Samsung Captivate Glide Pro Reviews

The Samsung Captivate Glide for AT&T is one of the best all-around devices I have tested in recent memory. Sure, it has a few foibles here and there, but it scores high marks on all the basics and then some. It is comfortable to hold and use, it makes good calls and offers good data speeds, the screen looks great, the camera and other media software excel, and the user interface is easy to manage. Obviously, the big draw of the Captivate Glide is the QWERTY keyboard. While it's not for me, those who prefer the sideways slide-out QWERTY form factor can add the Captivate Glide to their holiday wish list this year, because it’s sure to make some people jolly ol’ souls.

If you can’t wrap your mind (or fingers) around the idea of relying solely a on-screen keyboard, you should absolutely buy the Captivate Glide. In effect, the phone is a slightly smaller, much thicker Galaxy S II — a very good phone — with a QWERTY keyboard underneath. The keyboard is good, too, or at least as good as a keyboard can be on a phone this large. The Glide is going to be almost immediately out of date, though, because it doesn’t come with Ice Cream Sandwich (and Samsung’s track record says it’s going to be a while before it gets updated) and doesn’t support AT&T’s new LTE network. If you don’t need a physical keyboard, you can get Android phones with slightly better specs and performance (especially from the cameras), all in much more pocketable bodies — the Galaxy S II is a great place to start, as is the Motorola Atrix 2. But if you’re in the market for a smartphone with a physical keyboard on AT&T, you shouldn’t buy anything other than the Captivate Glide. In fairness, that’s because its best competition might be the DoubleTime, but luckily the lesser of evils is a pretty good phone in this case. If you’re carrier agnostic, though, Verizon’s upcoming Droid 4 looks poised to blow the Glide away.

Android in 2011 has been defined by Samsung. Omitting the company's recently released Nexus refresh, its Galaxy S II and resulting variants have served as the bellwether for all the Gingerbread handsets which followed. While the Captivate Glide may not achieve the svelte form factor and nigh weightlessness of its high-end elders, Sammy's done its darnedest to replicate that polished experience in QWERTY slider form. Given the demand for slim and sleek candybar phones, the company could have easily overlooked the market for physical keyboards, however increasingly niche, and focused on outputting more of the same. Instead, the company's earned an internet high five for creating an all around well-performing device and loading it up with respectable specs. True, a little more attention could've been paid to the design of the slider's flat, textureless keys, but somehow that minor oversight doesn't terribly cripple its purpose; you'll still be able to craft emails and texts at a reasonable speed.

The Samsung Captivate Glide is aiming for the interest of a special group of people – the messaging and social network junkies, which abound here in the United States. We believe that, especially for those who are already fond of Android, the device will be a welcome upgrade. It also has plenty of appeal for potential OS converts. We liked the hardware QWERTY of the device a lot – it is a perfect addition to an already familiar package. Having it on board, along with the Exchange ActiveSync support and virtual private network access and device encryption capabilities, makes the Samsung Captivate Glide a serious business alternative – something which until recently was almost exclusively reserved for the offerings of a certain Canadian company. In the case of the Captivate Glide however, you are bound to have a much better experience in terms of OS and sheer entertainment capabilities.

The Samsung Captivate Glide is going to appeal to a particular user - the one that wants a physical keyboard but also wants a reasonably modern device that has at least some high-end features. Thankfully, the Captivate Glide impresses on most fronts, and has only a few weaknesses. Those who want a high-powered Android phone with a hardware keyboard don't have too many choices these days, but, fortunately, they don't have to compromise much with the Captivate Glide.

The Samsung Captivate Glide is the best keyboarded smartphone available on AT&T right now.

After seeing nothing but some stellar Android smartphones back-to-back, like the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II and the 4G LTE Skyrocket, it’s hard to imagine the Samsung Captivate getting some credible recognition following those two. Surprisingly enough, it’s able to establish its own identity by proving to be a commendable solution with its useful physical keyboard. Even though it might not have the brand name recognition like its siblings, the Samsung Captivate Glide is easily deemed as a high-end offering with its dual-core processor, HSPA+ connectivity, and vivid Super AMOLED display.

AT&T's lineup is long on Android smartphones, but pretty short on those with QWERTY keyboards. Features-wise, the Samsung Captivate Glide hits all the high points when it comes to supplying high-end features with this type of form factor. Where the handset struggles is with its hardware (except for the gorgeous Super AMOLED display). Call quality does suffer a bit, and the keyboard literally falls flat. In addition, the build quality failed to impress; in fact, I'd go as far as to say I dislike the bubbly plastic backing, at least for this shape of phone. Still, the reasonable cost-to-features-ratio goes a long way to redeeming the blah look and feel, and for AT&T customers looking for a high-end Android device with a keyboard, there are few other viable choices.

This device is surprisingly high quality. There were only two moments when I had my doubts, one of them being when I put the battery in for the first time since the back cover is so very very thin, and the other when I first started to hit the power button and realized I’d have to find a new way to hold the handset because the slide-out keyboard wasn’t held nearly as tight as it was on other recent keyboard phone models from other manufacturers. That said, once I got going, it all went well. This certainly isn’t the Galaxy S II, but it’s pretty darn nice. Take a look at the brief comparisons in the videos above to other devices on AT&T right this moment, then see if you’ve got any other questions you’d like to ask and ask them in the comments below – we’ll be sure to answer!