Samsung Vibrant Meta-Review Extravaganza

So we’re less than 18 hours from the launch of  perhaps the most discussed phone in the history of TmoNews and yet there are those of you still on the fence. In that case, we’re going to do one of our familiar (if you’ve been here before) meta-reviews to help you determine if this is the right phone for you Since T-Mobile keeps “losing” our address with demo phones, we’re going to share the thoughts of some familiar faces around here and their reviews/unboxings/walkthroughs of the Samsung Vibrant. Without further ado, we present to you, the Samsung Vibrant meta-review…please clap, or at least lie and tell us you are.

Video courtesy of MobileBurn

Video courtesy of  MobileBurn


Video courtesy of Phonedog

Video courtesy of CNET, hit the link for their full review

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  • mikeeeee

    NO UMA.

    NO mikeeeee.

  • mjcl987

    There’s something i wanna share with tmoReaders:
    there’s a requirement for all of you planning to get the Vibrant from Wirefly(and probably for some other websites) “The line that’s being upgraded needs a period of 22 consecutive months active” yeah thats right, it’s 22 months and not 12 months as You need in tmobile to upgrade a line.
    I hope this comment was useful

    • Nmansell

      That’s all of Tmobile; they changed their upgrade policy. No more full upgrades to smartphones after 12 mo.

      • Want2CBetter

        NOT true – you can still upgrade smartphones with the full discount on the 13th month. I was just told 2 of my lines are eligible for that right now.

    • http://hossfitness.com Hoss

      I just ordered mines on the t-mobile website! ship date 7-23(excited) oh.. it was an upgrade.

      Hoss

      • NiiDiddy

        @Hoss – what did you pay for it? $199 or $250 with $50 MIR??

      • http://hossfitness.com Hoss

        $165 (strange, but not complaining)

      • n00b

        Hoss i was told that price was a glitch and you will actually be charged the correct price… =(

  • ibrahim mustafa

    looks nice… but idk if i want it any more.

    • me

      You lazy Gen-Y (as in WHY???) fk! If you have to make an acronym out of “I don’t know”, just don’t even comment…. I just wish I could have said this to you over the phone with a FrontFacingCamera!! You chump ass, fk-n lazy, non-contributing to society youth MF!
      Oh, did I happen to tell you how I really feel yet?

  • Jimbo

    Any for anyone planing to try to barter on prices good luck

  • joshuakprice1

    Eh. Awesome phone, I admit. But it just feels silly spending $200 on a phone mere months before android 3.0, the fabled emerald (and now vanguard), and true HSPA+ 21 mbps glory. I know I know “you can’t keep up, you eventually have to make a decision”. But 3.0 is a big move, and we already know its almost here. I don’t want to wait two years to try it! Plus I’m not willing to risk another samsung “no upgrade” debacle… HTC has always done right by me.

    • Tomtom

      That’s why I’m buyin mine outright and save my upgrade for emerald

      • joshuakprice1

        Sounds good, but I’m poor. So I’m saving my money outright, and using it for the emerald. Speaking of which, anyone know how to get extra cash?:)

      • Animate

        Smart man. I’m doing the same.

      • Macknifetx

        I’m probably going to do the same, depending on what the outright price will be. I have heard three number, 330 (not likely), 450 (possible), and 500 (most likely). I do not qualify for a full upgrade yet, but even if I did, I still do not want to be locked into extending my agreement for another two years.

      • http://www.bydavidrosen.com David Rosen

        wait wait wait… you can DO that???? haha. i didn’t know that. how much would a vibrant be to buy outright and still be able to do a full upgrade when my contract expires in july 2011?

      • tpavey

        Why wait to use upgrade? If you upgrade now, then you are eligible again in 22 months. If you upgrade later you are eligible 26 months from now (assuming mid-November launch). Either way you pay for one subsidized and one full-price phone.

        T-mobile usually subsidizes phones pretty consistently and my guess is that the November HTC will be similar from an amount saved standpoint.

        In the end you save money now that you can invest and gain interest on until November.

