Samsung's I7500 Android phone shreds in first hands-on video

We know what you're thinking: you'd love to see some video of Samsung's very first Android device -- the I7500 -- but you don't want to watch it unless the soundtrack for the clip is foreign hair metal. Well, we aim to please at Engadget, so without further ado, we present this totally bitchin' flick of the phone in action, replete with the rockingest shred-fest this side of... wherever this band is from. Enjoy!

Update: Annoyingly, the video has been made private. We're working on it.

Update 2: The video is up again -- sans totally rocking soundtrack. Thanks ttlj!

[Templarian @ Apr 28th 2009 10:37AM]

The music really does add to the video. I don't think it would have been the same without it.

[M. @ Apr 28th 2009 10:37AM]

thanks for the headsup joshtops.. "hits the mute button & play"

seems like a beautiful phone but it's a samsung, have always had problems with those phones.

[Anthony @ Apr 28th 2009 10:44AM]

Why does he keep showing me the BACK of the phone?

[guyniraxn @ Apr 28th 2009 10:39AM]

This guy is terrible at displaying phones.

[Anomoly @ Apr 28th 2009 10:39AM]

Would have been awesome if he was playing tap tap revolution!


no touchscreen, i think this one is another fail.

[penetrode @ Apr 28th 2009 10:40AM]

did you even bother to read the specs?

[iDavey @ Apr 28th 2009 11:37AM]

You're kind of slow...
Yes you are...

Yeeeeeeees you are!

[Alex @ Apr 28th 2009 1:33PM]

No touchscreen? Did you watch a different video than the rest of us? Did you think you just enter number/urls/email addys with the D-Pad? Just WTF?

[NuFsAiD @ Apr 28th 2009 10:42AM]

Beautiful phone...but the music, wtf.

[splx @ Apr 28th 2009 10:43AM]

is it not a touchscreen? why this guy only use buttons... btw i wish the phone was more Android like.

[penetrode @ Apr 28th 2009 10:44AM]

because the guy is clueless

YES it is a touchscreen read the official specs

[000000 @ Apr 28th 2009 12:03PM]

Because that's what he prefers or chooses. You see, it's nice to have options. Touch or not touch. Not be forced one or the other. KUDOS TO SAMSUNG FOR INCLUDING A DPAD!!!

[Alex @ Apr 28th 2009 1:35PM]

Maybe he just misses the D-Pad, I know a lot of Touch Diamond/Pro users that would be all over that nice functional D-Pad.

[jim @ Apr 28th 2009 10:43AM]

I cant see the video ...says it's private.

[camjjudd @ Apr 28th 2009 10:42AM]

Ummmmm..... I cant view the video... it says it is private....

[Søren @ Apr 28th 2009 10:43AM]

Does anyone has a mirror? I get "This is a private video"

[brandon @ Apr 28th 2009 10:43AM]

i'm getting "video is private" anyone else?

[vytautas.kaleinikas @ Apr 28th 2009 10:46AM]

Yup, me 2

[G @ Apr 28th 2009 10:43AM]

why doesn't he use more of the touchscreen? he does almost everything with the keys

[chris @ May 27th 2009 12:19PM]

He probably uses the buttons, so as not to obscure the screen while we are viewing it.

[Jonathan @ Apr 28th 2009 11:39AM]

Who knows, but I would like to ask if there is some kind of Google rule that all Android phones have to make typing awkward by having an obstacle on the right side? The G1 has the chunky lip of the right, but not the left, this Samsung phone has a big button section under the screen but the screen on the top reaches, well, the top, so sideways typing will be just as awkward as the G1. Left thumb reaches keys fine, right thumb has to go the distance.

Why is this happening.

[Warren @ Apr 28th 2009 4:56PM]

@Jonathan

The problem with the G1's chin (as far as typing is concerned) was the "height" of the protrusion (or "depth" depending on how you look at it). I've used one myself and can say that the distance isn't really that big.

You can always use the virtual keyboard in portrait mode, you know. Though admittedly it will be BlackBerry Pearl-style, 2 letters per key and predictive.

I guess I'm defending Sammy because this is the best hardware-keyboard-less Android device yet imo. I wouldn't want a cramped portrait slider keyboard, like a Pre. A landscape slider with a screen that fully spans top to bottom would be the best of everything I guess. With a trackball... somewhere...

[Warren @ Apr 28th 2009 5:38PM]

Edit:

Ok I hadn't watched this video yet:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/28/video-android-1-5-cupcake-on-screen-keyboard-and-video-captur/

I see that the virtual keyboard coming with cupcake won't require 2 letters per key in portrait mode.

[m.carroll @ Apr 28th 2009 10:44AM]

private video here too...guess someone didnt like engadget spilling their beans...

[crabbyblue @ Apr 28th 2009 10:44AM]

That was a crappy demonstration........take a picture, log onto the internet, play
a video on the phone, something besides rushing thru screen........

[beboo @ Apr 28th 2009 10:48AM]

Loving the MySQL error trying to visit this article...

[Mic2000 @ Apr 28th 2009 10:52AM]

The video is private... ENGADGET HELP!

[elguaje @ Apr 28th 2009 10:56AM]

private, way to FAIL engadget

[Pimpin Curly @ Apr 28th 2009 10:59AM]

Android's fonts and UI is just ugly as shit.

