.::Official Samsung Infuse 4G Discussion Thread::.

[AndreaCristiano]

Honestly, I want to get all excited about the Atrix, but there are a couple of issues that are holding me back:

Moto's are notoriously difficult to root, unlock, mod, whatever. Frankly, I want to get the phone, and on the FIRST DAY, I want every trace of AT&T crap-ware OFF the thing, and I want to be able to customize it to my needs exactly as I see fit. I'm spending the money for it, so why shouldn't I right?

Also, speaking of modding and rooting etc, considering how similar the Nexus S is to the current Samsung hardware out in the wild at the moment, and how similar the Infuse's hardware will likely also be, I suspect the Infuse will be a modder's playground.

On the other hand, DesignGears has made it known that he plans on getting both devices. So who knows? Maybe the Atrix will have hope yet... I can see it now: XDA figures out a way to replace webtop on the Atrix with full blown Ubuntu. Now THAT would be cool!

Idk, I'm still torn...

If the Infuse has an HDMI port, I might just go with that and let the dual core phones mature for a generation or two.

Decisions decisions...

I have to second this now after all thats come out im probably leaning towards the inspire

 

[shark974]

Honestly, I want to get all excited about the Atrix, but there are a couple of issues that are holding me back:

Moto's are notoriously difficult to root, unlock, mod, whatever. Frankly, I want to get the phone, and on the FIRST DAY, I want every trace of AT&T crap-ware OFF the thing, and I want to be able to customize it to my needs exactly as I see fit. I'm spending the money for it, so why shouldn't I right?

Also, speaking of modding and rooting etc, considering how similar the Nexus S is to the current Samsung hardware out in the wild at the moment, and how similar the Infuse's hardware will likely also be, I suspect the Infuse will be a modder's playground.

On the other hand, DesignGears has made it known that he plans on getting both devices. So who knows? Maybe the Atrix will have hope yet... I can see it now: XDA figures out a way to replace webtop on the Atrix with full blown Ubuntu. Now THAT would be cool!

Idk, I'm still torn...

If the Infuse has an HDMI port, I might just go with that and let the dual core phones mature for a generation or two.

Decisions decisions...

Too me the big screen is the biggest factor. It's basically, Atrix has the best internal hardware, Infuse has the monster screen. My trend is to lean towards the big screen. I wont really notice while using it, what CPU is in my phone, but I will use the screen every day.

I wish I could have the Infuse's screen and the Atrix's internals. That's the perfect phone, at least until something better

The Galaxy S 2 is going to be unveiled Feb 13 I believe. That will be another strong contender. We already know it's dual core.

 

[JadeEyedWolf]

Too me the big screen is the biggest factor. It's basically, Atrix has the best internal hardware, Infuse has the monster screen. My trend is to lean towards the big screen. I wont really notice while using it, what CPU is in my phone, but I will use the screen every day.

Good point, and I completely agree. That said, the Infuse's pixel resolution is apparently not changing compared to the existing SAMOLED hardware out there currently. So, bigger screen = cool. Bigger screen + same pixel resolution = lower pixel density; not so cool. Then again, they are increasing the number of SUB-pixels, so who knows? Maybe that will make all the difference. I'll reserve my final judgement for when I actually see it in person.

Suffice it to say, my point about screen resolution is completely subjective. Everyone's different after all. Maybe someone might want just a bigger screen, and another person wants higher colour and contrast, while a 3rd person may want the sharpest picture with the highest pixel count. Me, personally, I want as much of all of the above as I can get!

I wish I could have the Infuse's screen and the Atrix's internals. That's the perfect phone, at least until something better

Yeah that would most definitely be cool.

The Galaxy S 2 is going to be unveiled Feb 13 I believe. That will be another strong contender. We already know it's dual core.

Once again, uber cool, except for one BIG problem: we (probably) live in the North American market...

So, what this means, is that in all likelihood the Galaxy S 2 that is going to be revealed in a few weeks won't ever officially be available to us over here. Ever...

Now, MAYBE 6 months or more after it's been available EVERYWHERE ELSE but here, we may see some VARIATION of the Galaxy S 2 in the North American market. Sadly though, THAT device will likely be some watered-down and de-featured version that specific carriers have hacked to bits, crippled, and bloated to suit THEIR needs. Captivate/Vibrant/Fascinate ring any bells anyone? (I gotta say, I think Sprint actually did alright with the Epic 4G; that phone was COOL!)

