Samsung Focus to be my champion
After playing with a few of the Windows Phones at the launch event, it was clear as day to see! All these phones had the exact same experience. Gone are they days where you would have to stand by HTC because you knew sense UI would be your savior.
Because of this, my brief time spent with the Focus fostered a strange feeling. I knew deep down inside, I would be leaving HTC for the first time in almost 6 years. WHOA! Even though the HTC Surround had a much better feel to it, and much better build quality; it just couldn’t snap me out of this trans.
The first major part of my decision was made after seeing and using the screen. Wow what a beautiful screen. And unlike the iPhone 4, Wow what a big screen. It wasn’t as big as my HD2, but it was sure as hell big enough!
The second major part of my decision was just made based on a Gizmodo Post comparing the current smartphones’ cameras. After using the iPhone 4 for sometime now, I can admit the single handedly best feature on that thing is the camera. It really performs! After seeing the Samsung Epic beating out even the iPhone 4, I am convinced!
With the beautiful 4” screen and solid camera, the Focus will be my device of choice on launch day. I would also like to give a really big thumbs up to Microsoft for finally fixing a huge problem in their eco system. With the user experience the same across all devices, its now back to picking a phone that offers the hardware specs you want and feels best in your hand.
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Good luck with a Samung GPS buddy. Hope you get where you’re going. 🙂 Last two Samsungs I’ve considered have no idea where they are in the universe.
I’m with you. I really want the Samsung Focus as well. They really thought this thing out; I even saw a video that demonstrated the scratch resistant glass on this thing.
I too will be leaving HTC after several years. I currently have the Tilt 2.
As for the GPS situation brought up by Matt A., the problem was that Samsung built their own software for the thing when clearly they are a hardware maker. Microsoft has taken the guessing game out of the equation and designed all of the core software and put out hardware standards and mandatory testing/certification.
I am still struggling between the choice of htc vs samsung. my first htc device was the fuze but i also recieved some handmedown oldschool startreks that im currently using. as far as brands go, htc is my favorite. However, i like the fact that the samsung has no moving parts, is thinner, and has a bigger screen
Screen size and camera are the two biggest factors for me. I like the HTC Surround (I’m actually someone who would use the speakers) but not willing to go with that size screen.
Hearing the Samsung camera performs well pleases me.
I’m with you. Looking for a Samsung Focus upon launch, and stepping away from HTC. (Between my wife and I, we’ve gone through a Tilt, a Fuze, and a Pure.)
Several factors make it the top choice for me:
(1) I’m an AT&T user through my work. My family is all on AT&T. And AT&T has the best coverage at my home (we’re in a verified dead spot to Verizon here; they let us out of our contract when we moved after sending a tech to the location). So that limits me to the three AT&T models at launch.
(2) Screen size is “just right” — not too small, not too big, but definitely with enough real estate. (Alright, I admit… if the HTC HD7 were on AT&T, I might be tempted. I’m a guy, and guy’s like big viewing screens. It’d be close.)
(3) The Super AMOLED screen appears to be a real winner. I’ve talked with a few folks who’ve held the different devices, and everyone has mentioned how rich the screen is on the Samsung Focus.
(4) That little trick for expandable storage is the real kicker. We’re talking a 40GB Windows Phone compared to the 8 and 16GB models. I don’t really need the micro-SD card to be removable, and I’m pretty sure the whole connection to the cloud makes an abundance of storage unnecessary for most users. But I’d love to throw an audio book or two on my device and such without worrying about clearing room.
(5) The camera seems competitive, if not top-notch among the release devices.
The downside of the Focus, near as I can tell from all that I’ve read and seen, is the aesthetics of the device. I’m not convinced it will feel like a rock-solid build (hey, it’s a Samsung). I like the shape of the Omnia better, but that’s not an option. And, as silly as it sounds, I think the splash of the ugly Samsung logo in a visually prominent place is just a distracting display of ego from the manufacturer. (Samsung could learn a lesson from HTC’s placement of their branding.)
I remember Microsoft clearly saying that the new OS was optimized for the 3.7″ screen size. The bigger the screen the less it’ll stray away from optimization. This is what I think of when I consider getting the HTC Surround. At 3.8″ it is larger than my current TP2 and right in that ballpark of full optimization. I am also one of the people who know exactly how much i’ll be spamming the slide up speakers. Alot!
The Samsung Super AMOLED screen and 4.0″ screen size combined with its thinness seems very appealing though.
@Ramon, I second the props to MS for bringing the user back to the most important question for a shopper-What fits you?
I too am leaving HTC for Samsung for this round. I have been a AT&T customer for over 10 years and I am not willing to give up on GSM due to its status as a worldwide “standard.” The HTC phone seems to be a unique approach to a phone, but I was looking for the HD3 not a “small” screen phone. A lot of the bloggers seem to be praising the Samsung over the other choices. Not to mention that the lack of upgradable memory thing was almost killing the joy of WP7 for me, when details of the Samsung came out my mind was made up that they are truly keeping their customers in mind. I hope HTC learns from this and makes their second and subsuquent rounds of phones a lot better. I will no doubt buy a phone from them again (maybe with WP8 on it).
I REALLY want the HD7, but as I, too, am a pretty loyal AT&T denizen, I’ll have to choose between the Focus and the Surround…unless I spring for the extra $300-400 for a grey market HD7…