Samsung Captivate

The Samsung Captivate is AT&T’s first high end, superphone running Android.AT&T changed the standard Galaxy S design from the overseas model that shipped before our US versions. Overall, that’s not a bad thing. While the Galaxy S looks sleek and is incredibly slim (nearly as slim as the iPhone 4), the plastic back looks a little cheap and it attracts fingerprints at an alarming rate. It’s also a little slippery to hold thanks to the iPhone 3GS-style tapered design. AT&T’s version has a metal back with an attractive pattern and the side curves are less extreme. The top and bottom have a very different look that makes the phone look thicker than the Galaxy S and Vibrant, though it is not. Other than the cool-looking textured metal back panel, we wouldn’t say the Captivate is a gorgeous phone, but it’s not bad looking either. The back comes off in an interesting way, and it’s easier to remove than the original S pry-off back, yet it stays firmly in place (watch our video).The Samsung Captivate is a quad band GSM world phone with 3G HSPA on AT&T’s bands as well as 2100MHz for use overseas. Reception is average (a bit better than the iPhone 3GS as measured in –db, but not as good as the impressive BlackBerry Bold 9700), the call quality is very good. The phone has Bluetooth 3.0, but is backward compatible with Bluetooth 2.0 and 1.1 commonly found on Bluetooth headsets and stereo headphones. The Captivate worked fine with a variety of Bluetooth headsets including the Jawbone II, Samsung SBH-500 stereo cans and the Jabra Stone.