63
Samsung Captivate (SGH-I897)
$499.00
Released August, 2010
The Pros:Stunning 4" Super-AMOLED display @ 800 x 480px, takes phone displays to a new level (esp. color, contrast, viewing angles & brightness). Runs a current generation high end 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU by Samsung (Hummingbird). 5MP backside camera with HD video recording (720p @ 30fps).
The Cons:No camera flash. No HDMI output port. No FM transmiter for in car stereo wireless audio.
The Samsung Captivate (SGH-i897 in the US, SGH-i896 in Canada) is a high-end smartphone running Google's Android version 2.1 on AT&T (US) or Rogers (Canada). Being a Samsung Galaxy S line phone, the Samsung Captivate is essentially the North American version of the international Galaxy S as it sports basically the same specs and features: a 4-inch Super-AMOLED display, 7.2Mbps HSPA, a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, 5 megapixel camera with 720p recording, a 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11n WiFi and 16GB of onboard storage (expandable to 48GB via microSD).
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At the time of its release, the Samsung Hummingbird integrates the most powerful graphics accelerator found in mobile phone processors: Its PowerVR SGX540 processes 28 MPolys/s and 1Gpx/s@200MHz. As a comparison, the iPhone 4 and 3GS use the SGX535 (14 MPolys/s, 1Gpx/s@200MHz) and Motorola's Droid X uses the SGX530 (14 MPolys/s, 500Mpx/s@200MHz). The Samsung Captivate's US siblings are: T-Mobile Vibrant, Verizon Fascinate, and Sprint Epic 4G.
Differing from the international version of the Galaxy S, the Captivate does not feature a front-facing camera, has a different body design, and has four main buttons on the front (instead of three).
Features
- Android 2.1 OS
- 1GHz Hummingbird processor
- PowerVR SGX540 (powerful graphics accelerator integrated into Hummingbird processor)
- 5 megapixel camera with 720p recording
- 4-inch Super AMOLED display
- 802.11n WiFi, 3G, 7.2Mbps HSPA
- 16GB of onboard storage (expandable to 48GBGB via microSDHC card slot)
- 3.5mm headphone jack
User Reviews (27)
Pros & Cons
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12
stunning 4" Super-AMOLED display @ 800 x 480px, takes phone displays to a new level (esp. color, contrast, viewing angles & brightness)
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8
runs a current generation high end 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU by Samsung (Hummingbird)
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7
5MP backside camera with HD video recording (720p @ 30fps)
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7
stunning graphics acceleration (PowerVR SGX540 GPU): 90 million triangles/sec (iPhone 3GS: 28 million/sec; Snapdragon Adreno: 22 million/sec)
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6
WiFi (802.11b/g/n) and 3G (HSPA max downlink 7.2 Mbit/s, max uplink 5.76Mbit/s) connectivity
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4
runs the latest version of the open source Android OS (2.1)
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3
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2
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2
16GB built-in flash memory
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2
user-removable Li-Ion battery with 1500mAh capacity
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2
one of the first mobile phones to support DivX HD
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2
memory expandable with standard microSD/microSDHC cards
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2
charging/data transfer via standard microUSB port
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2
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2
3-axis gyroscope plus accelerometer for precise 6-axis sensing (same STMicro chip as on iPhone 4)
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2
bootloader is unlocked & Samsung released their code for the Galaxy S - will make it an excellent phone for hackers and consumers looking for custom ROMs and "unofficial" OS updates
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2
Corning® Gorilla® glass (environmentally friendly alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass that is both scratch resistant and durable)
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2
Support for CyanogenMod so you can upgrade the O/S to their popular flavor of Gingerbread
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1
supports Bluetooth version 3.0
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1
standard 3.5mm headphone jack
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1
Atmel maXTouch sensor for multi-touch (high precision, very low power, can detect indefinite number of points on the screen)
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1
Swype keyboard included (faster than any other keyboard input, predictive text, can also be as normal keyboard)
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1
Samsung provides a desktop sync app ("Samsung Kies") - Outlook contact sync, SMS backup, tethering setup, etc.
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1
Can be upgraded to CyanogenMod running the latest, greatest versions of Android OS
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1
Similar to other Galaxy S phones and the Google Nexus S, so it gets a lot of community support
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1
The capacitive touch buttons can be modded to display notification status
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-1
great battery life - gets through a day easily even with above-average use
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4
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3
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2
no FM transmiter for in car stereo wireless audio
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2
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1
no forward-facing camera (international version Galaxy S has 1.3MP front-facing camera)
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1
Samsung has never provided a premium UI / good support for their mobile devices
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1
charge port is at the top, which makes it annoying to use while charging
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1
dedicated menu, home, back, and search touch buttons aren't illuminated at first and can be hard to find in the dark
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1
Battery life isn't the greatest. Screen can suck a lot of power.
