Times are changing at a rapid rate within the smartphone market, and that's to be expected. But after a year of 4G speculation, implementation, and activation, we're already seeing phones like the Samsung Exhibit 4G for T-Mobile wash ashore. On the outside, there's nothing special about Samsung's latest 4G phone, and its 1GHz hardware gets the back burner to the latest dual-cores. But it's the Exhibit 4G's $80 price tag after a $50 mail-in rebate that sets it apart from the rest of the 4G market. And why is that? It's currently the cheapest 4G phone in existence. In fact, it's $50 cheaper than T-Mobile's myTouch 4G and Sidekick 4G. Of course, you can get the Galaxy S 4G for free with a 2-year contract online, but the Exhibit 4G is accessible anywhere for 80 smackers. Yes, the times are a changing, and the Samsung Exhibit 4G (specs) is the first 4G phone to rival 3G features phones in the sub-$100 price battleground. Let's find out how Samsung's budget 4G phone did in our review.
Design
Part of the Exhibit 4G's allure was its size. The phone measures 1/2-inch thick, but its height and width mimic that of an iPhone 4. As a result, the phone was highly portable. Its design was also unconventional when compared to the typical all-black Android device, sporting a tapered and sloped bottom half and tangible Home button. The Exhibit was also light, and its port configuration was well thought out by the design team. The MicroSD card slot resided along the side of the phone, housed by a tethered cover, which obliterated the need to wrench the back panel off to upgrade or remove memory. While on that subject, the Exhibit 4G ships with an 4GB MicroSD card and has 1GB of internal storage. To maintain a seamless system, the USB terminal was also enclosed by a tethered cover, and the phone offered a 3.5mm audio jack, side-mounted Power/Lock button, and compact Volume rocker. For a screen, the Samsung Exhibit 4G actually impressed us with its 3.5-inch 480 x 800-pixel TFT AMOLED screen. Although the phone did not offer the size of a 4G giant display like the Thunderbolt or EVO 3D, the brightness was plentiful and colors were vibrant. A camera shutter button would have been a nice touch, but then again, the Exhibit 4G's 3-megapixel shooter with LED flash was not all that advanced. The phone did offer a front-facing VGA camera for video chat and self-portraits, and that's an example of a higher-end 4G spec being filtered down to the budget pool. The Exhibit's back panel was a bit flimsy and sheltered the 1500mAh battery. Lastly, the rest of the phones classic haptic feedback Android controls consisted of Menu, Back, and Search, located at the bottom of the screen.
Software and Interface
Much to our jubilation, the Exhibit 4G packed in a 1GHz Hummingbird processor that played nicely with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Yes, the phone was snappy. No, it didn't have the whoosh factor of a dual-core. But, for a phone with this price tag, it still matched some of the pricey giants released last year. The phone offered Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, A-GPS, an accelerometer, light sensor, and Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR Stereo. Swype technology was ready, willing, and able when we jumped into the keyboard, and the phone had Flash support to make our internet browsing experience all the more enjoyable.
Although we got the latest version of Android 2.3, the phone's TouchWIZ UI was not unlike anything we've already seen in the past. You know the drill: 7 customizable Home screens that could be adorned with widgets, folders, or shortcuts. Dropdown menu containing the latest notifications and power control. Search button for rifling through the phone or extending the hunt to Google. Samsung's side-scrolling Applications menu and full support from the Android Market for adding to the application collection. Yes, it was textbook Android with a UI that resided within the safe zone, so users would not feel bewildered if they were upgrading from a phone like the LG Optimus T.
Internet
Two factors made our browsing experience a cut above the majority of phones in this price range. First, the Exhibit 4G's AMOLED screen was fantastic for viewing text, pictures, and videos within the browser, and secondly, the Flash support made our internet experience all the more refined. Although we could have used more onscreen controls rather than relying on the Menu button, it was easy to navigate with the Exhibit 4G. Of course, at the peak of HSPA+ speeds, you can expect an equivalent to a good Wi-Fi connection, so 4G zone dwellers will be the lucky ones with this phone.
Multimedia and Productivity
If you like time-chomping games and applications, then you'll like the fact that the Samsung Exhibit 4G comes preloaded with the full versions of Bejeweled 2, Scrabble, and Doodle Jump. In addition to the Android Market for more action, there was T-Mobile's AppPack and Samsung's Media Hub. Other honorable mentions were the TeleNav GPS, ThinkFree Office, T-Mobile TV, Slacker Radio, and Wi-Fi calling. 3D gaming was no problem on this phone, and it played compatible movie files flawlessly. Expect a whittled down version of a super 4G phone on the pint-sized Exhibit 4G.
Call Quality/Battery Life
Call quality on our Samsung Exhibit 4G review unit was decent on the 3G end, though certain calls did exhibit a slight distortion that made voices sound hissy and lispy. Overall, call quality was fine and we did not detect any major issues that would render the phone useless.
But the star here was the Exhibit 4G's 1500mAh battery, which not only gave us one of the best performances we've experienced from a phone, but featured an incredible 15 day standby time, according to T-Mobile. Of course, that number was closer to 7 days, given the fact that T-Mobile must have fineprint somewhere that reads "15 days only if anything wireless or network-oriented is turned off and the Power Saver is in maximum." Still, we could not complain about the Exhibit 4G's battery life—it was great.
Camera
This department was not so special, as the Exhibit 4G's 3-megapixel camera and dual LED flash just could not match some of the higher end 4G warriors like the T-Mobile G2x and HTC Inspire 4G. The sensor's color spectrum was not vast enough to provide smooth gradation along shifting color tones, and whites were almost always blown out. When the lighting was perfect, images looked fine, but the camera was so finicky that we really had to watch what environments we were in. The camera application loaded in under 3 seconds, which was quicker than the iPhone 4's 5-second delay before shooting commenced. We also liked the various shooting options and effects offered by the Exhibit 4G, and it was an overall decent shooter, just not the best we've seen (check out photo and video samples).
Samsung Exhibit 4G – infoSync Diagnosis
So, the future is here. Ladies and gentleman, step right up and get your piping hot 4G phone for $80! Yes, after the $50 mail-in rebate, you're out 4 Jacksons, but you've also got to consider the neighboring options. If you neglected to send out for that $50 mail-in rebate, the Galaxy S 4G and Sidekick 4g would be the same price at $130. Also, look at the HTC Inspire 4G for AT&T, which runs for $100 and is a beast.
In that case, yes, you have a decision to make. The Samsung Exhibit 4G is ideal for someone looking to save everything down to the last penny, but also wants the latest data speed connectivity. Size is also a factor here as well. The Exhibit 4G is significantly smaller than the giant fleet of 4G super phones. Oh, and then there's the whole awesome battery life situation on the Exhibit while the Thunderbolt and EVO 3D can't even last most of the day without a charge.
Even if the Samsung Exhibit 4G is not the phone for you, it's a sign that things are going to change around the 4G landscape. Cheaper, lighter, battery-friendly 4G phones are going to become available to render your decision making process even more difficult. But, if you happen to end up with an Exhibit 4G, chances are you'll be happy with the little guy.
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