An Evo user's thoughts on the Epic...

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My immediate first impression: It looks better in person that it does in pictures online. I thought it looked pretty bland when I first saw it online, but in person, it's not bad. It definitely looks better than the Samsung Captivate on AT&T, but I still think that the Vibrant looks the best. Once I picked it up, I was surprised by how light it was. Initially, I was disappointed; I thought for a split-second that it was a dummy model that I was holding. It was noticeably lighter than the Evo. I couldn't, however, decide if this was good or bad. The lack of heft puts the Epic 4G dangerously close to being perceived as "cheap and plastic-y". The phone (as well as the other Galaxy S phones) just didn't feel that solid to me. Especially compared to phones that have some noticeable heft to them, like the Evo and Nexus One. I feel that if it were dropped from waist-high, it would shatter into a million pieces or something.

The lack of heft aside, the phone feels really good in the hand. It's rounded corners fell better than the Evo. But because of the keyboard, the phone is pretty thick. I noticed that trying to use the phone with one hand can be difficult sometimes (and I have fairly large hands), especially when trying to reach things at the top of the screen (like the notification bar).

The screen: I have mixed feelings about Samsung's Super AMOLED screen. When I turned on the screen for the first time, one word popped in my head: OVERRATED (the same word that came to me when seeing the iPhone 4's "retina display" for the first time). I honestly don't see the hype. Yes, if you're looking at a picture / movie, the colors look amazing. But looking at text, on the other hand, is a different story. The main problem that I had with the SAMOLED screen is the "screen door effect". You can see the individual pixels! What's worse, you can see them without even looking hard. They are just there, in your face. I have perfect vision, and I have to put my Evo pretty close to my face in order to make out individual pixels. On the Epic, you can see them everywhere. It's really bad when looking at text on a white background (like on almost every website). You can see the white lines in-between the black of the letters. It's like looking at a mini chess board. Here's a picture so you can get an idea for yourself:

I would rather take a regular AMOLED, TFT LCD, or Retina display any day of SAMOLED

Ahhh, the keyboard. This is the ONLY reason I even considered swapping the Evo for an Epic. In short: it's really good. It's one of the best landscape keyboards I've ever used. The keys are really clicky, and are a nice size. My only complaint is that I wish they were domed more. Because they are flat, my fingers tended to slide over to adjacent keys. I'm sure with time I would be really fast & accurate on it. The only landscape keyboard that's better than this one is the one on the Touch Pro 2. That this is amazing.

I'm not gonna talk too much about the software, since we all know what Android is about. What I will say is that TouchWiz isn't that bad. It's actually better than the skin Motorola has put on the Droid2 and DroidX. It's not as good as Sense UI, but it's definitely better than stock Android. Overall, everything I did on the phone was super fast. Scrolling was smooth, and it didn't lag at all. No complaints.

Minor annoyances: -There is a dedicated smiley button on the keyboard… wtf. It would be much more useful it they put the @ symbol there, instead of it. -For some reason, Samsung likes putting the lock/power button on the right side of the phone. Not a big deal on the other Galaxy S phones, but every time I would lock/unlock the phone, the keyboard would move/open a little.

Final thoughts: It's a really good phone. If I had the choice today to either get a free Epic or a free Evo, I'm about 65% sure I'd take the Evo. If I was a new Sprint customer, there is almost no way to justify taking this phone over the Evo, especially seeing as how it's $50 more… Unless, of course, you abso-freakin-lutely need a physical keyboard.

I echo the same thoughts as you and still have my evo, i will try the epic out for 30 days and see if it grows on me but I have slight evo withdrawals. The physical keyboard is nice, I feel like I would miss having that option.

The screen is growing on me, I really love how readable it is in the sun and the colors and contrast are really great.

Another thing you left out is how incredibly fast this phone is. Even at 2.1 without CM6 it blows the EVO out of the water in every way, there is virtually no lag and you don't see the typical tearing or jitterness you get on the EVO. I can't even imagine how smooth it will be when 2.2 is on here...

The one thing that will determine whether I keep it is if the development community will be as good as the EVO. The EVO dev community from the start was bursting with life but the epic dev community seems rather flat and slow so far.

Another concern is Samsungs commitment to keeping the phones up to date and bug free. Something I don't have too much faith in as I saw how they pretty much ignored Samsung Moment customers.

