Sprint Samsung Epic 4G Available 8/31
Sprint has finally announced the pricing and availability of its next big Android phone, the Samsung Epic 4G. It will be available through all retail channels (including partner retailers like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and RadioShack) on Tuesday, August 31st. It will be $249.99 with a two-year contract and a $100 mail-in rebate (although the retail partners usually offer instant rebates).
"For the first time ever, Sprint is offering customers a unique opportunity to reserve Samsung Epic 4G for purchase. Customers can reserve their smartphone for purchase at www.sprint.com/epic4g beginning Friday, Aug. 13., while supplies last. Customers who reserve Samsung Epic 4G will be able to complete their purchase beginning Tuesday, Aug. 31, and must complete their purchase no later than 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Sept. 1. Through the reservation process, customers will be able to reserve their devices online, pick them up in a Sprint Store, and receive the full retail experience, including Sprint's Ready Now service."
The press release also says they will be required to have the $10 Premium Data add-on, just like the Evo 4G. I think we all saw that one coming though.
Source: Sprint's Newsroom
© 2010, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.
If most of you enjoy paying extra money for a service you don’t receive, send me 10$ a month and I’ll gladly promise you unlimited data on your already unlimited plan.
so how about that phone
i hear its pretty sweet
i dont think the phone is worth more than the EVO
thats all im saying
–
the best phone ever..evo 4g…
So how come I can’t just buy the phone for a ‘premium’ price of $350 instead of $249 and not have to pay the goofy 4g $10 charge? It’d be one thing if it was a one-time charge for the purchase of the phone. For the haters that point derisively at the people who don’t like the extra $10 a month ‘premium data fee’ for a service that doesn’t actually do anything differently from what you a already getting is no different than paying your cable company a $10/mo ‘HDTV Charge’ for your HDTV along with your usual monthly cable fee whether or not you even have an HD signal on your cable line.
I read the price as 249 BEFORE the 100 rebate, SO, if you goto Hel-Mart or Chump-Buy, or The Shack, you get the phone for $149.00!!! Cheaper than the EVO, unless I am reading it wrong. Remember, EVO was 299 with 2 yr contract, then 100 rebate, making it 199.99… I love my EVO and won’t change.. Also, the 10 fee is worth it, as the phone does so much more, faster, than I have tripled my data usage, solely for just having the phone…even in 3G areas.. I travel for work, and have access to 4G often, so it is quite worth it to me.. stop complaining about a charge that is known up-front..
“You’ll be charged when you pick up your phone. When purchasing with a new line of service or a fully-eligible upgrade and 2-yr agreement, you’ll pay $249.99 (after instant savings and mail-in rebate). If you’re not eligible for an upgrade, you’ll need to pay full retail price, $499.99. Because we’ve boosted your data experience with this phone’s amazing services and features, you’ll need our $10/mo. Premium Data add-on and a compatible plan. You’ll enjoy 3G coverage nationwide and 4G coverage in over 40 markets and counting-check your coverage.”
DIRECT FROM THE WEBSITE
Ok guys let me explain the Epic 4g over the EVO for those that don’t know
CPU
Evo: Snapdragon (a 4 year old cpu that is 65nm)
Epic: Hummingbird (a 1 year old cpu that is 45nm)
The 45nm gives you better battery life and performance..the Hummingbird by tests is 2x around 2x more powerful then the snapdragon CPU alone…it also has a betetr ARM Neon for hardware video decoding
GPU
Evo: AMD z430 – 22 mpoly/sec
Epic: PowerV SGX 540 – 90 mpoly/sec
For the record a PS2 is around 66 – 75 mpoly/sec..you do the math..
Camera
Evo: 8 megaapixels
Epic: 5 megapixels
Megapixels != Quality..if anything it can make it worse…the 5mp sensor in the Epic is A LOT better then the one in the EVO…not only that the Epic has a REALLY good recorder for video much better then any other device.