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1
takes a long time to charge
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1
CPU feels underpowered, especially with all the newer dual-core smart phones coming out like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus
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0
No dedicated Camera button
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0
extremely glossy glass screen atop the display
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0
lots of extra bezel above and below screen, makes the device fairly tall
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0
runs pretty warm after using for a while
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0
awkward placement of screen lock button
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Comments (15)
Erik:
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 I've had this phone since Nov. 2010 and it's still going strong. I've been flashing the bleeding edge CyanogenMod versions, and have been extremely happy with this phone. I have it running CM10 (Jellybean) right now and it's actually doing quite well for a single-core processor. Because of the continual software updating I've been doing, I haven't felt like I "needed" a new phone like the SGS III.
Aug 27, 12
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nm:
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 i bought this samsung galaxy captivate 3 months before. now my displays screen always changes to green color i'm not able make a call or anything..after removing battery and again putting it works but now it is also not working..
if anybody knows the solution pls let me know
Dec 13, 11
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Erik: I flashed the first test release of CyanogenMod 7 running Gingerbread 2.3.3 on by
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 phone this weekend and I love it! The process is fairly complicated and involves flashing back to stock, flashing to speedmod, flashing CyanogenMod recovery firmware, then finally installing CyanogenMod 7 using the recovery mode.
This ROM in spite of being an initial release is by far better and almost as stable as other custom ROMs I've tried (Perception, Cognition, Serendipity). The update process is a very simple Recovery Mode install, so I'm looking forward to future releases from the CyanogenMod team.
I feel like my Android phone destroys the iPhone now, however, they need to get out of the test stage before other would agree with me. (Random reboots on WiFi sleep for example).
Learn more here (I recommend watching the video vary carefully):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=978150 Josh from Mobile Tech Videos does an amazing job stepping you through the process.
I've done the mod twice now (I mistakingly flashed the Galaxy S version instead of Captivate and had to restart). I can help anyone who asks.
Mar 8, 11
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Omar: Alright. Here we go... I just played around with
@erik's
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 today at lunch and I have to admit. It's pretty good. The custom ROM he's using addressed my biggest concern, which was the sluggish responsiveness when swiping and all of that. On top of that I found the act of opening apps to be extremely fast, much better than what I've seen with iOS.
Compound the slow opening apps with the archaic icon grid of iOS and I have to say that Android is really moving up in my mind.
Now, it's still ridiculous that things are so fragmented with operating system versions and all of that, so I still can't give it a full recommendation, but the future looks bright.
Dec 20, 10
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2 people like this
dom: I love that Samsung Captivate! Awesome 4" Super-AMOLED display, 16GB internal storage plus microSD expansion, great reception & call quality, loudspeaker with ample volume for navigation, Google Maps Navigation, that awesome central notification system of Android. widgets, and infinite customizability.... only downsides are that Skype isn't working yet though it installs (Skype's fault, again...) and AT&T permanently disabled non-market app installs.
Dec 9, 10
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3 people like this
Erik:
#google_nexus_s I just got my
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 and seeing this on the front page of ProductWiki made me a little jealous. Android Gingerbread 2.3 out of the box and the front-facing camera are what get me the most. I'm only consoled by the fact that this phone will never see the light of day in Canada.
Dec 7, 10
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Erik: I tried
#google_maps_navigation out for the first time yesterday on my
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 IT IS AMAZING. It is better than any consumer GPS on the market, and it's free. The traffic and satellite layers are great, and with a simple press of the screen you can go into street view. The analogy for me is Google Maps Navigation to All Other GPS units is Google Maps to MapQuest. If that makes any sense. (
@dom have you tried this bad boy out?)
Nov 24, 10
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Omar:
@scottp you mentioned that you were a Blackberry user before your
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 and I also know that a lot of your friends are Blackberry users. What do they think of your phone? Any of them questioning their Blackberry loyalty?
Nov 24, 10
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Erik: OMG. I just played with
@scottp 's
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 and I fell in love. I need to get one ASAP. To me, Android combines what I like about BB and iPhone in one product. My
#apple_iphone_3g feels extremely antiquated next to this device.
It's definitely a more "technical" product than the iPhone, but that suits me just fine. The Samsung skin is really good, and what sold it on me was the notification system and how it integrated with txting and GTalk specifically. No need for
#kik_messenger anymore for me.
Nov 18, 10
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4 people like this
ScottP: Finally after months of waiting I got my
#samsung_captivate_sgh_i897 !!! Upgrading from a
#rim_blackberry_curve_8310 is like going from the outhouse to the penthouse. The Super AMOLED screen is as impressive as advertised. Samsung's Touchwiz interface is what I'm enjoying most about the phone. It allows a more efficient home screen that's not cluttered with Apps I never use. I've already added the "Daily Briefing" and "Feeds and updates" widgets and both are great. As frustrated as I was waiting so long for this phone it was definitely worth the wait.
Nov 14, 10
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3 people like this
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