Of course, I'm not saying that it'll be impossible to bring the proper Galaxy S 2 into North America, but it will probably set you back like $93251674198744167654!@64646481
3245&(&&$$$$$$.99 to do so.

Oh yeah, and if you're a T-Mo customer, you can just forget about any kind of 3/4G support! (The 1700mhz AWS frequency band kinda blows, doesn't it?)

Seriously though, how many people to you know, over here, who have actually taken the time, and spent the ludicrous amounts of money, just to have a proper, unlocked, and likely imported, Galaxy S i9000?

The hard reality for us in North America, is that, as cool as the Galaxy S 2 may be, actually owning one might be a pipe dream...

Now, as a sort of side note, I've gotta say, as much as I loath anything with a lower-case "i" in front of its name, and as wary as I am about how tightly locked down Moto devices are, I do have this to say about Apple and Motorola: At least they're American. So when they come out with something new and desirable, we get it first for once; kinda gives Europe and Asia a taste of their own medicine.

Well that's my rant for the day!

 

[the co0kie]

Samsung Infuse 4G ? Android 2.2 Smartphone ? Wireless from AT&T

~BRILLIANT DISPLAY: 4.5” 480x800 Super AMOLED™ Plus display
~ULTRA-THIN DESIGN
~ANDROID™ 2.2 OS: access to thousands of apps and built-in
ADOBE

 

[AndreaCristiano]

Im gonna say by the time it gets here its gonna come with gingerbread

 

[MissMariela]

I'm also torn between the Atrix and the Infuse. I was on the verge of getting the Captivate but I saw that the Infuse is coming out soon and it is basically a better version of the Captivate I figure it might be worth the wait. The specs for the Atrix look very impressive, but I honestly don't think I need all that power (although I'm sure it wouldn't hurt). Since the Atrix seems like its coming out soon, I'm going to try to get my hands on one and see how I like it. I generally have liked Samsung better than Motorola on every level in the past. I most likely will end up waiting a few more months for the Infuse, because wow that huge screen is beautiful. It's gonna feel like a long wait though, seeing as the phone I have right now isn't even a smartphone. Ugh.

 

[chocobosandwich]

I'm also torn between the Atrix and the Infuse. I was on the verge of getting the Captivate but I saw that the Infuse is coming out soon and it is basically a better version of the Captivate I figure it might be worth the wait. The specs for the Atrix look very impressive, but I honestly don't think I need all that power (although I'm sure it wouldn't hurt). Since the Atrix seems like its coming out soon, I'm going to try to get my hands on one and see how I like it. I generally have liked Samsung better than Motorola on every level in the past. I most likely will end up waiting a few more months for the Infuse, because wow that huge screen is beautiful. It's gonna feel like a long wait though, seeing as the phone I have right now isn't even a smartphone. Ugh.

It's really about whether you are an obsessed enthusiast or have that childish mindset where you always want the best no matter what the cost and want to brag about it. Practicality-wise, jumping to dual-core means very little right now and might even be detrimental because of battery life, heat, cost, lack of support, and any kinks these new dual-core processors might have. Smartphones don't have the user interface nor the screen size to do any real multitasking like how a tablet or a regular computer can and it'll mostly just be maybe twitter feeds, streaming radio, or an idle browser in the background for most people when it comes to "multi-tasking", all of which single-core processors are doing fine with some to spare, unless you were encoding video with both cores and then your phone would be dead in 30 minutes.

There have been rumors of $150 for the Atrix and $99 for the Infuse on Amazon, so the Infuse will most likely be cheaper with less than bleeding edge guts. Most people will not be able to tell the difference between a single and a dual-core phone if the interface is snappy enough. The screen is much more important. Take for example, my five year old computer and my newest one with 4-cores. They both feel the same and largely work the same, but when I removed that 19" monitor and attached a 32" one with wide viewing angles, superb colors and contrast, and obviously much larger size, it was night and day. Like PC gamers that pay $2000 for their rig but only $120 for some cheap 20-inch Viewsonic monitor, it can seem quite contradictory. The screen is the thing you can see and touch and use. The next priority, for me at least, is aesthetics and build quality, which I think the Infuse definitely beats the Atrix in.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

