The Samsung Fascinate is the worst phone I've ever owned

[JRoget803]

Pros: The processor is fast and the apps are great. Love the look too.

Cons: Call quality is hideous. Calls to landlines sound like i'm screaming into a speaker phone. Has an awful echo. Bing search is worthless. VZW customer service is horrendous.

Summary: I've been a loyal Verizon customer for 7 years. Last year, I picked up a Droid and fell in love with the Android OS. However, I started to become frustrated with the high cost of the Verizon Wireless service. When my new every two contract came up this year, I decided to look at other services for the first time in 7 years. While demoing the T-Mobile service, I received a Samsung Vibrant as my demo phone. I fell in love with the Galaxy S platform and the amazing AMOLED screen. However, I found T-Mobile's service to be horrendous so I decided to stick with Verizon. Since Verizon just released the Samsung Fascinate, I decided to go with that phone based on my experience with the Samsung Vibrant. Wow...what a mistake that was.

I don't know what Verizon has done to this phone, but the call quality is absolutely abysmal. I've called landlines in perfect 3G coverage areas and was told that I sound like I'm screaming into a speaker phone. I've made calls in lower coverage areas with the T-Mobile phone, and found the call quality to be much better.

Now, on top of the poor call quality, i hear myself in the speaker of the phone. It sounds like I'm screaming at myself. It's horribly distorted and just sounds hideous. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN WITH THE SAMSUNG VIBRANT which is essentially THE SAME PHONE.

Now onto the Bing Search shenanigans...just like everyone else, I thought this was strange. However, it was definitely not a deal breaker. I use Bing at work and have never really had any problems with it. However, being a prior Droid user, i was used to being able to click Voice Search and say "Navigate to..." and it would pull up the Google maps app and send me on my way. However, with the Bing search, if I click on voice search, say "navigate to...", and then click the Done button (what a pain that is) it brings me to a screen where it says "did you mean...?" and not the Bing maps. This effectively cripples the functionality of the phone. For me to navigate with my phone now, I have to open the Google (or Bing) maps app, click on the functions key, choose directions, click on the To: bar, click on voice search and then finally enter my destination.

Next up is the bloat ware that Verizon shoved on this phone. There's some kind of advanced caller ID feature which brings up the location of the person that you are calling...or is calling you. I thought this was kind of a cool feature that Samsung or Verizon must have added to the Fascinate. That is until about 6 hours after activating the phone, a pop-up screen shows up saying, "City ID displays the city & state of an incoming call. You are receiving a free 15-day trial of this Enhanced Caller ID feature. Would you like City ID for $1.99 per month?" Then there are two buttons...Subscribe Now or Continue Free Trial.... What...am I on the WWWyzzerrdd episode of ATHF? I didn't sign up for any trial...where's the stop trial button? Where's the uninstall app button? Is this even legal???!!!

Now...all of this would be bad enough, but I went into the Verizon store tonight to find out if I was doing something wrong, only to be told that I was crazy. The call sounded perfect........WHOA {word filter avoidance}
??!! This is how you treat a 7 year customer that was already on the fence with your service???

Bottom line...if you're going Verizon, stick with the Droid X or Droid Incredible.

[demmo86rt]

Out of curiosity, what's the price difference in the two phones?

[JoeBobHarris]

It is kind of sad, isn't it, that cell companies treat their customers as potential "easy marks" hoping to trick them into spending money. "Gotcha!"

[JRoget803]

The Fascinate is $299 with a $100 MIR instore or $100 instant rebate online...

The Vibrant is $250 with a $50 MIR.

Both phones are currently BOGO.

[JRoget803]

I am so sick of the "Gotchas" on this phone...and I've been dealing with Verizon "Gotchas" since 2003....this phone is just one after another

[demmo86rt]

I meant between the vibrant and fascinate, wondering how much good that verizon subsidization by bing is doing.

[JRoget803]

Yeah...I realized that after I posted it...I edited my post...they're essentially the same price, but the Verizon phone is more expensive before MIR.

[demmo86rt]

Saw your edit after my post, confused me for a second, lol. Guess it's not working too well.

[pool_shark]

After the 15 day trial of city ID the message goes away, you never see it again.

[hallcp1019]

agree with poolshark the city id is a cool feature that is sorta accurate but unless you choose to pay it'll just stop and  i dont know about you but in my area the  city's would be about a 30 mile general area around the towers or something not the exact  city the call was coming from and not the current city only the city in which the phone was from i live  in town about 20 mins from the main tower here and people who traveled to another state and called still showed up as they were in that nearby town....

is it me or other than the cosmetics does feel like the flimsiest and most plasticy version of all the galaxy s phones offered i played with att and t's version in the store and it made me want it til i got it and it really was just like the dummy phones on diplay like one good drop would end its life?