The VERY BEST cell phone so far for those who want it all! December 22, 2010

Reviewer:  R. Goldhammer  (Bakersfield, CA, US) -

I just don't get it, I have had this Samsung Captivate phone now for at least 3-4 months and I play around a lot with it everyday.

So far it has never shut off by itself whether its charging or not charging.

Also after seeing these few comments from others about GPS not working I made a test.

I installed Google Maps along with a couple of other name brand GPS apps and again I must say that not only the GPS apps which come with the phone but the two others I installed ALL works just fine. GPS almost instantly detects/finds my exact location and all these tests where made inside my house with the phone on my computer desk.

As far as the battery being weak I also must say that at least for me after a full charge if I turn off wifi and gps and only use it as a normal phone, no game play and so on the battery lasts at least 4 days for me.
-
Also I must have installed 30 or more apps and games already and I have not had any problem connecting the usb cable to computer and transfering songs, videos and pictures.

I have both Windows 7 and Windows XP and when I first got the phone and plugged it into the computers I did not even need any drivers installed at all. Both computers reconized the samsung captivate phone right away.
-
After reading the handfuls of people complaing about these problems at first I was afraid to buy the phone but I am sure glad I did!
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Don't want to write a book here about how excellent the phone works and what all it can do so if you want to read more details about the phone before buying it then just read all the 5 star reviews here on amazon....... I have a hunch that at least half the people who are writing reviews complaining about random shutdown, gps and battery life must work for some other cell phone company and are paid to write these bad reviews.

I am certain that there are a few people who actually do have problems and I am sure that AT&T is either doing refunds or replacments as needed. The phone is super excellent!
-
P.S. Just remember that AT&T sells and sold thousands of these phones but way less than even 1% of those who purchased it leave reviews here on Amazon or any other place on the internet.
If there really were a lot of people having the shutoff/restart, GPS and other problems
then AT&T and Samsung would have had a massive recall on these phones a long time ago.

iPhone 4 Killer July 22, 2010

Reviewer:  Bakbone  (Chicago, IL) -

Picked it up Monday. Most impressive. Very responsive and has a slick design. Very pocket-able.

Let me tell you about my experience at the ATT store. This proves so well the love relation between Apple and ATT.

I went to check out the phone in store before I bought it and guess what. The display Captivate was not working. They stuck it in a corner turned off with a broken power plug; it was like on purpose. While the Apple stand was bright and shiny, with 3 impeccable phones and a big iPhone logo under a colorful projector.

REALLY !!! Really ATT, this is how you sell phones on the first week of release? I'm SO glad I got rid of my 3G. I was sick entire of the ATT-Apple shenanigans.

My impressions about the Captivate... 5 stars. But I'll still start with the cons (I'm a critic by nature)

Cons:
- no flash on back camera
- the plastic on the back ( not the metal cover) feels too cheap. I would prefer a matte plastic.
- they removed essential apps for me like FM Radio. And they put the ATT bloatware
- touch buttons are hard to spot in the dark. I got to get used.
- GPS takes a long time to lock. This is a fixable software issue.

Pros:
- Gorgeous screen - AMAZING !!!
- Fast and responsive
- Awesome design ( i just love that metal battery cover)
- Replacement battery (costs like 30 $)
- Android is generation ahead of iOS. You gotta try this.
- Open Android Market.
- Over the Air backup and OS Updates (hopefully ATT won't screw this).

UPDATE
OK. I'm gonna drop the rating to 4 stars until ATT/Samsung decides to fix the GPS lock issue.

Awesome Android smartphone for AT&T customers July 20, 2010

Reviewer:  T. Lee 

Was in the market for a new smartphone and stumbled upon this little beauty on CNET just one day before it was released. I had one year left on my AT&T contract and after seriously considering the Motorola Droid X on Verizon I ended up buying the Captivate instead (paying full retail price), and I honestly couldn't be happier with my decision. I'll try to condense this as much as possible since I have so much to praise about this phone so I'll start by listing some of its shortcomings.

