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So today marks the release of the first Galaxy S II smartphone in America – Sprint’s Samsung Epic 4G Touch. Having used the phone myself for a few days now, I can tell you that it’s everything it’s cracked up to be and 10 times more. While my official review has yet to come out (it will be out very soon, but read my initial hands-on impressions here), I can certainly tell you that I’ll have a ton of praise and very little reproach.
With that said, if you were to take a walk into a Sprint store right now to play with it and found yourself liking it, would you buy it? Sure, it’s been out for several months in the world over, but the funny thing is that this is still one of the most powerful smartphones over there and over here.
Will you let your indecisiveness or need to get the absolute latest technology hold you back from buying or will you just settle and accept the fact the phone may be “outdated” within a few weeks’ time? Sound off in the poll below and be sure to leave a comment explaining your choice!
[polldaddy poll=5508427]
Nope. Prime!
Autobots, roll out!
We don’t even know when/if it’s coming out, and what carriers. Besides, when the Prime comes out, 2 months later something else will be out. You have to pick and choose your battles.
Seeing as how I’m not a Sprint customer, and likely never will be due to their very poor rural coverage, I will stick with Verizon. I’m eligible for upgrade from my Fascinate (had a 1-year contract) and cannot wait to replace it with the Prime.
Roaming is free, so unless you live in an area that isn’t covered I don’t see why not.
Um, yes, I am well aware of the fact that there isn’t any area considered roaming inside the US, not sure how you got that from my comment. I was referring to actual signal availability. Around where I live, Sprint works fine in the city, but go out into the rural areas, and the signal gets very weak and spotty. Sprint’s network is unfortunately only reliable around major cities and highways. I need a phone that works everywhere reliably, including my parents’ residence which is very much rural. The one time I had a work-provided Sprint phone out there, I was doing the whole “can you hear me now” thing where if I moved two inches from a certain spot, the signal would drop. No thanks. Verizon just plain works.
Sprint roams onto the strongest signal, which in your case may be verizon. So, it shouldn’t be any better or worse than VZW signal wise in rural areas.
Yeah, so you’d think, but no, it doesn’t. I know for a fact that some carriers force their phones to use their own network’s towers if available, even if there are roaming towers with stronger signal available, because it costs them less. While I don’t know for sure that Sprint does that, I wouldn’t at all be surprised. Oh, and who’s to say that the towers with the strongest signal in that area belong to Verizon? There are other regional carriers in the area too that have some of their own equipment, and the roaming agreements/costs between carriers can vary widely.
But regardless of what you think should be happening, it’s not what actually does happen. I have used both a Sprint phone and a Sprint USB data modem in the rural area in question, and it was very difficult to maintain a stable voice call, and the modem, when it worked at all, couldn’t get very much better than dial-up speed. And with that USB modem, I was using it on a laptop OUTSIDE in a wide open area, and still had to hold it in certain places to even maintain a somewhat stable data connection. I can’t always pull a 3G connection from Verizon on my phone in the same area, but even when it reverts to 1X, it’s still faster than that Sprint USB modem was, and the modem had no chance of ever reaching an EVDO/3G signal on Sprint. And that’s just the data connection. Voice calls have never failed me on Verizon in this area.
In reality, Verizon has reasonably strong signal in rural areas I frequent, and Sprint does not, so regardless of what technical specs you would like to reference, I have no intention of switching off of a network that I know just works, to one that I know has issues.
I’ll concede that unless you root your phone, you can’t pick who you roam on or if the phone roams at all. I know for me, it is extremely frustrating to be on the edge of native coverage with the phone sometimes flipping signals making it unusable.
I just take Roam Control for granted, so for a regular user I could see why you would feel that way. When I get on the edge of roaming I force roam.
I find it interesting that you mention roam control, which requires root. Shouldn’t your network just work, without requiring you to root your phone and forcibly set your roaming settings? I didn’t even know you could do that, because I’ve never had the need to. Sorry if I sound like a Verizon salesman, but seriously, about the only times I have signal issues are when I’m going through tunnels or am in buildings that are built with materials that negatively affect all radio signals, including WiFi. Heck, even at work, I’m in a building made of solid granite rock, and I still get good signal, even in the basement. My tests are by no means scientific, but they don’t need to be, because I know the network works for me, and that’s all that matters. =)
In reply to your response on roam control. I use Sprint because it is considerably cheaper for my family and I refuse to lose unlimited data. We have six people and Sprint’s family plan can’t be beat for the price. 90% of the time I am in an area with good sprint coverage. The other 10% of the time I use roam control if the call is that important.
However, it has been months since I have used roam control. The situations in which I use it are few and far between but when I do boy does it come in handy.
The signal and building penetration primarily have to do with the spectrum sprint uses which is 1900mhz as of now. Verizon also uses 1900mhz but enhances it with 850mhz spectrum which penetrates buildings much better.