      • http://pryvateid.tumblr.com David Washington

        It’s $439 spoke to the T-Mobile representative lady, & it comes out tomorrow. & plus it said it was $439 on one of the poster things they posted on here, the 9 was just cut off. But, we know T-Mobile doesn’t go even number’s only 9′s. So it was $43…9 = $439

      • phonegeek

        @macknifetx the outright price is 450

    • Stillwaiting

      I keep seeing these comments about updates for phones. It’s not encouraging when 2.2 is out and phones still come out with 2.1 or less in some cases. Samsung has said the phone will get .2, but when? Probably in six months (pure guess). In one press release they said they couldn’t commwnt about 3.0 because google was still developing it. Again these are not encouraging comments, but at least with the slowing of android updates by google shortly, these problems will be a thing of the past.

      • Garet

        2.2 just came out these phones were developed with 2.1 they cant make a phone with os that is not out yet.And it takes longer then a month to port their versions and get their drivers for the new os also.

  • Brodi

    Is full upgrade $250-$50 mail in rebate to get $199 or is it just $199 no rebate?

    • phonegeek

      Its 250 with a $50 rebate

      • Brodi

        $50 rebate even through loyalty?

      • phonegeek

        now thru loyalty im not sure but im pretty sure its going to be the same thing unless you hassle them a bit ( being very nice of course) but i was just at tmobile today talking about the phone an thats the info i got its 250 with mail in rebate for 50 and the outright price is 449.99 aka 450 which isnt that bad so im going to buy it out right save that upgrade for something pristine tho this phone is the closest to pristine that i can think of

      • phonegeek

        dont kno what the sales rep was thinking maybe he meant in store but online ( mytmobile) im seeing its going to be 499.99 … looks like ill just go to bestbuy mobile an trade in a phone or two, but with a 2 year extension for me 449.99 with 50 mail in… its the only phone in my list on my upgrades that is above 100 and something…..

  • wooshring

    I’m 18mos in & can get full upgrade…they said because I’m on the Family Plan, that makes me eligible…PHEW!..had me worried there for a few minutes guys!

  • Applause

    Will I be able to purchase this online tomorrow? Or do I have to go in-store to buy it?

    • ItsMichaelNotMike

      Just bought mine online via My T-Mobile. It’s 7:30 pm PDT here.

      • phonegeek

        @itsmichaelnotmake how much did you pay im seeing 449 with mail in rebate and 499 outright an im eligible for full upgrade ( mytouch slide is 179 etc etc) this is the only phone on the site still at 449 with 2 year extension

  • Regular Joe

    I’m really liking that live wallpaper they’ve got running in the MobileBurn video. Wow that screen looks great!

    • Fender

      I tried the vibrant at my local Tmo store today and this phone actually feels pretty nice. It is a little too light which makes it feel a little “cheaper” but it is lightning fast and the screen is amazing in person. Personally, I’ve been wating far too long for a decent android phone and dont think I can wait a couple more months for more rumors and hypes to come out. Im siked for a new phone

      • http://pryvateid.tumblr.com David Washington

        I completely agree. I have been smartphone starved for months. & great smartphone quality starved for even longer. I can’t wait for the promise of something that may never come or I don’t even have word of it being confirmed. Spoke to T-Mobile Customer care yesterday & i’ll have mine tomorrow morning :D

      • JDANGLE

        @Fender…I feel you buddy….I’ve been riding a roller coaster trying to hold out on a new phone…..I’m going to order as soon as I can……..I’ll miss my 8900 :/ lol…

  • #SamsungFail

    Well to me it looks like a little kids phone! It has a puzzle for the lock screen for notifications! The on screen keyboard looks horrible! The screen looks alright but the whole UI just sucks!! #SamsungFail

    • tpavey

      Err… so root it and put vanilla 2.2 when it is available. Even without root you can disable much of TouchWiz.

  • Pedro

    Outright price will be 499.99

    It will have a 50 MIR from the price cards the Rep showed me

  • Mr.B

    This phone is really cool. I played with one earlier today and I can’t wait to get my hands on it tomorrow morning.

