Samsung Epix i907
Phone Scoop Review
Nov 10, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
Samsung churns out another Windows Mobile smartphone. This one fails to stir the emotions, but it will get the job done. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
perfect for what I need
I upgraded to the Epix from my HTC 8525. What an improvement! The 8525 was a fine pda--but really a lousy phone. The Epix is a fine pda AND a fine phone!
Best Pros:
Battery life. Others may complain, but when you're used to 1/2 to 3/4 of a day of battery life, getting a whole day of talk (on bluetooth) and data is awesome!
Signal strength. I have ATT and this thing is solid in all areas.
Scroll mouse. Love love. I could never get the hang of track balls--the mouse acts more like a laptop touch pad. I use it at the fastest speed, and it works flawlessly.
Touch screen. It's not the most responsive touch screen w/your finger, but is great w/the stylus. Screen vibrates when you touch it-makes screen dialing easy.
Keypad. I love the one handed key/text pad. No more cumbersome sliding keypads. And it is very responsive. Might be a little hard to use w/large hands, though.
Others: nice, clear screen. customizable function keys (almost any key can be a function key). great sound quality. MS voice command. easy to use applications (my fav is the on screen data settings). lots of extra "goodies" that other windows devices lacked. telescoping stylus. no hassle syncing. fast 3g. solid w/my bluetooth. mp3 player. small. slim. light. attractive. headphone adapter.
Main cons:
Not many...but a few infuriating points. The WiFi is a royal PIA to use. I had to go to the forums to figure it out, but did get it to work. WiFi is also slow. Still, if I'm out of 3g territory, it's faster than non 3g speeds. Typical Windows gripes like already mentioned--the endless hassle of folders, apps that don't go far enough. The camera is average (the 8525 cam was awesome)--but does shoot video--nothing special, but useful. Haven't had it lock up yet, but I'm sure it will. Can only create word docs, no others. Most of the cool stuff, as usual, must be purchased at overinflated $$.
Falls short for my needs
This is a great world phone but falls short for my needs.
Pros:
Good feel and weight
Good response and speed
Keys are tight but worked good and no mistakes
Screen bright and clear
Load and clear sound
Great 3G reception
GPS Start up slow but after it gabbed the Sats fast.
Did all the Windows Mobile Pro apps fine
MS OneNote is support now
Cons:
Optical Mouse was hard to control, I slowed it down but that made it not move as far in one stroke.
Bluetooth does not work with my Nissan Altma, this is a big con for me because I do a lot of meetings from my car.
Bluetooth pairing with laptop, why does Windows make it so complicated to do, Nokia can pair as soon as I get within range of my PC but this pairs and then looses it.
Active Sync does not give you enough options how to sync.
Keys hard to read, maybe I'm just getting too old, with practice it could get better.
Need adapter (included) to use head set (Not included)
Charger and data cable are unique and to use you need to open a small port on the side... not sure it that little door will last.
Screen print is small, again maybe I'm just getting old but I could not read while driving... Nokia and SE are no problem for me.
AT&T makes you get their PDA Data Package claims it gives you faster INTERNET... I doubt that.
Cingular Video was choppy and stalled.
A finger print magnet.
Heated up while using, not sure if the metal case just holding the heat from my hand or the battery was getting hot.
I took it back because it just did not meet my expectations or requirements. Overall it is a very cool phone and I recommend it to those that already use Blackberrys or similar type phones.
Not my cup o tea
Picked one up on the first day as an upgrade to my att account. Thought it would be great as an upgrade to blackjack with wifi. Really didn't like it. Not one handed friendly, GPS took forever to find a sat, cumbersome to get to an application.
Pros:
fits in your pocket better than one might think considering it's pretty thick
readable screen
fast processor
cons:
difficult to set up wifi
would operate on edge instead of 3g in a lot of places my other phone would be locked on to 3g
Optical mouse is gewiz idea but even after practice difficult to use versus normal d pad operation
I took mine back. couldn't see a 2 year extension for this phone.
