 
 
 
 
 
 
 Packaging 
 
 Hardware 
 
 Camera 
 
 Sprint has ditched the strange (or cute, depending on your attitude) "TV dinner" packaging of the EVO in favor of a more traditional box here. Anyone intending to use the Epic for serious music use is still encouraged to bring their own headphones or earbuds of choice, but it's pretty cool that Sammy's offering buds in the box that are high-quality enough to include replaceable tips.You also get an SD-to-microSD converter that you'll be able to use with the 16GB microSD card that comes pre-installed underneath the phone's back cover (though you don't need to remove the battery to get at it, which is nice). Another place where the Epic wins over its Galaxy-branded cousins is just below the 5 megapixel camera, where you'll find an honest-to-goodness LED flash (more on this later). Since the screens are literally identical and the Epic won't be out until the end of the month, we might even recommend heading down to an AT&T or T-Mobile store beforehand and checking out the Captivate / Vibrant -- you'll get a good sense of what to expect when you pick up your phone, both from a display and a software perspective.Below the display are four capacitive buttons -- the usual ones you find on Android devices: Menu, Home, Back, and Search, in that order from left to right. On the plus side, we found audio quality to be decent, though not quite as strong as the Droid 2 or Droid X.
– Sprint has been the punching bag of the mobile world for a while now, but that may be changing thanks to its lightning-fast 4G WiMax network—and the spiffy new Android smartphones that use it. First there was the HTC EVO, and now comes the Epic, part of Samsung’s Galaxy S line. It’s bulky, thanks to its full QWERTY keyboard, but it’s also so packed with features that most reviewers are in love. “The Epic 4G is a great device. Killer, even,” raves Engadget. Together with the EVO and Pre, the Epic makes Sprint “perhaps the most gadget-savvy carrier in the US today.” “I am in love with this keyboard,” says Jason Chen of Gizmodo, who thinks the Epic is the “clear choice” over the EVO, thanks to a better screen and longer battery life—though the latter still isn’t great. And Fortune calls the phone “a Blackberry upgrader’s dream,” because it’s got “probably one of the top keyboards on any phone, ever.” Samsung’s Android modifications aren’t great, and the GPS has some problems, but those are software issues that will likely be fixed quickly.