Samsung Galaxy Exhibit T Mobile T679 Survey Let me begin by saying I'm an economist. Logos do not impress me. Excellent price/performance ratios impress me. Although I must admit, the Exhibit II is a fairly beautiful phone in real life; don't let the photos scare you. This powerful yet humble device has the same memory (512MB RAM) and CPU speed (1GHz) as the iPhone 4. And, dare I say, it actually makes phone calls. It even has a larger screen than the latest $700+ iPhone 4S. Still with me? Why I bought this phone (with a new prepaid plan): >1. Freedom: With T-Mobile's prepaid plans, you can start or stop your service anytime without any fines. You can switch carriers, sell your phone, and walk away without even saying goodbye. >2. Screen: The 3. 7" screen is bigger than the one on the iPhone 4S. The 800x480 resolution makes for a relatively high pixel density (252 ppi) and looks fantastic. >3. Android has developed into a very solid OS. With over 400,000 apps to choose from, I'm overwhelmed. >4. Price: Why spend $500 to $800 on a flagship phone when you can get 90% of the utility/functionality for $200? At $200, if my phone is destroyed, lost, or stolen, it's not the end of the world. >5. Plan: The phone is shipped with a prepaid SIM card, so there's no need to order the $7. 00 SIM card from T-Mobile. For $30/month you get 5GB of "4G" data, unlimited texts, and 100 minutes of talk. If you setup a Google Voice # and get either the GrooveIP app ($5. 00) or the Google Voice Callback app (free), you'll be able to make unlimited domestic calls for free, over the internet. It works quite well and even allows you to make much cheaper international calls than you would through your carrier. Just make sure to set it up correctly, so you don't accidentally use up all your minutes. Edit: Groove IP/Google Voice is only reliable with a Wi-Fi connection so it may not be a viable alternative to normal voice calls in all situations. >6. ROI: The return on investment is phenomenal. This phone truly represents a breakthrough in information and communications technology. For the first time in history, with a device that costs $200 and service that costs $1 a day, you can have a 3. 7" window to the world that goes with you, guides you, informs you, entertains you, wakes you, and connects you to everyone and everything that matters in your life. The list of gadgets that this phone makes obsolete would go on for pages, but let me just say that if you don't have a smartphone yet, get this phone and don't look back. I was finally released after serving a 2-year sentence, I mean, a. . . . contract. I'm free! EDIT: (after 1 week with the phone) Performance (including call quality) is excellent while battery life falls short of miraculous. With more moderate use and battery saving apps, you could easily go an entire day without needing to recharge. The 3Mp camera on the phone doesn't quite replace my old DSLR, but it works flawlessly for bar-code scanning, jpg-to-pdf scanning, and other "utilitarian" applications. By the way, the maximum video capture resolution is 640x480, not 720x480. EDIT 2: (after 4 weeks with the phone) My Exhibit II is still going strong and looks brand new, even after dropping it a few times. I've gotten used to using Samsung's "swype" keyboard which is the only technology I've seen that truly makes touchscreen typing viable beyond a few words. I'm not surprised that the phone is out of stock at both Amazon and Walmart. com. If you're planning to get this phone, good luck finding it in stock! On eBay, the going rate for this phone is $250. Get it on Amazon, if you can. EDIT 3: (After 40 days with the phone) The phone still works perfectly and looks great. Even now, it's easily the best smartphone under $300 and, at $189, has the best price-performance of any phone currently on the market. EDIT 4: (After 10 weeks with the phone) We have had many fruitful discussions in the 100+ comments that have been posted since I first wrote my review 10 weeks ago. If you own this phone, I strongly recommend reading the comments posted by Franquis, Yogi Bear, and others who have become de facto experts on this device. They have surpassed my knowledge of the phone and I have learned from their insights. It appears many of us have been having difficulties with the Groove IP app and various alternatives have been suggested, including Skype. I have dropped the phone so many times and I finally managed to crack the screen but it functions perfectly nonetheless. The Exhibit II is a truly remarkable device (at any price) and I continue to be amazed by its capabilities. EDIT 5: (After 1 year with the phone) I got this phone exactly one year ago today
