The Samsung Captivate on AT&T actually will be the second phone in the Galaxy S line to be released in the United States, but it's the first to have reached our hands. So, let's give it a go. It's got a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera (no flash, though), a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, and more customizations than you can shake a stick at.
Seriously, despite everything we can say about AT&T and Android (and we've said plenty), it's quite apparently after even just a few minutes that the Captivate (and all of the Galaxy S phones, for that matter) is a hell of a phone. It's just about the perfect size, it's light, it's fast, and the software is pretty darn good.
We're going to take our time and really put the Captivate though its paces. But for now, check out an initial (and very, very quick) hands-on after the break.
Reader comments
AT&T Samsung Captivate hands-on
Can anyone tell if a Captivate user can switch back to the standard Android keyboard? Like Brianh23, I really like the Speech-to-text feature that Samsung seems to have removed from their keyboard.
you can switch back to the android keyboard, thats what i'm using.
Man, I went from bashing this phone to calling it fugly, to hating on Samsung products(cell phones) to now...eating humble pie. I really like this cell phone..lol
Does anyone know if this will have that feature that they call a "Genius" button which allows voice to text and search?
I know most android phones have the speech-to-text option in the keyboard, but I have yet to see it in any of the reviews. Can anyone verify if does or doesn't? As far as the phone goes, I think it looks pretty decent to me. I really don't mind that it's missing flash on the camera.
That UI remind me of the iPhone... and the hardware reminds me of the storm...
yes it does i was looking hard at my screen but at first glance its reminiscent
Is it me, or does this device look very similar to a BB Storm? (Talking only about the devices shape and exterior styling)
Any one who has played with this phone???
How good is the speaker for streaming music?? I mean these are BIG media phones.. But they all seem to have tiny speakers. I am looking to go to the sprint epic 4G when it comes out. Coming from a BlackBerry Curve 8330. I can say that speaker is loud.
Just curious.
Phone Arena's reviewer seemed to like the audio from this device, saying that it wasn't distorted at the maximum volume.
Am I the only one wondering how many scratches are on the back of Phil's phones? He drags all of them on that tile and it just pains me to watch.
IT's probably Touchwiz's fault but this phone seems noticeably laggy compared to the Droid X. For gaming I know it's better but just moving about the interface and typing seems slower than it should be. Not sure I'm too crazy about that keyboard either but I'm sure that can be remedied.
Also the size of the screen isn't much bigger than the Droid, Incredible or Nexus 1. Some might see that as a plus but I'd be hesitant to jump to it if a bigger screen was what I was after.
Still nice to see At&t get something with Android that's decent for a change. If I was stuck with them, this would be a no brainer.
dont like Samsung as a company and i dont like galaxy s, looks like a fake iphone to me
these devices are getting some great reviews. Al I have read is how great the screen looks and the widgets. Makes me wonder why so many were crying about touchwiz or whatever you call it.
I could care less about root and custom roms. Maybe if android was like webos where I just download preware then I would give it a shot. That's not something I am interested in at al. I just wish sprint can hurry and announce a date for the epic.
Phil mentioned that there are/is an app(s) that will provide similar functionality so you have those bluetooth, wifi, etc.. toggles in the notifications pull down bar? anyone know?
anyway, this samsung phone looks sweet. i might seriously consider it once its counterpart arrives at verizon.
BarTender puts any shortcut you like in the notification shade
I thought these all had Swype keyboard, is that not the case or did I just not notice it?
Thanks for replying to that.I remember seeing SWYPE on the Vibrant's menus but not on the Captivate.
IMO not that exciting....I do like to see all the new phones coming out...they are only going to get better.
I would not go as far as saying that this device is superior to the Droid X! Especially if you are basing it solely on the ability to load a custom ROM. MOST consumers are not rooting their Android devices. For the dev community it's important. As far as root access for O/C and such, that will come. I have been loading custom ROMs on my devices since the WinMo days and I may not buy an X because of the bootloader... then again, I just may, because of the size and the camera and some other features that I consider worthy. SOMEtimes, feature sets make the device a worthwhile purchase, even if you can't customize it as much as you would like.
Good looking phone. Makes me want the Epic even more. Come on Sprint. I'd also be curious to see how smoothly it switches between landscape and portrait mode for typing.