It's really about whether you are an obsessed enthusiast or have that childish mindset where you always want the best no matter what the cost and want to brag about it. Practicality-wise, jumping to dual-core means very little right now and might even be detrimental because of battery life, heat, cost, lack of support, and any kinks these new dual-core processors might have. Smartphones don't have the user interface nor the screen size to do any real multitasking like how a tablet or a regular computer can and it'll mostly just be maybe twitter feeds, streaming radio, or an idle browser in the background for most people when it comes to "multi-tasking", all of which single-core processors are doing fine with some to spare, unless you were encoding video with both cores and then your phone would be dead in 30 minutes.

There have been rumors of $150 for the Atrix and $99 for the Infuse on Amazon, so the Infuse will most likely be cheaper with less than bleeding edge guts. Most people will not be able to tell the difference between a single and a dual-core phone if the interface is snappy enough. The screen is much more important. Take for example, my five year old computer and my newest one with 4-cores. They both feel the same and largely work the same, but when I removed that 19" monitor and attached a 32" one with wide viewing angles, superb colors and contrast, and obviously much larger size, it was night and day. Like PC gamers that pay $2000 for their rig but only $120 for some cheap 20-inch Viewsonic monitor, it can seem quite contradictory. The screen is the thing you can see and touch and use. The next priority, for me at least, is aesthetics and build quality, which I think the Infuse definitely beats the Atrix in.

I agree with your post completely, but I must correct one thing its the INSPIRE which is 99 on amazon not the Infuse

 

[simulator]

I will likely hold out for the Infuse. If GPS doesn't work, I'll probably return it for the Inspire. I love my 4'' screen but would like some more real estate... and both the cameras on infuse/inspire appear to have better specs than the atrix. Plus, I think the development will be better on Samsung or HTC than Moto.

I have had a captivate from day one. As angry as I got over gps, the fact is that I love the amoled and rest of the hardware. Great sound quality and I can run 2.2.1 thanks to the plentiful development for the galaxy s platform. And as much as I'd like to stick it to samsung over the way they handled gps and updates, in the end I'm probably just spiting myself since the overall experience will be better for me with sammy than moto.

 

[chocobosandwich]

I agree with your post completely, but I must correct one thing its the INSPIRE which is 99 on amazon not the Infuse

You are right. My mistake.

Considering how the Samsung Wave with sAMOLED was priced like a mid-range device overseas and that the Galaxy S line also with sAMOLED has been relatively cheap (at least in the US, for both carrier pricing and ebay pricing in comparison to HTC or Motorola devices), sAMOLED devices do not seem to really command a premium. At least I don't think the overall package will be more expensive than a dual-core phone with additional bioscanner and NFC support.

I highly doubt Samsung would make the same mistake with GPS as they did before with the Galaxy S. It was well publicized and they have a catalog of phones with perfectly fine and working GPS features so they are more than competent to get it working the first time around and the Galaxy S was just poor luck, something they are likely to pay more attention to the second time around. I'm using a Samsung Wave right now with very similar hardware to the Galaxy S and the GPS locks very quickly even indoors. YMMV.

 

[MissMariela]

It's really about whether you are an obsessed enthusiast or have that childish mindset where you always want the best no matter what the cost and want to brag about it. Practicality-wise, jumping to dual-core means very little right now and might even be detrimental because of battery life, heat, cost, lack of support, and any kinks these new dual-core processors might have. Smartphones don't have the user interface nor the screen size to do any real multitasking like how a tablet or a regular computer can and it'll mostly just be maybe twitter feeds, streaming radio, or an idle browser in the background for most people when it comes to "multi-tasking", all of which single-core processors are doing fine with some to spare, unless you were encoding video with both cores and then your phone would be dead in 30 minutes.

There have been rumors of $150 for the Atrix and $99 for the Infuse on Amazon, so the Infuse will most likely be cheaper with less than bleeding edge guts. Most people will not be able to tell the difference between a single and a dual-core phone if the interface is snappy enough. The screen is much more important. Take for example, my five year old computer and my newest one with 4-cores. They both feel the same and largely work the same, but when I removed that 19" monitor and attached a 32" one with wide viewing angles, superb colors and contrast, and obviously much larger size, it was night and day. Like PC gamers that pay $2000 for their rig but only $120 for some cheap 20-inch Viewsonic monitor, it can seem quite contradictory. The screen is the thing you can see and touch and use. The next priority, for me at least, is aesthetics and build quality, which I think the Infuse definitely beats the Atrix in.

