Samsung Moment review
By Chris Ziegler 
posted October 26th 2009 5:30PM
posted October 26th 2009 5:30PM
Being able to stuff Android, AMOLED, QWERTY, and 800MHz all into one sentence certainly sounds like a winning combination, but does the Moment deliver? Let's find out.
Hardware
In the year since the first Android-powered device came to market, there's been virtually no effort on the part of any manufacturer to release beautiful, solid hardware that captures the imagination of an aspirational, high-end audience the same way that an iPhone or -- dare we say it -- many modern BlackBerrys do. That seems poised to change with the Sholes, granted, but for the time being, Android has left users stuck with a higher ratio of wobbly plastic than perhaps any other platform (some might actually contend that webOS takes the cake there thanks to the Pre's questionable build quality, but for the sake of argument, let's restrict ourselves to platforms with more than one released device). The Moment doesn't make a lot of upward progress in this regard, but that's not necessarily a bad thing -- yes, it's all plastic and it's not particularly sleek, but what is there feels tightly manufactured. When the display is closed, there's less play between the two halves of the phone than there is on the CLIQ; pressing hard on the left edge gives you just a little creaking, but it's not a continual "tap tap tap" as the halves clank together when you're touching the display like we've seen on both the G1 and the CLIQ.
We observed something interesting in the course of fiddling with the Moment in our hands: even though it's no thicker than the CLIQ and only marginally wider and taller, it somehow feels significantly more imposing. We think we can chalk that up to three things. One, the Moment is a very square device -- a little like the G1 in that regard -- which means that it's more likely to take on a brick-like feel sitting in your hand than a large phone with more deeply curved edges. Two, it's got a soft-touch back, causing it to stick a little more in your pocket and contribute to the sensation of it being too thick; don't get us wrong, soft-touch plastic is almost always preferred to its hard, cold, unforgiving alternative, but it's just a little food for thought. Finally, the Moment's screen slides a bit higher than the CLIQ's, giving it pretty massive footprint when open. Put simply, we didn't find the phone to be too big by any stretch of the imagination -- but if you're on Sprint and you're upgrading from something like a Centro, the Moment's large-and-in-charge presence might come as a bit of a shock.
Turning our attention to controls and ports, the Moment mixes it up a bit by adding in an optical pad (instead of the usual trackball or d-pad) and using touch-sensitive Home, Menu, and Back buttons. The optical pad was a bit finicky -- we generally like the technology and the fact that it's more robust than a trackball, but we never quite mastered control of the on-screen highlight using the pad to our complete satisfaction. We're sure we would've been just fine with a few days' more practice, and naturally, you don't need the pad whatsoever to navigate the interface. The Moment features real micro-USB and 3.5mm headphone jacks, welcome additions from a company still trying to shake a reputation for using wacky proprietary connectors; unfortunately, both are hindered by fiddly tethered port covers. Considering that micro-USB and 3.5mm stereo are both fairly robust ports and countless portable devices do just fine with 'em permanently exposed, we would've preferred them that way here, too.
The keyboard on this device is a series of contradictions. Actually, it really all boils down to one: it's generously large, hampered by a somewhat strange layout that makes mistypes a more frequent occurrence than they should be. On the left side, for example, Samsung has elected to make room for the Function key by pushing the letter keys to the right, meaning that A is further right than Z -- something that takes some getting used to. The space bar interrupts the lower row, placed between V and B, and the Enter key is to the right of the Up key, which is next to P in the top letter row. We're sure we could get used to all of these quirks, but why should we have to? Why couldn't have Samsung just come up with a more typical layout? Anyhow, once you get past that, the keys are generally easy to type on -- they're not particularly three-dimensional, but they're spaced far enough apart (and each one is large enough) so that finding them and hitting only the one you intend to is a pretty straightforward process, they're very clicky, and the dedicated numeric row is certainly a plus.
