Most people who want a 4G phone are looking for the convenience of a mobile internet connection, more so than the actual phone. This is the concept behind the Samsung Exhibit II 4G, T-Mobile’s new handset for its partner plan with Walmart. A $200 contract free phone provides 5GB of data, unlimited texting, and 100 voice minutes for $30 a month.
Physical Stats
The Exhibit II 4G is similar to the Samsung Vibrant, T-Mobile’s first Galaxy S phone. Slightly smaller than the Vibrant, the Exhibit II 4G weighs just 4 ounces, and is 4.5 by 2.35 by 0.45 inches in size. There are 4 capacitive, non-hardware buttons on the face, but there is no haptic feedback so it will not feel as responsive as some more expensive phones. There is a headphone jack and Mini-USB port on the top, the volume switch is on the right edge and the power/wake button is on the left edge.
The display looks great but has a narrow viewing angle, and there are problems with washout in brightly lit areas and sunlight. This is not a problem if you are watching a video during a long car ride, but makes calling someone while walking down the street harder than it needs to be. Cranking up the brightness helps with this, but this then knocks down the battery, which does not have good life. With the brightness up and not even using the phone the battery died in about 8 hours. However with the brightness down to half the battery has a much longer life, but you are at the mercy of bright light.
The screen on this phone is smaller than most smart phones, so I found the default Samsung keyboard difficult to use. Typing messages and web addresses became easier when I switched to the Swype keyboard, which comes preinstalled.
Hardware Specs
Contract or no contract, your experience comes down to the device itself, and while the Exhibit 4G stands out among prepaid phones, it can’t compare with high end smart phones like the Samsung Galaxy S II. This handset has a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, and two cameras (a front facing VGA and a rear facing 3.2 megapixel cameras). Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) runs the device with a custom Samsung overlay called TouchWiz. The overlay adds an application monitor, file management, and a few home screen features.
Software
As I’ve already said, this phone runs Android 2.3(gingerbread) with a custom overlay, and like anything manufacturers impose on you custom overlays can be frustrating, but this one at least mostly stays out of your way. There is a pretty good list of preinstalled apps and some useful T-Mobile account management apps and T-Mobile HD TV. Most of the time I find preinstalled apps annoying but the ones on this handset are mainly good, and not the typical junk you get stuck with on a new device.
Device Performance
For the most part streaming video and music, or playing games was very smooth. I did notice a significant slowdown when navigating menus while anything else was running, no doubt due to the phones small amount of RAM. This caused some frustration, but was not a deal breaker.
If you’re on a budget and still want a 4G smart phone this phone should be one you consider. When you put together the $200 price for the phone and $30 a month for the 4G you would be hard pressed to find a better value for 4G service. This is a solid smart phone for very little money that can handle most everyday tasks.
