Samsung Indulge Review Great Features, Poor Battery Performance
Posted on | August 6, 2012 | Comments Off
MetroPCS' initial 4G Android smartphone is now accessible and it is fairly an appealing providing. Known as the Samsung Indulge, the handset brings powerful specs, outstanding usability and 1 downside that might prove a deal-breaker for some customers.
Physically, it is your common touchscreen candybar. Just like other Galaxy S handsets, it features a glossy black finish, rounded corners along with a sturdy develop. Whilst totally plastic, the make hardly deters from the encounter.
Display is a three.5-inch capacitive touchscreen (480 x 800 resolution), displaying crisp pictures and facilitating outstanding touch response. It isn't AMOLED, although, so it isn't fairly as great as a few of Samsung's other releases. Slide-out QWERTY keyboard provides well-spaced, slightly flat keys that really turn out to become extremely great for typing.
As a telephone, the Indulge tends to make for great calls. Voices go via clear and there was extremely small distortion, even though you will frequently require to turn the volume as much as max if you are outdoors. Speakerphone is just as capable, sounding extremely clear with just a slight harshness. The battery will be the low point right here (and could extremely nicely be the deal-breaker for some). Rated at only three hours of speak time, the 1,500 mAh module will most likely drain prior to the day is more than in the event you use your telephone frequently.
Packing a 1Ghz processor, the handset zipped via Android two.two with out any issues. It runs TouchWiz three.0, which I really like. With skins like these becoming a matter of preference, obviously, your mileage might differ. The large deal concerning the Indulge, obviously, is its 4G assistance (which downshifts to 3G when a signal is not accessible). Speed is impressive, but do not anticipate it to beat the Epic 4G below Sprint's WiMax in head-to-head tests.
It is got all of the usual Froyo smartphone fare -- numerous calling choices, fundamental and advanced messaging, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, PIM tools and Google's suite of apps. WiFi hotspot is not enabled, although, which puts a slight damp on the appealing 4G speeds. A slew of extra apps also come preloaded, such as Samsung's AllShare service (DLNA sharing), a social networking and IM bundle, and numerous productivity tools.
The music player looks much better due to the TouchWiz skinning; otherwise, it nonetheless has the regular Android functions. Playback of each audio and video clips is extremely speedy. The three.two megapixel camera snaps great shots, even though the common high quality of pictures is fairly dull, even with great lighting.
In the event you can reside using the deficient battery life, the Samsung Indulge is really a really cost-effective option for an Android smartphone. We adore that it is accessible with out a contract, even though the $399 cost will most likely be restrictive for some.