First of all, this phone has a lot of design flaws that could have easily been corrected but instead needlessly hamper the user experience. This is a very common and frustrating trend in consumer electronics and is also the same reason why companies like Apple have been so successful since they know how to keep their products simple and useable. Things like having the headphone jack on the top of the phone (incredibly annoying when you're listening to music and have to flip the phone around every time you pull it out of your pocket) or, conversely, placing the power/lock key on the side of the phone when every other phone on the planet either has it at the top or on the front. The worst offenders by far, however, are the four touch-sensitive shortcut keys that Samsung insists on using for all their products. Why on earth would you use touch keys over physical keys when physical keys are more visible, more tactile, more responsive, and arguably look better too (touch keys in my opinion look tacky and uncomfortable to use). I can't tell you how much time I spend fumbling for the back and home keys either because the backlight only feels like staying on for .6 seconds, or because they don't always respond the first ten times I tap them. Touch keys are stupid and I hope manufacturers stop using them unless they provide some specific benefit or need. Lastly, the camera is pretty mediocre (my 2-year-old Sony Ericsson k850i crushes this in terms of picture quality) and the screen is also just the slightest bit lacking in the resolution department.

Having said all that, this phone does many, many things incredibly well. The super AMOLED screen has a real wow factor that's particularly evident once you fire up some videos or start browsing the web. Browsing itself is a joy thanks to the roomy four-inch screen and screaming fast Hummingbird processor that makes everything just fly. The Samsung TouchWiz interface is very solid I have no complaints and the Swype text-input feature that comes preloaded is amazingly fast and accurate. I'm very surprised it doesn't get more attention given how intuitive it is. And Android, what can I say, it's completely blown away all my expectations. The level of customization is unreal and makes the iPhone OS look like Windows 7 Starter.

All in all, I'm in love with this phone even with all it's design quirks. It's nice that AT&T finally gets not just a worthy Android phone but a supremely capable one at that. If you're interested in a new smartphone and aren't totally enamored by Apple, I encourage you to take a long, hard look at the Samsung Captivate. It truly is a sight to behold.

I love this phone August 7, 2010

Reviewer:  Richard K. Summers "Kevin"  (Austin, TX) -

I've been a HUGE iphone fan for the past two years, but have seen the android light!! If it wasn't for the antenna and face recognition issues with the iphone 4 I probably would've bought it since it was time to upgrade. I loved my iphone 3G but after seeing the 4, it made me realize that apple was definitely into making money rather than satisfying their customers so I started to venture elsewhere. I had been following the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones and after seeing all the reviews for the Captivate before and after it was released I was sold.

This phone is simply incredible. Like personalization? You got it! Everything and anything on this phone can be personalized for your pleasure. I was kinda under the impression that Android phones were for geeked out PC users, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

My ONLY complaint for this phone is the music player. I'm probably just still way used to how it worked on the iphone, but as of now I've got a few issues with how music is played on the Captivate. For one, you can't play tracks without gaps (seamlessly), the way you search for music to play is a little different, but if not for these qualms I wouldn't have anything negative to say for this phone. It's fast, it's light, the screen is incredible and the android market is stacked with apps.

Again, I was a HUGE fan of all apple products but I finally realized that every new version of the iPhone is nothing but updates to the software. Put the phone in a case (which I always do) and you can't even realize which version you have because that's the only way to personalize them.

Altogether happy; much more than I expected to be March 9, 2011

Reviewer:  JS22  (Colorado) -

For me, cell phones have always been an annoyance. Something I needed, but tried to use as little as possible. I absolutely hate talking to someone who isn't right there, and why anyone would endure the annoyance of texting has always baffled me. The only positive was that it saved me from having to wear a watch.

For the past year or two I've watched with annoyance as one after another of my friends and co-workers have bought an iPhone or other smartphone. I never wanted one, b/c I didn't want the added monthly expense, the added bulk, and the even more annoying and distracting features. But my old cell phone was starting to wear out, and I had to get something.

The one crack in my steely resolve not to become a smartphone owner was the fact that I'm a linux and open-source geek. I love it when a free, cooperative, global, merit-ocratic effort kicks the behind of a corporate behemoth. Apple is rapidly losing ground to Android, and Microsoft never had a chance. Anyway, the thought of having a linux root prompt on my cell phone was too much to pass up. For $30, it was worth a shot. But which Android phone to get ?

