Our Verdict
Another in the ever - growing line of Galaxy S phones , the Samsung Mesmerize on U.S. Cellular ( $ 200 after $ 80 mail - in rebate and a new two - year contract with the carrier ) is a great accession to the Galaxy line , and to the list of all Android smartphones . Although well-nigh identical to both the Fascinate on Verizon and the Vibrant on T - Mobile , the Mesmerize is really considerably - designed than its siblings .
Design
Though nearly identical to the Samsung Vibrant , the Mesmerize is slimly lighter ( 0.34 ounces lighter , to be precise ) and a piece taller . Coming in at 4.92 by 2.53 by 0.39 inches , the Mesmerize wo n’t find bulky in your hand or sac . Like its Verizon full cousin , this sound ’s sleek and flowing design feels very reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS . The first thing you tend to notice about the Mesmerize is its touchscreen – gorgeous , 4 inches in sizing , with Super AMOLED , 800 - by-480 - pixel resolution , and bright color . And I discover the filmdom to be decipherable outside , even in bright sunlight .
Near the bottom of the screen you ascertain the common Android flabby key ( Menu , Home , Back , and Search ) , and at the top of gadget you have a stock 3.5 mm audio frequency output larboard along with a micro - USB embrasure behind a small sliding control panel . On the remaining side is the volume rocking chair , and on the right , the king button . The back has a 5 - megapixel camera ( with flash ) and an extraneous speaker unit .
Performance
Packing a 1GHz Hummingbird central processing unit , the Mesmerize is no slouch . Games played larder smooth , and the phone never really felt sluggish , even with multiple software operating at the same time . The only time the gimmick had a significant lag was when it was run a Live Wallpaper , but even then that did n’t make the twist unusable . Over both Wi - Fi and 3 GB , software downloaded in a very speedy manner . Web Page , even media - heavy ones like PCWorld.com and Hulu.com , loaded with ease ( of course of study , you ca n’t play Hulu video , as Hulu content is n’t yet licensed for mobile use ) .
Calls came through clear , with no noticeable hiss or static on either end , but note that the model has no noise - cancel secondary microphone , so setting sounds are not filtered out . Battery animation is average ; as with most smartphones ; you will want to charge it daily .
Software
TouchWiz 3.0 , the user user interface on all of Samsung ’s Galaxy S phones , is here , too . TouchWiz , like HTC mother wit , feature usance thingummy that do as your social aggregators , collapse you speedy update at a glance . I in person do n’t like TouchWiz , as it feels cartoony . Aside from TouchWiz and a few apps , the Mesmerize is a very basic Android 2.1 ( Éclair ) smartphone . Unlike Verizon ’s Fascinate , U.S. Cellular was kind enough to allow Maps and Search alone instead of exchange them with another service like Yahoo or Bing . typecast on the onscreen keyboard was never something I dreaded . Thanks greatly in part to its wonderfully responsive sieve , I was capable to write several long einsteinium - mails with very footling endeavour or foiling . Although set to the inventory Android keyboard by default , you’re able to also choose between the Samsung keypad and Swype count on your preferences .
Multimedia
The 5 - megapixel camera on the Samsung Mesmerize performed admirably . Even in low - light scope , pictures looked majuscule . TV came out vindicated and picked up strait somewhat well . I was felicitous to learn that the pedigree YouTube app on the twist was capable to wreak gamy - quality videos properly out of the box ( but I recommend watching them on Wi - Fi , as over 3 gibibyte they may take a while to debase ) .
The Mesmerize come with a 16 GB microSD card ( to complement its 2 GB of internal storage ) as well as headphones ; however , you ’ll most likely want to swap those earphone for a better duad . Like other Galaxy S phones , audio playback is crisp and clear-cut enough that you could easy practice the earpiece as your nonremittal MP3 player . And despite my gripes about TouchWiz , I really like the ranking TouchWiz media player .
One preloaded app that caught my attention was AllShare . It lets you share media between your telephone set and other DLNA devices over Wi - Fi . Playback through AllShare was so - so ( a lot of dealings , though , was running on my home base meshing at the time of testing ) .
Conclusion
The Samsung Mesmerize is a strong contender in a mobile market currently swamp with Android phones . With a stunning touch screen , a quick and responsive user user interface , and great overall call quality , the Mesmerize is balance to be the new pack loss leader of the Galaxy S serial . U.S. Cellular stores and support are fix to certain areas , but I would greatly urge clean up this phone if you are within the carrier ’s mesh of reportage .
