Review: Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G for MetroPCS
Calls
The Lightray uses the stock Google calling and contacts applications. The dial-pad offers haptic feedback when you punch in numbers on the touch display.
Contacts
The Lightray will import all the contacts you have stored on various services across the internet with no problem. Contacts can hold innumerable phone numbers, email addresses, notes, and so on. The Lightray doesn't have any nifty contacts or calling widgets for the home screen; only the stock tools are available.
Messaging
The Lightray runs all of the stock Android 2.3.6 messaging applications, and doesn't offer anything new or unique.
It has the generic email app for POP/IMAP/Exchange email, and the dedicated Gmail application for Google users. Both of these applications are capable and time-tested. The stock SMS/MMS app is loaded on the Lightray, and I didn't notice any different or unusual behavior with it. It offers threaded conversations, as always.
As for IM, the Lightray has Google Talk on board, and a MetroPCS-branded IM catch-all app that covers AIM, Google Talk, Windows Live, Yahoo, etc. The MetroPCS IM app is crashy and very, very slow.
On the social networking front, the Lightray defaults to this same MetroPCS IM app, which also supports Facebook and Twitter messaging. I'd highly recommend you skip this app entirely and download the native Facebook and Twitter apps, though. They offer a much richer and less crash-tastic experience than Metro's app.
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Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G