Screen:
Evo: LCD 4.3″ (only 65k colors)
Epic: Super Amoled 4″ (not to be confused with regular Amoled)
Size is up to preference…but I doubt anyone(maybe a small minority) is gonna argue about a super amoled is better.
Micro SD
Evo: 8gb card
Epic: 16gb card
Not really about the device but adds some value..
G-sensor
Evo: 3-axis
Epic: 6-axis
Other things:
We are not sure yet but it is possible the Epic has Bluetooth 3.0…the specs says 2.1 but all the original Galaxy S series has 3.0..we will know once we get the device :/
Any other questions someone wants to ask? I’ll be glad to answer the (aside form the $10 fee ones lol)
@easyc – Same here. No 4G in colorado. I’ll gladly take your money for nothing in return as well.
Look, I’ll try not to complain here. I will plainly state that due to the 10 dollar additional charge, I will not buy this phone. I still enjoy my Sprint service and price, and that’s why I’d like to keep it that way. I’m over the fact that I’m not going to get this phone, despite how phenomenal it looks. Does anyone know of any new smartphones coming out for Sprint that won’t require an additional monthly fee? I haven’t found anything yet, and I’d rather turn my attention to something that I’m likelier to purchase. Until then, my TP2 still works fine.
Anybody know of when $G service will be deployed in NYC Yet? Sprint has been saying soon for close to two years now… and summers almost over still no sign of its inception…..boooo
Still talking this 10bucks if u don’t like it get another phone or switch to metro pcs. Even if the fee was $20 the plan would still be the best out. I bet u guys complaining would be the same ones who “move to Montana” if Sprint were to limit the charge to 4g areas.
Ive never seen a good Samsung phone. So ill probably stick to my EVO.
Finally all the specs WITH the keyboard my EVO has been missing. No matter how nice a touch keyboard is, it still kills the viewable screen area in landscape. I’ll take swype for portrait and a fast hardware keyboard in landscape for that .3″ less of a screen size and 3MP less of a camera every time. It might have been cool if the Epic also had an optical track ball like the Incredible but on the keyboard or both spots. I better get my pre-order in. So, who needs an Evo if my brother fails to come up with the dough in a couple weeks?
actually i was thinking about trading my tp2 for this phone… i like the keyboard and the droid.. i just cant wait for more specs like battery life and if its laggy… cant wait..
I thought Dan Hesse said 4G would be free, then straight up reneged on it because the phone was a premium phone, now second phone has the 10.00/mo fine to use it and all signs point to…. he lied. I will take that back when they offer the first 4G flip fone for 29.99
Hesse is as trustworthy as Pinocchio…………………..
I cleaned up the comments and spam.
Please try to respect our news page and take petty arguments with others elsewhere, preferably not on ppcgeeks.com at all.
Thank you.
Since it is now cleaned up thanks to Mr.X I want to add that if your interested in finding out more about the Epic or talk about it..it is under the Samsung Galaxy Series forum! so feel free to stop by for more information/chat about device/ask questions/read reviews/brag about getting one before everyone else lol
I got to play with one at work today (one of the perks of working for Sprint). I was indeed impressed by the screen, but being used to HTC’s designs; especially sense (my last four phones have been HTC’s) I really didn’t like the layout. The phone also feels dinky and plastic. Of course this is just the hardware. I do think it has great potential, though. I only got to look at it for a few minutes. I really wish manufacturers who make sliders would take notes from the touch pro 2. That was the best keyboard I’ve ever seen. The others I’ve seen since just don’t do it for me. I’ll have much more to say when I get more time to play with it. I’m a big fan of sliders and wasn’t sure I wanted the Evo because of it not having one, but have learned to do fine without it. Now when choosing a slider next time I’d like to see someone do a better job as well as having the screen tilt. I don’t know Maybe it’s just me.