Call quality on the Moment is... well, in a word, loud. The earpiece was both loud and very clear, while the speakerphone may very well be the loudest we've ever heard on any cellphone, period -- we found that we could crank it high enough to actually be ear-splitting if held within a foot or so of your face. Voices started to get a little muddy at the top end of the volume range, but still recognizable -- good to know in case you've got to hold a conference call from your handset at a mile-long table surrounded by fifty people.
Picture quality (above) was about as good as we could hope for from a 3.2 megapixel autofocus lens accompanied by an LED flash, but the setup is hampered by ultra-bare-bones software that Samsung made no attempt to customize. We would've appreciated an on-screen autofocus indicator -- not a huge deal -- but what really blew our mind is that there's no automatic flash setting. It's either on or off, and you've got to dig into the app's Setting menus to toggle it. We can't remember the last time we used a flash-equipped handset without automatic control.
Software
We're of two minds on Android: one says that we want the same experience delivered to us in as many form factors and styles as possible, and the other says that we're excited to see what sorts of crazy skins and customizations top-tier manufacturers like Samsung and HTC can dream up. We can see the justification for both philosophies, and so can these guys, apparently -- Sammy and Sprint have elected to deliver a very stock so-called "Google Experience" with the Moment, while Sprint is pursuing the customization angle with the Hero and Samsung's doing it on the upcoming Behold II for T-Mobile. Unfortunately, this multi-pronged strategy is liable to confuse customers at a critical time in Android's history where market share wins are particularly important to its long-term success, but on the other hand, at least we have options.
So, to reiterate: the Moment runs plain-vanilla Android -- currently Cupcake, to be specific -- with the typical Sprint add-ins like Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation, NFL, and NASCAR just like you find on the Pre. In practical terms, that means you won't have the revamped Android Market, Power widget, or battery usage screen that G1 and myTouch 3G owners have been enjoying for a few weeks now, but it's not the end of the world. The phone (thankfully) does support over-the-air firmware updates and we believe that Google Experience devices will be liable to get updated faster and more frequently than their customized counterparts (like the CLIQ and Hero, for example) in the long term, so we're at least hopeful that it'll be seeing Donut sooner rather than later.
Interestingly, there were a couple things missing from the Moment's firmware that belie its Google Experience roots -- nothing big, but we still found it a bit odd. First off, like the Dream and Magic found on Rogers, the Google search widget lacks a voice search button -- possibly because Sprint and Samsung have replaced Android's in-built voice search functionality with a Nuance-powered app and the fact that Sammy has provided a dedicated voice search button next to the camera button on the right side of the phone, but it'd still be nice to have. Secondly, the charging status screen lacks a battery percentage indication, something that we find surprisingly useful for deciding whether we've pumped in enough juice to take our phone off charge and head off. We really don't have an explanation for why that might be missing.
One of the biggest selling points of the Moment is its speedy 800MHz processor, and in general, it delivers on the promise of a faster, more pleasant Android experience. Most striking was our boot time showdown against the CLIQ: 41 seconds versus a staggering 1 minute, 22 seconds for Moto's machine. Of course, the CLIQ's got the additional hindrance of BLUR to worry about while booting, but that actually raises a good point: a fast core plus a bone-stock Android build are always going to deliver the smoothest user experience possible. Once you've booted, the processor boost is still noticeable -- animated window transitions are smoother, you can move between menus faster, and there's generally less drama as you try to move between applications. One area where we saw disappointingly little improvement was in the browser -- as you'll notice in our video, scrolling may have been marginally better, but not enough so to have a major positive impact, and rendering speeds weren't noticeably improved. Indeed, the browser's still very much a weak spot for Android 1.5 and 1.6, so we're hoping 2.0 knocks it out of the park -- and if not, we suppose that downloading Steel is always an option.
