Call quality: We found call quality on the Samsung Epic 4G acceptable, however, there were times when we heard a bit of a buzz in the background when callers spoke. Though, callers said we were loud and clear, especially when using the speakerphone. While, you can adjust the cell phone’s volume with the corresponding buttons on the side of the Epic 4G, we rarely needed to use this feature.

Audio quality: The playback of music on the Epic 4G speaker is quite impressive; songs sounded loud, but not distorted or too tinny. The Epic 4G sports a 3.5mm headset jack and comes with compatible earbuds for listening to music or taking calls.Menu/phone book: The Samsung Epic 4G runs Google Android Operating System (OS) 2.1 (this phone will be upgradeable to Android 2.2) and has a speedy 1GHz processor so it’s one fast smartphone: loads web pages quickly (it also has pinch and zoom for web pages), plays streaming videos without any lag time, and switches between apps on the cell phone with ease. Overall, the user interface is fairly straightforward and icon friendly. Although, the Epic 4G has a slightly different approach to displaying applications; instead of listing all the applications on a single screen, they are separated by screens so you’ll need to slide the screen to the left to see more applications (it’s extremely similar to how apps are displayed on the iPhone). To access the cell phone’s applications simply select the up arrow at the base of the home screen and they’ll appear. One nice feature is that at the bottom of the display you’ll see an icon for phone, messagin, application and contacts. These options appear on all 7 customizable screens on the Samsung Epic 4G. Additionally, when navigating through the cell phone’s seven customizable home screens dots representing each screen appear at the top of the display so you can just tap one of those and it will take you directly to the corresponding screen. There’s also a task manager so you can easily control which apps are running and end them at will. (Tip: To access the Task Manager, press and hold down the home icon on the base of the smartphone until a square appears with the running applications displayed. When that appears, you’ll see an option for Task Manager. Press that button to manage the currently running apps.) There are a few things to note about navigation. If you’re in an application screen and want to go back to the previous screen simply press the back arrow. If you want to exit a program simply press the button with a picture of a house. Whenever you’re in an application and want to do more, press the Menu key and a set of options will appear.

The Google Android OS is really all about having all your contact information in one spot and constantly synched. When we say all your contact information we mean all – including social networking sites, multiple e-mail accounts, messaging (messaging is threaded – so you can see a complete text message conversation in one view), and even photo services where you may have accounts created. You can add all pertinent account information easily when you set up the device. If you want to sync with your computer simply connect it via the included microUSB-to-USB synching cable and it will appear as an additional drive on your desktop, making it easy to drag and drop files from a computer to the cell phone’s included 16GB microSD card.

Messaging: The Samsung Epic 4G can handle multiple e-mail accounts, either corporate e-mail or web-based e-mail. Setting up an e-mail account couldn’t be easier. If you don’t do it when you’re initially setting up the Android phone, then choose e-mail from the menu, and follow the prompts to set up accounts. It’s just a matter of knowing the user name and password. The smartphone does the rest.

Camera/video: The Samsung Epic 4G has two cameras: a 5-megapixel camera with flash on the back, and a VGA camera on the front for conducting video chats via the included QIK app. Overall, picture quality is acceptable. We’re happy to report the camera has a fast shutter, just press the camera button on the side and it takes the picture. Another plus is that you can add the geo location for pictures, which will make them easier to organize. Colors are slightly washed out, but details are sharp. Once you snap a picture, you can save it, trash it, or share it to a multitude of options including Picasa, Bluetooth, and various messaging options. As for camera settings, there are auto focus, timer, resolution, white balance, effects (normal, black and white, negative, and sepia), metering, ISO Settings, anti-shake, auto contrast, blink detection, the ability to adjust contrast, sharpness, and saturation, and scene mode selection (portrait, landscape, sports, night, party/indoor, beach/snow, dawn, firework, sunset, fall, candlelight and backlight). There are some editing features included such as cropping and rotating picutres.

Additionally, you can view and shoot short videos in 720p on the cell phone. Shooting videos is pretty easy and the quality is acceptable. Like a video you captured on your cell phone? Why not watch it on a TV or networked computer? If you’re home has a DLNA-compliant products you can watch it on a TV or computer over a WiFi network.

Music: As noted, the Samsung Epic 4G has a music player. You can listen to MP3’s on the cell phone. There aren’t many music-centric features included in the player, but it has the ones we’ve come to expect: Repeat, Shuffle, and Playlists (you can even create playlists on the cell phone). There’s even a Party Shuffle where the phone creates playlists from the music on your phone. If you like it you can save it. Plus, you can save tunes stored in your cell phone as a ringtone (Tip: To save as song as a ringtone, choose Menu when a song is playing and select Use As Ringtone. From there you can set it as either the phone’s ringtone or for a specific contact.) The Epic 4G comes with a 16GB microSD card pre-installed and can accept up to a 32GB microSD card. Out-of-the-box you will have plenty of room to store music on this cell phone. Besides adding your own music to the cell phone, there are quite a few free music applications that you can download from the Marketplace such as Pandora and Shazam.