I have to say, when I got my wife the EVO I thought to myself… On-screen-Keyboard? whats the point. After a while, I started hearing about this phone… I would not mind shelling out the money for a phone like this. The physical keyboard is a BIG deal to me. However, I am addicted to HTC (since the Apache) and cannot see myself brought to get a phone that is not HTC. In my experience, HTC brings a level of quality to all their builds and… well… the cheap designs by other manufacturers dont appeal to my taste. Just check out the EVO vs. DROID2… you will see what I am talking about. And just like stated by someone before. HTC MANILA rocked us all, then the introduction of HTC SENSE 2.1, then SENSE 2.5… Cant wait to see what 3.0 will look like on my next HTC device!
@mapaz04 – HTC build quality isn’t better then any other manufacturer…remember the components inside are not made by HTC, they are made by others. The Galaxy S and the Epic are actually really good build quality…even better then the EVO…If you watch the take apart video of the Galaxy S you will see this…
as for he UI, it is a matter of preference..if anything more people are just more used to sense ui rather then to say its better then Touchwiz 3…
If you read the reviews many of the ones that tried TouchWiz 3.0 on the Epic actually liked it…
@green_knight – I hate my TP2 so it’s going back to the Big Pin Drop in the sky.
really a smiley button? there’s room for that, but they can’t put the @ on 2 like every other kb out there
I was thinking the same thing but the $10/month extra charge for NOTHING extra is a deal breaker for me. I can’t afford to take a $30/month increase on my bill over what I’m already paying now. I’m staying with my TP2 and $49/mo SERO plan with 1250 daytime talking minutes and unlimited EVERYTHING else including text, data, mms, email, etc.
@krewblink -
@shaggylive – My guess is with a few hacks we can easily remap the smiley key into an @ key..I know remapping was done on other android keyboard phones..
Ok i have been reading the news here on ppcgeeks for quite a long time. I have read all the stuff about the evo and its killer 10 dollars a month extra. Let me tell you i am 17 years old, if 10 bucks means that much to you do us and u a favor and don’t have a phone. I on the other hand am done with verizon and there INSANE PRICES. My bill last month was 160 bucks. I have 2 phones. 450 min, 5000 text on 1 line and data for the tp2, the other line is a add a line with nothing. I think i have a right to complain about the prices. It doesnt matter cause as of november my contract is up and i am leaving verizon never looking back and getting me 2 of them evos with the unlimited talk txt and data for less than what im paying now.
@easyc – why sprint are doing this SH@# with the evo same stuff $10 fee for nothing is stupid
@garage_man – your bill with be over 160 with the everthing plan (exept for minutes which is 1500) for 2 lines
149.99 for the plan (unlimited everything except minutes which is 1500) and Tax (something our government tends to collect montly)
also it’s not unlimited talk, it’s unlimited mobile to mobile. if you want unlimited everything it’s 109 per line because they don’t have a family plan for unlimited everything.
@garage_man – also with verizon you can get unlimited everything for 120 on 1 line
69.99 unlimited talk
30 data for smartphone
20 unlimited text
———-
119.99
only $10 more than sprint and much better coverage overall.
by the way, i have sprint and i’m happy but your math is kind of screwed up.
I know plenty of people who have the EVO in non-4G areas (even some that do) and don’t pay the extra $10/month. It’s still a great phone without 4G.
Personally, living in an area that does have 4G, I happily pay the $170/month for both phones and the unlimited [including 4G] plan.
i got the samsung epic today.. it’s an absolutely beautiful phone, very light in wieght and extremely quick. i compared it to my wifes evo and it blows it away in all 3 catagories. but when it comes to the most important catagory for me which is outlook sync, the phone fails big time. the evo has the htc sync software and it works flawlessly.
anyone that does not care about outlook sync, you should be all over this device.
if it wasn’t a droid i would buy it. same specs as evo but comes with keyboard and 16gb sd card. pretty nice
I’m impressed. The $10/mo is not a dealbreaker for me.
But what’s the problem with Outlook sync
Can’t someone come up with a way to get the HTC sync app from Evo over to Epic? Or find something equivalent?
@itster – Doesn’t Samsung Kies doe outlook sync?
Full Outlook Sync (e-mail, calender, contacts, tasks, and notes) is pretty essential for me. I like the keyboard and SD card too. Any options to get that Outlook sync?