Like the Captivate, the Samsung Vibrant is another variant of the manufacturer's Galaxy S phones. This one, however, is made specifically for T-Mobile and definitely makes it mark as one of the best multimedia devices on the carrier's roster.
Physically, it's arguably the best-looking of the Galaxy S variants we've seen so far, combining slim lines, rounded edges and a very clean profile. It's also lighter than the Captivate, making it a bit easier to carry around. On the downside, it definitely feels less sturdy, although our short use didn't really show any obvious chinks in durability. Like its brethren, it features a large 4-inch Super AMOLED screen (800 x 480 resolution) that manages vibrant images, rich colors and good visibility under sunlight.
As a phone, the Vibrant makes for great calls, with clear and rich audio that's never interrupted by even the feintest distortion. Those on the other end said our voice quality was very natural-sounding. Speakerphone was similarly good, adding just a slightly hollow tone, while being perfectly usable even in noisier environments. Battery life should be a worry, though. Expect to charge this every night (if you're a heavy user, best carry a charger along).
Anyone who's heard of the Galaxy S series knows it packs the hardware goods and it's no different here. The 1GHz processor keeps things running along smoothly, with nary a hitch even with a load of apps open. T-Mobile's 3G network provides good broadband speeds, loading YouTube videos with just a slight delay and playing them back with zero buffering.
With multimedia as a definite strength, the phone zipped through our music and videos with excellent playback quality, giving Android's normally shoddy entertainment performance a huge boost (the 5.1-channel surround sound processing really does make everything sound better). It comes with a full-length copy of Avatar, so you can immediately judge for yourself. The 5.0 megapixel camera (no flash - booo) takes good shots, but nothing spectacular. We do appreciate the large amount of editing options, though.
Of course, it's heavy on the smartphone features too. Aside from gaining Android 2.1's solid messaging strengths, it boasts quad-band world phone capabilities, with the gamut of connectivity options (3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS). There's also the usual suite of Google services, a slew of social networking talents and a few choice apps (like Layar's augmented reality browser and Kindle for Android).
The Samsung Vibrant is a fast and powerful multimedia smartphone - easily one of the best options for entertainment handsets on T-Mobile's roster. It's available now for $199.99 with a two-year agreement.
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