[Xaerran @ Apr 28th 2009 11:13AM]

^

They still have designing to do, no doubt.

[KilgoreTrout @ Apr 28th 2009 11:24AM]

@Pimpin Curly

Android fonts and UI are as ugly or as beautiful as you want them to be: this is the point of having an open platform.
The same can be said for all programs, apps, games, plug ins, etc you may care to add or subtract from it.
Open platform means totally skinnable interface, do you get it or you bought an iPhone?

[Pimpin Curly @ Apr 28th 2009 11:43AM]

@KilgoreTrout
Yeah it's such a groundbreaking and amazing open platform, that's why not a single ODM/OEM has changed the UI (besides Lenovo's prototype). They are either lazy bastards or there's something I don't know about Android (Google doesn't want them to change the main UI?) .
And nope never had an iPhone and don't plan too. WinMo user curretly.

[theefman @ Apr 28th 2009 12:29PM]

Thats something I dont get either, so far all android devices have the same interface down to the same background, where is the customisation? And apart from the menu animations what is the appeal of the OS, particularly from a consumer standpoint? Hasnt introduced any new feature/s not possible on any other platform, doesnt seem to have any distinguishing features apart from using google's services exclusively. Cant see why so many always post how much they wished any new device announced was running android, is it just simply a case of "I love everything google, hate every other phone os"?

[iDavey @ Apr 28th 2009 12:44PM]

Well...
aHome, DXTop, Open Home...
Various ways to customize.

Before TouchFlo, TouchWiz, and the soon S-Class...didnt Windows look the same across the board?
Isn't every non-jailbroken iPhone the same UI???

So why the apparent hate upon Android?

Android is one of only two UI's to give you full customization of desktop...TouchWiz being the second.
Widgets here, icons there...
That's what makes it a wonderful OS.
And the fact...you can do on Android what a iPhone user must jailbreak for...

[chefgon_ign @ Apr 28th 2009 12:53PM]

"so far all android devices have the same interface down to the same background, where is the customisation?"

That's the default home screen and background. Do you also slam Windows XP because every computer has the same green hills and clouds background out of the box? The home screen that you see isn't dependent on the device you're using, a new one can be installed on any phone at any time, there's currently about ten of them available for the G1.

[TareX @ Apr 28th 2009 1:04PM]

Fonts and UI are ugly, and NO it's not as "ugly as you want them to be". I'm sick of this talk. How long has it been since the G1 was released, what about the SDK? Nothing has changed, and no "endless patches" have emerged. The UI of the programs is alst inconsistent.

Development already is taking blow after blow:
http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-research/blog/android-devs-motivation.aspx?utm_source=Rss&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=PhoneDog

[jake @ Apr 28th 2009 1:22PM]

Yeah I say they just don't want to waste money on too much customization, after all the main point about android is that it is free for the manufacturer. So far they still want the Google recognition, so they keep the default home-screen & wallpaper. Remember only one phone has been out so far so they don't need to differentiate yet. It's not like WinMo where they have to make a new interface since there are so many out there already.

@chefgon_ign
Talking about home screens, for my XP it is still the hill, lol!

[VanillaSpice @ Apr 28th 2009 9:44PM]

"Android's fonts and UI is just ugly" - really? I have been more impressed by the graphical elements of Android than anything else. The font they use on the keyboard is gorgeous, yummy even. The icons could be bolder (as in, stronger) in design but they are simple and obvious, two key things that icons should be. Although I think third-party apps will eventually make or break any smartphone platform, and I am not overly impressed with Android's features (not because they are lacking, I just don't need them - I want to game rather than use a device productively), their UI has been something I've been admiring. And as an Apple fan, you'd better believe that looking pretty is an important criterion for me.

[Ish @ Apr 28th 2009 11:04AM]

Anyone figure out a way to view this? PRIVATE.....

[mitt @ Apr 28th 2009 11:18AM]

I say we physically abuse Topolsky until he finds a mirror. Who's with me?

[5pteron @ Apr 28th 2009 11:41AM]

that's not really what we want to see.

[Prince Ali @ Apr 28th 2009 11:32AM]

please use something other then youtube when you repost the video. I can't view youtube bc of the firewall at work :(

[Jonathan @ Apr 28th 2009 11:36AM]

This is lame Engadget, the video is private.

::enraged::

[Nicholas @ Apr 28th 2009 11:38AM]

It wasn't when first posted... Trust me the music was amazing.

[FragShack @ Apr 28th 2009 11:44AM]

I thought the Hague outlawed the Win 3.1 bright cyan, et al colors in 1998?

[ttlj @ Apr 28th 2009 11:51AM]

A mirror should appear here soon, once youtube's done processing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDwur5-T_YE

[petrosdias @ Apr 28th 2009 1:18PM]

Kinda pointless demonstration! It IS a touchscreen phone you know, how bout you...touch the screen?

[Alex @ Apr 28th 2009 1:35PM]

No touchscreen? Did you watch a different video than the rest of us? Did you think you just enter number/urls/email addys with the D-Pad? Just WTF?

[Alex @ Apr 28th 2009 1:36PM]

Sorry. Wrong thread.

[TehAndroid @ Apr 28th 2009 12:07PM]

That was a horrible hands on video. They barely even showed anything with 1.5 and used the touch screen once. Its a freakin touchscreen phone and he is using the hardware keys to navigate. Worst hands on video ever.