Wrap-up
If there's one thing Android's in desperate need of right now, it's choices -- choice of carriers, choice of manufacturers, choice of form factors, choice of skins, and so on, because no single Android device is going to capture whole percentage points of market share the same way the iPhone has. On that level, we applaud Sprint for staying on the ball and recognizing that the keyboardless Hero wasn't enough to satisfy every last subscriber who'd like to get in on Android. Thing is, the Moment still feels like a first-generation device -- and for a platform that launched commercially a solid year ago, that's not really acceptable. We would've liked to have seen Samsung come to the table with a phone that was sleeker, prettier, more thought-out, and -- if nothing else -- ran the latest and greatest version of Android that Google and the OHA have to offer. Devices like the Behold II suggest that Sammy's going to be an open-source force to be reckoned with in the long term, but for its first outing on Sprint, it's a swing and a miss.
one thing i'm still confused about with android phones: if we buy a phone like this, will all future OS versions compatible with its hardware be made available as free upgrades from samsung/google?
i find it puzzling that the same that was universally regarded so highly two weeks ago at ctia is now being treated as mediocre in reviews. i also don't understand why samsung is criticized, but motorola is praised, for launching a phone with vanilla android.
I actually love the fact that it's "vanilla" I've had the Hero since it came out and feel now that sense ui is bloatware...I'll take better hardware over a pretty widget (that i can download) any day...
I have a wild theory that could explain my first quandary. The fuel that keeps sites like these running and making money is excitement over new, as-yet-unreleased products. How can people be kept excited over new, unreleased products? (1) Create as much hype as possible about such upcoming products, and (2) keep people hungry only for the unreleased products, rather than any models they can currently buy (otherwise they'll buy a current model and no longer need to check for news about new models). Case in point: samsung moment was praised highly several weeks before it was to be released, creating the hype that draws daily hits from those hungry for more information about it; but once it's ready for release, gadget blogs know it's not in their best interest for you to actually buy it, so they deflate the enthusiasm they originally showed to create its original hype and shift that enthusiasm to a new product you CAN'T yet buy.
Interesting review. Not as indepth as I would have liked, but pretty nice. I think I will have to test out that keyboard before I try it. Seems like it would nice, especially if/when we get Android 2.0 or Sense UI on it. Since it uses the same basic architecture (just higher clocked) as the Magic, Dream, and Hero it should be easy to do. That is one great thing about Android.
This was a review? Did I miss something? Micro SD slot, digital compass, battery life? Arent those important or the fact that the space key is between letters takes precedence?
"The Moment features real micro-USB and 3.5mm headphone jacks..."
The MicroSD slot question was answered in the review.
He did say he did not have an opportunity yet to run down the battery in answer to another comment on this same question.
That leaves only the digital compass question open.
And yes, this qualifies as a review... not a spec sheet... but a review... of how it feels, runs, etc. I would like some additional information as well.. fact vs opinions like (but it doesn't have a skin), but lets be a civil about it.
This phone is win. Im gonna return my Hero and get this one.
Thanks for the review. Despite this and other lukewarm reviews of the Samsung Moment I think I'm going to get one anyway. I have faith that the hacker/developer community will address the few shortcomings (If not there's always DIY). The clunky keyboard I can handle. At least it has one.
A couple of questions:
Would I be able to use a wired headset with the Moment? Or is the 3.5mm port for headphones only? Strange question, I know, but sometimes my bluetooth just isn't loud or noise cancelly enough.
The Mobile Burn review, http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=8100, mentioned when using the speakerphone the party on the other end experienced hissing. Can you confirm?
Chris, I'd like to point out an inconsistency in the review - holding the Home button doesn't bring up the currently running app list. Instead, it's the 6 most recently used apps (they don't have to be running to show up there).
Good point -- noted!
Is anyone else scared by the fact that this is still running 1.5? If individual manufacturers have the ability to chose whether or not certain updates are pushed out, that leads to a pretty upsetting future. Remember back in the days of Pocket PCs? Whenever Microsoft released an update, you just had to cross your fingers and pray that your device manufacturer supported it. If they didn't, you were SOL. If Android heads down the same path...damn, I don't like to think about it.
