Samsung Epic 4G Touch Review

Introduction:

Lamborghini began shipping the Aventador this year to replace the Murcielago. Ferrari recently made the 458 Italia more track ready with the 458 Italia GTC. In June HTC released the EVO 3D, last month Motorola launched the Droid Bionic and now Samsung is here with the Epic 4G Touch, a Galaxy S II device for Sprint. Just as these Italian supercars compete for supremacy on the track, Android superphones are competing for pocket space. Samsung has upped the ante even from the original Galaxy S II by giving the Epic 4G Touch a 4.52” Super AMOLED Plus display to go along with a 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture and 16GB of on-board memory with an 1800mAh battery, all wrapped in a package that’s just 9.6mm thin.

Design:

The Epic 4G Touch is similar to the Galaxy S II we reviewed back in May. The most notable design change is the increased screen size - it now sits at 4.52”, up from 4.3”- and now has four capacitive buttons at the bottom instead of two and a physical button. It is about 1mm thicker, a difference that goes relatively unnoticed in the hand. With the screen size even bigger than the HTC EVO 3D and Motorola PHOTON 4G you’d think the Epic 4G Touch would be bordering on too large. To the contrary, it actually feels pretty comfortable in our medium-sized hands and it nearly gets lost when we slide it into our front pocket.




You can compare the Samsung Epic 4G Touch with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

That extra millimeter of thickness means that the antenna hump on the back of the phone is virtually non-existent and the camera housing sits nearly flush to the battery door. The door isn’t soft touch, but is textured to give it a bit more grip. We’ve come to expect a plastic feel to Samsung phones and the Epic 4G Touch is no exception, but there is a better feeling of quality than with the original Epic 4G. Of course the use of plastic over metal housings found on other high end devices means that the Epic 4G Touch comes in at a scant 4.6oz, significantly lighter than its HTC and Motorola counterparts. This combination of thin and light are what allows us to carry the Epic 4G Touch without noticing it.



The 4.52” WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display is as bright and as vivid as it gets. As with previous Super AMOLED panels the color saturation is cranked up to 11, which makes the colors pop against the deep blacks but also makes it unnatural at times. Everybody has their own opinion about the technology, but the large, bright screen is a joy to look at. The viewing angles are extreme and even in bright sunlight we were able to use the phone with no issues. The 480x800 resolution on the 4.52" inch screen results in 206ppi, which is rather on the lower side these days.



The power and volume rocker are the only two physical keys and offer good feedback to let you know they’ve been pressed. Though the volume rocker is one button, there is a noticeable gap between up and down to distinguish between the two functions. Still, it is rather small especially on such a large phone and we would have liked to see a larger button. A physical camera button is as conspicuously missing on the Epic 4G Touch as it is conspicuously present on the EVO 3D. With so much empty space around the side there really is no reason the user should have to rely on on-screen controls. Still, the Epic 4G Touch is a well-designed phone overall and we would love to have it in our pockets.

Interface and Software:

The Samsung Epic 4G Touch runs Android 2.3.4 with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface on top of it. The official specs list it as 3.0, but when compared to our TouchWiz 4.0 walkthrough it sure looks to be the latest version of Samsung’s custom UI. We reached out to them for clarification but all we got was that it “features an improved Samsung TouchWiz user interface.” Either way, it looks and acts like TouchWiz 4.0 so checkout the above walkthrough for an in-depth look at the user experience.

TouchWiz gets better with each iteration and does offer some nice widgets that take advantage of the extra screen space on the Epic 4G Touch, but we also can’t say we’d be sorry if the overlay was accidentally left off of the phone. The good news is that the Epic 4G Touch doesn’t seem hindered by the overlay and the phone runs through everything lightning quick. In fact, no matter what we did with the Epic 4G Touch we couldn’t get it to stutter or hang up on us.



The included software is a pretty standard mix of Google apps and manufacturer add-ons. Thankfully most of the bloatware is uninstallable, and there are some useful applications like Samsung’s Kies Air and a full version of N.O.V.A. 2 HD. Kies Air is similar to Motorola’s Phone Portal app in that it allows you to transfer data between your phone and computer over a Wi-Fi network. Samsung also includes their Media Hub for movie and TV show rental and purchase and the AllShare app which lets the phone play nicely with other DLNA devices around your house.  Samsung has tapped Vlingo for its voice action software.

Camera:
 
The camera performed very well with excellent detail and realistic color reproduction. It was slightly overcast when most of our outdoor images were captured, but even without ideal lighting the Epic 4G Touch managed to accurately reflect colors. The Epic 4G Touch didn’t handle very low light situations very well, but that is to be expected. The flash was competent but nothing more. Shutter speed is quite fast with images being captured in about a second and a half from a cold start. Controls are fairly extensive so the advanced user can fine tune the settings. The 1080p video capture was also impressive and the autofocus worked quickly moving from far to near-field. While the camera offers an anti-shake feature, the camcorder unfortunately does not because it would benefit from it. The mic on the camcorder is also a bit sensitive and picks up a lot of extraneous noise, including wind.






Multimedia:

The music and video players offer a standard and familiar design. Sound quality was quite good through headphones, but personally we don’t care for Samsung’s 5.1 channel effect. While listening to the Beatles for instance, all of the right ear/left ear subtleties are lost and overall the sound is drastically different. The video player had no problems with any of the DivX, Xvid, H.264 or MPEG-4 files we threw at it, which went up to 720p. As you might expect, video playback looked quite awesome on the large, Super AMOLED Plus display. With an MHL adapter that video can be output to your TV via HDMI cable.



Internet and Connectivity:

Webpages load noticeably faster on the Samsung Epic 4G Touch’s stock browser than on other Sprint devices we’ve tested under the same conditions, thanks in part to the dual-core 1.2GHz Exynos processor. It runs on Sprint’s WiMax 4G network and is backwards compatible with the EVDO Rev. A 3G for those who don’t have 4G coverage. The phone of course offers GPS and Wi-Fi b/g/n and also Bluetooth 3.0 with HSP 1.2, HFP 1.5, OPP, PBA, A2DP 1.2, AVRC 1.3, HID and MAP profile support.

Performance:

Callers had no complaints while we were on the Epic 4G Touch. They said we sounded fairly natural with maybe a little tininess but didn’t notice any echoing and rated us an 8.25/10. On our end the voice reproduction was realistic and the volume was good with the speakerphone. The 1800mAh battery is rated for a hefty 8.7 hours of talk time and over 10.5 days of standby.

Conclusion:

It’s not really a surprise to us that the Samsung Epic 4G Touch is one of the best Android phones you can buy. We felt that the Galaxy S II kind of set the bar back when we took a look at it in May, and the Epic 4G Touch retains all that we liked from the Galaxy S II and made some needed improvements. We certainly enjoy it now more than ever with its brilliant screen and performance, as well as thin and appealing design, coupled with a high-quality camera and good call quality.

The phone is not perfect though – it still retains the WVGA resolution, which is a step down from qHD offerings like the Motorola PHOTON 4G and DROID BIONIC, which also manages to outshine it with its LTE support. Also, there is no 3D on the Epic to make it competitive versus the EVO 3D, which is also a very strong handset all around. The Epic 4G Touch also misses on some other niceties like a kickstand or a metal body, but one can never have it all.

With that said, the Samsung Epic 4G Touch is still one of the best Androids out there. But just in case you're willing to do a little bit more research before you go for it, keep in mind it won't be a bad idea to check out the HTC EVO 3D and Motorola PHOTON 4G on Sprint, as well as the DROID BIONIC on Verizon, if you want to experience the LTE goodness.

Samsung Epic 4G Touch Video Review: