Samsung Infuse 4G Android Smartphone Review


Design and Build Quality

Thinner than an iPhone 3G and even just a hair thinner than the iPhone 4, the Infuse 4G's 9mm thick frame is built with a high density plastic that feels solid around its edges, though the backing of the device is a bit too thin for our taste.  Design-wise, the Infuse 4G looks a lot like Samsung's Galaxy line of phones, with the obvious exception of its massive display.



Ports and IO-wise: Dual mics, a microUSB port, front and rear facing cameras (1.3MP and 8MP respectively) and a headphone jack-- that's it. There's no microHDMI port here, though honestly, we can't see the attraction for that just yet. Beyond that, the Infuse sports illuminated, touch-sensitive Android navigation buttons -- Menu, Home, Back Search -- you know the drill. It's all good and works quite well.




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The Infuse 4G is rectangular and minimalistic in its design cues.  In short, we like it.  We just wish it felt sturdier in the hand. If you're the type that gives your smartphones a beating day-in and day-out (like we are), you best find yourself a high quality aftermarket case to protect your investment.

With all of that in mind, there's one thing you simply can't ignore with the Infuse 4G, its massive and totally beautiful 4.5-inch display. If Apple has a serious competitor to the retina display on the iPhone 4, it's Samsung's Super AMOLED plus technology.



Though agreed, it's a HUGE screen, what really stands out about the Infuse 4G when you first see it in action, is how vibrant and sharp images are.  Blacks are reproduced like the dead of night, whites are crisp and true, colors vibrant and well saturated. The ever-elusive contrast that you get on high-end desktop or notebook screens is apparent here, though there is one nagging question remaining.  Why can't Samsung crank up the resolution with 4.5-inches of canvas to paint on?  If Apple can squeeze 960X640 pixel resolution on a 3.5-inch screen, then Samsung could have figured out how to get at least that much on to a screen with a full inch of additional real estate.  Of course, then there is this matter of "subpixels." 

Samsung's new Super AMOLED Plus display technology employs 50% more subpixels (1.152M vs 768,000) in this display versus its previous generation Super AMOLED technology.  The result is a sharper, more vibrant image with crisper edges and text on screen that is cleaner and easier to read.  Now if we only could have had more pixel density on this 4.5-inch display, we would have absolute smartphone screen nirvana. So close. Regardless, the Infuse 4G's screen competes handily with the best handset displays on the market currently, and yeah, it's pretty huge.

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