Nice review.

I also own both an EVO and the Epic. My decision to switch was based on the keyboard and the processor speed. Both lived up to my expectations. The speed actually exceeded my expectations, whereas the keyboard isn't as good for games as I thought it would be. Wish it had a more game-like dpad. I think EVERYONE is pissed off about the decision to have a dedicated smiley button.

I'm actually very impressed with the screen. Unfortunately if you look closely you can see the pixels... but only when it's still. I honestly think it's mind bogglingly good when playing games or watching movies. The size of the EVO's screen is definitely a plus. So big. But I can see my Epic SO MUCH BETTER in direct sunlight. Even with auto-brightness on. With my EVO, I had to manually crank it up to 100% to get even a slight idea what I was looking at.

I actually found it to be so much faster than the EVO (even with 2.2). Games feel soo much smoother. Especially 3D games. And I am a huge gamer. Also, surprisingly, TW isn't all that bad (as you said). I actually plan on keeping it for a while. On my EVO I ran launcher pro, but sense is nice too. The EVO has the edge in widgets. No manufacturer's UI has anything close to the same quality widgets that sense has.

I actually don't mind the weight of this phone. I know the EVO feels heavy and sturdy, but the reason the SGS phones are so light is because of their screen technology. Both phones have the same soft-touch back.

All in all, I'm really glad I made the switch. I'm having a lot of fun with the Epic. The only thing I miss from my EVO is the GPS... but we're getting a fix for this this month.

Oh and one more thing. Stock battery life on my Epic KILLS what I experienced on my EVO. I'll post some battery life results later. I almost think my phone is a fluke.

I'd definitely recommend this phone to a new Sprint customer. But that's just my vote. I'm sure other EVO users will chime in.

I feel the same to going to test it a little more for the next 2 weeks I am having 3g probelms for some reason a lot slower then my evo and the wifi shuts on and off but the screen is nice keyboard is awasome and is really fast but evo will make a come back
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Originally Posted by ttieder

I feel the same to going to test it a little more for the next 2 weeks I am having 3g probelms for some reason a lot slower then my evo and the wifi shuts on and off but the screen is nice keyboard is awasome and is really fast but evo will make a come back
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Which phone did you end up sticking with?

I too own both, feel like I miss stuff from the EVO, but I am giving the Epic more time to grow. love the screen and +1 for the camera, the Evo has failed me so many times with the camera. Some goods and some bads. if it had tilt/kickstand that would be sweet.

Originally Posted by bomix

I too own both, feel like I miss stuff from the EVO, but I am giving the Epic more time to grow. love the screen and +1 for the camera, the Evo has failed me so many times with the camera. Some goods and some bads. if it had tilt/kickstand that would be sweet.

If you get the dock, it will work as a kickstand (its tilted just right). Unfortunately the dock isnt as portable and the headphone hack on the back wont work until the Epic gets 2.2 apparently.

What else do you miss from the EVO? Aside from the large screen? I also have an EVO and it just sits around. I never have any desire to pick it up... but I also refuse to sell it.

Originally Posted by bjb_nyj101

I would rather take a regular AMOLED, TFT LCD, or Retina display any day of SAMOLED

Ahm..both AMOLED and Super-AMOLED are pen-tile...aka what you showed in the picture above is for both...

Though there are many reasons to justify an Epic over an EVO..keyboard and screen are not the only reason that make the Epic shine...

Originally Posted by gTen

Ahm..both AMOLED and Super-AMOLED are pen-tile...aka what you showed in the picture above is for both...

He makes a good point. The difference with super amoled is that the touch sensor is integrated into the screen, making the overall display MUCH thinner and lighter. It's still AMOLED. Bright and brilliant. I absolutely love it.

i dont know man.. that picture in the first post doesnt look like my epic.. ( I know its a vibrant, i meant the screen) I even put it on the same contacts screen and i dont notice the pixels like i see them in that picture.. and i have 20/20 vision myself. This screen is amazing to me. especially coming from a touch pro 2. and my buddy has the evo.. His screen looks a little washed out next to mine. But it still looks good though dont get me wrong. I love the size of the evos screen and the kickstand is great too. I just needed the keyboard and processor speed which is why i ended up waiting for the epic to come out.. either way both phones are the best you can get on the market right now