  • just some dude

    This thing looks real bloated, leave it to Samsung to “F” it up. And no flash, that’s a deal breaker. That is standard equipment now days.

    • Matlock

      played with the store demo yesterday at work and the camera is super nice it took better pics then my N1 that has a flash! and the focus for the camera can be done by touching the screen and it will focus in in the exact spot you want it to focus on, and also adjust the lighting for that specific spot! FLASH NOT NECESSARY!!!!

      • Anthony

        O RLY?

        So you turned of all the lights in the store and took a picture with the flash? Thanks for being so helpful!

      • tehandroid

        @Anthony

        How often are you taking pictures in complete darkness? Why is everyone so bent out of shape about the damn flash. I have dual led flash on my HD2 and it sucks. I never use it.

      • Anthony

        You mean, at night, in a bar, or in other low light situations? As often, or more than often than in daylight.

        I’ve seen photos floating around online about the night capture mode, but that’s all BS until it’s officially tested and reviewed for a Vibrant.

    • ItsMichaelNotMike

      JustSomeDud… I thought you were banned. Still posting moronic comments I see. No LED flash is a deal breaker? For who? Certainly not you. You can’t afford a prepaid phone much less the Vibrant.

      Get the hell out of here. No one cares what you have to say.

      And take your meds.

      • David

        Its not the same guy…

  • zoid

    Upgrades are live! Just upgraded 2 of my phones online @ 164.99 each on a family plan. These were not full 22 month phones. One was a pre-order G1 from October 08.

  • Turtle6988

    My price is FREE!!!. Oh wait I work for T-Mobile. LMFAO!!

    • JDANGLE

      SO are you counting down to log on tonight? LOL!

  • Tipsofme

    Phone has three keyboard choices, one being the HTC keyboard. You = fail. UI and screen work like a dream. Buying this now(selling two unlocked iPhones to break close to even) and using my two discounts in nov for the newest thing out.

  • NiiDiddy

    Is tomorrow here already???

  • HD2/NEXUS ONE USER

    GO TO YOUR LOCAL WALMART AND TELL THEM YOU WANT TO BUY THE PHONE NO UPGRADE AND THEY WILL SELL IT TO YOU!! THATS HOW I JUST GOT MINE!!!!!!

    • jstew

      How much was it at Walmart with no upgrade?

      • HD2/NEXUS ONE USER

        $499. Sold the nexus on monday so FREE for me!!! Guess I need to change my user name.

  • Scott

    Just tried to upgrade online, full retail shows $499.99. But once you click checkout there’s a “online discount” of -$60. So it’s coming out as $439.99!!

    Of course tax sucks. but that’s a great deal imo.

    • http://www.twitter.com/avongauss Aaron Von Gauss

      If you don’t mind me asking, what plan are you on? I’m on the EM+ and it’s showing $499.99 on the Review Your Order page.

  • jxl

    SAMsung vibrant available online and through customer care right now

  • coolMANDINGO

    it HAS the TV out feature like the evo. it uses the 3.5 mm jack. weird i know but it’s there. i mean it doesnt make up for the flash and the ffc but its a aight phone. the phone is light. it does feel a little cheap though. im not hating im just stating my opinion. but for the people looking a cool phone this might be it.

  • Macknifetx

    Just looked on the Tmo website, and the price is the same for me whether I pay full price or extend my contract, but the HD2 price does change when switching between extending my contract or no contract. So, I guess it will cost me 499 to get the phone.

  • Mr.B

    Why does it show that the phone is 450 dollars with a 2 year contract on t-mobiles website? That doesnt sound right.

    • phonegeek

      i seen the same thing

  • Ko092

    How did you order online? It still says coming soon

    • ItsMichaelNotMike

      I logged in to My T-Mobile and just purchased it. Make sure you are logged into your account.

  • MAO

    Just chatted with a T-M rep and they couldn’t help with the current prices on “my-tmo.” The only information they have is that of the release date. I have the same price options^^^ when logging in.

  • Stillwaiting

    I really think that anyone who thinks this is a junk phone hasn’t had one in their hands.