One issue I struggled with was whether to go for a large screen like the Captivate or a smaller (more pocket friendly) model.

A : You want the big screen. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts.

I also wondered if I really needed a gigahertz CPU.

A : Yes, you want a fast CPU. Trust me. Everything should just happen "now". With the Captivate it does.

When shopping, I was waffling on those issues. Now that I've had the Captivate, I can't imagine how I could have even considered anything else.

Hardware-wise, I must say that in person, the screen is absolutely beautiful. I picked a gorgeous photo for my desktop and I'm still struck by the richness and detail. Originally, I considered carrying the phone in my pocket. No way ! I have a secure, belt-mounted case for it.

The overall quality of the device is pretty high, and although it really is gorgeous, I have mine protected in a (sticky, lint-covered) silicone skin for safety.

Back to my hatred of cell phones.... One thing I always despised about my old phone was all the garbage that ATT stuck on it : "Hey, how'd you like to give us even more of your money ? Pick a button, any button..." The thing that sealed the deal on the Captivate (Android, in general) was the ability to root the phone and get rid of all that garbage. Maybe it's not for everyone, but for someone reasonably comfortable with reading (and following) directions, there are many options for modifying or replacing the software on the the phone. I picked a "ROM" called Cognition 3.04. A few minor issues at first, but now it's all good. No stupid bootup sounds, shutdown sounds, cheesy animations, or un-removable greed-ware from ATT. Plus, if I want, I can plug the phone into my laptop and share the 3G link ("tethering") without having to pay the absurd extra charges that ATT tries to slap you with.

Regarding ATT : No I don't hate them. I get fantastic reception, good service, and never had any unpleasant dealings with them. The reception (in my area) is _so_ much better that I would never consider changing carriers. My only gripe (as subtly hinted at above) is that I'm a cheapskate, and really resent it when somebody continuously tries to gouge me for real or imaginary "services" I don't want.

For the Captivate (with tethering in mind) I decided to go with the 2 gigabyte monthly data plan. Another choice I am now very happy with. Turns out I haven't bothered with the tethering yet, but I'm so hooked on apps and mobile web surfing that I'm easily going over the 200 Mbyte level. At work, and seemingly everywhere I go around town, there is free wifi. So my only 3G usage is at home. Video is a little tedious on 3G, but web surfing and downloading apps are pretty smooth and reliable. And I'm finding that many of the apps that I like and use require some (but not a lot) of connectivity. With 2 gigs per month, I can just go ahead and use them without having to keep one eye on the meter.

As suggested, I have "come around" and decided that having a smartphone is in fact a good thing. The apps available are sufficiently powerful and useful to actually be worthwhile. If you are on the fence, I'd encourage you to take the plunge. Using a smartphone (as it turns out) can be both fun and satisfying. Even if you hate to talk.....

If you want GPS don't get Samsung March 1, 2011

Reviewer:  alternate 

I have a Samsung Captivate - gps works very poorly. Have been through 4 warranty exchanges with AT&T. They will only offer a downgrade to an obsolete, less capable phone.
Seems like all Samsung Galaxy S models have the same problem, and they are silent on the problem, and AT&T is mostly denying it.
(Google "samsung gps" before you buy.)
(BTW: The Android 2.2 upgrade and other "fixes" do not fix this problem.)

Nice on paper not in real life. October 11, 2010

Reviewer:  T. Powell 

On paper this phone seemed great! But after buying it and testing it for a few days I can tell this phone seems rushed to market.
The GPS doesn't work on it for me. It can never determine where I am. Also my cell signal is constantly 0-1 bars at Home or Work. And this morning I woke up and my phone would not turn itself on. It was plugged in all night.
I am not sure what is wrong with it. It did do one system update since I have had the phone. But I guess it is not enough. I am returning this phone. Maybe next year they will have all the bugs worked out.

Side note: I hated all the "spam-ware" ATT loaded on the phone. They installed 6+ ATT apps on there. And some of them want to bill your cell number for services. And they do not provide a way to remove them. Not cool.