Interesting. How does the display stack up to the Hero? Is it plastic, or glass? Is there any kind of oleophobic coating like the Hero has? Is there any multi-touch at all on the Moment? It would have been nice if Samsung would have included a spare battery like they did on the InSTINK.
plastic, no coating since plastic, and no multitouch.
i have the hero, and i can't tell if it's plastic or glass...hmm.
Come on guys ...
Does the Moment have a digital compass (magnetometer)? I've seen conflicting reports and have been checking back on engadget mobile daily to check this out ...
I'd love to know how the screen holds up in direct sunlight, because my hero hates it.
Battery life?
I wouldn't call this a review, but more of a hands on.
And I didn't mean this comment to be offensive as it sounds.
These are just some questions I've personally had. I'm getting very sick of my Hero's sluggishness and mainly the touchscreen keyboard. If the display on the moment is touch sensitive enough (cnet review said it wasn't very sensitive), if it works decently in sunlight, and if it does have the digital compass .. I'm going to trade in my Hero for it on the 1st.
And how does the screen feel? Is it smudgy? Or is it oil resistant like the hero?
Chris Ziegler @ Oct 27th 2009 2:45AM
It does -- Compass Mode is available in Google Maps Street View and works well.
@(Unverified)
This touchscreen is definately sensitive unlike reviews said. I barely brush my fingers across screen and it responds as I ask it to. My biggest problem is I am so used to more pressure as you would use on laptop mousepad, this doesn't require a fraction of it. Very sleek and nice, without a doubt.
A far as reviews about too big, too fat, too ugly too blah blah blah etc etc. This is all going to be based on each person solely. Yes some will think it is a big hunk of whatever you think, others will think it fits like a glove. I personally am a petite woman but don't think this is too big or bad at all. My tour was not too much different in size and I enjoyed that too. I enjoy the extra keypad because I enjoy feeling the buttons I press at times. Other times I enjoy the touchscreen. The screen is very responsive. Does great in sun light if you set auto adjust light. So really it is to each his own. I used to have an Instinct and boy did I HATE that phone so I was discouraged about this one. But I enjoy this one.
i have a feeling that battery life could be pretty decent on this phone in comparison to the hero, if for no other reason than the fact that both cnet and engadget, who seem to be building cases against the phone, chose to omit any solid info about the battery life. they both also seem to underemphasize other strengths of the phone, like the amoled screen, the processor, digital compass, and proximity sensor.
From reviews I have read, it seems engadget is pretty much in line with the rest. It is a basic old android UI.... The 800mhz processor is actually just the same processor overclocked, and it seems the Moment has less Ram and Rom, and still has the same slugishness that the other android devices even with the faster processor. They all say the screen is gorgeous, thuogh it also has its flaws (blue tint)and isn't that great under sunlight.
No one really has touched on the battery life though. Honestly pretty much leaning towards the Hero now just because I am kind of sick of fat phones and can get used to the sw keyboard, but waiting for phonearena which will hopefully do their review before this weekend so I know for sure.
thanks yeah, i just got my google alerts for the gizmodo and pcworld reviews. everyone's hatin on the moment :) it's a verizon conspiracy! the main complaint that worries me about the phone is the touchscreen unresponsiveness. but not all reviews cite that so who knows. bgr reports droid eris and motodroid launch on nov 6th. increasing the potential for new levels of indecisiveness.
im not sure what phone they reviewed but i own this phone and i owned the hero for 29 days. this phone is MUCH faster than the hero. the hero feels like it has tons of bloatware. the 1.5 seems to be more user detailed than the hero. im very satisfied. i guess you have to play with it yourself before you make up your mind. good luck.
None of these phone's keyboards really compare to the perfection (In size and layout) that is the G1's keyboard.
(coloring and bad visibility aside)
The 800MHz ARM11 is such a bandaid fix/battery eater...
Bring on the next real generation of Android devices, please!
(I'll take an HTC, I heart me some HTC)
@Matt G Yeah, let's see how long HTC will milk that piece of shit Qualcomm chipset.