Folders, files, Folders, Files
Sheesh!! I got this phone after much beggin and pleading with AT&T because of technical trouble with my Blackberry Curve.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?? This phone is great if you love to spend your time looking in files and folders. In fact, that's all I do. I can NOT even find my pictures!!!
Before you buy this, go to Samsung's site. Look at the FAQ's on this phone. Ex: How to move MP3s to the Music Folder in the phone. Are you ready for this: IT TAKES 14 STEPS!!!! Plu-eeezzeee!!
I guess after having my Blackberry, I'm spoiled.
Yeah, 3G is fun, but, I don't LIVE in a 3G area. I have to go to "town" about 20 minutes from here, so that's a wash too.
Signal isn't that great. I've been dropping calls left and right.
The phone is freezing up frequently. I've only had it since 10/23, and I've had to do a battery pull at least 3 times a day if not more.
All in all, it's just another Blackjack that's dressed up. NOT worth the money or the aggravation of 20 extra steps for the simplest of tasks.
DON'T DO IT!!
Surprisingly a very cool phone
I picked this phone up for my wife over the weekend. We were originally thinking of getting a Fuze (which is what I got for myself), but I saw this phone in doing my research on the Fuze, and was sort of intrigued by the optical mouse. We ended up going with it because of the keyboard (she didn't want a slide-out keyboard), and I really like it quite a bit! I didn't know it was touch-screen at first, so that was just an extra bonus. Samsung did a bit of work on the interface, and while it certainly isn't the TouchFLO interface by HTC, it definitely works better than Microsoft's continued failure to make Windows Mobile usable. I think the only major complaint I had on this phone was the memory. Memory is so cheap today, and had they opted to put 256MB in, instead of whatever it has (128MB or something), that would have made the phone much more responsive, and I might have picked it even over my Fuze!
Pros:
- optical mouse + touch screen = TONS of input options.
- form-factor is surprisingly comfortable to use for longer durations.
- Wi-fi!
Cons:
- more memory would be nice.
- non-standard display dimensions make some applications not function correctly.
Would recommend: Yes.
Disapointing
I must say that I'm very disappointed. I ordered the phone from AT&T after trying the AT&T (HTC) Tilt. The Tilt blows this phone out of the water. The mouse is a cool idea, but not for a 2x2 inch screen. it's sort of useless and cumbersome. The phone phone will turn off the radio at 10% of the battery life which I find useless beacuse what if you need to make that last call but don't want to charge your phone from 10% so as to keep the battery in good shape. The main screen, is absolutely horrible. Samsung included a "Themes" program where you can change the color of your theme, and it does exactly that, however it blocks the cool Windows Mobile 6.1 theme that is supposed to come with the phone. Making the today screen highly unuseful. It's fast (600MHz) processor but then again you have a a phone that is literally 4.5' tall and 2' wide and your screen is something like 2x2. Also, Samsung renamed some applications, so in your Windows Start menu, you would have something like "1 Windows Media Player" which is a little silly. There is no photos section, and downloading a pic from the net to choose it as a background, the pic doesn't show up in the new "Themes" section to make it your background, the only pics that show up are the default that came with the phone. Perhaps this is a first version of the phone, but extremely dissapointing.
I love my Epix
I have had this phone for 7 months now and I have not had a problem with it at all! I've been able to utilize a lot of apps & programs made for it and I can't ask for a better phone!
QWERTY keyboard is the right size for me; not too small, not too big. Very durable phone; i drop it about 3 times a day and it looks like normal wear and tear!
The Windows Media does not support AVI video format, so I have a free DivX app which allows for AVI playback!
Facebook app works fine, but i usually use the mobile format through Internet Explorer!
i use VLC player on my computer, but watch from my bed; there's an app which turns your Epix into a remote control for VLC on your computer!
one glitch of the phone (which i heard was because of the Windows OS) is that once in a while the speaker sound shuts off and you have to turn the phone off and back on to get the sound to start working. I have Windows Mobile Pro for my Epix.
