Samsung Captivate: Conclusion

CONCLUSION

The bottom line question of the Samsung Captivate is, does it captivate the imagination? (pardon the pun) I'd have to say it does. The impressive hardware  -- heat issue notwithstanding -- and the solid balance of built-in applications versus room to customize makes it well suited as a device for those upgrading from a feature phone, side-grading from an iPhone, or just looking to get into the Android OS.

My main issues have more to do with personal expectations of how much more I'd like to see Android OS devices push the envelope on the user experience. And the camera app could use some polish.

Yet, this is a very nice, and probably as well played a package as one can have, especially right out of the box. There's not much that a user will need to do to get up and running.

It would have probably been a good idea on AT&T's side, though, to include the myWireless application and a data counter widget on the one homescreen panel, but that's nothing that can't be quickly added by the owner. Samsung's also going the route of having Galaxy S models on just about every carrier, so the user experience should be roughly the same, with minor style differences playing the real differentiation here.

The Captivate has a lot more going for it than a pretty screen. And that's great, because the competition in this space, especially among Android OS devices, is very tough.

Pros

• Awesome screen
• Long battery life
• smooth graphics performance

Cons

• Heats up too much
• Menu/nav buttons occasionally unresponsive
• Camera images fuzzy for zoomed in images

Individual Ratings: *

Service, Warranty & Support  
Ease of Use 
Design 
Performance 
Value 
* Ratings averaged to produce final score