James Cushing on 17 September at 9:35 pm

The first thing I noticed on picking up the Epic Touch 4G was, “wow! This thing is light!”.  But it’s also big!  The Sprint Variant of the SGSII has some modifications made by the carrier, that really I have to like.  One of them is the slight bump in screen size from 4.5″ to 4.52″.  It may not seem like a lot, but it’s noticeable when I compared it to the screen size of my G2X.  Sprints other modifications include an LED notification light, a larger battery, and the addition of capacitive buttons along the bottom.  All of these lead to a much nicer design over the original SGSII, as much as we hate to admit that a carrier did something right.  Those  changes also lead to a little more weight, though you’d never be able to tell by holding it.  The original SGSII weighed in at 4.09oz, where the ET4G comes in at 4.6oz.  It’s also made the device ever-so-slightly thicker at 9.65mm, compared the original’s 8.49mm.  So if you’re looking to claim the world’s thinnest phone title, you’d better steer clear.

The Epic Touch 4G adds a little more rounding to the SGSII, which is also a nice change in my opinion.  The design is gorgeous, and the device is a joy to hold.  If you have small hands it might feel a bit awkward, but the average grip will like this one.  I’ll also mention that there’s a little redesign under the hood.  Since the device is CDMA and not a global-ready phone, the SIM card slot has been removed, and the micro SD slot has taken its place.  The build quality is a concern, though.  While the plastic is great for reducing the weight, the phone feels like you could squeeze it too hard and absolutely pulverize it.  I’m sure it’s more sturdy than it feels, it just made me a little nervous.  I’d hate to see what happens when your kid drops it on a concrete floor.

The hardware running the device is top-of-the-line.  Samsung’s custom-built Exynos dual core processor makes this device absolutely blaze through everything.  Combined with the 1GB of RAM I’m sure you’ll be able to get some great benchmarks out of this one.  The internal storage is 16GB, and there’s also the micro SD slot that supports up to 32GB cards, for a whopping 48GB of storage.

The Super AMOLED Plus display has been said to rival that of the iPhone’s Retina display.  That’ll probably have some Apple fans grinding their teeth, but it’s every bit true.  The display is fantastic.  Blacks are deep black, colors are vibrant, and the viewing angles are great.  The device has been said to perform very well in direct sunlight, too, though I did not have the opportunity to try.

The Epic Touch 4G has a slight advantage over the earlier entrants into the market.  It’s sporting Android 2.3.4 out of the box, where other SGSII’s are still on 2.3.3.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of video chatting, this won’t be a big deal.  The 2.3.4 update brough GChat Video to Android.  The ET4G, of course, comes with Samsung’s TouchWiz 4.0.  It’s unchanged from other devices carrying the same.  While I’m not a fan of custom skins over Android, TouchWiz is certainly better than some others out there.  On the Epic Touch 4G, it’s pretty lowkey and certainly doesn’t seem to hamper performance what-so-ever.

In terms of apps, Samsung’s hubs have disappeared, save the Social Hub.

The device is otherwise remarkably free of bloatware, but you can’t escape it altogether.  There are some Sprint apps and other useless software.  I’ve included shots of the app drawer so you can see what’s onboard.

Another nice addition is Keyes Air, which uses local wifi to sync all your pictures, music, videos, and other media with your desktop or laptop.  You can do this by loading the app and navigating to a specific URL that will establish a link between devices.  Once there you can browse and use any of your media from a web browser.

The camera app is pretty standard, with the usual array of preset shooting schemes.

There is a built-in photo editor with some basic functions that allow you to add filters and such.

 

The rear camera can capture in 1080p, and provides a very high quality shot.  It’s not the world’s best camera, but Samsung has a history of adding nice shooters in its devices, and the Epic Touch 4G won’t disappoint.

Summary:

If you really need to upgrade to a new Android phone on Sprint right now, then the Epic Touch 4G is for you.  The device is a great buy, and it’s a powerhouse.  I have no doubt many people will be very happy with it.  My concern is that Samsung was a little late to the party with bringing the SGSII state-side.  The Droid Bionic beat it to market.  The DROID/Nexus Prime is looming on the horizon, and the iPhone looks like it might be making its way to Sprint in the very near future.  Samsung waited a little too long to get this device into the US market, and despite how well it’s sold overseas, it may not have the same friendly reception here just because it’s no longer the latest and greatest available.

The improvements that were added before it came to the US will do it some good, though.  The extra little bump in frequency from 1GHz to 1.2Ghz was a nice touch that kept the device at the front of the pack, and the rest of the hardware rounds out the package to make it a solid device overall.

The downsides are minimal, but there are some.  The Epic Touch 4G, rather surprisingly, does not include NFC support.  With services like Google Wallet drawing very near, it would have been nice to have that option available.  Early adopters of services like this will be disappointed, but then there are other devices coming that will have NFC support.  Then there’s TouchWiz to consider.  For the average user it’s not a big deal, but the look of the TouchWiz interface is just a little blocky for my taste.  If you’re picking up this device in hopes of rooting it, though, Samsung’s very developer-friendly and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to load some custom ROMS on it in the near future.

Overall, the Epic Touch 4G is a great device and still king of the hill when it comes to Android phones.  It’s fast, it’s light, it’s powerful, and at $199.99 the price is right.  With Sprint’s wimax network you can expect some great download speeds and the phone’s performance seems top-notch.  You could certainly do worse for your $200, but if you’re willing to wait a month of two the device will, doubtless, be a number 2 or 3 choice in the near future.  You can find a gallery of other shots below for your perusal.

 

1. Samsung Galaxy S II Sprint Variant Makes an Appearance
2. Samsung Epic 4G Release Date Announced
3. Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile Variant Rears its Head
4. Droid Bionic Review, Hands-On
5. Samsung Galaxy S, Captivate, Epic 4G and Other S Series Getting Froyo