The Samsung Vibrant is my first Android phone. I had an iPhone 3G before that, although it wasn’t on 3G because I’m with T-Mobile. I went everywhere with my trusty iPhone although it had to go so I could get a new DSLR. Over the months without the iPhone, I gradually went crazy using the HTC Dash 3G, and decided that it was time to upgrade. Colin, from dreamdigital.com very kindly helped me get the Samsung Vibrant. I have had it for 2 weeks now so I thought you guys should know what I thought.
The internet speeds on T-Mobile 3G are AMAZING. I have been getting 4-6mbps average. This is quite good considering it’s not even HSPA. The display is great, and every bit as good as the iPhone 4’s retina display. I watch a lot of movies and YouTube videos so I find this particularly useful. The battery life if not so good but it improves greatly when GPS is turned off (Samsung is working on a fix for this issue). I can get around a 12 hour day with GPS varying on and off and 3G on for the entire time. For the most part, the Vibrant is very responsive mainly because of it’s 1gz hummingbird processor. I have tried some games, and they are just amazing.
The back of the phone feels very flimsy and the plastic does scratch easily. The back is removable which keeps the micro SD card and battery hidden. It also means that the battery is removable so when I run out of juice, I just have to put a new battery in. Compared to the iPhone, the Vibrant ways so little, which is nice. I can’t live without the 4 buttons on the front of the phone these days, they are very useful. I like how every application has some functionality of the buttons. My first experience with Android has been awesome although I would like to see more apps on the marketplace.
Overall, I love the Samsung Vibrant although there are some bugs with the OS. I’m sure the performance will be increased when Android 2.2 is released for the Galaxy S.
