Samsung Droid Charge
Phone Scoop Review
May 1, 2011 by Eric M. Zeman
Verizon's second Long Term Evolution 4G phone, the Samsung Droid Charge, is a huge, spaceship-sized device that represents all the promise of things to come. Does it fulfill those promises? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Amazing phone
In love with this phone, great cameras. amazing screen, very light, lightning fast and an unlimited amount of features. Recommended for anyone who wants a reliable and fast smart phone that can do just about anything.
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nice phone
i have to say this phone surprised me. screen and functions are amazing. battery life very good. 4g is a big difference over 3g with this phone. had the droidx before and was waiting for the droid bionic, this phone does the trick... recommended.
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Great Phone despite some flaws
Overall the phone is a great 4G device, the screen is unmatched by any other vzw phone on the market today. It does have some flaws that makes you wonder who handles Samsung's QC.
::Pluses::
~Screen- Readable in all lighting, including sunlight. Text and Graphics are crisp
~Keyboard- I found no problems typing on the included interface
~Volume- Phone Ringer is very loud and easily heard in noisy environments
~Camera- Takes solid pictures & has many options for taking the picture such as face detection, blink detection, etc
~4G LTE- Service is very fast & generally runs above the advertised speeds of 6-12mb
~LTE Switch- You can turn off the 4G radio when your not going to use it, saving battery life
~Battery Life- Big improvement from the Thunderbolt, last for about a day with moderate use. If you remember to turn the 4G off when your not using it, it last even longer
::Neutral::
~Responsiveness- The touchscreen is generally responsive with no lag time when using it. The only time it begins to tire out is when your running many apps at once due to the small amount of RAM installed on the phone
~Samsung's Touchwiz interface- not much to say other then you either love it or hate it
~Call Quality- Callers say I sound fine on their end but when listening to them while loud and clear sound somewhat robotic
::Minuses::
~LED Indicator- There is None! Seems like someone in quality control overlooked this. There is no indicator light telling you that you have text messages or missed calls
~Bloatware- The phone comes pre-installed with 3 pages worth of apps(48 total), most are useless and you cannot uninstall them, you can only reorder them in your app list
~RAM- It only comes installed with only 328mb of ram. If you run many applications at once you will notice the phone slowing down a bit, which can be fixed by going into the built-in task mgr & ending apps/processes running that you don't need. For a high-end phone, more ram should have been included.
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Awesome phone, Best 4G choice until the Bionic
I originally bought the Thunderbolt and had many problems with it, so I exchanged it for the Droid Charge. So far the switch was well worth it. I use my phone primarily for calls, text, and web browsing, so my priorities may differ from someone who streams videos or music everyday.
PROS:
+Super AMOLED+ Screen is awesome
+Excellent call quality, on-par with Motorolas
+Build quality is great despite being plastic
+Lightweight, not a brick
+Thinner than the Thunderbolt and Revolution
+Aside from the TouchWiz launcher and color scheme, the apps are fairly close to stock Android
+Much better looking in person
NEUTRAL:
=The physical keys feel slightly cheap
=Battery life is better than the other 4G phones, but still mediocre at best.
=Vibrate isn't strong, so it won't drive you nuts at work, but you may not feel it in your pocket
CONS:
-No LED notification indicator, must download an app
-Brown/orange color scheme is ugly, is seen in every app, and doesn't match the phone
-Pricey phone, NOT worth $600 full retail or $300 on contract, look for it through 3rd party retailers.
Overall, this phone is a huge improvement over the Thunderbolt. It may not have some of the flashy widgets and attractive glossy Sense UI, but it just works better as a PHONE. The fact that I can enjoy clear calls, get better battery life, and not have apps force close 5 times a day is a huge advantage for me. I still think the Bionic will be better, but this phone is very very good.
