DROID Charge by Samsung [Verizon]; Breon’s Initial Thoughts
Good morning, awesome people! Today I have brand new, shiny — and I DO mean shiny — toy from Verizon Wireless. It’s not another hotspot. It’s the DROID Charge by Samsung. At first glance, you may be like “Meh. Just another Galaxy S phone“, but the DROID Charge is much more.
For starters, it has a larger, 4.3″, Super AMOLED Plus screen. The “Plus” means that there are 50% more sub-pixels…mumbo-jumbo aside: Brighter, richer, more efficient. The front and rear cameras have been upgraded to 1.3MP and 8.0MP respectively. The rear camera includes a flash. The DROID Charge also has an HDMI output.
There are some little things that set this apart from the Galaxy S line. While it still sports Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, the color palette has gone from light blue to brown and orange. While I don’t mind the new colors for the main interface, the color palette extends into other apps. So if the developer doesn’t override all of the UI assets, there will be a brown header bar and tabs. Another small change is the charger and USB cable. A charger is a charger and a cable is a cable, but the ones that come with the DROID Charge are different than any of the other Samsung devices I’ve tested. Is this the first in a new line of Samsung devices?
The DROID Charge is the first 4G Samsung phone on Verizon Wireless and will be available on April 28th, for $299.99 (w/ new contracts, etc). I’ll be putting it though its paces for the next few days and we’ll see how it compares to the HTC ThunderBolt.
If you have any questions, or specific feature’s you’d like me to cover, shoot me a tweet (@breon).
Also, Verizon Wireless is holding another DROID Landing scavenger hunt! Follow http://twitter.com/droidlanding for more details. You could win your very own DROID Charge!
Official Press Release:
April 21, 2011
DROID CHARGE Joins Verizon Wireless’ DROID family As Samsung’s First 4G LTE Smartphone
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced that the Droid Charge by Samsung will be available April 28 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com.
The Droid Charge is designed with Samsung’s 4.3-inch Super AMOLED™ Plus display, setting a new touch screen standard for brightness, clarity and outdoor visibility. The Droid Charge is equipped with both a rear-facing 8 megapixel camera with LED flash and front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera for both stills and video chatting. The smartphone’s 1GHz application processor and HTML 5 Web browser maximizes high-speed 4G LTE connectivity for faster downloads and graphics processing.
Additional Features:
- 4G LTE– customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage area
- Android 2.2 platform – With support for Google Mobile Services including Gmail, YouTube™, Google Talk, Google Search, Google Maps and access to more than 150,000 apps available to download from Android Market™
- Adobe® Flash® Player compatible
- Mobile Hotspot capability – share 4G connection with up to 10 WiFi-enabled devices or a 3G connection with up to 5 devices
- Samsung Media Hub – Samsung’s own content service, offering a vast lineup of critically acclaimed films and TV programs for rent or purchase
- Virtual QWERTY Keyboard featuring Swype Technology
Pricing and data plans:
- The Droid Charge by Samsung will be available for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
- Droid Charge customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a 4G LTE data package. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access. Unlimited 4G LTE data packages start at $29.99 monthly access. Mobile hotspot feature will be included for a limited time at no additional charge.
Find the DROID Charge
Beginning April 21, anyone over the age of 18 can participate in an exclusive Droid Charge Scavenger Hunt. Follow the online clues to find hidden locations in 16 different cities to win a Droid Charge by Samsung. For additional information about the DROID Charge scavenger hunt, visit: http://twitter.com/droidlanding.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network, and serves more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 80,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
About Samsung Telecommunications America
Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsungwireless.com.
I’ll be interested to learn if it has the same GPS issues are other Samsung Galaxy phones.
I wonder if we can set the color on this phone? I transferred some pics from PC to the phone, realized the color doesn’t look true to the original. And if there is anyway we can work video phone on it?