Samsung Vibrant rated 4 out 5 by Wireless and Mobile News' Review of Reviews
The Samsung Vibrant is the Samsung Galaxy S series phone from T-Mobile. The most praised features of the Samsung Vibrant are the super AMOLED touchscreen, pre-loaded entertainment (Avatar movie and SIM 3 game) and syncing abilities.
The Samsung Vibrant really shines in the media department, playing videos brilliantly and captivating 3D games.
Packed with Samsung's 1-GHz Hummingbird processor and 512MB of RAM, the Samsung Vibrant comes with 16GB of internal storage and can handle microSD cards up to 32GB in size. Like all Galaxy S smartphones, it has a 4-inch touchsreen, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and TouchWiz user interface.
The TouchWiz widgets bring together social media and email in one place. Widgets also make it easier to view news and media. To see Samsung's tips for TouchWiz read our Samsung Galaxy S Tips an' Tricks article.
The Samsung Vibrant was awarded two "editor's choices" and best buy for T-Mobile from two editors. It only lacks a camera flash, and you can't use it as a tethered modem over the 3G network. If you don't need those features, the Samsung Vibrant may be your choice too.
The Samsung Vibrant sells for $199, with a contract after rebates, through T-Mobile and is eligible for Buy-One-Get-One-Free. T-Mobile customers who purchase a Samsung Vibrant receive a second Samsung Vibrant free of charge after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year service agreement.
Wirefly is selling the Samsung Vibrant for $49.99 with a contract for new customers with no activation fee this weekend. Renewing T-Mobile customers pay $149.99 with a contract.
Online retailer Amazon Beta Wireless, as of this writing, is selling the Samsung Vibrant for $99 for new customers with a contract and $149 for renewing contracts.
Bonnie Cha at CNET rated the Samsung Vibrant 4 out of 5 for its brilliant Super AMOLED touchscreen, entertainment capabilities, wireless options and call quality. She didn't like the plastic feel, lack of camera flash and short battery life. She called it one of T-Mobile's top smartphones for entertainment. She thought the screen looked more saturated than the iPhone retina screen. The Touch Wiz UI made Android easy. Email and social media syncing worked well but duplicated some contacts. Without flash photo, the quality was dull. 3G speeds were good.
Sascha Segan at PCMag rated the Samsung Vibrant 4 out of 5 for its fast-graphics processor, bright screen, syncing, great photos/videos, and free SIM 3 game. He didn't like the lack of voice calling over Bluetooth and tethering. He called it the best smartphone for T-Mobile with great web surfing, movie watching and lifestyle features. He noted that the plastic felt greasy. It has a brilliant 24-bit, 800-by-480, 4-inch Super AMOLED screen showing deep blacks, hyper-saturated colors, and images that really pop. Call quality was decent. Battery life was good. Syncing of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and email was good. Home screen widgets were almost as good as HTC Sense. He loved the 3D game, The Sims 3. He liked the Samsung Kies syncing program for calanders, video and media. He also liked the music player. Photos were sharp from the 5 megapixel camera and video was excellent. He named it best buy and Editor's Choice for T-Mobile.
Brian Neal at Laptop rated the Samsung Vibrant 4 out of 5 for Super AMOLED touchscreen, strong call quality, audio player and entertainment. He didn't like that the camera lacks a flash, lack of mobile hotspot and no HDMI connection. He called it sexy like the iPhone and fantastic. He liked the TouchWiz widgets and six access accelerometer for gaming. Sims 3 gaming was impressive. Music playing was crisp. Watchers of the Avatar video were blown away. Lack of flash hindered photos and video.