I know you want what just works now, but in the near future Sprint will also be using 800mhz to augment it’s network, and for now I can always force roam when I need to.
For me, it’s a trade off and one we all must consider. I would rather save $200 a month on service but for people whose service is critical that extra cost could easily be justified.
because coverage sucks and the “4G” is laughable. That’s why not.
True, but it’s cheaper and has unlimited data which are both more important to me.
Trolling or just plain ignorant? I say this because that’s not always true; where I live (Phoenix), I definitely get better 3G and voice coverage on Sprint than Verizon and/or T-moblie. ATT is a joke pretty much everywhere if you want to have a call longer than 10 mins. I also travel more than most (as a commercial pilot) and my coverage is solid wherever I go… in fact, i rely on my cell phone for flight plan and weather information updates. My plan is also better than anywherem, you cannot argue that, sory. I understand your point may be valid for you, but your blanket statements make you sound foolish.
I hope your flying is better than spelling.
I’m with ivorycruncher here, I live about 10 minutes outside of Pittsburgh and sprint is basically non existent where I am. I’m talking about voice signal and data signal (You basically have to literally downtown to get 4g) I owned a evo for about a week, had to return it because I never got 4g anywhere (I’d be ok with that if they werent slamming me with that stupid $10 fee). Got a thunderbolt and Ive been swimming in 4g everywhere I go. For what its worth.
They do offer great phones at sprint, but that because they have to, to make up for their network.
I’m on T-Mobile and if the Galaxy S 2 for us doesn’t work as smooth as this one, i’m switching to sprint on my girlfriends line, and i”d only pay 45 a month :D save myself $180/year
wanted to select two poll options – been waiting for this phone since it was announced, and waiting for the nexus prime… very tempting though, especially if this phone has cyanogenmod support. still hoping a gingerbread source release will get cyanogenmod fully functional on my original Epic 4G.
…just completed my order about 30min ago.
Why buy a phone that is already about 6 months old, when you can just wait another month to buy the best android phone to date with the latest version of the OS?
So I guess my answer is No, waiting on the Prime lol
Wait another month, oh wait they pushed it back. Now there’s word of even a better phone coming mid Feb. By then yet more rumors of the greatest phone of all time and when I say all time I mean April of 2012. But it won’t be out in April in the US so by the time you have a chance to get it, it will be 3 months old. When does it end? For me it ends when AT&T gets the Galaxy S II. If the Prime is so mind blowing then I’ll try to work out a deal for myself using ebay
I think what he is saying its worth waiting for ICS on new hardware. Galaxy II looks great but its hard to buy something when you know it will be outdated by years end. Nexus Prime will not be outdated for a while once it hits market due to ICS on board and newest hardware around. Just my 2 cents
Exactly. This is why I can’t justify pulling the trigger on the SG2. Not only should the Nexus hardware be better, but we’re talking about a huge jump in the OS from the SG2’s 2.3.x to the Prime’s 4.x. On top of this, the Prime will get all following updates immediately while the SG2 may, if it’s lucky, get a higher 2.3.x version next year or later.
the hardware on the prime is not better… the prime will have a omap 4460 which is a supped up bionic: 1.5ghz processor with powerVR sgx 540. The Gpu is old just clocked up!
Perry, I agree updates are slow with Samsung but I could see the SG2 getting higher than 2.3.x. through a mod or even through Samsung. Who knows you may be right. You’re also right in saying that the hardware”should” be better but what solid news have you heard that makes this a lock. I’ve heard that the next step up in screen quality will only be used on Samsung devices with screens larger than 5 inches. If the Prime has a screen 5 inches or larger then it’s not for me. Time will tell. Perhaps I’ll be the guy asking if anybody want to buy a used SGSII in a few months.
I think what he is saying is that ICS will come out on new hardware which won’t actually be released in the states for 6 months meaning it’ll be “old” anways. So wait on the Prime, but don’t think for a second it’s “new” hardware, especially with the way that the FCC runs. Don’t be ignorant.
Matt, I agree that ICS is tempting to wait for. As far as the GSII being outdated? My rule is that it’s only outdated if you let everybody tell you it’s outdated. I’m rockin the original Droid and I only started having issues last month. Plus I’m sure there will be a upgrade to ICS for the GSII from Samy or someone else. So if that’s the case then you’re strickly waiting for hardware. So then you have to ask yourself if the bigger screen is what you want because that’s the only big difference I hear other than ICS unless I’m missing something major from the rumors. I respect your opinion and I hope I’m not coming off like some opinionated D head but i m kinda getting sick of the “wait, here comes something better” posts.
The truth of the matter is right after you buy a phone, a month or 2 later something newer and supposedly better will come out. I’ve been waiting for a true upgrade to my OG Evo, and I believe this is it. I still have 3 other upgrades on my account, so, I will buy something else next year. I believe beyond a doubt this phone will get ICS and Jellybean. The dev community will be great on this device. Besides, it doesn’t help when we don’t even know if the Prime will be on all carriers.