I couldn't agree more. I'm definitely not the childish must have the best around -type. I tend to be patient about what I spend my money on and try not to get too excited about things just because they are new or creating buzz. The Atrix does seem sweet but I know I don't need all that power and I also know I don't want to spend the extra few hundred dollars for the dock(s). I know I would enjoy the big beautiful screen over anything else any phone can offer me. The Infuse seems to be on top of my list right now.

I'm willing to wait it out as long as summer for this device, but hopefully it comes out early Q2. I'm also curious as to what other new Android devices AT&T will be offering around that time.

One more thing. I know that Samsung held out on updates for the Captivate. I'm not too familiar with Android at this point, so I have a question. Does a lot change between versions? Like, if the Infuse comes with 2.2 and doesn't get an update to 2.3 or later versions, what does that really mean for the user?

 

[androidg33k]

I couldn't agree more. I'm definitely not the childish must have the best around -type. I tend to be patient about what I spend my money on and try not to get too excited about things just because they are new or creating buzz. The Atrix does seem sweet but I know I don't need all that power and I also know I don't want to spend the extra few hundred dollars for the dock(s). I know I would enjoy the big beautiful screen over anything else any phone can offer me. The Infuse seems to be on top of my list right now.

I'm willing to wait it out as long as summer for this device, but hopefully it comes out early Q2. I'm also curious as to what other new Android devices AT&T will be offering around that time.

One more thing. I know that Samsung held out on updates for the Captivate. I'm not too familiar with Android at this point, so I have a question. Does a lot change between versions? Like, if the Infuse comes with 2.2 and doesn't get an update to 2.3 or later versions, what does that really mean for the user?

For the end user, it would make a difference if the newer version has a feature that he/she really wants. Some of the new features in 2.3 are as given below. If you are really not interested in any of these, then 2.2 should be good enough if they decide to go the Captivate route and forget about updating.


Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) supports the following features in addition to existing 2.2 features:
New user interface design with new themes (Black themes save power)
Extra Large Screen Size supported
SIP Communication Supported (SIP Video and Audio Calling, In an operator point of view, this is feature will decrease their voice calling revenue where as user can call each other for lower rates or even free if they have good data connection)
Supports for NFC (High Frequency High Speech Data Transfer in short range)
Support for WebM/VP8 video playback, and AAC audio encoding
New audio effects such as reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost
Improved Copy and Paste functionality
Redesigned Multi Touch Software Keyboard
Audio, graphical, and input enhancements for game developers
New sensors support (i.e gyroscope)
Download manager for long running HTTP downloads
Enhanced support for native code
Improved power management and application control
Support for multiple cameras


Read more: Difference Between Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) | Difference Between | Android 2.2 (Froyo) vs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

 

[MissMariela]

For the end user, it would make a difference if the newer version has a feature that he/she really wants. Some of the new features in 2.3 are as given below. If you are really not interested in any of these, then 2.2 should be good enough if they decide to go the Captivate route and forget about updating.


Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) supports the following features in addition to existing 2.2 features:
New user interface design with new themes (Black themes save power)
Extra Large Screen Size supported
SIP Communication Supported (SIP Video and Audio Calling, In an operator point of view, this is feature will decrease their voice calling revenue where as user can call each other for lower rates or even free if they have good data connection)
Supports for NFC (High Frequency High Speech Data Transfer in short range)
Support for WebM/VP8 video playback, and AAC audio encoding
New audio effects such as reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost
Improved Copy and Paste functionality
Redesigned Multi Touch Software Keyboard
Audio, graphical, and input enhancements for game developers
New sensors support (i.e gyroscope)
Download manager for long running HTTP downloads
Enhanced support for native code
Improved power management and application control
Support for multiple cameras


Read more: Difference Between Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) | Difference Between | Android 2.2 (Froyo) vs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Thank you, that is very informative. I must admit that I don't know what half the things on that list even mean but others sound like I would appreciate having. Hopefully when it comes out they at least let us know if they plan on offering the 2.3 upgrade ever. It feels like it should already come with 2.3 in order for them to stay competitive with other devices, since 2.3 has already been out for a while and this phone isn't supposed to come out til q2, the 2.2 is going to be dated. I would feel more comfortable getting it knowing that they are actually gonna provide the upgrade(s).