Great Phone With Problems That Can Be Overlooked... For Now September 11, 2010

Reviewer:  JoeD 

I was extremely excited to purchase the Captivate because it is a wonderful phone, running a wonderful operating system (Android 2.1), and has an incredible screen. When I bought it from Amazon, I tried it out for a few days and loved it so much that I bought one for my wife.

Android 2.1 (Eclair) is great, but the only reason I bought this phone was because of the promise of the upgrade to Android 2.2 (Froyo). Not only is 2.2 faster, but it integrates Bluetooth voice dialing, which I desperately need in my car to keep my hands on the wheel. I am thinking of Rooting the phone because I want to get rid of the AT&T bloatware (none of which I will be using) and I want to be able to use some incredible apps that are only available for rooted phones (Titanium Backup for one). The Captivate handles everything very well. The movement of the programs and the transistions is very fast. If you are seeing any studdering in the transitions or program loading, I would recommend changing the display Animations in the settings to Some instead of All.

The capactive buttons at the bottom are a little bit of a hassle. I would have preferred real buttons. I hit search button all of the time when I meant to hit the back. The back button and the search button should be reversed because I will use the back button 10 times more.

The phone is actually too thin. I knew after the first day that I would have to get a case for this phone to effectively hold it while I am using it. I bought the Body Glove case (the one without a stand) and I recommend it. It fits very snug and adds very little thickness to the phone while make it fit more securely in my hands.

The battery life is good and it could be better, but I know for a fact it is better than most smart phones. I ordered a car charger and I am planning on getting an extra wall charger for work so battery life will be something I never need to worry about.

So, the bad news... The GPS on both my phone and my wife's phone does not work at all. I knew this could happen before I bought them, but I still bought them because of Samsung's promise to fix the issue. Some people have problems with the GPS taking too long to get a signal, our's doesn't get a signal after more than 15 minutes. This has to get fixed! Samsung, you promised a fix, DON"T SIT ON YOR THUMBS ON THIS ONE! I can send mine back for a replacement, but it seems at least half of the phones have this problem, so a fix is all that will take care of it.

So, all in all a great phone. Once the GPS fix is out and Froyo is available, I will consider this phone to be as great as I expected. I know the missing flash for the camera is a bad thing, but I bought it knowing it didn't have one. I am already enjoying this phone and I will be enjoying it for the next two years.

This phone is just what I was waiting for September 2, 2010

Reviewer:  J. Brininger  (San Diego, CA) -

I'll keep this review short and sweet, as there are a lot of other reviews with the pros and cons. I had Verizon's Droid Eris before this and the phone had only a 524mhz processor and to my surprise the Verizon network sucks where I live. The phone was slow, typing on the virtual keypad was horrible as it would lag and stutter, and everything about the phone was slow. This phone with a 1000mhz processor is super fast, I don't have to worry about killing apps, and the keyboard is fantastic!! Absolutely no lag and the screen is just gorgeous. Call quality has been great and I get great service where I am in AT&T.

I wanted to get the Epic for Sprint because of the physical keyboard, but after using the captivate I really don't need the physical keypad. This thing JUST WORKS.

(9/14/10)Edit: The GPS is broken currently, but it is a software issue so it is apparently being fixed. Also, when I received the phone I had problems with it randomly turning itself off. I returned the phone to Amazon and got a new one. So far, no problems with the new phone. I did a lot of research on this issue and it appears to be a bad batch of Captivates and not a software issue or an app issue.

The Best phone I found after an extensive search to replace my IPhone 3g August 21, 2010

Reviewer:  B. Burgdorf  (Evansville, IN, USA) -

Absolutly the best phone I found out there on the market. I am an x-IPhone 3G owner, was gonna go with the IP4, however, with all the problems to be worked out of it I actually decided to "look around" That was a hard decision for a true apple fan like myself, but to be honest i was getting a little sick of the "closed" world forced on apple users. Well I can tell you the captivate is an excellent phone. I have read some of the reviews that had problems with the GPS locking in, troubles with the media player, and compatability issues. I have had none of these problems. From out of the box this phone has performed as expected/advertised. The feel is supurb in the hand. It works great for my needs and I am more than satisfied with it. I find myself not missing the IPhone as I thought I would. Actually, its nice to download an audiobook right from Windows media player directly to my phone. I can drop movies directly verses going through Itunes...yea, I won't miss that too much. You can feel perfectly at ease with buying this phone. I believe it will exceed all your needs.