NO FLASH??? Are you kidding me? Deal breaker for me.
Yeah, but you can root the phone and install custom ROMs, so not having a flash doesn't matter! At least, that's what an idiot like Darkseider wants you to believe.
wow dude, your a total tool aren't you? I thought one reason for these comment sections under a post were to express your opinion on the subject, not bash someone when they don't agree with you. Grow up.... and get over yourself!
He expressed his opinion, i expressed mine. Simple as that.
attacking someone personally is beyond expressing opinion. It violates their right to do so as well.. stick to the tech, argue your point, but be respectful...
Uh huh...and calling someone a "total tool" is sticking to tech and being respectful, right? Hypocrite.
Camera flash, not Adobe Flash.
Even I knew that is what you meant.
Are you talking about Adobe Flash or the camera's flash?
So Phil how does it compare to the droidx looks like a nice device to me great size smaller than the cheapest and evo but bigger than my droiddroid
Superior to the Droid X because you OWN this phone. It can be rooted proper and have custom ROMs. Whereas the Droid X not only has an encrypted bootloader but eFuse as well. eFuse will insta-brick the Droid X if anything has changed in the system, bootloader or rescue partition. Motorola has now become the "Apple of Verizon".
Yeah, because the ability to install custom ROMs should be the ONLY criteria to judge whether an Android phone sucks or not.
Get off your lame, tunnel-visioned high horse. Rooting and custom ROMs are important to you, we get that. But you are in the minority and your standards for what makes a good phone isn't the gold standard, so shut up already, troll. Seriously, you sound like one of those morons who would walk up to a soccer mom shopping for a Toyota Corolla and saying "OMGOMGOMG DONT BUY THAT POS, BUY A FERRARI INSTEAD BECUZ ITS GOT A 500HP ENGINE AND U CAN SMOKE ANY DRAG RACER AT THE STOPLIGHT' COROLLA SUCKS!!!!!1111"
See how dumb you sound? Obviously the Droid X wasn't meant for self-proclaimed leet folk like you, so just don't buy one and let it go. Most people who buy it will be perfectly satisfied and couldn't give a rat's ass that the boot loader's encrypted
In fact, when I pick up a Droid X tomorrow, I'll think of you briefly just to spite you. :)
You kinda went a little over the top there didn't ya? Maybe you don't want the ability to flash ROMs but others do and I am not saying what the OP said was right, but to the OP and others that is a major downfall. I can see both sides of this discussion, but Moto really should of kept Android open since that is the real meaning of Android isn't it?
Not over the top at all. The guy's ONLY criteria for what makes a good Android phone is whether you can load custom ROMs on it or not, and then he goes on to bash Motorola as the "Apple of Verizon" because of it, which also makes no sense. If anything, he needs to calm down and cut out the FUD. Nobody's holding a gun to his head and forcing him to buy and use a Droid X, and it's certainly not the end of the world either. He's got other choices available, so buy something else and stop bitching.
Sure, having an unlocked bootloader would be cool, but it's not an absolute deal breaker for me and probably about 95% of the people who will be buying this phone.
I have to say that I agree with you. Everywhere we go we see people (in the Android world) bashing other Android users. It's kinda silly because you wont have the "best" phone for long that runs Android. The latest and greatest is always just around the corner. I hope I didn't come off as attacking you I was just saying for some a locked bootloader is a deal breaker (for me it def is, but like you said I don't feel I have to attack others because I didn't buy that phone.)
I am sure that was done because of all the people bricking their phones then returning it.
No, that's the meaning everyone else gave it. I rooted my Droid, flash ROMs, etc. but the only reason I do any of that is because the Droid is (at least by current standards) pretty behind the curve. If I got a Droid X or an Evo 4G or any one of the high end Android phones tomorrow, I wouldn't do any of those things just because I wouldn't need to; those phones are plenty fast for me and personally I'm not into the whole customizing thing anyway. It's all about where your priorities are, and there's no right answer.
Very nice.
What's the first Galaxy S phone to launch?? When is the Verizon one hitting the stores?
The 1st one is the Samsung vibrant for t-mobile which launches tomorrow...and Verizon hasn't announced when the verizon one is hitting stores yet. when they know im sure you'll know