Although Apple's new iPhone 4 is the one making waves here in the US, T-Mobile won't just let AT&T hog all the glory that's why they've released the Samsung Vibrant to compete with Apple's finest. So, can the T-Mobile Vibrant bring it? Let's find out.
Design
The T-Mobile Vibrant probably won't win in terms of design. Although this mobile phone is thin, it lacks any style that would grab anybody's attention. It's made of all plastic with silver lining around the edges. With its 4 inch screen, the phone is somewhat huge but surprisingly, it's way lighter than the iPhone 4. The phone is so light that some might mistake it for a toy. The only thing that would make this phone appeal to the fashion conscious is that it comes with two back covers although the colors available is only gray and purple. Overall, even though the phone would seem cheap with its all plastic materials, the weight of the phone is actually a plus factor for me.
Features
The T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant comes with Android 2.1 but will be upgradeable to Android 2.2 in the near future. It also comes with Samsung's touchwiz interface for Android. With the 1GHz processor, navigating Android is a breeze. Scrolling through menus is fast and responsive and Samsung's touchwiz interface made it possible for horizontal scrolling through the main menu, just like on the iPhone.
Missing HTC Sense for Android? Samsung has also made some of their widgets available for Android. Accuweather and Buddies Now are reminiscent of HTC Sense's Weather and Friend Stream widgets.
The T-Mobile Vibrant comes with Swype interface, combined that with the big screen and typing messages on this thing is a breeze and any mistypes would be very minimal.
This mobile phone comes with a 5 megapixel camera and 720p video recording. Like most mobile phone cameras, the camera on this thing is gorgeous in daylight shots but since there's no useable flash, night shots are all washed out. 720p video recording is also good but again, only in well it areas.
Perhaps what I like best about the T-Mobile Vibrant and the feature that trumps the iPhone 4's is the web browser. You can use multi-touch on the browser or tap to zoom, there's text reflow, and flash support. I really like the web browser, it's top notch.
Multimedia wise, the Samsung Vibrant delivers. It's able to play DivX videos as well as MP4, H.264 and H.263 video files. Watching the preloaded Avatar video on this thing is really enjoyable. Audio quality is good plus the Samsung music player is better than the stock Android. You can see a cover flow like interface when you hold the phone in landscape mode.
As for the Vibrant's phone functions, well, callers on the other end of the line can hear me well and voice quality over the speakers is also good. My only gripe is that the phone seems to have signal issues. Signal strength on my phone is only one bar compared when I transfer my sim card to another mobile phone which has full bars. Maybe it's because the Vibrant is trying to prioritize catching T-Mobile's 1700/2100 signals over the GSM signals.
Conclusion
Overall, I think the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant is a good smartphone choice for T-Mobile users. Those who envy people at AT&T with their iPhone 4s can grab the Vibrant which is a really good alternative, maybe even better if you're an Android lover. The phone is pretty user friendly, as great features, and with T-Mobile's current promotion of getting another Vibrant for free, well, you can't beat good value for money.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant Review
Friday, April 23, 2010
Samsung Monte now available in the UK
The Samsung Monte, Samsung's latest touchscreen wonder have been seen all over the UK. Unlike Samsung's past mobile phones which seems to be exclusive to Vodafone only, the Samsung Monte have been seen on O2, Orange, and Vodafone so this looks like a phone that all carriers will offer.
That's good news for UK customers because they'll have more options. Hopefully, we'll see the Samsung Monte on Pay as you go too.
Read Samsung Monte Reviews to see if this mobile phone is for you.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Samsung S3650 Corby goes by Genio in the UK
I don't know what it is with Samsung and the names they dub their mobile phones over in the UK. The Samsung Star went by Tocco Lite, the Samsung Soul B went by Lucido and now the Samsung Corby is going by the name, Samsung Genio.
Honestly, they should just stick with one name for the rest of the world as a lot of people in the UK are importing unlocked mobile phones and all these different names might confuse some people. Anyways, the Samsung S3650, or Corby, or Genio, whatever you might want to call it is Samsung's newest cheapo touchscreen mobile phone. It's supposed to be geared for teeners because it has different colors (what is it about teeners and different colors anyways?) but with the Samsung Star still very much selling like hotcakes, we'll see if the Corby will be able to penetrate its target market.
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