Samsung Droid Charge Review
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Included in the retail box is the Samsung Droid Charge SCH-i510 phone with a 32GB Class 2 microSDHC memory card pre-installed, 1600mAh battery, wall charger with a 1-meter detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.
Design:
Even though the Samsung Droid Charge is not in the “Galaxy” line, its overall design does remind us some of the Samsung Fascinate and Samsung Continuum for Verizon, as it has a plastic construction with chrome around the edges, and a gray colored back that is slick to the touch. When compared next to the HTC ThunderBolt, the Samsung Droid Charge doesn’t feel quite as thick, and is also not as heavy, though we do wish it had the soft-touch coating on the back to give it more of a grip.
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The Samsung Droid Charge has a plastic construction with chrome around the edges | ||
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You can compare the Samsung Droid Charge with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
Located on the front is the impressive 4.3” WVGA resolution Super AMOLED Plus display. The “Plus” means that the display on the Droid Charge is brighter than the (regular) Super AMOLED screen that is used by the Fascinate and Continuum, and it also uses a standard RGB pixel matrix, so that text and images are sharper than before. More information about Super AMOLED Plus and how it compares to other displays can be viewed here. We used the Droid Charge outside on a sunny day and could still view the screen, while the TFT screen on the ThunderBolt was dark and unreadable. This is one key advantage the Droid Charge has over the ThunderBolt.
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The phone has 4.3” WVGA resolution Super AMOLED Plus display | ||
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The Samsung Droid Charge (L) and the HTC ThunderBolt (R) | The HTC ThunderBolt (top) and the Samsung Droid Charge (bottom) | The Samsung Droid Charge (L) and the HTC ThunderBolt (R) |
Above the screen is a 1.3MP camera (on the left) and the proximity sensor (on the right), but not present is a LED notification light – which we find unthinkable to be missing on such a high-end device. Below the display are four physical buttons for accessing the menu, home, back, and search. We like having the real physical buttons, as the touch-sensitive ones (like on the ThunderBolt) can be easily pressed by mistake. Along the sides of the Droid Charge are the volume rocker, microUSB port, 3.5mm headset jack, power/lock key, and HDMI video port. One thing we noticed is that all of these side-buttons are larger and easier to find and press than the ones on the ThunderBolt. On the back is the 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, and removing the battery cover will allow access to the 4G SIM card slot and the pre-installed 32GB microSDHC memory card.
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The left side | The right | |
The sides of the Samsung Droid Charge | ||
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The 1.3MP front-facing camera | The physical buttons | The HDMI port |
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The 8MP rear camera | Under the back cover | The microSD card slot | The SIM card slot |
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40 Comments
1. Sniggly posted on 30 Apr 2011, 07:26 3 3
Good review. You recognized the phone's mistakes while having some fair criticisms.
Can't wait to see how Motorola's swing at LTE turns out. In the meantime, it sounds like the Charge is a good choice for LTE users.
19. FightForTheLost posted on 02 May 2011, 17:46 0 0
The Bionic is (or was, last I checked) having issues due to overheating and harshly low battery life. But, I believe it is/was still outperforming the Charge. Hopefully they don't have the issue of 4G switching to 3G indoors, because that would really be a purchase-killer in my book (not that I don't use WiFi inside my house anyways...but on those occasions where I'm indoors and not near WiFi, I'd like top data speeds lol).
41. phandroid (unregistered) posted on 20 Jul 2011, 13:31 0 0
the Bionic is dual core and the charge is only single core.
2. theo14461 posted on 30 Apr 2011, 10:01 5 1
Browser locking up when trying to load heavy flash content?? Pictures out of focus?? Low quadrant scores?? Why then such a high rating?? Seems like it should only get an 8, at best.
3. Kjayhawk posted on 30 Apr 2011, 10:24 3 1
Yeah I'm a bit confused here I thought the Droid Charge defiantly wasn't as good as the thunderbolt... Personally I think the LG 2x was a 9 phone and the charge phone was an 8.
I guess the fact that it is a strong battery life and call quality for LTE must be a bigger deal than i thought.
5. effdee1121 posted on 30 Apr 2011, 19:33 4 1
I don't get how this got a 9? and the G2x got an 8.5?? doesn't make any sense. specs are pretty good but not as current as can be and overpriced !
6. Jay (unregistered) posted on 30 Apr 2011, 23:53 1 0
I'm disappointed as well. The benchmarks I'm not worried about, its that file system not playing well with others again, and smartbench gives a more accurate score than Quadrant.
However the lagging on the homescreen is a problem, I'm just hoping you guys were talking about lagging on the homescreens while they were covered with widgets.
If only the screen and the a/v capabilities work without an asterisk, then I most certainly won't be paying $300 for it...
37. unfotunately (unregistered) posted on 26 May 2011, 13:15 0 0
Lag happens out of the box, may be due to the ridiculous amount of apps pre-installed, but home screen still slow when mostly empty...
8. Rami (unregistered) posted on 01 May 2011, 08:51 0 0
Wowowow 328 mb ram?!?!?! Wtf. It should have at least 512 if not more. I've seen 512 everywhere else. Are you sure that you didn't type that wrong? Try using system panel to see if there is around 300 mb free that means its 512 ram. If its not then thunderbolt for me
9. networkdood posted on 01 May 2011, 09:34 1 1
Phones need 1GB RAM, not less than half of that. Looks interesting, though...
10. qwertyu (unregistered) posted on 01 May 2011, 11:24 0 0
wow, the score of my dhd is much higher
11. Hellow (unregistered) posted on 01 May 2011, 13:32 1 0
What's up with the inconsistencies lately? The actual scores do no mirror what is being said in the reviews. Must be the 4g hype.
12. mgobear posted on 01 May 2011, 23:33 0 0
328mb of ram??? i thought it was supposed to be 512!
14. cheetah2k posted on 02 May 2011, 06:56 3 0
Interesting... the score has dropped from 9 to 8.5....... close but it should be an 8 guys
15. serioussam (unregistered) posted on 02 May 2011, 10:16 2 1
Seriously Phone Arena.
My Tbolt is crap, I am having the 3rd device becaue the first 2 were defected and this Charge isn't even as good in most aspects. It's a larger/bulkier, slower, more expensive device.
Should be 7 MAX! You are hurting your own credibility guys. How can anyone trust you when you come up with random scores like this?
Btw, the Tbolt score was too high too. (should be 7.5)
You are here to help US and do REAL reviews not to kiss the manufacturers' ass.
If you want the latter one you will lose your audience soon....
Think Top Gear, don't be a wuss.
16. rayjones09 posted on 02 May 2011, 12:51 0 0
It's definitely not bulkier. It's just taller. The speed is around the same or perhaps better on this device. I doubt your Thunderbolt is crap. However, if it is, I will gladly take it.
20. serioussam (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 10:18 0 1
Riiiight... it's taller, it's wider, it's larger at the bottom... I wouldn't call that exactly slimmer.. :))
Did you even read the review??
You: "the speed is better on this device"
P.A: "but is still MUCH lower than the ThunderBolt"
Sure you can have my crappy tbolt dear begger, just buy me a working 4G with the same or better specs.
This is my 3rd and while a few things are better on thsi 3rd one the call quality is still total crap. The speaker is muffled too..
23. rayjones09 posted on 04 May 2011, 22:13 0 0
"The speed is around the same or perhaps better on this device" does not translate into "the speed is better on this device". The difference is so blatant and only takes a second to read. You're welcome.