Connectivity/Bluetooth/WiFi/4G/Mobile HotSpot:The Epic 4G is loaded with connectivity options. Of course, it has Bluetooth and it can be used to connect to a Bluetooth headset (we found call quality was decent when we used the Motorola T505), and even transfer contacts, music, and pictures to other Bluetooth-enabled devices. It also sports built-in WiFi (802.11n – so this is going to be pretty secure – also 802.11 b and g), so you can use this smartphone to log onto available WiFi networks to surf the Web or send/receive e-mail. It’s a nice feature and it just takes moments to set up. The only thing you need to know is the WiFi network you want to use and password if needed. (Tip: To connect to a WiFi network, choose Settings by pressing Menu from the home screen and select Wireless and Networks, turn on WiFi. Once activated, select WiFi Settings, choose Add WiFi Network. When the WiFi network you want appears, select it and follow the remaining directions to connect to that particular network.) Since this cell phone has Sprint’s Mobile HotSpot app, you can share the 3G data connection with up to 5 other WiFi-enabled devices. We were able to use this feature easily enough, however, it does drain battery life pretty fast so have the charger nearby. It also has 4G connectivity; this loads web pages fast almost as fast as surfing over a WiFi network. However, we should note that if you use 4G connectivity, you will need to turn off WiFi. That said, you can use the 4G connection via WiFi when using Sprint’s Mobile HotSpot.

Look and feel: We’re just going to come out and say it, the display on the Samsung Epic 4G is gorgeous: colors are bright and details and letters are crisp. Since it’s a Super AMOLED display it’s viewable in direct sunlight and designed to help conserve battery life. It’s also not too big. The 4-inch display seems to be the sweet spot for screen size when compared to the slightly larger 4.3-inch screen found on the HTC EVO 4G. The overall design is a nice mixture of sleek and solid. The rounded corners and silver bar that wraps around the cell phone adds a ton of style. Although, the cell phone feels fairly light in the hand, the overall build is solid this is particularly evident when sliding out the 5-line QWERTY keyboard from the side of the smartphone. Like other Google Android smartphones currently available there are only 4 touch keys for maneuvering through the cell phone’s features and none of them are a send or end key. Instead there are Menu, Home, Back, and Search keys. There are minimal buttons on the side: camera key, power button, volume keys, a 3.5mm headset jack, and microUSB port (Tip: If the sliding door covering the microUSB port isn’t completely pushed open you’ll have a hard time charging the cell phone. Listen for the door to click into place to be sure it’s completely open). You’ll need to remove the back cover of the cell phone to swap out microSD card, but not the battery.

Keypad:The Samsung Epic 4G sports both a touchscreen and tactile slide-out QWERTY keyboard. You can use either to send messages or write notes. We were impressed with the tactile QWERTY keyboard that slides out on the Epic 4G for a couple of reasons. First, it’s spacious with five lines of keys and plenty of room surrounding the chiclet-style keys so we never encountered mis-types. Second, there are thoughtful additions, for example, while there’s a 4-way navi-keypad for maneuvering through menus, there are also dedicate Menu, Home, Back, and Search keys that mirror the four keys found at the base of the Epic 4G when it’s closed. When this keyboard is in use the cell phone screen automatically goes into horizontal mode, however the four one-touch access to Apps, Messaging, Contacts, and Phone line the right side of the display, which we think is a good use of screen real estate. Additionally, the on-screen dial pad is big and easy to read. The touchscreen keyboard works well, too, though we did have better accuracy using the tactile slide out version. However, if you like Swype for faster input you’ll appreciate that feature found on the on-screen keyboard.We found battery life on the Samsung Epic 4G acceptable for a smartphone. If you use the cell phone frequently to make calls, listen to music, as well as send/receive text messages and e-mail, this smartphone will last about two day before needing to recharge. If you use it less frequently, to occasionally check e-mail and text messages you’ll likely to get about three days before needing to recharge it. We should note that some downloadable applications might take a stronger toll on the cell phone’s battery life. Using the Mobile HotSpot (especially when 4G is activated) also drains battery life significantly. (Tip: When using the Mobile HotSpot feature plug the phone into the wall or attach it to your computer via the included USB-to-MicroUSB cable.) On the plus side, when you attach the cell phone to a computer via the included USB-to-microUSB cable it will charge the Samsung Epic 4G.