Review: Samsung Captivate Glide

One thing I don’t like about most reviews on the internet is the fact that they are done without real experience on the device, a few minutes or hours with it and a judgement is done. I understand the concept, giving as quickly as possible an idea and comment on a device even if this idea is wrong. It generate traffic and page views but unfortunately does not really help the person who is going to purchase and use the device.

Once this said, let’s talk about the Samsung Captivate Glide and let me tell you, I have been waiting a very long time for a replacement of my HTC Desire Z with a dual core and a better display (HTC seems to have given up on slide-out keyboard, a shame). When I saw that Samsung was about to release the Glide with AT&T I have to admit I was super excited.

This dual-core 1Ghz processor phone offers a 4″ Super Amoled Display (the box presents it as a Super Amoled Plus) with Gorilla glass and runs Android 2.3.5 out of the box. You will also find a dual camera, 8 mega pixels for the one in the back with a led flash, and all of this for only 147 grams (5.2 ounces)! Yes the feel is plasticky but for this weight I can live with it.

Now let’s talk about the real hands-on experience I have with the phone: I bought this phone end November 2011 (a life time ago when we talk about phones) and the first thing I tried to do it to root"root" is the default username/account created by linux/unix OS. The "root" is the administrator of the machine, it can run all commands and can access any files. it of course (I believe I was the first one to try that) and I bricked my phone. Working with the community we succeeded to achieve root"root" is the default username/account created by linux/unix OS. The "root" is the administrator of the machine, it can run all commands and can access any files. and bring my phone back to life but the support from Samsung was just simply the worst I have ever had. I’ll talk about it later.

Keyboard: This is the main reason why I bought this phone. I was used to the Desire Z and let’s be honest here, Samsung needs to work a bit more on this exercise because it is not even close to the level of comfort of the HTC device. Samsung had the good (?) idea to put the 4 menu buttons around the keyboard, I never ever used them, you loose real estate for the key. In addition, the keys are flat to the point that sometimes you wonder if you pressed the key or not… You’ll eventually get used to it as I did but it is a shame to have a so-so keyboard, it is far from bad but could have been better.

Vibration: One of the point none of the reviews I read about this phone EVER mentioned. My phone is always in my pocket or in a holster on my belt and I hardly ever use the ring tone. Here you have the possibility in the setting to change the intensity of the vibration but even maximized it is not strong enough, I missed quite a number of phone calls this ways.

Notifications: Another of the points missing for other reviews, the Captivate Glide DOES NOT have a notification LED! I know this phone is not supposed to be a high end device but Samsung you are very cheap on this one! So, you’ll need to turn on your screen every time you want to know if you received a mail or missed a phone call. A real bummer.

Sound Quality: Here nothing to say, it is perfect, the sound is loud and clear, even the speaker phone does a decent job and the active noise cancellation gives my correspondents real satisfaction.

“4G”: I would like to think that this is not a phone issue but a AT&T issue but still. This phone is not a real 4G phone, here, no LTE. So don’t believe the ads, they are simply lying, this phone is a HSDPA, 21 Mbps, not bad you would think… Using Speedtest, I never reached above 3Mbps, and they dare to sell it as a 4G phone

GPS: Here it is perfect, the fix is fast, no disconnection, Google Maps or Navigon work like a charm. Perfect.

Screen and interface: I know every single review talks about the screen and let’s give credit to Samsung, when you come from the Desire Z, the screen of the Glide will amaze you, the black IS black, the contrast is amazing. but Samsung once again you are being cheap… Why not at least a QHD screen like most of your competitors (HTC, LG, Motorola…). The 4″ display is a pleasure but could have give more of it potential with a higher resolution.

Samsung Support: The worst support ever. You call them, the helpdesk Level 1 (HD-L1) is just reading a screen and miss the common sense to realize that you probably know the phone better than they do so simply refuse to re-rourte  you to the level 2 or 3… After 3 REAL hours of discussions with several HD-L1, I gave up. It is simply unacceptable from this company to have such a bad level of support.

Community: I am so happy and proud to be a part of a community working to make our phone experience better, the Captivate Glide is not forgotten and you be able here to see, ask, share about the Glide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1487. The phone has two custom roms (one provided by myself and available in the download section) and some modified kernels that will make your experience better than AT&T, Rogers or Samsung ever tried to do.

Finally be aware, the AT&T version of this phone has traces of the infamous CarrierIQ software, the community will give you all the tools to remove that. Also, I am not a big fan of the TouchWIZ Samsung interface, it does not bring much to Android (unlike Sense) and would love to see soon a Vanilla Rom for this phone.

Verdict for the Samsung Captivate Glide

Pros		Cons
Rating:
Beautiful Screen Light Good battery life Very reactive 4Gb of internal storage		Keyboard could be better No notification light!!! Only 800×480 resolution display AT&T “4G” is SLOW… Samsung Customer service is BAD… No idea about ICS and Samsung or AT&T won’t let you know! No dedicated camera button
Verdict	Let’s be honest, the phone itself is a good device even if missing some points like a better keyboard or a notification LED!! but the support I received from AT&T and Samsung is just killing the deal. So, not a bad phone while it is working… And we are still waiting to know if it will receive ICS