Review: Samsung Epix

Author: Jack Cook
Vendor: AT&T
Cost: $199.99 (after a mail in rebate)

Back in October I posted a news item about the new Samsung Epix where I said that if you are lusting for a new device and you are an AT&T user then check out the new slim touchscreen Samsung Epix with a full QWERTY keyboard!  I liked the looks of the device and was initially impressed with the feature set that included Windows Mobile Professional 6.1, global coverage for those that travel, decent memory stereo Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi. I liked the look of the device and felt that for those that wanted a reasonably powerful device that could be used easily with one hand, this was one to consider.

My thoughts about the device were further bolstered by commentary from others after they had tried it.  Chris Leckness indicated in his use of the AT&T Epix that he was about to go 4 days without a charge.  That was impressive although he did indicate that his use was moderate. I liked that especially since I generally carry two devices with me so one generally gets used far less that the other so having the ability to have a device last several days without having to charge it was very enticing to me.

Chris Leckness did a 1st Look Video that gave an excellent overview and I walked away with the very strong feeling that I wanted to give this device a try.  The biggest reasons were the 1800mah battery , the keyboard and WiFi.  Although WiFi is probably not a big factor for many folks here in the US because our data coverage plans are so good, I am in an area half the year that I have little (or no) coverage and so I tend to use WiFi to check my mail and a few feeds.  So I got a call the other day and was asked if I would like to take a look and give the Epix a test drive … of course I said yes.

Contents

When the box arrived, I quickly opened it to find a shiny new device staring me in the face.  I thought it was going to be black but in fact it was a rich gunmetal gray that just exuded class.  My first impression was “wow”, this looks nice.  Along with the device there was an AC charger, a USB sync cable, an adapter for using headphones, a stylus, a thick 1800mah battery, a Getting Started CD as well as a  paper Getting Started guide product registration, Quick Start Guide and some miscellaneous single sheet additions.

Appearance

I was impressed with the weight of the device (about 4 oz) but adding the battery added a little heft to it but not enough to raise an eyebrow.  The battery was thick and you knew it was going to last (or at least I was hoping that to be true).

I had read earlier a few folks saying that the device was very thick, in fact some had said it was huge.  My initial thought after I held the device for the first time was that they had to have had a different device or mine had lost significant weight.  It was NOT fat and in fact, comparing it to three other devices, it was slightly “fatter” than the Q9m and significantly smaller than the Palm 750 (which IMHO is not a “fat” device).  Click on the image below to get a better comparison view.

As much as I love the feel of the Q9m, the feel of the Epix is far superior and in fact, it has a better feel in the hand than any of the devices I have.  It has a rectangular appearance but the design with the rounded edges is absolutely perfect for superior comfort no matter how you rotate and hold it.  So far, my impressions have been very positive and I was looking forward to firing up the device and giving it a workout.

The SIM is located under the back cover and the battery must be removed to insert the SIM.

Looking at the left side you see the Power On/Off and the Volume controls

The right side has covered slots for your memory card and to the right, the slot for charging/USB connection/headset

The top just has the stylus (removed)

And the bottom has the microphone hole.

The Stylus is a three part telescope.  It is OK but I would have preferred one that did not do that.

Looking at the pictures above, you can see the rounded edges which contribute to the absolute comfort in holding this device.

At first glance, the keyboard had me concerned because I thought the keys were going to be too small and difficult to use and navigate through using one hand.  In fact I could have not been further from the truth.  They were easy to touch, navigate and use and made one handed operation a breeze.

Initial Power-up/Email check and some Surfing

So I was ready and I had hoped there was enough power in the battery to fire it up and let me play a bit.  It did start and went through the typical startup sequence, opening WM6.1 screen, then the alignment, email setup etc etc.  It went pretty fast and within a few minutes I had my opening screen and was ready to give it a try.  Since I had setup one email account I gave that a try and it was fast.  The data connection was a3G and it fluctuated between two and three bars …. I was very pleased especially for the area I was in.

Pressing the center button gave me a bit of a surprise because a mouse pointer appeared then disappeared if not used and as soon as it was touched again, it reappeared.  It took a little getting used to but I was easily navigating but truthfully missing a 5-way toggle button.