 

[chocobosandwich]

Thank you, that is very informative. I must admit that I don't know what half the things on that list even mean but others sound like I would appreciate having. Hopefully when it comes out they at least let us know if they plan on offering the 2.3 upgrade ever. It feels like it should already come with 2.3 in order for them to stay competitive with other devices, since 2.3 has already been out for a while and this phone isn't supposed to come out til q2, the 2.2 is going to be dated. I would feel more comfortable getting it knowing that they are actually gonna provide the upgrade(s).

You will be fine with anything in the 2.x region. These .x are incremental updates and don't vastly improve or change up the operating system or user inferface. 2.2 was a small speed bump and 2.3 is adding a few features they neglected in 2.2 as well as some new APIs, but ultimately the end user will not be able to tell them apart, like the single core/dual core issue, unless they look at a spec sheet or check their system info or run a benchmark, which leads into obsessed-enthusiast territory. App developers are not going to abandon 95% of the market for the newest best software update.

The newest version (2.3 Gingerbread) is barely a month old and has really only been on ONE device, the Nexus S, because it is the official Google developer device. It takes a couple of months at the least for other phones to start implementing new updates, and longer still for various other reasons. Google is also still mum on an official real upgrade for smartphones, and is focusing on it's 3.0 Honeycomb tablet release for March, so who knows when the next real smartphone upgrade that makes your device obsolete will be. Add a good six months to a year on top of that for the market to transition to a major release (something not in the decimal place), which means your 2-yr contract is up and it's new phone time.

Do not rely on a phone manufacturer's history to predict whether they will update their phones or not. Every company has their share of begrudged fans complaining about updates. Same goes for brand loyalty. Each side takes turns making lemons and the larger companies are mostly competitive, so pick whatever you like and ignore the screaming fanboys. When it comes to Android, where new phones are released almost semi-annually now alongside each update, you may get one update and then a new replacement gets released and the old phone loses update support. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal, like I mentioned before, as long as its 2.x and not some whole new OS release to 3.0 or 4.0 where developer support for legacy devices might go out the window.

If you want to be at the forefront of updates and want continuous support and ease of use, so you don't have to worry about all the shenanigans of being up to date on Android, consider getting an iPhone since there is only one new phone per year and the iOS for even old models is simultaneously updated throughout the entire fleet, giving people more fun times to eat cake instead of worrying about device support. The only problem is Apple probably won't release a 4.5" iPhone.

 

[MissMariela]

You will be fine with anything in the 2.x region. These .x are incremental updates and don't vastly improve or change up the operating system or user inferface. 2.2 was a small speed bump and 2.3 is adding a few features they neglected in 2.2 as well as some new APIs, but ultimately the end user will not be able to tell them apart, like the single core/dual core issue, unless they look at a spec sheet or check their system info or run a benchmark, which leads into obsessed-enthusiast territory. App developers are not going to abandon 95% of the market for the newest best software update.

The newest version (2.3 Gingerbread) is barely a month old and has really only been on ONE device, the Nexus S, because it is the official Google developer device. It takes a couple of months at the least for other phones to start implementing new updates, and longer still for various other reasons. Google is also still mum on an official real upgrade for smartphones, and is focusing on it's 3.0 Honeycomb tablet release for March, so who knows when the next real smartphone upgrade that makes your device obsolete will be. Add a good six months to a year on top of that for the market to transition to a major release (something not in the decimal place), which means your 2-yr contract is up and it's new phone time.

Do not rely on a phone manufacturer's history to predict whether they will update their phones or not. Every company has their share of begrudged fans complaining about updates. Same goes for brand loyalty. Each side takes turns making lemons and the larger companies are mostly competitive, so pick whatever you like and ignore the screaming fanboys. When it comes to Android, where new phones are released almost semi-annually now alongside each update, you may get one update and then a new replacement gets released and the old phone loses update support. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal, like I mentioned before, as long as its 2.x and not some whole new OS release to 3.0 or 4.0 where developer support for legacy devices might go out the window.