    I just played with one in a store. I currently have the slide (returning it tomorrow) and this phone makes the slide look like a toy. I couldn’t believe how thin it was. Pictures don’t do it justice. Screen images are incredible, again web images don’t do it justice.

    Let me put it this way, this phone is like a supermodel, that people critique because of lips that are too full, too big here, to small there, but when she’s in your hands, you drool all over yourself and can’t believe you have her in your arms. I completely forgot about her flaws, no flash, no FFC, no led notification.

    I will be changing my handle after tomorrow.

    I agree what people are saying about the thing being lite. I imagine if you have a cover or something, this won’t be an issue.

  • jscarano

    I ordered mine just now 164.99 ! My full upgrade date isn’t until 8/18 but T-Mobile.com let me do it early!

  • taaars

    Just got two for 200 bucks off contract together..Im happy

  • Jchak

    How are some of you ordering the phone online? I went to the TMO website and it still says coming soon. Also, I am 21 months into my contract (8 days short of being 22 months) and on a family plan but the tmo store and corporate say they are not sure if we can get the full upgrade which does not make sense!

    • taaars

      You have to log into your account and got to phone upgrade

      • taaars

        GO TO..or call customer care..not all are aware that its ready for ordering..just ask them to look

    • jscarano

      I logged into my T-Mobile acct and clicked on upgrade my phone then I selected the Vibrant. I thought it was too good to be true but it wasn’t.

  • mailman13877

    This phone is nice as far as graphics and speed but i will take my chances on the EVO seeing you get much more for your money..I don’t need that MobiTV cuzz i’ve had slingbox since my WING an i use it a lot on my G1.Evo seems to be my next phone even more now after this video.I only Facebook so i don’t need all that social network stuff lol.The camera focus feature is nice but everything else sucks..No shutter..Lame

    • taaars

      just ignore him…

      • mailman13877

        taaars
        your not ignoring me though cuzz your commenting based on my comment..This phone is good in all seriousness but not as good as the EVO or Droid X..LMFAO cuzz he made fun of the plastic you get for free after spending $1600 in estimate..EVO HERE I COME lol

      • monkeyboy311

        ignore who? ;)

      • JDANGLE

        Hi I’m Mailman13877.. Gosh…can’t wait to go home and dry hump my EVO tonight. Might even plug the ole’ Droid X if I have enough lube.

    • ItsMichaelNotMike

      Mailman…. go away. Do you think anyone gives a rat’s pitoot about why YOU are getting the Evo. Get a grip man.

      Besides, why are you on a T-Mobile fan site, in a thread discussing purchases of the Vibrant, posting about why you are getting the Evo.

      God there are some real dumbsheets on the Net.

    • 2FR35H

      @mailman13877

      Actually in regards performance The Samsung Vibrant and Galaxy S all beat the Evo 4G.

      First off Sprint charges extra for their “4G” of which isn’t actually 4G seeing as its not currently having the ability to download 100mbps and is slower than T-Mobile’s HSPA+ currently.Tmobile’s upgraded currently gets an average of 10-12mbps while evo may get between 6-10mbps currently.

      Only thing evo has over Vibrant is…

      8mp camera with flash camera, ffc and .3inches of which some consider .3 inches too big.

      Lets see now FFC okay it has that but who in the USA does? the iPhone users and other Evo users and the new E73 from Tmobile that not too many people know of. And iPhone users can only get ffc to work well over wifi and that is pointless but then fring happened which allowed it for 3G it looked hella crappy on the iPhone 4. So basically as I said yeah you have FFC but its pointless.

      The only functional thing it has over Vibrant is the 8mp Camera w/ Flash I can get over that as I am sure many others as well as I.

      Samsung Vibrant however has the more important things over the Evo

      Samsung 1ghz processor outperformed the same 1ghz snapdragon thats in the Evo

      Samsung had 55fps and Nexus One and Desire(Same processor as the Evo) had 22fps

      Samsung Vibrant comes with 16gb’s internal compared to evo’s 8gb internal. That means the Vibrant can store in total 48gb’s compared to evo’s 40gb’s total.