(Nov. 2) and it's still going strong. It has enabled me to harness the power of the internet in my daily life like never before. For anyone still thinking about getting this phone, I would recommend waiting for the LG Nexus 4 which will pack the most advanced specs on the market for the humble price of $299 unlocked, without a contract. T UPDATE 12/5/12: This phone has officially retired for me. I upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy SII from T-Mobile. Here are a few final points on this phone. It has gained its own section in the xda-developers forum, so go check it out if you're new to this phone and are interested in customizing it. Check out the updated review below for more information. ============================================================================ ======================== -------------------------From a regular user's point of view------------------------- I love this phone! I picked it up at Wal-Mart because of their exclusive $30 monthly plan with 100 talk minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited web (first 5GB at 4G speed per month, rest of the month slows down to EDGE). I'll tell you, I have never reached my 5GB limit, and I'm a heavy Internet user! T-Mobile's 4G HSPA+ network is really good, considering the price. Of course it's spotty in some places with T-Mobile being the way it is, but not most places that I've been to. The phone is sleek, and is loaded with features. Of course, being an Android phone, it is capable of doing many things that cannot be done on common feature phones. The 3. 2 megapixel camera is quite good; it's not digital SLR quality, but it gets the job done when you need quick snapshots. The screen is nice and bright, very detailed and unpixelated because Samsung did a smart move by fitting a whole lot of pixels in a 3. 7 inch screen. The 1GHz processor really hits the spot! Everything I do on it is fast! There's barely any freezing with the exception of browsing complicated webpages with more than 5 windows open. Personally, I think this phone beats the iPhone 4. For those who don't know the truth, the iPhone 4 costs $650 unsubsidized when it first came out. So to those saying "meh you can just get an iPhone for the same price", keep in mind that this phone does not require a contract, so you aren't forced to pay $100+ for cellphone bill every month. If you do simple math, you'll find that you'd actually save money in the long run with this phone compared to the iPhone locked into a contract. This phone showed me so much I've been missing out with iOS! It has pretty much the same features of iOS, and then some. You'll find that this phone is highly customizable due to Android OS's capabilities. It should be relatively easy to use for those new to smartphones. The phone has many pre-installed apps, which can be either good or bad depending on your preference. The apps are supposed to help you access T-Mobile stuff easier, but they are of no use to me. I rooted my phone and have since flashed many custom firmwares/ROMs to make the phone fit my needs. I really have nothing much to say to regular users. If you're new to Android, you should probably hit up YouTube and see what it's capable of. I can't explain how to do everything in this review. If you're looking for a bit more information, check out the section of review below! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From a geek/power-user's point of view------------------------- Now, let's talk about the performance-price ratio. When you first get the phone, it may be a little 'meh', but many great developers came out and started pimpin' this phone. There are many custom ROMs available; Gingerbread ROMs for those with performance in mind, and Ice Cream Sandwich/Jellybean ROMs for those that want a little taste of unofficial upgrade. There's also a custom kernel floating around that allows the seemingly weak processor to overclock to 1. 8GHz! That's about an 80% increase in processing power! Think about that, a 1. 8GHz phone for $200. Now keep in mind that this isn't a dual-core processor, but it still performs like a champion. This phone can very easily outperform similar competitions at this price range, thanks to the great developers over at the xda-developers forum for taking the phone's hardware to its limit. At one point, users were able to score a little under 7000 points in AnTuTu Benchmark, which is double of the usual 3500 points that you'll usually see with the stock ROM. There are many ROMs to choose from. Whether it's Gingerbread-based ROMs or Ice Cream Sandwich-based ROMs, or Jellybean-based ROMs, you can't go wrong with this phone. Developers are always porting ROMs such as CyanogenMod, AOKP, MIUI, Paranoid Android, PAC, etc. You'll probably step into the day where you have nothing left to customize! I'm actually looking back from my Galaxy SII with a bit of envy, seeing how this phone has stepped up