If you want to be at the forefront of updates and want continuous support and ease of use, so you don't have to worry about all the shenanigans of being up to date on Android, consider getting an iPhone since there is only one new phone per year and the iOS for even old models is simultaneously updated throughout the entire fleet, giving people more fun times to eat cake instead of worrying about device support. The only problem is Apple probably won't release a 4.5" iPhone.

Honestly, the reason why I was even concerned about the updates is because I read around this forum and a few others and I saw a ton of people bitching that they never got upgrades for their Captivate. If I think about it, especially after reading what you said, I don't think its a big deal for me. If the version that it comes with does the job then really I don't care if it ever gets upgrades. By what I've seen 2.2 is pretty freakin' awesome and I'll be perfectly happy with it.

 

[Shocky]

Looks good, disappointed not to see a dual core cpu in there though and will even more disappointed is if the "Galaxy S2" has the same specs.

Screen will look amazing though, no doubt.

As for the the talk about firmware support, it seems the support for the international version are great, 2.2.1 here dated from Jan so thats not somehing i'm very concerned about.

 

[MissMariela]

Has anyone had an HTC phone with sense and a Samsung phone with touchwiz that can provide a comparison of the two? I'm getting a little restless seeing as the Infuse doesn't have a date yet and the Inspire comes out really soon. :/

 

[AndreaCristiano]

Has anyone had an HTC phone with sense and a Samsung phone with touchwiz that can provide a comparison of the two? I'm getting a little restless seeing as the Infuse doesn't have a date yet and the Inspire comes out really soon. :/

yes i have.

touchwiz on the captivate : kiddie looking, iphonesque in every aspect of the UI
their widgets are ok better than some but its basically a UI laying there with no real added functionality

Sense on the hero and Aria: Much more polished and professorial looking UI, resembles nothing all original, (actually the UI gets copied by many developers, even phones ) Sense is a completely holistic UI it integrates great usability and adds to the android experience. It also adds great functionality and will do more so with sense 2.0 and sense.com


Hope that helps

 

[kembry]

Like most of you, I'm struggling between the Atrix and the Infuse. I'm leaning toward the Infuse for several reasons.

First, the Atrix is the gateway drug to a ton of overpriced docks. The laptop is going to cost $499 (either separate or with the Atrix itself, so there's no reason to buy it separately). My rational brain says "$300 extra for a laptop dock, how preposterously overpriced." But I know me. I'll buy the laptop dock. Then I'll want the HD dock (another $200), and probably spring for the car dock (rumored to be around $60). Suddenly the Atrix closer to $800...and I'm sure I'd be getting one for my wife, too. The Infuse sounds like it will be at the $100 price point. Period. For the price I'll be paying for the Atrix and its goodies, I could have EIGHT Infuses on contract. Okay, I won't do that, but I think the point is made.

Secondly, 5mp camera and 720p video? Really? I know, I know, the response is "5mp is PLENTY" and "you couldn't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p in video unless you were right on top of the set." Okay, maybe. But they've got the right processor and muscle for more, and they chose the lower end specs. It's like buying a high end Mercedes and putting $50 tires on it. Plus, I know this will be disputed, but I've got a Blu-ray player and I've seen the same movie on my 1080p set and my brother-in-law's 720p set, and I can tell a difference. It might be in the type of set, contrast, brightness, yada yada yada, but I can, and one of the variables that is different is mine is 1080p, and it looks more detailed.

Third, Motorola isn't root friendly, and I want to root this phone. Like most of you, I don't trust Samsung to upgrade this or any phone. That's why I won't count on Samsung. For that matter, I don't trust Motorola, either. I trust Cyanogenmod, and the talented developers over at XDA. Samsung has no problem with the MOD community, and I like that.

Fourth, I love the Atrix's new resolution, but how many developers are going to hop on that bandwagon? Suddenly there's another resolution to program for. Who's going to take advantage of that when the vast majority of phones are at 800x480? They might, but even if Atrix is a smash hit, it will still represent a minority of Android phones.

Fifth, I think AMOLED technology is superior for battery life, brightness, and beauty. I haven't seen the Atrix, but I have had the AMOLED, and anything that makes that better gets my vote.. That and the larger screen size, and I think I'm sold.

