Hands-On: Samsung Infuse 4G
May 5, 2011, 4:25 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Samsung and AT&T celebrated Cinco de Mayo today in New York City with the introduction of the Infuse 4G, a new Android 2.2 smartphone that features a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. Phone Scoop goes hands-on.
The Samsung Infuse 4G is ridiculous. Pushing the boundaries of the smartphone form factor, it crams a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display into a package that still comes in at only 8.99mm thick. It is simple, rectangular, and looks nearly identical to any of the Galaxy-branded devices that Samsung has kicked out in the last nine months.
It is incredibly light. Given its huge proportions, you might expect it to weigh a ton. It doesn't. The thin profile goes a long, long way toward helping the Infuse 4G feel comfortable in the hand despite the awkward enourmousness. As with many of the other Galaxy devices, the Infuse 4G is made of plastics and not metal materials. This gives it a slightly cheap feeling that I wish Samsung could somehow get away from.
The display is just outrageous in its size and brightness. The Super AMOLED Plus display has 50% more subpixels, which Samsung claims leads to a brighter, crisper screen. Whatever sort of voodoo magic has been cast upon that display, it is second to none. The clarity and detail practically jumps from the screen.
The controls are minimalistic, spartan even. The power/lock key is on the right, the volume toggle is on the left, the microUSB port is on the bottom, and the 3.5mm headset jack is on the top. That's it. The microSD card slot is under the battery cover. These controls all worked well, and Samsung decided to leave the sliding door off the microUSB port.
Disappointingly, at least for me, the Infuse 4G runs Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. I continue to hate it, but I am sure many other people are fine with the way it treats the on-screen elements, such as application icons and other shortcuts.
Performance was solid. Aside from a few sketchy moments when I first booted the phone up, the user interface absolutely screamed. The device has a single-core 1.2GHz processor on board, but you'd think it was dual-core given the performance. Screen transitions were smooth and instantaneous, applications opened swiftly, and I saw no hiccups of any kind.
In sum, the Infuse 4G is a solid entry into AT&T's smartphone stable. Phone Scoop will be putting the Infuse 4G through its paces over the coming days and will deliver a full report soon. Until then, here is a video for you to enjoy.
About the author, Eric M. Zeman:Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.
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Comments
I had the same opinion before I bought both a capivate and the epic.
JMO, but it's not the bigness of the phone as much as how big it feels. The original moto.vzw droid; to me felt "big" still ...
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