Samsung :: Vibrant / Galaxy S Typical List Of Complaints

I've had my Samsung Vibrant for a few days and am getting a strong sense of buyer's remorse. I've owned a couple of Windows Mobile phones before as well as Nokia Symbian phones and have sold them all for the same reason. I'm just too easily swept up by the hype and the specs, when in reality I am not even close to being a power user and the compromises of owning a smartphone are ultimately too much. Battery life, form factor, ergonomics, ease of use, real physical buttons, aesthetics, comfortability, etc. are still greatly diminished. I was hoping that because of the rabid adoption of smartphones into the mainstream nowadays that they would start to become more mainstream friendly, but it seems the opposite is happening since even dumbphones are taking bad design cues from their bigger smartphone brothers.

Now speaking about the Samsung Vibrant, here's what has been irking me. The biggest problem is the form factor. It's like holding an index card that you don't want to accidentally bend. Beyond the slimy chrome trim, there's nothing else really to hold onto on the sides. The sides also slope down towards a less wide back instead of being rounded with the same width. I can never hold the phone in any sort of safe grip, as its always a delicate process requiring a gentle touch. Then there is the cheap plastic back, very slimy as well, along with the chrome, making holding a phone feel like a real mess.

When I make a call, I have to place my face against a greasy flat glass surface that is overly warm, while holding onto a slimy phone that is also heating up on the backside where the battery is. I don't see the obsession with thinness as those mere millimeters saved really ruin the ergonomics. For comparison, the T-mobile Garminphone, although not as well spec'd, feels so much more solid in the hand with a rubber back and metal finish, and I can actually hold it. Why Samsung placed such a cheap back cover on the phone instead of more premium materials is anyone's guess. They could have placed a better camera, bigger antennae, real buttons on the side, and a bigger battery as well if it weren't for that obsession of getting the thickness under 10mm.

Speaking of battery, since this is my first Android phone, the less than one day battery life was quite shocking, even with many things turned off and the phone mostly unused a majority of the time. The biggest draw for the Samsung Vibrant, of course, was the Super AMOLED screen. Now that I've acquainted myself better with it and the newness has worn off, beyond having brighter and more saturated colors which my eyes feel are less natural and more gaudy, I don't see much difference between it and the LCD on my previous Samsung G600, which I thought had a fantastic screen. I also don't really miss the 4" size, because ultimately beyond checking text updates, I find anything less than a 15" notebook to have too small a screen for comfortable or pleasant web browsing or movie watching.

The phone also isn't much of a looker. Chrome edges, cheap back, and nothing visually to separate it from the iPhone or any other large touchscreen handset.I'm sure most people are perfectly happy with their new Vibrant, but I am really missing my Samsung G600 slider right now and will probably end up selling my Vibrant. My complaints sound superficial but they are enough to be dealbreakers to my enjoyment of this phone.