      Samsung’s SuperAmoled screen displays better picture and is much more efficient with battery life.

      Speaking of Battery life The Original Samsung Galaxy S which has all the same specs except for the FFC had 84hours of battery life with moderate usage while the evo only will last up to 20hours. Many Evo users report way less than 20hours though.

      Personally for me Touchwiz 3.0 over Sense UI.

      If you still think evo is better after I just broke it down for you then you are nothing but a fan boy.

  • M_Az

    Well i’m with t-mobile and I still see coming soon as well, let us hope this is not a problem for those of us in the company it was ridiculous how long employees had to wait for the HD2 it was not available after the first batch until four months later, and in phones years that is an old phone. I will try to order tonight, if I am successful then great, if not I will cancel.

  • Lemarg

    Does anyone know if this is going to have built in tethering like the galaxy s? Or was this feature removed

    • taaars

      I think tether is active..hot spot I believe is off for the moment,

  • Brandon

    I might upgrade! I’m checking online for my line that isn’t eligible for a full upgrade and it says I can buy it for $164.99, suggested retail price $499.99. Just log into my t-mobile.

    • Ruben

      Same Here!! ALRIGHT!!

    • jscarano

      I wonder if T-Mobile is letting customers upgrade early as long as their upgrade is whithin this year. I heard with the Iphone on AT&T they were letting people upgrade as long as they had upgrade eligibility in 2010. My 22 months isn’t until August 18th but I was able to upgrade to Vibrant for 164.99.

  • monkeyboy311

    WTF. Ive been off contract for 3 years and the price coming up for my on mytmobile is $449.99 with 2 year contract and $499.99 no contract.

    What gives??

    • taaars

      Something may be wrong with the site..someone got the unit off contract for 439.00..I got my two through customer care and mentioned it to her, she said they could still be working on the launch prices and goofed. the phone is supposed to be out tomorrow, but they flipped the switch early..give it till tomorrow to let them fix it

      • phonegeek

        ok that makes sense because i was about to say

  • Btd2379

    Just ordered mine should be here by 7/21 can’t wait so excited!!!!

  • Mr.B

    I’ve played with the EVO and the vibrant. It’s hard to compare the two phones. Both of them are really good. I’m glad they aren’t on the same network or I’d never be able to decide which one to buy.

  • Vicosphi

    Same here @ monkeyboy311
    I have been out of contract as well…I think its a temporary issue as they are probably still sorting ecommerce backend.

  • synapblink

    For the folks who don’t want to wait for the mail in rebate, you can purchase the phone on amazon.com for $199 for the upgrade.

    Can’t wait to get this phone next Friday. Payday!

  • ckrucks

    ah mailman13877 what I like about you is how positive you are.

  • ItsMichaelNotMike

    OK, the reviews are rolling in, thanks for posting impressions.

    I too was able to finally get my hands on it today. Here’s my impressions.

    Appearance: When you see it in someone’s hands it is noticeable how small it looks. It looks great. All black, shiny and high tech looking.

    Weight: When it was handed to me, yes, the first thing you notice is how light it is. And I don’t mean light, I mean really, really light. You could put it in your shirt pocket and forget it’s there.

    Cheap Plastic: A word about others saying feels like cheap plastic. 1) most phones have cheap feeling plastic; 2) most phones do in fact utilize cheap plastic. Consider that you can replace a Slide battery cover for $10 shipped, that should tell you that yes, there’s cheap plastic on cell phones; 3) most phones since day one have used cheap plastic; and 4) so what.

    The reason people are commenting about the Vibrant’s cheap plastic feel is as I said before, there’s no heft to it. My Slide’s cover is cheap plastic yet overall the phone feels like the quality HTC handset that it is because there’s some weight to it. The SGS is so light, that’s why it feels cheap to people. We have all been brought up to associate weight with quality, the heavier a small electronic device is, the better it must be.

