The Epic 4G is coming soon. Sprint will soon have another Android mobile phone to keep the HTC Evo company on their 4G network. Other Android phone fans are comparing this new Samsung release to their Galaxy S, which launched in June. Now that the specs are out (or at least leaked), let’s see how the two phones differ. Performance and feel will have to wait, since the Epic isn’t due for release until (we think) August 20th.
The Epic has a 4 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, and a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor. So think big and fast. But unlike the Evo and DroidX 4.3 inch touch screens, the Epic has a slide-out five row keyboard. Virtual versus physical keyboards are very much a personal choice. Slide-out keyboards can feel responsive or toy-like, and the best way to tell is to get one in your hands and try entering a few text messages.
As to size, the Epic measures in at 4.9 x 2.54 x 0.56 (inches), or 124.8 x 64.6 x 14.2 (mm). That’s Length, Width and Thickness. Compare to the Evo’s 4.8 x 2.6 x 0.5 inches; similar dimensions, only the Evo is a slab-style phone. The Galaxy S is more svelte than either, at 2.5 x 4.8 x 0.38.
Samsung’s Epic phone not only uses Sprint’s 4G network, it also has a front-facing camera. No other US network but Sprint offers Android phones with a camera that looks back at you.
Per specs, Epic will come with Android 2.1. No word on when a 2.2 upgrade is planned, but with Froyo rollouts happening all summer long, could it be long after launch?