Most phone reviews are totally worthless, and this one is a prime example. The size of the phone, the keyboard layout, customization, etc, are all subjective.
For some facts: The phone has a digital compass. I've used it, and it works. You have to remove the battery to pull the microSD card out. You can connect it to your computer via USB Mass Storage, but there's a quirk: When you plug it in while the phone is on, it will only charge. If you leave it plugged in and reboot the phone, when it finishes booting, you'll see the USB icon in the notification tray in the upper right, drag the tray down and you can mount the SD card on your computer.
To the person above who was told the Moment supports 4G: The rep/supervisor that told you that is simply a flaming douchebag. The Moment does not support 4G. You seriously cannot trust Sprint reps when it comes to stuff like this, hardly any of them know much more than the last time they took a shit.
I thought the specs read 5.5 hours of talk time. Are the spec sheets not reliable? Maybe my question reveals some naivete on my part.
Should I get this phone when released or keep my little HTC Touch? On my third one because of failing keyboard and although Sprint has been superb about replacements I just can't take reinstalling apps every six months!
this definitely (ugh, windows mobile)
I found this in regards to battery life...no real surprises...Link to source underneath...
Battery
None of the Android phones I've encountered appear to be able to make it through a 24-hour period without needing to be recharged, and the Moment is no different. If you use your phone to check email, Twitter, and do some moderate surfing during the day, expect the battery to be at the 25% level around dinner time. I had it last from 7 AM to about 11 PM, which is my gauge for one day. You're going to need to charge it every night unless you use it sparingly. Going out of town? Bring the charger.
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=316
Well, no SHIT if you're going out of town, bring a charger. First of all, these are pretty much computers that place calls at this point. Every single one of you that thinks the battery should last a week without charging but under constant use and never have to be reset are completely insane. Even those of you who have drunk the Mac koolade know that you have to reset the system once in a while. I mean, really, does anyone really think that a smartphone out there exists that would meet some of the "requirements" that people who tend to complain about these things keep griping about? And people are changing phones every 6 months to a year at this point anyway so who cares about what's coming out in Q3 2010? There will ALWAYS be something shinier, faster & cooler "just around the bend". I'm surprised some of you ever left your StarTAC's.
new review of the moment which touches on something other reviews don't: the ability to compensate for lack of a custom ui by downloading apps from android market
http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/samsung-moment/10613.html
This review touched on battery life: "For battery life, we managed a single call that lasted just over 5 hours. That's close to Samsung's estimate of 5.5 hours, though we'd hoped the AMOLED technology would bring some power savings and longer battery life. In a full days use, we never had to recharge the phone, but by suppertime on day 2, our Samsung Moment was begging for juice. "
why would amoled help with a phone call. that makes no sense.
Much as I lust for an Android phone, I can't justify the purchase when the second gen hardware is just a few months away. When I can get a screen like the Droid's with a Tegra chipset underneath, I'm sold. Until then, I can wait.
I walked into a Sprint store today, asked about the Moment, and they said "you can buy it today". I'm playing with it now. Moment feels a chunky. On the other hand,I didn't get to really hold the Hero. Screen is smudgy. Keyboard is odd, but helfpul. Just need to get used to it.
Cecil I am curious what Sprint store and how much they charged you? I am not eligible for an upgrade but am almost desperate to ditch my clunky and unreliable Touch Pro.
The wife and I bought the moment today. I gotta say the more we play with it the more impressed we become. Now to be fair this is are first leap into a modern smart phone. But its very user friendly, its pretty fast with browsing the web. The screen is awesome. The touch screen works smoothly. My daughter was happy watching live disney channel shows on it which it played with no hiccups. I can see people not liking the size of it. Its a big phone, but i am a big guy so its easy on my fingers. It also feels very solid so I dont feel like i am going to break it any second like the palm pre. It downloaded 3 apps at once with no slow down. It might not be the best phone ever (the reviews were starting to make me worry a little) but it does everything i want it to and more, and it does it all fast and smooth. Ok, i am off to go play with all those apps. Feel free to ask any questions and i will do my best to answer it them
The big benefit of owning Samsung moment is the solid processing power. The S3C6410 powering it is the same chip powering iPhone 3G. Ofcourse it's not as powerful as iPhone3GS, but still managing to pack in a ARM11 800MHz and an OpenGL ES 1.0 compliant graphics core is enough of a reason to own this device.