    But times have changed. One of the reasons the SGS is so light is that the SAMOLED display leaves out one of the layers included in TFT screens. Also, other components are getting better, but lighter. (I bought a 28″ 1080p HDTV that has all the extra connections and ports, speakers, and a base. It weighs 19 lbs! I have on a wall an NEC 42″ gas plasma monitor that I bought in 1999, back when such cost me $12,000. It weighs 104 lbs. With the wall mount it totals 116 lbs. I know all this because NEC said to be damn sure that the mounting bolts are affixed to structural beams. LOL).

    Once handling the SGS, pressing some buttons, looking at the display, etc. you forget real fast about your initial impression that the phone feels like a cheap handset.

    Form factor: Overall the phone has an excellent design. There’s a chin on that back of the phone so when typing or watching a movie there’s something to grasp. It’s subtle, but useful.

    The hardware switches on the front of the phone are cool. They are white lighted and look great. The rounded corners are especially good looking. I guess many phones are going to rounded corners (even my HD2).

    Extra Cover: In the Wirefly review it said the SGS comes with two covers, a dark one and a purplish one. The manager of the store said his Vibrant did not come with a second cover. But his may have been a limited demo unit.

    Display: Coincidentally I had Avatar on my HD2 so we were able to play that movie, in the same place on the tape, for a side by side comparison. It was a great test because the fluorescent lights provided a great backdrop to see how the SGS does in bright light situations.

    The Vibrant was… pardon the pun… vibrant! It pummeled my HD2 under the bright lights. I was able to look at Avatar scenes side by side and see that detail on the Vibrant was sharp, clear, and pronounced. In comparison, because of the bright lights and reflection on my HD2, the same scenes were dull, washed out and blurry.

    The Vibrant has a better resolution than the HD2 and it shows. The detail in the movie was sharp and finely defined. For example, in one scene there was a fire burning in the background. On the Vibrant the fire was a bright orange and the flames were finely detailed. On my HD2 the fire was a dull orange, and most significant, it was blurry. Not real blurry, but when compared to the SGS it was obvious which display was the better of the two.

    Display Size: Where the HD2 really beats the Vibrant is the screen size. The SGS has a 4″ diagonal screen, the HD2 4.3″ While you may not think that is much of a difference, remember that that is .3″ on each edge, which adds up, especially on screens this small.

    The difference in size is so prominent that if one of the main “features” you are looking for is max screen size (because you intend to watch a lot of movies, while on flights for example, or you want to make it easier to view Net pages) consider the HD2 over the SGS).

    Keep in mind, however, that the size difference between the two was noticeable only because the HD2′s display was next to the SGS. When I first saw the Vibrant, before my little shoot out, the Vibrant’s screen was plenty big.

    Bells and Whistles: The store manager had his SGS set up with animated wallpaper running (like it was on the Nexus One demo back in Jan-Feb). I am a fan of animated wallpaper and the SGS does not disappoint. Of course, there’s no function for the wallpaper except to wow us. And it did that. The one he had set was the rays of light crisscrossing the screen. It looked super cool.

    The TouchWiz graphics are very cool too. He got a phone call and the dialer showed up after he rejected the call. The phone interface has a nice design.

    Android: The OS worked quickly and without any lag. Flipping screens was smooth and responsive to touch commands.

    I was especially impressed that while the movie was playing a call came in and the interface popped up immediately and functioned smoothly.

    Conclusion: While my “test” was only 15 minutes I have enough experience with handsets to know that I like what I saw. It’s a fantastic device and when you couple that with the fact it’s $200 on a two year contract, well… it’s ridiculous that people are complaining about the FFC or LED flash.

    Get this handset, you will love it.

    Bonus Tip: There’s a lanyard hole on the SGS. I recommend you put a lanyard on it, IMMEDIATELY. While other phones might drop because of their heavy weight, the SGS feels like it will go flying out of your hand with a good gust of wind coupled with a little nudge or bump by someone.

    That brings to mind one benefit of the SGS’s light weight. If it falls to the ground it seems that it won’t suffer as much damage because there won’t be that much force on impact.