I should point out that by default, touching the screen with your finger or stylus provides a vibration on the device (known as Haptic feedback).  Although it is cool and tells you that the screen has been touched and the input accepted, it does get a little annoying after a while.  So I I turned it off after I found the settings in the Sound & Notifications menu.

I was hoping that I would get used to it real quick but if not, I would be an easy change to 4-way navigation.  I’m not sure why it would not be called 5-way because you do press the button for Select. I did switch after an hour of playing and left it that way for a couple of days.  After chatting with Chris, he convinced me to work with it for a full day and indicated that he was pretty confident that I would keep it that way.  The results are mixed … I like it and use it but I keep switching back so I really have not been totally convinced to use it full time.

Here is a picture of the navigation button.  When looking at it while holding the device in your hand it appears to be a black button but looking closer you can see that it is semi-transparent allowing the optics to read your finger.  It is just a simple slide of your finger over the sensor, and it reads the movement and places the mouse where you want it. Of course if you are using the 4-way navigation, the slide of your finger moves the highlighted selection just like the old 5-way navigation buttons.  It really is pretty cool technology and I do believe that in time I might well prefer it to the “old” 5-way navigation.  It is just going to take some time to teach this “old dog” some new tricks.

So after I checked my email, I went to Internet Explorer and navigated to a few favorite sites.  Of course, I love the way Mobilitysite’s mobile browser works.  It gives you a clean, clear vision of what is there to read.  Pick the article and you get it fast.

I have to admit that I was having an enjoyable surfing experience and before I knew it, a couple of hours went by.  The AT&T network was fast and the clarity of the Epix screen made it a wonderful experience.  So it was time to think about giving the device a full charge so I decided to take a break, give it a full charge then investigate the features .  As I plugged it in to charge, I was reminded how I dislike Samsung’s choice of proprietary connectors.  I’m sure they have a reason but I really wish vendors would listen to the cries of folks and give us one type of connector.  You should see the different chargers I keep in my car’s console … boy do I wish I had just ONE charger!

After charging I spent some time just checking out what was on the device for Programs and Settings folders.

The System Folder:  Personal, System, and Connections Tabs

 Personal Tab

I’m not going to describe each icon but there were a couple that intrigued me right away.  The first being the FN Key Settings.  This is a neat program that allows you to pre-assign a program to a function key that can be started from the Today screen.  A simultaneous press of the fn button and the assigned key will start the program.  I immediately loved using it for turning Bluetooth on without have to go through a myriad of presses to perform the same task and this is what I used to start (and stop) using the Mouse function.  A very definite time saver!

The second icon that caught my eye was the Wake Up Button which was nothing more that the ability to choose how you initiate (wake up) your device.  My preference is the Power Button.

Of course, it is great to see that Voice Command is installed.  I did have to click on that icon to “enable” it and then click on the buttons icon to see which button initiated Voice Command.

Video Share was intriguing but it is not something that I think I would use often since I always carry an Xacti HD camera in my SCOTTEVEST.  It is as small as a phone and takes incredible pictures and videos. However, it is an intriguing feature and depending on the quality, I just might use it.   The icon just opened up a setting page for the Video Share option.  If time allows, I might try it before I complete this review.

The remainder of the icons in the Personal Tab are all pretty self explanatory for those of you that are new users and that same ole thing for those of you that have been carrying mobile devices for years and years.  Each has an important function and you should take the time to see and use each one.

System Tab

As you can see from the three pictures above, there are 20 items in the System Tab.  Each is important and although many of us may not use each item, they all serve a purpose that will make your experience with the Epix a little better.  Like the Personal Tab, it is not my intention to show all of these icons but rather give a taste for what I looked at first.

The About is one item I always check:

And the next I check almost daily when I get a new device is the Memory icon.  Once I get a feel for what is happening I rarely check it unless I am having an issue.  There is a decent amount of memory although I wish there was a little more.

There is a Hard Reset icon that leads you to two screens.

Clicking on the Hard Reset button, you get a choice of what you want to clear and there is a verification number to enter for safety.

The Power icon allows you to see the remaining power:

adjust the amount of time the device remains on:

and a feature I really like is the ability to adjust the LCD duration while in a call.

A  Task Manager icon was added into WM6.1 to allow you easy viewing of running programs, memory used and amount of CPU usage.