This phone can give you wherever the actual technology is offering.
I got mine today, from Galaxy S to S 2 and It is amazing!!!
So, I will wait for Prime 2 or 3…
and reasons get lamer and lamer,,every phone you get is going be outdated …i haeld the sprint version today..and i was floored..i got att and getting theirs…but wow..its unbelievably great.
Looks like a beast but I am not a huge fan of samsung products. Sticking with the Photon
i’m on VZW so i have to wait for the Prime – no choice. BUt i upgraded my feature phone to the current Galaxy S (fascinate) via Ebay. Nice phone – no issues one week in…and Touchwiz 3.0 isn’t bad IMO. (And btw, i’m running CM7 on my NOok Color, so i know what stock Android looks like).
Should have also asked who’s waiting for the SGSII on AT&T. I will be jumping ship from VZW (11 year customer)
Why would you do that when they’re getting the Droid Prime? ATT service is garbage… This coming from a current ATT subscriber…
honestly BILLIBOLAS it all depends on where you live..I see people posting in forums all the time saying verizon is to expensive or ATT service is bad or Tmobile is bad or SPRINT has slow internet speeds…now im in no way calling you a liar but every carrier has thier problems and every locations results vary.
They forgot an important option: “No, My Contract isn’t up yet”
But the prime sounds like it’ll be more my speed come January, when my contract IS up.
Contract not up is a personal thing that can easily be remedied by breaking it for a small charge.
Nice phone but no thanks. I have the 3d and this is far from an upgrade. I’ll be checking out that prime though. That sounds like a serious beast!!
for VZW customers its:
September – Bionic, October – Vigor and iPhone, November – Prime…no doubt in my mind.
Waiting for that Nexus Prime. Hopefully it’s not as plasticy as other Samsung phones have been. All I really want is a stock ICS phone.
If I were on Sprint, I would beak my contract to leave. Oh wait I did that.
How do you void it?
Break* my bad.
I considered it…but it could not overcome the fact that it is a Samsung mobile device. If I wanted something that looks and feels like an Apple device, I’d just buy an Apple. Oh well.
Im getting it, and i will get the prime to if its any better
I don’t understand how people can say the t mobile version won’t run as smooth as the sprint version. How the hell do you know that? Have you tested the phone? Have you seen a video comparison? If not stfu and wait. I will be getting the t mobile version when its release. Good bye
It’s powered by a Snapdragon, so it’s no wonder people question how much worse it’ll be than the Exynos versions. But hey, the potential for 2x the HSPA+ speed, right?
As much as I wanted this phone – really wanted it, drove my co-workers crazy talking about it – I’m going to wait for the official info on the Prime and make a decision then. I was going to get this and get the nexus next year if I was unhappy with how OS upgrades were handled, but with the Premiere program getting the axe (I was gold and was eligible for annual upgrades) that won’t be possible. I’d have to wait 22 months if I bought this now.
Seeing as how the Epic 4G never even got Gingerbread it’d be foolish to assume this phone will ever see ICS short of a custom ROM, and I don’t want to take that chance and be stuck for nearly 2 years unless I wanted to buy unsubsidized.
I was the first person at my local Sprint store to get it. =)
The poll should have had an option: “Not Buying, android phones suck, am waiting for Sprint to finally sell the iPhone”
Yes troll… because that option will get plenty of votes on an Android site. You nooby trolls really suck lately! :)
No vote. Waiting on someone to buy up my Evo 3D.
For those of you that are waiting on Prime, there seems to be no news on Prime coming to sprint…all signs are pointing to Verizon. This might be the best phone out there for Sprint.
For anyone saying SGS2 is outdated now. Outdated by what out there? It’s late to US by 4~5 months but Exynos processor and SAMOLED+ are still on top of game. It will be outdated only when next gen quad core AP, SoC LTE chips arrive in phones.
I will buy this phone soon, I fell in love with about an hour ago when I first saw it. I could care less about all the bull shhhhhhhite. That Epic 4G Touch is awesome.
I got mine today, love it.
Lot’s of insiders here who know when the Prime’s coming out. Please tell me what the winning powerball numbers are while you’re at it.
Well, while the rest of you guys are arguing over when ICS is going to get here or when the next Nexus will grace us with its presence; I will be enjoying what is arguably the best cell phone to date and all for 68.00 dollars a month with my discount.
I bought mine today, couldn’t be happier
Waiting on prime. S2 is great but with sprint destroying the premier program with no yearly upgrades or 30 day money back policy, really have to be careful about the phone you choose. Unless you don’t mind paying $600 for a phone every other year.
Had it returned it Samsung dropped the ball they released the sprint one with an unknown gpu that developers haven’t been familiar with and ruined it by doing that .
it has a mali 400 gpu? They should of at least put a Adreno 220 gpu wich is currently the fastest. Its on the Htc Evo 3d