Solid Android offering for ATT users July 22, 2010

Reviewer:  Kush  (Bay area CA) -

Got this on the 20th so I've had a few days to play with it. Overall I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it, more than I expected to be. The screen is really, really nice. Words don't really do it justice. Phone looks better up close than it does in pics.

Pros:
-Great screen.
-Fast. No slowdown or system lag of any kind at this point
-Great call quality. Everyone I've called has noticed the difference. According to their PR, the calls are digitally filtered by the phone to reduce background noise etc, and it seems to work.
-Camera works well/makes pretty pictures. Tried making some videos, they turned out well.
-Speakers are good. Speakerphone and otherwise
-Very light and slim. Fits in the pocket almost unnoticeable.
-Battery use better than expected, maybe the best of any smartphone I've used. Not bad considering it's rocking a 1ghz processor.

Cons:
-Proprietary USB adapter kind of sucks. While plugged in, you basically can't do anything with the phone or it falls out/stops charging. So long trips with it plugged in to use as a wannabe kindle probably won't end well.
-No camera flash
-No front facing camera
-ATT bloatware. Their stuff is so bad...
-While not as bad as the att shitware, the Samsung apps aren't exactly useful for the most part.
-Notification LED doesn't work? I've heard this before from others, is it just disabled or what?

Overall, I think I'd rather have an Evo. But it's a close call, and if you want to be with ATT this is their best droid offering.

Don't let the beautiful screen fool you May 20, 2011

Reviewer:  James "jamesaa"  (Dallas, TX) -

With the Captivate's specs and amazingly gorgeous screen, it has a lot of potential, but unfortunately with poor quality control it doesn't live up to that potential.

I got my first Captivate in September. It dropped most calls after a period of about 30-90 seconds, and four out of five outgoing calls I attempted would not connect. So after a week, I took it back.

The second one had a bad radio or bad antennas, so most places where I should have been getting full signal, I got no signal at all. So on the very last day of my 30 day return period, I took it back.

The third one connects calls, but is incredibly slow and unstable compared to the first two. Apps crash for no apparent reason, and occasionally when I restart the phone it takes two or three tries to get everything to load correctly. (A couple of times I restarted and even after a few minutes had no apps in the apps menu.) Before the Froyo update (which came ten months after Google released it), I even had trouble with the software processes that manage the phone part of the phone crashing. The Froyo update fixed a lot of the random FCs, but not all; now it just hangs at random times. Over the course of the last couple of months, I've begun having trouble with the proximity sensor not working. The screen comes on while I'm in the middle of a phone call, which results in buttons on the screen being pressed by my face (usually mute, but sometimes it's the keypad and even End.)

I have had some problems with Ford Sync in my car (sometimes I have to restart the phone to force it to connect, and a lot of times it will keep playing music after I have turned the car off - especially when I'm listening to the radio and not bluetooth audio), but when it actually connects it works fine - I'm able to make and receive calls through Sync, and bluetooth streaming works with the steering wheel controls. (From reading on the Sync message boards, this is not always the case with all Sync users.)

On top of the major quality flaws, there are also some minor annoyances. I was surprised to find that some settings were different, and in different places, among the three individual phones I had, and in true Linux fashion, sometimes it takes a an hour or two of research to figure out how to change settings that should be straightforward and one or two taps from the homescreen. After the Froyo update, the screen no longer stays on and unlocked when the phone is plugged in, which is annoying when using the phone as a media player, and dangerous when using it as a GPS unit, because rather than being able to glance at the map quickly and back at the road, you have to actually turn the phone back on and unlock the screen. (The Widgetsoid app has a way to disable this, but it has to be done every time the phone is rebooted.) The music player app works really well for playing music, but there is no good iTunes-like way to synch music between the phone and a computer, so it has to be done manually through folders.

