My Cellphone My Terms

It’s Official! The Fascinate coming soon to Telus

With the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate now available on Rogers and the Galaxy S Vibrant on Bell for sometime now; Telus is the latest carrier to bring the Samsung S series device, only this time it’s called Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate. Don’t think the Epic 4G will be coming anytime soon unless the Canadian carriers can support 4G network.

Typically all the models are the same just a rebranding of sorts with a few tweaks, which confuses us all but gives us options to get the phone on what ever carrier we choose. However, the calling card for this line is the inclusion of the impressive Super AMOLED 4 “display, which offers better color and less power drain than other types of mobile screens. These models are also all based on a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor which is optimized for both speed and power efficiency and they all run on Android 2.1 OS. The one good thing though is you can upgrade to OS 2.2 (Froyo) sometime in November or if you so dare, you can go the Samsung’s Open Source Release Centre and grab the update immediately.

If you are keen to compare I have highlighted a few positives and not so good things for you to consider when evaluating this model.

Highlights

• Google Android 2.1 Phone
• 5 Megapixel Camera with LED Flash/ 720p HD video recorder
• Bluetooth Wireless Technology Supports Streaming Stereo
• Built-in MP3 Player
• Email, Text, Picture, Video and Instant Messaging Capability
• Slim built and lightweight ( Looks like the iPhone)

Pros

• Screen has great color saturation
• Very responsive performance (screen’s refresh rate quicker)
• Lack of issues with heat
• Impressive battery life ( up to 7 hours)

Cons:

• Dimmer screen than other Galaxy S models
• Subscription-based GPS/mapping application
• Overly intense camera flash & no front facing camera

Conclusion:

I would have no qualms in recommending the Fascinate to anyone who is interested in a Galaxy S device. Don’t expect the price of the Fascinate to deviate too much from 3-year contract price of $149.99 or $549.99 no-contract so no major surprises to come. Like all purchase remember to do your research and shop around for the best cell phone plans in the market.