This device can support iPhone 3G like 3D games with hardware acceleration, and is capable of delivering a much better performance on games than iPhone 3G because of the higher clock speed.
I would choose this any day over the Qualcomm powered(under powered) devices.
"Not the most attractive phone in the world..." Were you expecting an Alienware Laptop to pop out of the box? "..its pretty thick" You must be a dwarf or physically weak - I got this phone yesterday, even went to the store with the stupid thought in my mind to get the Hero just because of the stupid comments in the review, and as soon as the rep pulled the phone out of the box I thought, this phone is neither thick or unattractive. What the heck does the guy in the video consider attractive?
Regardless, I did not even ask for the hero, took this phone home, and absolutely love it. The whole phone is solidly built, the keyboard slides in and out with a good amount of pull and no bending front to back like the awful HTC Touch Pro Sprint allowed me to trade-in, and the minimalist design (I guess that is what the reviewer is referring to) is spot on for a mobile phone. I don't need wings, or little flowers on my phone, I just need it to receive and send calls, store some info relative to contacts and some emails, a calendar, and anything else is just nice extras.
After using this phone through ten or so phone calls, three emails, thirteen text messages, ten or so apps downloaded and installed from the Marketplace, it is without a doubt the fastest and best performing mobile phone I have had in ten years. Contrary to the reviewer, I could not find anything wrong with this phone.
In fact I have to dig up the URL of a review (think it was Phonedog or something like that) where the guy is reviewing the Hero, and no kidding it takes a good three minutes for the Application Manager to load! I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that. He tried to blame it on so many apps installed but after watching him scroll through the App Manager it looked like not many more than my stock Moment. So regarding processor speed and this phone being "just a little bit faster" I really believe the comment should have been, "this phone easily best the Hero."
Hi, I like many are very interested in the Samsung moment as it is (until droid) the most powerful android powered device on the market, but getting this phone also requires one to be on one of Sprints everything data plans. Some might think this is common sense but I have my nice ole 450 fair and flexible with a data pack added on for a nice 54.99 so to me paying an extra 15 dollars per month seemed a bit much just to get a new phone. Now everyone I talked to explained it as "well you need the everything data plan because it's a very sophisticated phone" to which I replied, well I have an HTC Mogul, and that's a smart phone, it does everything this phone does, it's just old... so really WHY do I need the new plan if my old one has everything I need.
Until tonight when I was talking to the customer service / retention department and the supervisor/floor boss (Kevin) let out a bomb shell (not exact quote but pretty close) "Sprint is an evolving company supporting a large 3G network and we are rolling out the 4G network so these phones need the newer plan to handle the new network" I asked so your saying that this phone works on 4G him - "yes it does", well why don't you advertise as such, that is a major selling point him - "because there aren't enough areas that support 4G yet by saying we do doesn't mean that much now but when the coverage gets there the phone will be able to use it"
He then proceeded to say he could check to see if I was in a 4G area (which I'm not by far) and we finished up our conversation with him not being able to solve my pricing dilemma and me leaving more confused than when I started.
While this is not confirmed as true, coming from an account services supervisor seems pretty far out to flat out lie about the phone's capabilities just to keep a sale. So there you have it, confirmed from a sprint representative the Samsung Moment has the capability to support 4G.
To Jason above me:
google "McGuires Law"
look on right side
use special email and code 383
get everything data plan for $59.99 instead of $69.99
It's the new SERO
This phone 100% does not work on 4G. the first 4G phone will be an android one but is not coming out till 2010.