The final tab, Connections, allows the management of how and what you connect your device to.

 Connections Tab

The Wireless Manager allows you to turn on/off WiFi, Bluetooth and the Phone

Initiating Bluetooth makes your device visible

Clicking on Menu and then Bluetooth Setting begins a fast process for pairing devices.

Here I found my Jawbone Bluetooth headset

selected and entered a passcode

And it was paired and usable in a second.  Even though the Epix has a built-in GPS, I decided to pair my external GPS.  I wanted to see if there was a difference between the two.  Since I will be using a couple Navigation programs (Live Search will be the first I will add followed by Google Maps and TomTom).  As you pair devices, you can always look at the list of paired devices where you can add more or remove what you are no longer using.

Next on my list of “things to try” was to connect to my WiFi Network.  So I started WiFi via Wireless Manager.  It detected my network and asked for the “encryption key” when I tried to connect.  After it accepted the key, I was connected.  More on my WiFi experience later…..

For me, the only other key item in this list for me to try will be Internet Sharing.  I generally use a USB connection because I think it is more reliable for connectivity and my experience has shown that when connected via a USB cable, the device stays charged.

 The Programs Folder

That was a quick overview of what I initially look at and used under Settings.  Now it was time to look at Programs, which at first glance, appears to be impressive.  The screen shots below show what comes with the device out of the box with one addition.  As I did my initial surfing I downloaded and installed Live Search so that icon appears under programs.  On a side note, Live Search is a “must have” program for me and if you have not tried it yet, it is one that you need to download, install and use.  You will like it and most likely will use it everyday.

Frankly I was disappointed that there was so much “bloatware” on the device.  The first three items I clicked on had so many items to click on that were buy … buy …. buy!

Well I decided to look at The Buzz to see what it was and this is the screen that I ended up with:

Nope, not my “cup of tea”.  We closed out of that right away!

Years back, there was ALWAYS a CD included that had programs on it to install if you wanted.  Generally it had a great description and it let you know it was a trial (or on a few occasions FREE) so you could make the decision if you wanted to try it and if you did and wanted to not use it, it was easily removed.  I would hope that we might see that CD again appearing in device packaging and I would hope that rather than have three icons on the top of the Programs folder, AT&T would replace them with one shortcut taking you to an AT&T site with a full listing of what is available for purchase via download.

OK, enough of the rant and on to what I tried and liked.  CV was the next item I tried and was quite pleased with the quality of the video I received.  I watched a little of The Office and caught some great sports coverage.  It was enjoyable although you definitely need a strong connection to get the full benefit.

Here is a screen capture of an Office scene.  Truly, the capture does not do justice the the actual quality of the viewing but at least you get an idea.

If you are an “IM” person, you will enjoy the choices available

A good start with games where some are free and others are not.  Another example of “bloat” that is not needed.

The Applications icon has a good selection for you to try

The Camera was good (more info on it is below), File Explorer has not changed, and FSM is a demo.  JAVA shows you the list f JAVA applications installed, Mobile Baking looked interesting but my banks was not listed so I was unable to check it out.  I assume more will be added in time.  MobiTV is not free.  I gave it a try but ran out of demo time before I could see how good it was.  Even with 3 bars, it would not download.

Photo Slides is a pretty good picture program that allows you create albums for playing slide shows.  The RSS reader is decent program for your feeds you like to read.  I liked The Weather Channel and WikiMobile I looked at quickly the other day so I decided to get a closer look today to tell you about it.  Guess what? …. the trial expired!  So I decided to Hard Reset the device to run the trial again.  No luck, they must record the cell number on the site. Dumb!

My next folder to look at under Programs was Organizer.  Each application is useful and are all ones that I would use.

The folder called My Stuff gave easy access to pictures although I prefer to use 3rd party applications for viewing and editing pictures

All in all, the included programs are enough to get you started.  Of course, Office Mobile is important to me and it is there just waiting for you to create and edit documents.

Additional Use

Voice Calling

Of course the main function of a device is to make and receive calls and here I am near the the end telling you what the experience was like.  As you would expect, it was great.  Reception was fine and the clarity over the speaker was very good.  I like using a Bluetooth headset or a Hands Free solution in my car and found both to be excellent.

