should start a company that gives everything out for free as well as demand that workers make no wages to build things out of the kindness of their own hearts. Damn you Microsoft! Damn you Verizon! And Damn you Samsung for making a "clearly" horrible choice! --> pure sarcasm here..

prakash99 says:

For the last time, anyone who thinks not having a google search widget and a default google search engine without rooting the phone is the end of the world, Fascinate is not for you - move on to some other phone. The rest of us, we are lovin' it.

icebike says:

I'm pretty sure thats not going to be the "last time" that gets said.

Archerdude says:

Wow. Let's calm down a little. We will get around the bing thing. Its just a phone. Still waiting on the 2 I ordered. Should be here very soon. Its here right now. Cool

martyr2k6 says:

I, for one, will be buying this phone within the next 4 hours because I don't think I can make it to Saturday.. Need mah new toy nao! Have been rocking the LG Dare for two years, and let's just say it doesn't score me any points with the ladies.

I work at our local BBY and had to force a friend of mine to shut up about the whole Bing and VZWNav thing. He couldn't stop griping about it, but then I showed him the glory of rooting and he quickly retracted his statements. Also, not that I am THAT much of a fan of engadget, but they posted an update stating that Bing is pretty much there until the Fascinate gets 2.2. My guess is that Bing works very similar to google, and since google was announcing "Google Instant" they wanted to have something a little more different at first, then give us the goodies when it became available...

As for VZWNav? We all know the fix for that. I can say that before I got my GPS, VZWNav was able to get me out of sticky spots before, so I never have had any real problems with it, save for having to pay monthly for it.
I got to play with this bad boy earlier yesterday, and I had to get a napkin to wipe off my own slobber...

I am going back to bed now to speed up the waiting process... in a few hours if not (because I have to paint our nursery), then Saturday, Saturday, Saturday......