so much from its start. This phone is perfect for people who wants a mid-end experience at a low-end price. Seriously, this phone is very powerful with a few tweaks here and there. For $200, you definitely can't beat the phone for what it's capable of. It's no Galaxy Nexus, but I think that it can be its little brother. And computer geeks, I know how much you want a device that's I have been researching pre paid phones and plans for a while now and this phone with the pre paid plans T-mobile has is a great deal. The phone is really nice for a $200 buyout phone. It has great sound quality (both earpiece and speakerphone). I am coming from the original Droid on Verizon. The camera on the phone is very decent. Certainly as good as the 5mp on the Droid and faster too. I like T mobiles wi-fi calling from home. . it allows me to run on my own wifi system if T-Mobiles signal is weak indoors. Video chat using Gtalk works very well. The phone comes with Kies Air for wireless transfers from your laptop and Yelp (for finding all those nice places to do business with). The GPS system works very well and the web is super fast on T-Mobiles great 4G (and I get it almost everywhere even in places my friends do NOT get Wimax on Sprint. The phone is very light and smaller in size than the Droid (but with same screen size). It has a textured back for better grip. The battery lasts all day with moderate use (remember not to load the phone with tons of apps and widgets). My chargers for the Droid work with this phone (including the car charger). The screen is very easy to see and the colours are good. It comes with Gingerbread 2. 3. 5 and the scrolling is very smooth. It's a way more pleasant phone to use than the Droid is. It's not flashy, but it works very well. Cons: Lots of bloatware (not removable without rooting), ATT might consume T-Mobile potentially ruining a good thing, I wish it had a 4" screen. . . maybe version 3 will have that. I ordered this off amazon, tax free, with two day shipping. Arrived in a timely manner, but just got to activate it this morning. Activation is very simple. The kit includes a sim card, which you just insert above (and to the left) of the battery in the back. Then you will want to go to t-mobile. com/activation and follow the instructions. It comes with a random $3. 34 balance. . for emergency. . instant calling or something I suppose. But following the activation, it takes you to where you can pay for your service online. You can also get those cards at the store, but honestly, it's so easy just to pay online. And then you're good to go. I chose the $30 unlim text/data + 100 min plan. You don't need to go to walmart or tmobile to get this. To my understanding, it is only available for new activations. The price and quality of the phone is all great. One problem I have with it is that. . . honestly. . . I'm not really an Android fan. I didn't think I would mind it at all but somehow it really annoys me how much bloatware it comes with. Sure, there are ways to delete it. But people on reviews made it sound 100x easier than what I had to do. I don't really consider myself technologically challenged, but it was hard to find all the steps to uninstall this crap I didn't want. You can't just go to the "APPLICATIONS" menu and drag what you don't want to the trash. Why? Everything I've tried to delete just stays there when I go back to the menu. What the hell is that function for then? Why can I not just delete the stuff I don't want? (And there are many. ) I'm new to Android so rooting was a brand new concept for me. I must have downloaded 4 different apps off the Android market to no avail. I didn't understand why the hell something called "______ Uninstaller" cannot uninstall apps. After a bit of research and trying a bunch of different things, I finally figured it out. I figure I'd type it out in layman's terms for those who have trouble rooting: Turn on USB debugger (settings>applications>development>usb debugging) - Have the right USB drivers installed ON YOUR COMPUTER (Apparently these are difficult to find. Install the samsung galaxy x drivers from softpedia instead. When I did this, it told me it wasn't installed correctly but I couldn't find a fix so I just ignored it. ) - Connect your phone to the computer via usb port - Then you can download SuperOneClick on your COMPUTER. It is a computer application. Extract (it is a zip file) and run. Click on "root. " (top left big button) It may take a couple minutes. It should say root complete or whatever at the end. And to confirm that it is indeed rooted, you will see a "Superuser" icon in the applications folder. - Now you can begin the uninstallation, but that is not all! You have to download some more stuff to uninstall. From the Android market, you can find some apps that will allow you to uninstall items. Android Mate was too advanced for me. You have to know exactly what files you are deleting (which is a constant annoyance. ) If you delete the wrong files then your