GREAT PHONE!
NOT SAMSUNG'S FAULT
I recently got the epix as an exchange for my motorola Q9 which i loved...which wasn't easy to do with att i thought i would upgrade due to the minor issues i had with the Q...bad idea. while i believe the epix is a great phone most of it's problems come from the fact that att only gives refubished phone and per the company (Samsung) att is unable to repair their technology which meant i had to exchange this phone 5xs before i got one that actually worked... even if you buy a new phone via a store & it breaks att will only give you a refurbished phone. if you use ur phone for strictly business this refurb. is not for you. otherwise it's a pretty good phone
pros
great wide screen
touch screen
stylus
3g/wifi
video/camera ok
onscreen favorites
cons
sounds goes out
unable to find files
ring tones don't work on this phone
bluetooth only works on phone calls no music or private videos
would rather exit instead of ok
does'nt ring loud enough
freezes up
if i had to choose it all over again i would stick with my moto Q9 it's a way better phone.
Excellent phone!!
i just recieved the phone yesterday and its a amazing phone I would recommend it to anyone.I replace the LG incite with this one because of multiple issues with the incite.This samsung does everything love the optical mouse the I download the opera browser which works beautiful.im usually not a fan of windows mobile devices but this is one of a kind!Samsung added their on version of the today screen which is GREAT!The phone is fast user friendly and the screen is big.The keyboard makes messaging a breeze.Theres just so much pros to talk about that the list goes on.THE PHONE IS JUST A MUST HAVE DEVICE and i can see it replacing my laptop on the go.Way to go samsung and ATT this ones a winner!
PROS:
-nice big screen
-Great internet browser just like on a PC
-optical mouse a great feature works great for one hand navigation
-keyboard makes messaging easy and convenient
-voice command works nice for accessing phone,media,messaging ect.
-samsung added their own today screen which adds access to favorite contacts e-mail and messaging also att navigator.
-easy to apply your own ringtones wallpapers
-fast accessing programs and browsing 3g on att network works GREAT!!
-Pretty and sleek looking device.
-Comes with a 3.5 earphone adapter to plug is a standard stereo headset
-Bluetooth works great!
CONS:
-The volume could be louder
-onscreen keyboard pops up when on the browser when you are asked for user names or passwords
-
Once again a must have device for people on the go that done wanna carry around a bulky laptop.also if your into data or messaging this is the one for you!!Love my samsung LOL
Still not sure about the EPIX..??
I have my eye on the Samsung Jack, as the phone I am replacing is an original BlackJack, which I have really liked. The middle side of my BlackJack has a hairline crack and the phone is getting a little flaky.
I got a good deal on a refurb Epix thru ATT, and have been somewhat pleased but also disappointed.
The first big difference is the OS. Pro vs. Standard. I have found out that I really a one-hand phone guy, and Standard is much better for that. The Pro interface is more complex and layered than Standard. Things take longer to find and are buried deeper.
The touch screen can get annoying also. If it's not locked, don't put it in your pocket, you will be randomly clicking things all over the place.
The QWERTY keyboard is lighted, but still harder to see than the Blackjack (too shiny).
The phone is a fair amount thicker than the BlackJack. Borderline for my pocket. Both the Epix and new Jack list at .5 inches thick, but side by side, the Jack is noticeably thinner. Not sure what's up with that.
The shiny star on the Epix is the Optical mouse pad, I find it really works great, much better than the stylus. My biggest beef with the phone is trying to do things while I'm driving, i.e, scrolling, missed call, dialing (although the Voice command works pretty good if it is quiet around you).
The bottom line is that Windows standard is easier to use with one hand than Windows Pro.
I'm going to try some enhancement software before my final decision. SPB has some software I might try FTouch.
I will most likely get the Jack.