    • taaars

      Or get a hard case, I like the fact that its so thin and light, an actual case will give it just the right amount of weight it needs…but the feel of the phone is overall solid…

      • taaars

        to add, the Iphone 4 with its metal frame only took 2 drops to brick it, they tried to turn it back on..nada, at the third drop it cracked, and just to EVO this up, phone dog said that EVO use a cheap epson screen now, and they crack very easy..I think, the orginal screen is from samsung, but supply’s ran out, (same as they are doing with the incredible) in fact the new incredible’s no longer have even AMOLED screens, they have some hybrid TFT screens.

    • mailman13877

      Oh PLZ..with that cheap a## plastic that screen will certainly break if it drops on anything that’s not carpet

      • underdog378

        With that “cheap a## plastic”, the plastic cover is probably more likely to absorb the impact and crack/break (depending on how the phone lands) rather than the force of the impact transferring through a more solid material leaving the screen more vulnerable to receiving the full force of impact. This is why bicycle helmets are not made out of solid metal…

      • 2FR35H

        @mailman13877

        The Samsung Galaxy S surpassed a drop test on a CONCRETE ROAD in where it was dropped five times at normal length hand to phone length and did NOT crack or even so much scratch at all, no hard case or any additional accessory Also before they did that it survived dragging screws directly on the screen and did NOT scratch then they tested it in a plastic ziplock bag full of screws and shook it up vigorously and the screen came out with NO SCRATCHES in fact it wasn’t until a box cutter knife went across it that it did scratch. And in the dropping test did not crack the screen until it was held at 5ft 3inches.

        So please quit your doubts.

  • mailman13877

    Yea i just watched the EVO videos lol (i have come to luv annoying TMO fans with the EVO)..I will still check out the Virbrator 2morrow but im certain i ain’t getting it now.Imma pay my $50 and get my EVO for less than $200 when it’s in stock from being sold out..oh wait..i can get the White back Evo from Best Buy..oh and sure the earlier phones used cheap plastic but get with the program as they don’t anymore.The N1 is by far the best material of any top phones but the N1 isn’t the best anymore..EVOOOO lol

  • taaars

    I got to test this phone today at the store, and I must say, ANY video you see of this display does it 0 justice, it is, for lack of a better word, gorgeous. (its the first thing that pops out at you) Now, after that I dove a little deeper, (the store was slow at midday, so they let em play with it a good while) Ok..lets talk about the lag deal, there was 0 lag with standard widgets and live wallpaper, so I went ahead and started adding samsungs own live widgets 7 screens, I had widgets on all of them, fairly full, then I changed the simple weed live background to something a little more challenging, water..the nice thing is that it shows waves and when you swipe your finer across it it interacts, like your running your had through real water…as i went from screen to screen I noticed VERY little lag..in fact I wouldn’t call it lag, more of a “jump” it seems to be due to the live widgets updating, but I am not surprised, even a pc has some issues with live desktop and running stuff, and when 2.2 comes out I can see this being barely and issue. People say..well Iphone never lags when flipping screens, , well iphone doesn’t have live widgets or live wallpaper, and you really have to load this phone down to make even a little lag to start.

    Now, touchwiz 3.0,Before I was set to get adw launcher, or something else (which you can have and switch on the fly) in all honestly, touchwiz isn’t bad, so once I get it I may decided to keep it as is, but it is nice to know I can change the launcher to something else if I like.

    Web pages, load fast, My wife loaded her favorite Spanish page and it was up in a a few secs (think about 6)..pinch and zoom was smooth and reformatted the page fast.

    Camera, video does a great job, Regular pics very nice, blink detect works like a charm, so does smile, and you can tap anywhere on the screen to set focus area. (I did not get to test the night mode..it wasn’t dark)

    Although I may never play sims, I tested it out anyways..The 3d rendering was nice, game ran smooth..but not my cup of tea..so on to the next thing…

    The accelerometer, very fast…no waiting for the unit to respond to the change of direction.

    Sound, I just tested the ringer volume and the movie avatar, both fairly loud, some ringtones annoyingly loud. The vibrate also was strong.

    Overall build, Yes its plastic, I don’t feel it to be cheap at all, feels very solid and light, its real thin, so I know when I put a hard case on this puppy it will still be thinner than my MT3G.