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used to love, now hate
Let me start with I used to have the Samsung Fascinate, because of many issues and replacements of that phone Samsung upgraded me to the Droid Charge for free under warranty exchange about two months ago. When I got this phone it was much faster, battery lasted longer, didn’t crash, signal strength was improved and it was 4G LTE. Now the phone keeps loosing data connectivity (but you can still call and text), looked it up online and it is a big problem with these phones on Verizon. Another problem is the phone will randomly squeal a click while you are talking to someone. This almost sounds like mores code for the clicking and someone peeling out at a stop sign for the squealing noise. The person on the other end of the phone call would never notice if it wasn’t for you having to ask them to repeat themselves.
At the time that I am writing this I have the latest software
Firmware Version - 2.2.1
Kernel Version - 2.6.32.9
Build number - SCH-I510.EE4
Pro’s
Nice Screen
Excellent Camera
Lots of storage
Didn’t come with two much extra software installed
Con’s
Loss of data signal
Battery life keeps going down
Poor game performance (Video is slow)
Squeals and clicks during phone conversations.
Cannot uninstall many of the preloaded apps
Back lighting is slow to adjust its self to the environment
Phone gets slower by the day
Needs frequent reboots
Long story short I would not recommend this phone to a friend unless Samsung and Verizon address the issue that causes los of data connectivity.
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Terrible
Where do I start?
Pros
- 4G LTE
Cons
- Very slow
- Little RAM
- Battery lasts just hours with minimal use
- Stuck on gingerbread
- Stock keyboard is terrible
One of the worst phones I have owned.
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Worst phone i've ever had
I use this product everyday for work. I unplug it from the charger at 8am and it usually lasts until 10:30am until the battery's dead. Every phone call I've had static and a bleeping in my ear that just about blows my eardrums out. It randomly shuts off and restarts and says it's searching for internet access when I know I have 3G. I have to restart it 2-3 times a day to try to fix the static and bleeping. And how does verizon fix the problem? By replacing a bad phone with the exact same bad phone. And the "new" phone after calling in to verizon 3 times and not even having it a week, switched to airplane mode and wouldn't get out of it. So then I can't call out..use internet...etc. And it went from that to can't read sim card. What's verizon's solution? Go get a new sim card. So you can continue using the same terrible phone. Then you can call in for the FOURTH time in a week to tell us your phone isn't working, and after blaming the local service and cell phone towers and everything but the phone, they can finally admit it's a terrible phone....and send me the same exact replacement of a new terrible phone. Verizon traps you in without admitting their actual problems so avoid it altogether and don't get this phone!!! Or the public service commission will be your new best friend.
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Best 4g phone ever made
This phone was amazing , after having a droid 1, htc thunderbold, this phone kikc butt, best screen and camera, love that 4g to 3g transition, its semeless, best place to buy is costco very good price and free accesories too, this phone has hdm connection which work good with my lcd screen, hotspot is very fast when 4g , I love that phone
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Shopping
I went to one of VZW stores earlier today. I played and played with this phone. I came very close to buying it, but hesitated until I see TRUE feedback. The screen was just beyond beautiful with the colors, the speed was excellent. There has been comments about how large it is. While it is biggers, I compared to the other smartphones, everything seemed large as well. One thing that I did not like, and I read it in professional reviews is/was the overall build and quality of the plastics used. If it was built better, there would have been no question, I would have bought it. The quality just was not quite there, but again, that might not be ever an issue with anyone else. I am rating my thoughts as a five, because it would be unfair to chastise a product not personally owned yet. Folks, if you have a new Charge, let us know your TRUE impressions please (especially the Battery life!). I continue to wait for that one bright and shining star Smartphone. I am still afraid to take that plunge.
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Decent Phone, but............
The screen is great. I enjoy the phone itself. I am having the same problem I had with the Thunderbolt which I had to return, because it would not stay connected to my MacBook Pro. I am devastated. I really want to keep this phone, but as I am on the road all the time, I need to be able to connect as I travel, and this is just not working for me. All the good things that have been said about this phone are true. No one has mentioned the hot spot. It just does not work for me. Anyone else with the same problem? I really want to keep it, but unless someone knows something I don't, It will be returned next week.
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