GPS Functionality

The device worked perfectly using the the built-in GPS module with Google Maps.  I also paired my own Bluetooth GPS device and it worked as well.  I was pleased with the ease of use with the built-in GPS module and feel comfortable that it will be the right solution.

Of course, Live Search worked perfectly.

and as soon as I told it to use the GPS, it found my location immediately

The Camera

As you can see from the pictures taken on a Fall day, the quality was not too bad and interior shots were acceptable.  The exterior shots were clear although the color was a little off but for sharing on the “net”, it does a decent job.

Close-up shots were excellent!

Interior shots with existing lighting were OK but care needs to be taken to avoid a blur. Overall, for that one time shot that you want for posterity, it is fine.

Samsung has a nice camera interface providing you with easy-to-use choices with a quick tap on the screen but a 2-megapixel camera only provides a mediocre experience, maybe the next iteration will have an improved camera.

Multimedia Experience

Listening to music and watching a few videos was good.  Samsung has a different skin for the Windows Media Player which was fine but there was no additional functionality added.  Too bad!  The screen shot does not bring out the beige color that is added to this skin … that may be a good thing.  The sound from the speaker is acceptable but using a good headset is a preferred for long listening experiences.  The supported “out of the box” audio formats are:  MP3, WAV, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV.

I was impressed with the screen while watching several videos.

In full screen, video looks terrific!

WiFi

I’ve saved my experience with WiFi for last because it has not been a good one.  If I were going to buy this device, WiFi would be a major reason.  I indicated above that connection to my home network was fast and easy so I figured that the experience would be fine.  When I finally went in and made the appropriate adjustments to change from Cellular data to WiFi, I could not connect to surf via Pocket Internet Explorer.  It absolutely blew me away because every device I have that uses WiFi works.  What was I doing wrong?

A little research turned into a painful 6 hour experience.  Ultimately I was able to connect but it would be a brief connection and would eventually fail.  I ended up calling AT&T support to see if they could help.  One hour at tier1 then 2 hours at tier2 left me babbling to myself that these folks knew virtually nothing about this device much less anything about Windows Mobile or connecting via WiFi.  My guess is that I will probably spend a little more time to try to resolve the issue before I have to return this device to see if I can get it to work consistently.  Perusing forums with users having this device has revealed that others have experienced the same issue.  There have been a variety of solutions offered but none have given me a perfect fix.

Conclusion

Overall the experience has been good and I have enjoyed carrying the device around making calls, listening to music, catching a few videos on the net and doing what I like to do with a device.  The processor is fast, the memory is good (although I do wish it was just a little more) and the battery has been more than sufficient.  When I get a device to use, it clearly gets a lot more usage than my normal day to day routine.  Each night when I went to charge the device, I always had sufficient power remaining.  I must admit however that on a couple of real heavy video usage days I did plug it in to get a little extra juice when I was not using it although I’m not sure I really needed to do that.  It was more of a precaution and I had the time to let it charge.

I was greatly surprised as I looked at the device for the first time that there was no soft reset hole.  Unless you have a program that will soft reset your device, the only way to perform this needed task is to press the power off button or remove the battery.

Would I recommend it? As long as WiFi is not a major issue to you if you cannot get it working then I would say yes.  If WiFi was is a non issue, which for most it probably is, then it is absolutely a device to consider.   What you get is a device that is packed with features, will be known for its ease of use, has a great battery for continuous use and has a very decent display for you to enjoy all your content.  But the one feature you should carefully look at is the price: $199.99 after a mail in rebate.

There are always good and bad items for any device.  Here are a few that come to mind

Advantages

• Processor Speed
• Device comfort
• Keypad
• Extended battery
• Price

Disadvantages

• WiFi issue
• No Soft reset hole
• Use of a proprietary port for sync, charging and headphones
• Optical Mouse (I finally decided it is cool but I prefer a 5-way toggle button)
• Bloatware

If you are interested in this device then the Full Samsung Epix (SGH-i907) Specs can be viewed here at Samsung

Written by Jack Cook · Filed Under At&t, Samsung, Smartphone Reviews 
Tagged: Epix, Microsoft, pocket pc phone, Professional, Samsung, sgh-i907, Windows Mobile

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