All that said, the calls (on one that is actually able to make calls) are just fine. The reception is good - on par with the iPhone 3G and Blackberry Bold 9700 I had before - and I can generally understand what people are saying. The camera is at least as good as my point-and-shoot, and the video quality is nice too (though not as nice as the iPhone 4's). And it has the absolute most beautiful screen I have ever seen in my life. Several of my friends and coworkers have Droid Xs, and their grainy, washed-out screens look just plain old in comparison, and compared to the Captivate's Super AMOLED, even the iPhone 4's "Retina" display looks a little bit sad. The brightness and clarity of the screen make it look about like the faked, pixel-less sci-fi displays, and earns this piece of you-know-what its second star.

Features: **** (4 stars out of 5)
Reliability: * (1 begrudgingly-awarded star out of 5)
Quality: (0 stars out of 5)
Screen: ************ (12 stars out of 5)

EDIT 7/3/11: The phone randomly buzzed a few times last night as I was going to sleep, and when I woke up the screen was what would pass for black on another phone (but is more like a dark gray on the AMOLED.) I had to remove the battery to get it to come back on.

It seems to be coming up with new annoying tricks every day...

8/27/11: It's gotten to the point where I treat it like an old Windows 95 computer, and just reboot it every day. Today it froze while shutting down.

8/28/11: The calendar seems to be having trouble syncing with my Exchange calendar at school. Some of my classes (which I've put in as repeating appointments) show up multiple times, some don't show up at all, and some show up multiple times only on the first day. A lot of good it does to have a smartphone that's supposed to sync with Exchange when it doesn't actually do so.

Will not connect to PC for USB transfer April 30, 2011

Reviewer:  BarrHu 

This phone will not connect to a Windows 7 64 bit pc for Kies update, USB mass storage, or media player. Therefore it's pretty useless to me, unfortunately I'm stuck with it. I'd love to be posting a solution to this problem here for others to google, but I've been at it for a couple of months now to no avail and have given up.

I suppose it is ok as a phone, but will look elsewhere for an Android development platform.

USB Device Not Recognized
Unknown Device
Samsung Captivate

Very good iPhone alternative April 26, 2011

Reviewer:  K. Conroy  (Boston, MA) -

I've had this phone for over 7 months now and I really like it. I used to have an iPhone and I prefer the customization that Android allows you. I do miss how polished the iOS software was. The iPhone generally just works and is easy to configure. Android apps occasionally crash like software on a computer might. My email crashes from time to time and Facebook crashes sometimes when I turn the phone on, but works after that. The phone is incredibly thin and light but solid feeling. The screen looks awesome and is very responsive to touch. The battery is also better than other Android devices compared with friends' phones. Bloatware from AT&T is not too bad. Sync with Google and Facebook is great, sync with MS Exchange is not great, but works.

No complaints about the user interface, however I am disappointed that Captivate has still not been upgraded to Android 2.2, which they said was supposed to be released in late September 2010, then end of the year, then beginning of 2011, and it still isn't here. My one other complaint is the GPS, which is practically unusable. They have known about this since it was released, released a patch that did not work, and still have not fixed it. I have read that it depends on the individual device how well the GPS works, but I have a feeling that anyone who thinks it works is really seeing their location through cell phone triangulation, which works ok. I now don't bother to try using the GPS.

If not for no upgrade to 2.2 and the problem with GPS I would give this phone 5 stars, but until those problems are resolved it stays at 4.

Now with FROYO March 10, 2011

Reviewer:  R "sir_rob79" 

Yes, the official version of android 2.2 was released in February 2011. Late, yes, but available through Samsung mini keyes (a download on the samsung web page). Android 2.2 is FAR better than 2.1. Not counting the little things, 2.2 is at least twice as fast and far more stable.
And don't forget that FROYO has flashplayer.

Also noteworthy:
The Samsung galaxy S series (including the captivate) uses a hummingbird processor that is faster than the snapdragon (of the same generation).

Now to the review. I ordered two of these from Amazon. I was originally hesitant, as opposed to ordering directly from ATT. But, beyond the 30 day warranty each offers, all you can do is rely on the manufacturer. Amazon delivered promptly. Out of the two phones, mine has had no problems, while my wife's was glitchy and sometimes powered off by itself. Research online suggested no fix. We contacted Amazon, which sent a replacement before requiring the original to be sent back first--- far better service than I ever recieved from ATT online. The second phone started to glitch as well, but by this time android 2.2 was officially released.