I own this phone and it is blazing fast. I can only compare it to the mytouch 3g on tmobile but it destroys it in everything. I will say it is big and chunky but the screen is amazing, the keyboard is great. If you search on phandroid or sprintusers you will see that there is something screwed up with how the battery life is displayed (ie the phone thinks it's almost dead but it can last a LOT longer).
With a 1440mah battery AND AMOLED screen this will be the best performing android phone battery life wise for a bit. The 800mhz Samsung proc does not drain significantly more battery than the 528mhz Qualcomm one.
and LJ's post above is the 100% truth. after reading it, everyone should "take their ball and go home."
I picked up this phone last week...and I'm blown away!!! The processor is stupid fast and touch response is seemless.
Where you *REALLY* win with this phone is the camera. I guess due to the fact Samsung has been making good point/shoot cameras for a while they got that down. You can really tell with this one. It takes amazing pictures... I was out partying this weekend, and people were shocked at the quality of pictures I was able to capture in low lighting. The flash on this camera will make people cover their eyes when it lights up in a dark room. It's ONLY fall back is it takes like 2s to capture the image so no action shots. It does do GREAT job for stills. The facebook integration along with Sprints mobile network make uploading pics easy. I did it only 30s after taking the picture in a club.
The slideout keyboard works great too.
Another great feature is the micro-usb connector. No special charger cables needed. Voice quality is excellent and integration with Pandora or other streaming music is a breeze. I can listen to voicemail while STILL listening to Pandora. I don't miss any calls while streaming music either, the music just stops and the call begins once I pick it up. With the ringer playing over the music.
This is truly integration at it's finest. What's an iPhone now?
I've had the Samsung Moment SPH-m900 for Sprint for the past 2 days and all I can say is this phone is a giant mixed bag.
[U]Bottom Line[/U]
[B]Good for casual user
Bad for business user.
[/B]
I researched the phone online before I bought it and came across positive reviews. It's clear though that those people didn't really own the phone and go through it thoroughly.
I'm not one to get on forums and post but I'm writing this so that other people have a real life review of the pros & cons of the Samsung Moment from Sprint.
[B][U]PROS:
[/U][/B]
- Awesome display. It looks great.
- Touch screen and slide out keyboard so you don't have to type on those pesky touch pads.
- Android user interface is fun to use
- Excellent rendering of websites
- Quality media player (sound & video)
- Integrates with gmail / google users well
- Seems like a good device design for a CASUAL user - college student type who maybe texts a lot and wants something fun, but doesn't use their phone for anything serious.
- The optical mouse works pretty well, although sometimes it jumps too fast from one item to the next skipping what I want to click on.
[B][U]
CONS:[/U][/B]
- [B]Poor phone for business users[/B] (for all the reasons below)
- For my taste, the touch screen does not respond fast enough. I'm used to having a blackberry and flying around from one thing to the next.
- I'm new to touch screens and was worried I would have this exact problem, and it's true. I have trouble clicking on the smaller items or ones close to each other. Too many times over just the last few days I tried to click on one thing only to be sent to the adjacent link. Very annoying. Could I get used to / better at this? ...maybe
- The touch screen is supposed to automatically detect your face when your on a phone call but this is pretty spotty.
I had an important business call come in and when I put the phone to my ear it automatically called someone in my favorites list. When I realized, hung up and got back to my original call, it then opened up a game application which started playing music during my call. Needless to say, I was not amused.
- It almost forces you to use gmail because:
1. [B]There is no contact sync for Outlook users.[/B] In fact, the only way to get your contacts on this phone is to either buy third party sync software - why should I spend extra money on something every other smartphone does for free --- OR you can export a .cvs file and import into a gmail account. But then the phone only sync to the gmail account, it'll never sync to the Outlook or Yahoo or where ever your contacts are stored. Plus this work around does not get your Outlook notes or tasks onto your phone.
2. Ironically google does have a free application you can download to sync to your outlook calendar but again it requires a gmail account. Though I did this and it works (really 3 way sync - phone, gmail, outlook).