phone might not work or it will brick. Kind of terrifying, considering the price I paid. I used Titanium backup to uninstall items, but you still run the risk of deleting things you need. It is better to "freeze" the apps but that is a premium feature, which you must pay for. I also tried Root Uninstaller to no avail. It didn't show any apps besides Market and itself for some reason. I'm sure there's something out there that might be better but, so far, my experience is that these apps are not that user-friendly. Others have claimed that the process above is "easy" but it wasn't for me, apparently. Maybe some people know how to do this intuitively, I don't know. But think about it. All I wanted to do was delete pre-installed junk like internet radios and "MORE FREE APPS!@!!" apps. But it took entirely way too long. You can just press on any app in iOS until it's shaking and then press X to delete. A couple seconds, max. I don't understand why it is so hard to delete things on the Android (not even including the risk of bricking your phone at every corner. ) Aside from my long rant, in the end, it is a good deal for a 4g smartphone and great rates on plans. Still, I'm not too satisfied with Android. I feel like it's one of those apple vs. windows commercials, comparing efficiency. There's a pre-installed anti-virus (free trial for 14 days, then you have to pay). Really? I never even thought that would be an issue with iOS. Obviously these are my opinions, and others will have no problems with the bloatware. I'm a bit OCD and inefficiency is such an annoyance. I just want my phone to run as efficiently and quickly as possible, not having junk on it that tries to make me install more apps or pay for premium services. Yes, the iphone costs way more, but I would still rather have it than Android. That's just me though. EDIT: After a few days of use, I'm getting used to the Android system more. I don't mind i Let me start this off by saying I'm not someone whom normally writes reviews on Amazon as when I buy stuff, it's generally things that people aren't on the fence about. However, I decided to go ahead and write a review to strongly recommend that you consider the Samsung Exhibit II from T-Mobile. When I read the PR from T-mobile about this phone, I got really excited that finally a GOOD smartphone was coming to the prepaid lineup at a reasonable price. I placed my order the day the phone came out and received my order on November 4. Screen Quality --- I think the specs are not quite as good as some of the top of the line models, but they're incredibly sharp and pretty dang close. It's incredibly clear and leaps and bounds better from the earlier android and iphone screens. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Text is smooth and crisp. Phone calls --- Sound quality is excellent and sounds like a landline using T-Mobiles free wi-fi calling app. It integrates seamlessly with the phone and elects to use Wi-fi if a good signal is available. If not, it'll switch to the cellular network. There are no apps to install on the device or on your computer/router. Like I said, very seamless. Also, phone calls over the cellular network sound excellent as well. Text Messages --Typical Gingerbread text message interface. The phone comes with swype which I had never used before, but have since become accustomed to and am thrilled it came preloaded on the phone. Memory --- The memory is a bit shallow. The specs say it has 4 GBs of memory though I have about 1 GB of USB storage and 1 GB of onboard memory. I don't know where the rest is though it could be used by the Android OS. Honestly, I would consider it a non-issue since you can get a Name brand Class 4 32GB microSDHC relatively inexpensively. I certainly have the option to upgrade the memory at anytime. Also, I have installed every app I can think of that friends have/use as well as several Amazon free apps of the day and I've used under 1/3 of the 1 gb system memory available. With the Amazon Cloud music player, it makes the total storage on your droid phone a non-issue since Amazon lets you upload unlimited music to their cloud for free. Then, you can stream it to your phone for free. So, I could have 200 GBs of music on my Amazon Cloud and this phone could play it all perfectly without the need for tons of onboard memory. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, there are several free radio Apps that I found on Amazon that are free and stream thousands of stations. Battery --- I've been getting about 15 hours of usage out of the phone and keep in mind, this is my first smartphone so it's still fun to play with. I don't have the screen brightness maxed out, but it's definitely bright and good enough. Also, the nice thing about buying a non-Apple device is that it has a user-replaceable battery. I found a generic replacement from Amazon relatively inexpensively. So, after a year of charging and uncharging when the battery begins to age, I can buy a new one and it'll be good as new. Overall, this is a great phone for the
price. It's honestly not as snappy as a top of the line, dual core smartphone, but you're also not paying the price of that new phone either. It's still fast enough to handle every application I've run on it. But, I do have several widgets and services running so I know that I'm taking up ram and CPU power doing that.
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