After installing 2.2, the phone has become stable. I'm still watching it for any glitches, but it's been over a week without problems.

So, for the verdict? Ther are only three top of the line choices for android on ATT. If you want to pay $60-100 for the Inspire, vs the 1cent for the captivate, go ahead. The captivate comes with more internal storage, and a faster processor. Reviews suggest better phone call quality as well.The Inspire has slightly more RAM and a larger screen.

The captivate can do anything android can do with the best of them. Far more customization than IPhone and windows phone 7. I wouldn't trade a free captivate for a $300 iPhone 4 anyday.

Amazon offers great service and unbelievable prices. I have to say I've been impressed.

Wonderful features but GPS stinks March 3, 2011

Reviewer:  Mark Ritchie  (Wylie, TX United States) -

I bought this from Amazon at the new year 2011, but I waited for the Android 2.2 upgrade to see if the GPS was fixed. Now that the 2.2 is released and installed, I can certainly agree with everyone that the features are wonderful. The screen is beautiful and the performance is great.

But 2.2 was supposed to finally fix the GPS, and it just simply hasn't. The reality seems to be that Samsung Galaxy S GPS's are just not very good.

This is a major feature of modern phones, so I think three stars is about the maximum this phone deserves.

Update to Android 2.2 announced, but no follow up February 14, 2011

Reviewer:  marabo "marabo"  (Silicon Valley) -

AT&T/Samsung announced Android 2.2 right from the release of the phone. Now that Samsung has released Android 2.2 for the Galaxy S, you would expect, that the Captivate is not far behind. Far from true. Neither AT&T, nor Samsung is issuing a statement on what is happening with the Android 2.2 release. BTW. AT&T Captivate's twin, the Rogers Captivate already includes Android 2.2 (http://www.rogers.com/cms/images/en/Wireless/CellPhoneDetail/Support/Froyo_upgrade_instruction_RWC_I896_EN_%282%29.pdf). I assume, that Android 2.3 would run on the Captivate as well, but I guess I have to give up hopes ever to receive an Android 2.3 update.

The major drawback for not having Android 2.2 is, that applications like e.g Skype require Android 2.2 to function and that GPS is supposed to work better with Android 2.2.

I am very disappointed with AT&T as well as Samsung.

Bad GPS January 12, 2011

Reviewer:  Cry 

The phone is very nice but...the GPS is useless. Worse than useless in that it will waste a lot of your time trying to get it to work. Even the "updates" from Samsung do nothing to help.

Also the phone likes to flash and beep when done charging which is a great pleasure when trying to sleep. Why does it need to order you to unplug it from the charger? Everybody charges while sleeping.

Cry

Good phone. But GPS is broken and ATT sucks January 9, 2011

Reviewer:  Lindsay S. Boggs 

I have a captivate on AT&Ts network. I've tried all the gps fixes posted on xda but none of them make it work like my old blackberry 9000 did. AT&T just has edge where I live, and it doesn't even work usually. So this phone is essentially a 4 inch wifi-only tablet for me.

I have since ordered a droid 2 global. VZW does have 3g here and I've not heard of any issues with the droid 2's gps.

I should have known not to get another samsung phone.

At&t's best Android phone!!! November 23, 2010

Reviewer:  Darkchyld 

My last phone was a Iphone 3g. It did have great features but became too boring. The Captivate lets you customize it with great live wall paper and widgets. The hardware is up to date. Premium look and feel, very light. Android market not as large as Apples.. But it seems to me that Android Market has better content.
Pros:
1ghz cpu, a great gpu for gaming and media, 720p hd camera, 5mp camera, Super Amoled touchscreen..very beautiful! plus many other extras. I like how the wallpaper moves in the backround. A Media Powerhouse! Battery is actually decent..not a power hog.
Cons:
Not much to complain about...No flash led for taking pictures at night, Facebook is a little better on Iphone hopefully Android will get an update soon. Supposedly a Froyo Android 2.2 update mid December. Anyways it's an awesome price for At&t's Best Android phone. I'm a new fan of Android and very happy with this purchase.
Thank you.