The QWERTY slider hasn't exactly gone the way of the dinosaur, but it's definitely approaching giant panda status. That is to say, it's become rare for a major device manufacturer to output anything other than candybar touchscreen smartphones. And why not? Slimmer, faster, beastlier is the mobile motto as of late and that's precisely what consumers seem to gravitate towards. But for diehard fans of tactile feedback, Samsung's birthed the Captivate Glide, a handset that marries the best of both form factors. Sitting just below its high-end brethren, F10 Google Android 4.0 AT&T's 21Mbps HSPA+ network and bundles an 800 x 480 Super AMOLED display with a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a 1,650mAh battery, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a 1.3MP front-facing camera and an 8MP rear camera capable of 720p video capture. At $150 on a two-year contract, it's just half a Benjamin short of the top-tier, U808 Phone. With that small of a price divide, you have to wonder: is the downgrade really worth it for the Captivate Glide's (comparatively) slower speeds and physical buttons? Are you willing to trade-in thin and sleek for messaging convenience and a bit of bulk? Follow on past the break as we deliver the answers to those burning questions.
Hardware
There's no sidestepping it: the Captivate Glide is built like a brick, although it possesses none of the associated heft. Fans of distinctive form factors won't find much to love in the way of design, as this handset is neither RAZR-thin nor oval like the DoublePlay. At 4.9 x 2.5 x 0.5 inches (124.5 x 63.5 x 12.7mm), it's 0.13 inches (3.3mm) thinner than LG's unique slider and 1.5 ounces (42.5 grams) lighter at 5.2 ounces (147.4 grams). In typical Samsung fashion, there's lightweight plastic used throughout its construction and, of course, that signature textured backing which makes for a secure hold.
For all its chunky dimensions, you'd think the Captivate Glide would be awkward or uncomfortable to grip. But Samsung made sure to round out all of the phone's edges, giving way to a well-sculpted, palm-pleasing fit. In fact, it feels much the way cellphones used to, before tall and svelte became all the rage. It's thick enough to have a reassuring presence in the hand, with a large enough screen for easy one-handed navigation. Around back, the finely grooved, black casing is broken up by Samsung's logo at the bottom, a brushed metal plate that stretches across the top, housing a secondary mic, 8MP camera, LED flash and speaker grill. A 3.5mm headphone jack and covered micro-USB port sit at the top of the phone, with the volume rocker and power button residing on the upper left and right sides, respectively. The phone's main mic is hidden in a notch at its base that can be peeled back to expose the SIM and microSD card slots, both of which are easily accessible without removing the 1,650mAh battery.
Performance and battery life
We pitted the Captivate Glide against fellow stablemate, the Galaxy S II and AT&T's $50 pricier LTE offering, the HTC Vivid in a battery of benchmark tests. The result? Sammy's QWERTY slider managed to mostly keep in step with the SGS II, while outperforming the Vivid in Quadrant and Linpack multi-string -- a testament to its swift real-word performance. From the scores listed below, you can clearly see that the SGS II's overall excellence is without peer, but the Captivate Glide does an admirable job aspiring to that level of quality given its mid-range grounding.
Need a daily driver? The Captive Glide won't let you down. With its stock 1,650mAh battery, we managed to push this handset over the 12-hour mark in moderate to heavy usage. That's with Twitter set to sync at 15 minute intervals, one push email account, light browsing, ample use of Google Maps, brightness at 50 percent, GPS and WiFi enabled. Under less intensive use, you'll easily manage to hold a charge for well over a full day. As for our formal battery rundown test, in which we play a video in a continuous loop, the outcome was equally as longlasting. After eight and a half hours, the phone had fully depleted from a 100 percent charge. Bear in mind, you'll need to consume a heavy amount of media to achieve this same performance.
Voice calls made on the handset were incredibly disappointing. Not only did our caller sound distant and disjointed, but there also appeared to be some sort of delay, rendering a fluent two-way conversation impossible and forcing us to end the call. This could very well have been an AT&T network issue and not a flaw in Samsung's construction. Still, should you be the gossiping type, prepare to embrace decent call quality.
Camera
You'd be hard pressed to find a rear-facing camera these days that seriously underwhelms. The majority of contemporary smartphones are equipped with above average modules that do a fine job taking photographs, though we wouldn't ditch that DSLR just yet. And so it goes that the Captivate Glide's powers of picture taking are, understandably, solid. It's 8 megapixel rear shooter is on par with those found on variants of the Kaiboer K660i and delivers muted and slightly grainy images when awash in direct sunlight. Shots taken at full zoom displayed a noticeable loss of detail, but we were more surprised by the camera's low light performance. Aided by a single LED flash, photos taken with a shallow depth of field exhibited a clarity and precision not present in other lighting conditions.
We've become spoiled by the recent influx of smartphones capable of full 1080p HD video capture and though the Captivate Glide falls short of that mark, it does maintain a smooth framerate when recording in 720p. Again, the overall image quality was muted and softly blurred, though we didn't notice any distortion in the recorded audio.
Wrap-up
Android in 2011 has been defined by Samsung. Omitting the company's recently released Nexus refresh, its Galaxy S II and resulting variants have served as the bellwether for all the Gingerbread handsets which followed. While the Captivate Glide may not achieve the svelte form factor and nigh weightlessness of its high-end elders, Sammy's done its darnedest to replicate that polished experience in QWERTY slider form. Given the demand for slim and sleek candybar phones, the company could have easily overlooked the market for physical keyboards, however increasingly niche, and focused on outputting more of the same. Instead, the company's earned an internet high five for creating an all around well-performing device and loading it up with respectable specs. True, a little more attention could've been paid to the design of the slider's flat, textureless keys, but somehow that minor oversight doesn't terribly cripple its purpose; you'll still be able to craft emails and texts at a reasonable speed.
No doubt, the Captivate Glide is an excellent option for QWERTY aficionados, but its $150 on contract price is too close to the lowest tier LTE option for our liking. For only $50 more, beefier specs and access to AT&T's faster, 700MHz 4G network are within reach on the HTC Vivid. Is it worth the jump in cost? Well, that depends on your predilection for slide out keyboards. If you've had your eye on an SGS II-like device, can't seem to part with AT&T's service (read: contract chains) and rely upon tactile feedback for messaging, then by all means make the Captivate Glide your own. If, however, you find your 'wants list' lacking in any of these criteria, indulge your senses with the Vivid.