3. [B]The Samsung Moment only pushes emails for gmail accounts. [/B] Again, it seems google really wants to force everyone who gets an android phone to switch everything they do over to google. Not cool.
4. For POP / IMAP email accounts, the fastest it checks your email is every 5 minutes.
5. For POP users (read Yahoo), when on a computer the emails you send from your phone you won't be able to see in your computer/online sent mail folder. *Not good*.
6. To try and work around this problem, you can setup your gmail account to check (fetch) your other pop / imap email account. Then it'll push those emails to your phone.
***But the catch here is that it'll only fetch emails for the other address when it feels like it! - Technically google has it setup to fetch emails more frequently if you receive frequent emails and less frequently if you receive occasional emails. Makes sense for the casual user, but for work purposes I can't have google deciding when it wants me to get my emails. I'm on the road a lot and I rely on getting information asap. This sucks!
7. Yahoo email users (like me) can only get emails on their phone if you have a Yahoo Plus account ($19.99/yr). That sucks. That's more of a yahoo problem then an Android one, but still. At least with the blackberry there is a Y!Mail application you can download to get yahoo mail for free with similar functionality as you do on a computer. ...Maybe Yahoo will do the same for Android, but I don't know... Google & Yahoo are competitors.
8. The battery dies fast when using email & the internet with the frequency I do. My blackberry curve never died this quickly. I'm charging this thing twice a day.
So far that's my assessment. I am very seriously considering returning this phone and getting a Blackberry Tour. I'm going to sleep on it.
If anyone has any comments to add to this, PLEASE do. Also if you have solutions to any of the following, let me know!
The Samsung Moment from Sprint runs the original Android, I wonder if these same problems exist on the newer Android 2.0? Can anyone tell me?
Thanks!
Follow-up to Business vs. Casual use.
Business users do NOT simply use a smartphone for email. If you only need email then stick with Blackberry. What business users like myself need are access to calendaring, corporate email, MS Office attachments, PDF's, instant message (corporate) etc. This phone will do all of that and more, similar to a Windows Mobile device. I have migrated from the aging WM platform to this and I have to say it is a world of improvement. Thus far no lock ups and resets or restarts by removing the battery. The interface, while not 2.0 is refreshing over Windows Mobile lack navigation maze.
The big downsides are the following: Battery life is mediocre, but this is if you are pushing/pulling email or accessing data consistently throughout the day. The other is no LED indicator of a missed call or received voicemail. I'm looking for a tweak to address the latter. And yes, there is a work around to getting your Yahoo email pushed without having to pay that $19 dollar cost.
The phone is on the heavier side over a competing WM device, but is at least a fresh face to the business market. I'm still undecided in keeping it due to the tweaking I've had to do to get the battery to last me the whole day and due to the LED indicator issue as well as weight. Palm Pre would be my other option, but seams a bit cheap and a small form factor. Plus the Android Market is getting up there with the available APPS, similar to iPhone.
When the hell are Samsung and Sprint going to push out at least a 1.6 update for the Moment? I love the Moment, but I really think they should have slapped 1.6 on it before sending it out. I have called Sprint and Samsung and no one could give me any insight on when or if the Moment is getting updated.
@thabrownieviking
Have you heard anything yet?
Oh BTW if you can't find compass on google maps then there are widgets (apps) you can download compasses to phone.
When 4G becomes available this phone will be able to connect at 4G speeds if available in your area. As will the Tour I had. There will be updates for the phones to allow it to pick up.
Absolutely no Hissing whats so ever. Works like a champ, has best speaker of any phone I had ever owned. Great for music player too. I do agree with certain songs if blown high it gets gargly sounding but very loud and clear.
Comes with a wired headset with a button for answering calls in mid music. So a wired earpiece to allow music playing and talking on phone.
Hope this helps!
Holy shit. What is with this dialog? Uuuh, ummm, aaaand. Oooh.. uuuh. PLAN Out what you are going to say MAN. I just can't believe it. What a horrible experience this was.