Hands On With the Samsung Captivate for AT&T

AT&T. Oh, AT&T. Why do you hate Android so? When it launches this summer, he Samsung Captivate will be AT&T's most powerful Android phone, and its most powerful smartphone other than the iPhone. But just like with its other Android phones, AT&T couldn't help but cripple the Captivate in a few ways that will enrage the blogosphere.

First, the good news. I like the Captivate's body more than its Galaxy S cousin, the Vibrant on T-Mobile. Like all the Galaxy S phones, the Captivate has a 4-inch, Super AMOLED touch screen, a 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, and a 5-megapixel camera on the back. The Captivate has a slightly textured back and a slanted top and bottom, giving it a look that sets it apart from blander, more evenly rounded slabs.

Like all the Galaxy S phones, the Captivate's software is a mixture of Android 2.1, Samsung's TouchWiz add-ons, and AT&T's picks - and that's where we have problems. For one thing, AT&T blocked the phone from installing applications from anywhere other than the Android Market. That infuriates geeks who want control over their phones.

AT&T's built-in software is also more redundant and more irritating than other carrier's builds. AT&T has an obsession with installing multiple mapping systems. Its Mobile Video streaming client works via a WAP page; it's one of the ugliest interfaces I've ever seen. AT&T Music is clumsy, and Mobile Banking doesn't work for most people. At least there's MobiTV, a reliable streaming TV app. But here's a sound bite for you: AT&T's apps make Verizon's apps look like Apple's apps.

Samsung's TouchWiz has more of a reason to live. While Samsung pointlessly changed a lot of Android icons, the company added some useful apps. Social Hub integrates Twitter and Facebook into the phone's contact book and into various home-screen widgets. Daily Briefing is a nice app that combines news feeds, calendar appointments, and the weather into a single home-screen widget.

Samsung said the Captivate, like all Galaxy S phones, will receive an Android 2.2 upgrade with Adobe Flash, but AT&T didn't commit to a date for that.

The Captivate will provide a strong iPhone competitor on AT&T, but I'm wondering about its success because AT&T is so committed - almost pathologically committed - to the iPhone. Unlike Verizon and Sprint, AT&T has no strong narrative around why you would want an Android phone, and its crippling and bloatware show that AT&T is more than a little uncomfortable with Android's strengths.

AT&T hasn't announced a date and price for the Captivate, but I anticipate it will come out this summer.

See also, PCMag's hands on with the Samsung Vibrant for T-Mobile and the Samsung Fascinate for Verizon Wireless.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

US and Canadian mobile networks
Mobile phones released in the US
iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
Mobile hotspots
Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services.

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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