Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S)
Phone Scoop Review
Jul 18, 2010 by Eric M. Zeman
Phone Scoop takes the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S -- the Captivate -- for a spin to see how well it performs. The display and battery life are amazing. How do the rest of the features hold up? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Iphone Never Again
I love this phone! I came over from the Iphone 3G and I am positive as long as Samgsung keeps making phones like this I will never go back! I am free of the endless syncing and its fantastic. The processor is blazing fast, colors are vibrant. I had it all set up and loaded up with my music in under 30 minutes. The plug and play, drag and drop was an easy way to import pics and tunes. Camera needs a flash and I wish the usb was the next size up, like the ones the old razors used, not sure what that is called. Buy one you wont be upset
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Very good Andriod phone
I have had the captivate for 2 weeks now. I really like the phone a lot. It has a beautiful screen. It is great for playing android games. It is pretty fast. I love that it has expandable memory. The android operating system is very easy to use and you can set many options and customize screens. It is upgraded to 2.2 froyo now.
I gave it 3.5 stars related to the RF signal. I live in a very poor signal area for AT&T. It works great where I work and decent at home. The RF is not quite as good as my last sony ericsson phone w760a. This also is not uncommon for smartphones.
The battery life is pretty good for an android phone as well. It took a little battery burn in to get it to last all day. It does require charging every night. I usually get about 14-15 hours on it with moderate use.
I love to play with the phone and have tried many apps. It is hard to put down.
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LOVE IT
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PHONE WOULDNT EVEN CHANGE IT FOR THE IPHONE!!!! LLLLLOOOOVVVEEE IT!!! ONLY THING IS DAT IT DOESNT HAVE A CAMARA FLASH. BUT OH WELL!!! I STILL LOVE IT!! DEFINITLY RECOMMEND IT!
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A Really Awesome Phone!
Let me start by saying, I usually never five a perfect score as there is usually room for improvement on anything.
This is quite simply the best phone I have used in a long, long time.
Pros:
- 1000 MHz Samsung Hummingbird Cortex A8- 16GB memory, with micro SD expandability (I have 16GB external as well)
- Excellent reception even in poor areas
- Android 2.2 is excellent
- Super AMOLED screed has superb resolution
- Touch screen super responsive
- 5MP camera
- Fully customizable
- Samsung Swype interface
Cons:
- Powers down periodically
- Battery life is very low (switched to 2g and doubled my battery life)
I am totally pleased with this phone. I was pumped to find that my Captivate was faster in network speed than my coworkers Droid X. AWESOME!!
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Simply Amazing
Pro's:
Large, beautiful screen
-Powerful CPU/GPU (equivalent to iPhone 4)
-Android 2.1 (upgradeable in September to 2.2)
-Capacitive Touch Screen
-Live Wallpapers
-Numerous pre-installed Apps (annoys some people, tho many have come in handy for me)
-16gbs of installed memory, upgradeable to another 32gbs.
-a Galaxy S series android phone
Con's
Hasn't cleaned my house once yet.
NOTE: for those who say it wont sync with Windows 7, it will without any additional software. altho, to fully sync device you have to download Samsung's Kies Sync'ing software...once that is downloaded and installed, sync'ing the device easy, and works everytime.
i may sound like a fanboy, but this is by far the best device ive personally ever owned. ive had nothing but WM phones up until the HTC Aria, which was a good device, but not powerful or big enough for me.
pre-intalled wi-fi and sharing apps on the Captivate make everything i xfer from my pc/phone easy, even if im just streaming movies from my computer to watch on my phone in the bedroom.
games are smooth, and the accelerometer is dead on. benchmarks prove this device is more powerful than anything but the Droid X, and even then, is tied.
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Iphone killed
Had the iphone 3gs, after review and hands on and now after I bought the captivate, the iphone stands no chance of a comeback. Screen, is all I have to say, if you haven't seen it in person, don't comment. 16 gb internal plus you can add another 32. Go check it out.
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Finally a smartphone on AT&T
First, I live in the Northwest of the country and spend a lot of time in areas with less coverage than desirable. There are only two carriers that cover where I work and also live. The one I am forced to use is AT&T. Given that, I tried the various phones they had including the Iphone and was never impressed. I used this phone for 45 minutes in the store before buying it.
After starting it up, I have been nothing but impressed. Running around the Spokane region, I have had great signal, good voice and no dropped calls over the last week. I was worried about GPS, but got nothing but good locks and even geocached with it today. Bluetooth was a snap and apps install and work great. The picture is wonderful and I love the size as I have large hands and small phones don't work for me. The SWYPE is fantastic and easy to use (and I'm over 40).
If I could fix some items, it would definitely be the preinstalled useless programs the carrier puts on. Having used Samsung phones before, I had no problems with the TouchWiz, though I installed LauncherPro as it's cleaner looking.
Also, not a problem for me, but in todays age a cell phone should have and led flash at least. And the carrier should let people utilize the phone they way they want without having to root it, this is slightly annoying, but wasn't a prerequisite for me.
I am very pleased with this phone and would definitely buy it again.
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Amazing phone
This phone is exactly what I've been waiting for! I've pretty much used everything but web os, owned a Blackberry Bold 9700, Backflip, Iphone 3g/3gs, but the captivate tops them all!
First off the screen is amazing! Every color pops and the veiwing angles are the best I've ever seen on a phone. Very zippy processor makes tasks a breeze, browser works very well, and multi touch is spot on.
Not diggin the fact that there's no camera flash, but so far that's my only gripe. Best phone in at&t's stable, I would recommend this phone to anybody.
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Very Solid Device
What you have here is a very well-built device with a ton of features. Its display is simply beautiful and the capacitive screen works fantastically. Mine has had a couple of crashes, but this is just as common in cell phones today as is it in computers. There's just so much going on that it's kind of a given.
PROS:
+ Beautiful display.
+ Quick, responsive interface.
+ Camera/Video is great (720p HD).
+ Solid build.
+ Endless customization (moreso through apps like ADW Launcher).
CONS:
- Bottom touch buttons can be bothersome at times (not as responsive as you'd like).
- Overheating can occur with certain games/apps. It's enough to make the metal backing too hot to touch.
Aside from that, the device works very well. Some early bugs/glitches seem to have been resolved with the Android 2.2 update.
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Best Phone I have Owned in a LONG TIME
This is an incredible phone. iSheep can have their "status" and I'll keep my Android.
Pros
Easily Rootable, for one.
Battery Lasts all day with moderate use and 3/4 of the day with heavy use.
Screen looks fantastic.
Touch is flawless.
Signal in NC is great, I never drop calls
Texting is easy.
Swype is fun (not a huge fan, but still fun)
Running on Android 2.1 it's still a beast, Root it and it's friggin' Godzilla! on 2.2.
Downloads Aps quickly.
Camera is great.
Video is very clear.
Expandable Memory! EXPANDABLE MEMORY!!!!! EXXXXXXXXXXXPANDABLE MMMMMMEEEEMMMOOORRRYYYY!!!!
Cons
No flash. Ringtones start off soft and it's not changeable. Sans a custom ROM.
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