Samsung Captivate

The super smart Samsung Captivate for AT&T brings a fully integrated entertainment, messaging and social networking experience to your mobile phone, thanks to its open and innovative Android 2.1 platform. You'll be able to zip through the Web and multitask between a bevy of apps with the Captivate's 1 GHz processor and ultra-fast 7.2 Mbps 3G connectivity.

Size and Weight :

Describing the size of a phone is always a difficult task as it is largely subjective. In our DROID X review we described Verizon’s latest Android flagship device as “not too big,” and here we can say that the Captivate’s dimensions (4.18” x 2.5” x 0.39”) and weight (4.5 ounces) are for us just right. The phone feels extremely thin in your hand and it feels feather light for a phone its size. It easily fits into jean pockets, has smooth but not rounded edges, and really is quite handsome.

Network and connectivity:

It has fast 3G connectivity via AT&T's HSDPA/UMTS network (850/1900 MHz bands; 3.6/7.2 Mbps speeds with network availability), Ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go. Connect for free using one of the over 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide. Powered by the Android operating system (version 2.1) with deep integration of Google services and access to thousands of apps to customize your phone via the Android Market.

Camera and Video:

One of the big gripes about the Captivate’s is that it lacks a flash of any kind. And that won’t be an issue for most. We’re not sure what Samsung did with the software in this thing but whatever it is: Bra. Vo. The 5 megapixel auto-focus camera takes really sharp images indoors and out, and holds its own in moderate light settings. The camera includes a 4x digital zoom feature and has several modes to shoot in: Single, Beauty, Smile Shot, Continuous, Panorama, Vintage, Add me, Action shot, and Cartoon. The camera also has geotagging (not on by default), anti-shake (not on by default), and a plethora of other options and settings ready to be tweaked. We enjoyed using the camera, and unless you often take pictures in dark settings that require a flash, we think you’re going to enjoy it as well. The video camera, much like the still camera, works really well. You’re not going to be disappointed. The video camera defaults to shooting in 720 x 480, but we know you… you’re going to crank that baby up to 1280 x 720 for some 720p recording fun. Video playback is smooth, with no lags or jagged frames, and the camcorder seems to autofocus very effectively. The audio quality during video recording is also surprisingly good. Not quite as good as the DROID X, with its three microphones, but better than the iPhone 4. Audio is crisp, maybe a little high on the treble, but clear and totally acceptable for a smartphone video camera. The camcorder also shows you a live on-screen counter of just how large your video is getting (which we find very useful), and has a setting labeled ”fit to MMS” you can turn on before recording.

Memory and Display:

There's a lot of room for media on here: 16GB of internal memory, plus a slot behind the back cover for a MicroSD card up to 32GB. No card is included, but our 16GB SanDisk card worked fine. The screen is by far the phones best feature. The Captivates 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display is bright, like really bright. Colors explode off the screen, watching movies is a treat, and the extra screen real estate makes browsing the web really enjoyable. The resolution is 480 x 800 and displays 16 million colors, for those of you wondering. The touch sensitivity on the device is very good, although we did have lag issues with certain keyboard layouts (that we’ll cover later in the review). Samsung’s Super AMOLED display and the iPhone 4’s Retina display could battle to the death for the top smartphone screen crown… and we wouldn’t care who won. Both screens are simply amazing.

Entertainment Features:

Even without reformatting through Kies or WMP, the Captivate plays an unusually wide range of video formats. Along with the usual standard-def MPEG4 and WMV video, I was pleasantly shocked to find that H.264/AAC and XVID videos played, even high-def 720p files, and that there seemed to be an option for simulated 5.1 surround sound. AT&T will sell a component video cable for the Captivate that can play videos in 720p on an HDTV. The phone also offering one-stop shopping for all your updates, the Samsung Social Hub all your social networking services, messages, personal and business e-mail, calendars and contacts. It's built around Messaging and Contacts, both of which initiate the sending and receiving of information--whether it is e-mail, instant messaging, social network updates or SMS messages. Additionally, calendar information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar, and social networking services are displayed together in one calendar with two-way synchronization.

The device’s heavily customized UI really does tax the phones list of impressive resources at times. And for this reason alone we are not overly impressed with the Captivate. This phone could be a case study of how marginal software can taint the experience of an amazing piece of hardware (we’re talking about TouchWiz 3.0, not Android).