Review: Samsung Epic 4G
Photos
I was expecting a lot from the Samsung Epic 4G's 5 megapixel camera, but I came away very disappointed. All of my pictures had a haze over them that washed out color. I clean my lens before every test shoot, so I'm sure that dirt or condensation were not to blame. This was especially true on bright white spots, which seemed to have an aura that obscured their surroundings. I clean my lens before every test shoot, so I'm sure that dirt or condensation were not to blame. Problems controlling the camera focus translated into plenty of blurry images, and even when the focus did seem to work, the camera just couldn't achieve sharp details. Indoors, some of my pics were so blurred and pixelated that they looked painted onto a canvas background. This is the worst camera I've seen on the current crop of 1GHz superphones.
Video
Video quality on the Samsung Epic 4G was pretty good. The phone records video at true 720p: 1280 by 720 pixels. These hi-def videos were among the best I've seen from a smartphone, though videos from the iPhone 4 still look just a bit better. Backlighting was a problem, and the phone took a second or two to adjust to a harsh glare. Also, I'll blame the jerkiness on my hand instead of blaming the phone, but some sort of anti-shake mechanism would be nice.
Check out my high definition sample from YouTube below. Be sure to adjust the vertical resolution to 720p to see the video in hi-def.
Hands-On with Samsung's Galaxy S Phones for the US
Samsung Epic 4G (Galaxy S)