Finally, this phone sounds like it's using the Orion processor. I've heard only excellent things about that.

I also like the fact that this will be HSPA+ and not LTE. I've always been an early adopter, but the new cell standard will likely have a surcharge (a la Sprint's WiMAX $10 surcharge) and devour battery life on its new handsets like a fat man sucking air after running a mile. It is against my DNA to say this, but I absolutely believe it, LTE needs a generation or two of batteries before it's a viable contender to be useful for all day computing/smart phone usage.

I also have one big question. How will the Galaxy S2 differ from the Infuse, or is this just AT&T's version of it?

To sum up, I'd rather save my money on the Atrix and get a couple Infuses for my wife and I (to replace our iPhone 3Gses) and maybe a decent Android tablet.

 

[shark974]

I dont think the Infuse uses the Orion processor. It will use the same hummingbird chip in the Galaxy S. Which is based on the older cortex A8 and not the supernewfangled A9 that Tegra 2 uses (besides that Tegra is dual core and Infuse isn't).

I actually just read something on Anandtech that Orion may be delayed, Samsung may well be using Tegra 2's in the meanwhile (but not on the Infuse).

By all appearances, the Infuse is last gen hardware (the same as in Galaxy S, single core, etc) with a next gen, best in class, screen.

IMO if you could meld the Atrix's powerful internals with the Infuse screen, you'd have the perfect phone, in the near term.

Myself I'm pretty torn, part of me thinks I'll never really notice what processor my phone is using, it will seem "good enough" anyway (considering it's the same processor as in my current phone, the Captivate), but I will notice the screen every day and every use. Which of course would favor the Infuse.

But then of course part of me desires that beefy Atrix hardware...

But anyways, the Samsung Galaxy S 2 is going to be Samsung's true next gen phone. It will be dual core and will likely be at least as fast as anything out there including the Atrix. It is supposed to be unveiled I believe Feb 13 at mobile world congress. So, stay tuned. My only thing is that I prefer the Infuse 4.5" screen (I'm a big screen lover), and I suspect the Galaxy S 2 will be aimed more mainstream, and so it will likely have a 4.0" screen or so. Infuse seems more like a big screen flyer, aimed at the market that wants big screens. If it were my dream phone the GS2 would have a 4.3" screen.


All in all I'm taking a wait and see attitude for now. I am pretty surprised the Infuse is getting so little love on these boards though, especially since big screen phones like the Evo seem to get the most hype.

 

[chocobosandwich]

I am considering the Galaxy S2 as well since it will be more powerful. The thing for me to see is whether or not it will be released in a timely manner, because if not I'd get the Infuse instead, whichever comes first. The second thing is that the S2 is rumored to have either a 4.3" or 4.5" screen, larger than the assumed 4.0" of the previous Galaxy S, so that raises the stakes. And ultimately, after years of owning cell phones, my foremost dealbreaker is whether or not the phone looks good and feels good. It's more or less a level playing field on the horsepower department right now, but like the screen, the aesthetics of the phone and the feel of it really makes a big difference. The cheap plastic feel and "oh shiz I'm gonna squeeze and crush it!" of my Samsung Vibrant really turned me off, even with a superAMOLED screen. Same goes for the grease and the dollar store toy look. The Infuse seems to be made of several premium non-glossy materials and looks quite nice. If the S2 turns out to be another plastic toy, I"m staying on the Infuse bandwagon no matter what magical hardware lies underneath Samsung's new flagship. Same goes for the Atrix, which I don't like the look of either, especially the back, nor the Bionic.

@kembry. I want to argue a point about 720p and 1080p. There is definitely a difference between the two with the right hardware, but this is only true from a blu-ray source, which is filmed from probably expensive and large RED cameras and will be downsized to 25+mbps bitrate to fit on a blu-ray. As several LG Optimux 2x reviews have shown, the 1080p recording suffers from blurring due to postprocessing (standard on cameras) to help reduce the excessive noise caused by a dinky cellphone camera and finally the high compression and low bitrate make for loss of detail. In the end, the video will only look slightly better than if captured in 720p, if at all with all the extra issues and much higher compression, and the filesize will be humongous. My phone averages 90MB/s on boring footage with 720p and bumps up with action in the scene so an hour's footage is already around 6GB at the minimum. It's going to be worse for 1080p. With a 16GB card, you could probably get 30 minutes or less of 1080p footage after you loaded all your music and apps on it. The Optimus 2x battery also died fairly quickly utilizing two cores to capture 1080p smoothly. In the near future 1080p will become the standard, but as of now I don't think it is very practical with the size, compression, detail, and battery limitations. Like dual-core phones without a dual-core capable OS, it is still 1.0 land for early adopters.

