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Impressions: Bell Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S)

August 14, 2010 10:37 am By 15 Comments

A very nice phone with all the bells and whistles but just a little bit uninspiring.

For the last week I have been using the Samsung Vibrant from Bell and am liking it.  I can’t say I love it, but it really is quite nice.

The Samsung Vibrant is part of the Galaxy S line with a design that looks very much like the iPhone.  Certainly, its meant to compete with the iPhone and it does a nice job at doing so.  This is really the part of this phone that is a let-down for me.  I stay away from the iPhone simply because everyone else on the planet seems to have one.  I don’t really want a phone that is a carbon copy.

MobileJawSamsungGalaxySVibrant7

Don’t tell Mike I stole one of his pictures!!

That aside, this phone is fantastic.  The processor is fast and everything just snaps to attention when you ask it.  Android 2.1 works very well on the Vibrant and Samsung’s skinning is noticeable without making you feel like they are hiding the OS.  The phone feels good in the hand and is very nice and thin.  My personal impression is that a 4 inch screen is the perfect compromise between large screen and portability.

The real standouts for me have to be the camera and the screen.

The camera is a 5mp one that takes very nice photos with nice colour and clarity.  The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini actually had a slightly better colour saturation but it’s very close.  The real advantage for the Vibrant is in it’s large screen for showing off those pics and video.

2010-08-13 14.10.13

The Samsung Vibrant’s camera allows for 720p video capture as well.  There are slight hiccups in the video at times, but overall it does a nice job.  Here is an example of the video using HD setting.  Hey, the example is even cute, so watch it!

P.S. That isn’t me.

The Vibrant has Samsung’s much ballyhooed Super AMOLED screen and it really warrants the accolades.  The screen is bright and the colours look fantastic; you would actually need to see the Vibrant to really appreciate it…or you could just trust me.  No? Ok, whatever dude.

Overall, I like the Vibrant quite a bit but wished Samsung hadn’t trotted out the iPhone-envy so much.

About Darren Humphries

Darren Humphries has written 78 posts on Mobile Jaw..

Editor, MobileJaw.com Microsoft MVP (Windows Mobile)

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  • Dave Evans

    That’s superb video quality. I could see the hair on his chest. ;)

    How is the battery life? I’m hearing it’s pretty good. I’m still not sure about the Desire’s battery life.

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    Battery life has been good. You still need to charge it up every night but it should last a full day with fairly heavy use.

  • http://twitter.com/mobilejaw/status/21153973575 MobileJaw

    Impressions: Bell Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S) – http://tinyurl.com/2arh26q

  • http://twitter.com/darrenhumphries/status/21154087003 Darren Humphries

    Yummy phone! RT @MobileJaw: Impressions: Bell Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S) – http://tinyurl.com/2arh26q

  • http://twitter.com/sbshsoft/status/21154890820 SBSH Software

    Great post @MobileJaw – Samsung Vibrant impressions http://tinyurl.com/2arh26q Camera and video looks impressive!!

  • http://twitter.com/darrenhumphries/status/21227753550 Darren Humphries

    RT @MobileJaw: Impressions: Bell Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S) – http://tinyurl.com/2arh26q

  • http://www.MobileJaw.com Mike Temporale

    Wow! That’s a great camera and the video quality is amazing.

    I was really impressed by how thin the device is. It may look like an iPhone from the front, but it’s so much thinner and lighter than the iPhone. Plus the screen is so much better than Apple’s retina display.

    Have you downloaded the desktop software? It looks really powerful. From what I saw, you can do a fair amount of configuration of the device from the desktop.

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    I have downloaded the Kies desktop but haven’t really used it. Can’t say I am happy with how ridiculously huge the software is, but maybe functionality will make it worthwhile.

  • http://twitter.com/miketemporale/status/21368126737 MikeTemporale

    Wow the video on the Galaxy S is awesome! RT @MobileJaw: Impressions: Bell Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S) – http://tinyurl.com/2arh26q

  • Evgheniy

    Great, but what features are LOCKED?

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    uhhh…what? Carriers used to lock thing out or dumb them down like Bluetooth and Wifi but I don’t think that is the case at all anymore.

    What were you asking about specifically?

  • Evgheniy

    I’m very interested in deploying/running/debugging my own or other applications on it, that are not downloaded from AppStore.

    But my question is still open. If someone is using “LOCKING” they must understand the meaning of this word. For instance I don’t understand it. On the WM phones it meant that you can install only applications, signed with specific (trusted by carrier) certificates.

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    The Vibrant does allow applications to be “side loaded” and don’t have to be in the Android marketplace. As far as I know, AT&T was the only carrier to lock out side loading on an Android phone (on the SE X10 Mini) but I think they pushed out an update to change that.

    So, the Vibrant is developer friendly and will allow you to load software you are working on.

  • http://www.MobileJaw.com Mike Temporale

    @Evgheniy – signing is different on Android than it was on Windows Mobile. All Android applications must be signed. HOWEVER, you can self sign your application. There is no need to pay anyone for signing.

    On Windows Mobile, you had to pay for the signing. Further, carriers could prevent unsigned applications from being loaded on the device. With Android, there is a setting that you can toggle to allow side loading of applications (which means you can copy the program from your computer to your phone and install it).

    Hope that helps! :)

  • Evgheniy

    Thank you very much for your comments. Really appreciated. I’m going to get one of those.