    All in all, I am very impressed by this phone, even my wife was impressed, and she hates it when I decide to switch phones for us, and after playing with this I am certain now I will be getting this come tomorrow.

    • Green Robot

      Just a note on the lag issue. It won’t manifest itself in widgets or homescreen operations because of the nature of the problem. It only shows up as a lag when starting up applications. To test for it, you pretty much have continue opening more and more applications. As they load and get “backgrounded” or killed off by the Operating system, their current state data gets cached to slow memory. Then when you go back to reopen an application, the OS has to load the state information from the slow memory for the particular application causing a lag.
      Do not test for it with widgets, test for it by opening a bunch of applications, and then go back and try to reopen the same applications and look for the lag.
      Don’t take me wrong, I am heading to Radio Shack tomorrow morning to pick one up that I preordered but the lag is most likely still there. My plan is to live with it though until an official firmware update comes out to fix it by repartitioning the memory allocations. Unless of course, it gets way to annoying at which point root and the now famous “lag fix” will have to applied.

      • taaars

        very true, and I read a mod forum for the galaxy s were they did some line code to fix this issue, ill have to find that forum again. But from what I read the code work and vastly improved the phones performance, in fact one of the said they actually worked with samsung and was going to bring this to their attention, since they to were working on it.

  • just some dude

    Does anyone think T-mobile will cripple hot spot tethering in froyo?

    • Green Robot

      They will probably try…

      • 2FR35H

        But thats why we get it from the other international galaxy S and seeing as the root hack for international version works on USA I don’t doubt the same thing for the firmwares either.

  • pimpstrong

    the faster i go to sleep, the faster i’ll be in a tmobile store. HOLLA!

  • mailman13877

    The faster the 23rd the faster i get my EVO HOLLA..lmfao..this is to funny

    • underdog378

      I’ve used my friend’s EVO, it’s not a bad phone but is about to be overshadowed by the Droid X and Vibrant/Captivate/Epic/Fascinate in processing power and screen quality. Good luck.

  • cakesta

    After watching these videos, I’m actually considering getting this phone. I love htc but I don’t think I want to wait for all these rumors to turn into facts or fiction. The Vibrant is definitely a lot cooler than I assumed it would be.

  • andyandy

    TouchWiz actually looks really great

  • catsigh

    I’ve been out of contract since April. I might go the $199 price, but the price showing for me right now is $449 and there ain’t no way. I looked at wirefly but can’t make much sense out of what is there compared to my current plan. Looks like I’m getting a bit more generous contract price for my service currently from Tmobile and it’ll be $10 a month more to get what I have now and there’s an activation fee. Since I am moving from a G1, will there be an activation fee too?

    • Eli T

      Wait until tomorrow when it is officially released, I found that the line of my account that was out of contract also gave me a $450 price but my other two lines still under contract did not. I am not sure why but you can probably get some answers from 611 once it is officially released. I am moving from a G1 as well, you do have to pay the upgrade fee of $18 but not the activation fee as long as you have a current line with TMO.

  • ItsMichaelNotMike

    To whoever posted that the phone was available online or through 611, thanks! On seeing your post I logged on to My T-Mobile and 10 minutes later the screen said “order complete.”

    And all my phone purchases arrive in two days, so that means I will get my Vibrant for the weekend. There’s nothing more fun than getting a new toy in time to play with it on a weekend.

    Correction: When order phones on a Wed they typically arrive on a Saturday. Because I have a P.O. box, the phone is shipped via USPS and my post office still has Saturday mail service. So that’s why I get T-Mobile phones on Saturdays.

    • JDANGLE

      Still not available for employees :(
      Congrats to those that order!

  • Eli T

    The TMO website is pricing oddly at the moment. Two of the 5 lines on my plan get the Vibrant at $164.99 (way less than i expected) with the contract extension. Another of my lines which has been out of contract for two months is showing $449.99 with a two year extension. Not sure what is up with the pricing but my first two lines are not out of contract yet, I wonder if that has anything to do with it…

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