And as far as the 5MP camera is concerned, I'd like to reiterate what others have said. In the camera world, there's been a megapixel race going on because consumers don't know any better and will buy whatever has the biggest number. There are cheap $100 cameras that have 20MP sensors but they take absolutely terrible photos. The filesize is also unwieldy. Then there are expensive DSLRs that max out at 10 or 14MP and shoot wonderful detailed pictures. Lesser pixels means each pixel gets more light and the image comes out superior. The physical sensor size ultimately determines the quality and DSLR's have very large sensors and dimensions, meaning they are large, heavy, and not pocketable.

When it comes to cameraphones, I'd like to point out phones like the 8MP Droid X which takes poor photos compared to say the 5MP iPhone which takes much better ones. The dinky small sensor in each prevents either from being all that great, but that 8MP mischief without the goods to back it up is misleading. Higher megapixels do correlate with better sensors in many cases when it comes to phones, but that is only association and not causation, so its best to just read a review to see what people think or a camera shootout and ignore the marketing numbers, as the Droid X vs iPhone 4 comparison can attest to.

 

[chocobosandwich]

Uhoh. It looks like the Galaxy S II has completely eclipsed this phone on so many levels. The look is more sophisticated and the textured back is great. Then there's the dual-core orion, 1GB RAM, and the simple fact that it is going to be released this month, which in itself really makes the Infuse seem like some side project quickly accelerated to show something at CES and then subsequently forgotten with no launch date or mention at MWC. It was nice chatting here to the couple of people who were interested. Time to jump ship. I was just a stowaway waiting for something better and faster to port anyhoo. Sayonara. Zaijian. Buhbaiz.

 

[rolex]

Is there any one here still considering the Infuse , there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm and general internet interest in this phone , one thing I have to consider
in my selection when buying a new smartphone is the cost and just may be the Infuse will be in my price range as compared to say the Galaxy S2.

Any one still interested in the Infuse ?

 

[raywright1]

Is there any one here still considering the Infuse , there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm and general internet interest in this phone , one thing I have to consider
in my selection when buying a new smartphone is the cost and just may be the Infuse will be in my price range as compared to say the Galaxy S2.

Any one still interested in the Infuse ?

i'm quite interested - i posted reasons why in another thread.

this link posted by someone else contains the only pictures that i can find showing the back, revealing what looks to be a flash, so for me personally, it's the best all around package given my needs. if the inspire offered either a 2100 3G band or a front camera, i probably would have gotten one by now. what a great phone - my wife has one. the waiting is hard - i hope the infuse does not disappoint.

i'm stumped by the apparent Q2 release date, given that the device is routinely mentioned as one of the big three new handsets, two of which are already out. how can "soon coming" realistically refer to june/july? apparently the inspire replaced the aria well before a complete year, so i'm hoping the infuse doesn't wait a full year to replace the captivate (i believe captivate was released july 2010). also, why release so close to the iPhone 5? and with Galaxy S2 in the pipeline already for foreign release, i just can't see summer as the release date for the infuse. i suppose a hyper-optimist might say that atrix followed inspire by weeks, so maybe infuse follows atrix by weeks. however, i'm a classic pessimist.

 

[chocobosandwich]

Lol I really lack commitment. Hello again. Now that the hype has settled down, at least in my head, the infuse sounds like a possible alternative, if release date and prices seem to be dangling far away with the SGS2. The problem is the infuse has as much info about release as the SGS2, meaning it might not even come out anytime soon, or might be just a canceled project meant to give Samsung a presence at CES. The Inspire is a really nice phone to hold and has a nice screen and fast UI. The key is it is available NOW and is pretty cheap, especially second-hand, which is practically new. If only the inspire didn't have such a crappy video camera.