Don't like the EVO 4G but eager to make use of Sprint's 4G network? Well, fear not, for Samsung will soon have another 4G smartphone for you to consider.
Spotted going through the FCC approval process is a Samsung handset believed to be the Epic 4G. Engadget reports that the documentation labels the device as the SPH-D700 "cellular/PCS CDMA/EvDO Phone with Bluetooth, WLAN, and WiMAX,"
Sporting a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird CPU, a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, one 5-megapixel camera for pictures and a front-facing camera for video calls, and a physical keyboard, the Samsung Epic is a pretty snazzy looking phone. Engadget cites a Sprint rep as saying it'll run Android 2.1 when it launches, but the network will be rolling out a 2.2 update not too long after it goes on sale. When will that be? We have no idea, as Sprint has yet to set a date.
Check out the preview video below.
Source: Engadget
With that in mind, not sure why anyone will switch to Sprint for 4G now.
Because sprint offers an unlimited data plan?
Is it better to have unlimited data on a soon to be 3G only network or a limited data plan on a 4G network backed by industry standard technology? Sprint has not announced any plans to switch to LTE. Every major hardware manufacturer that designs cell phone towers has backed LTE in favor of WiMAX and neither this phone or the EVO support LTE.
Besides, carriers with limited data plans have better voice service because it frees up a significant amount of spectrum for voice calls and there is absolutely nothing more important than being able to make phone calls over your carrier's network because wifi sucks.
I'm sorry but maybe you haven't heard that WiMax already serves 100 million people, and will finish its US rollout in 2011. Verizon will just be covering 100m people before the end of the year (in its all at once strategy) and won't finish LTE rollout until 2013. WiMax is here to stay, and plenty of companies support WiMax (which is more than just a 4g network). It isn't a competition, both LTE & WiMax will be around until the next generation of advancements is made. Stop being so closed minded.
Currently WiMAX is the better choice anyway since the technology already exists and has allowed Sprint to roll out their 4G network sooner. So what if it isn't "true" 4G, it is still a lot faster than current 3G.
Many features of my Samsung Epix did not work. The GPS was the biggest problem, and is well known across the internet. Other problems- voice dialing didn't work, and the phone was extremely slow when browsing the 3G network. There was no support from Samsung for these issues, they just went onto other phones like the Jack and so forth. My phone came with WM6.1. Microsoft released WM6.5 a long time ago, but Samsung did not make it available for the Epix until a full 2 years after the phone came out.
If it was a WM phone I don't believe for one second that the GPS problems were Samsung specific. Both my Samsung Blackjack II and my HTC Fuze phone had trouble getting a GPS signal with Telenav and Mapquest Navigator GPS software. Both pieces of software would consistently fail to get any GPS signal even when outside away from any buildings.