The Samsung Continuum is the latest member of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphone family. It's similar to the rest of the popular Galaxy S devices that launched in the United States in that it offers a Super AMOLED display, a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording functionality, a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, and Android 2.1 with TouchWiz 3.0. However, the Continuum offers a smaller 3.4-inch display and a secondary 1.8-inch Super AMOLED "ticker" display that serves up news, alerts, and more, making the Continuum one of the more unique devices we've seen in a while.
Despite being unique, the Continuum has a few downfalls. Primarily, I think the Fascinate is a better phone because it feels faster and has a larger display. However, there's nothing inherently wrong with the Continuum, and I think there are plenty of people out there that will prefer its more compact size without too many other hardware sacrifices.
Hardware
The Samsung Continuum can best be thought of as a mini Samsung Fascinate with a smaller display and a secondary "ticker" screen. It measures 125.4 x 57.9 x 12.19mm (4.94 x 2.28 x .48in), which is slightly longer but narrower than the Fascinate. The front face is home to a 3.4-inch 800 x 480 resolution Super AMOLED display that's beautiful to look at. While it's a cliche, the colors really do appear to pop off of the screen.
That display is smaller than the Fascinate's 4-inch one, though, and I definitely prefer having more screen real estate. Between the two displays there's a small space that has four touchscreen buttons for accessing the menu, home, back, and search functions. These buttons aren't visible when the phone is off, which makes for an attractive pure black face when the screen is off. Despite that cool look, I still prefer dedicated hardware keys.
The Continuum's claim to glory is its secondary 1.8-inch Super AMOLED display, which has a 480 x 96 pixel resolution. The secondary display can be customized to display news feeds, text and email alerts, and more. I'll discuss the screen a bit more under the usability section of this review.
The left side of the Continuum is home to a micro-USB charging port and the easily accessible volume controls. The top of the phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a power button. The microSD memory card slot and camera quick-launch button are on the right edge of the phone. The back of the Continuum is glossy and black, and though I love this type of rear panel that Samsung has introduced on a number of phones, some find it to be cheap feeling.
At 116.2g (4.1oz) the Continuum is a hair heavier than the Fascinate, but still feels light in the hand. Its rounded edges and skinny design also make it comfortable in the pocket.
Usability
The Continuum runs Android 2.1 with Samsung's custom TouchWiz 3.0 user interface on top. It's the same style of interface that's on all of Samsung's Galaxy S phones, which I typically like, but it is a bit disappointing that the Continuum launched with the older Android 2.1 operating system when most new devices are launching with Android 2.2 Froyo loaded. That means the browser doesn't support Adobe Flash 10.1 content, which isn't a deal breaker entirely since it doesn't always work incredibly well, but it's still a limitation worth noting.
As I noted earlier, the Continuum's claim to fame is its secondary Super AMOLED display. The screen can be activated while the phone is locked by gripping the two lower corners of the phone. I liked being able to swipe across to view news headlines, weather stories, social network updates, and notifications of missed calls, new emails, voicemails, and text messages. It's a neat feature for those that want information at-a-glance, but I think its real potential remains untapped. Samsung says it will release a development kit so that developers can use the secondary screen for other things. Imagine skipping Pandora tracks, for example. I found the secondary screen was best for skipping tracks while the phone was locked. I otherwise was perfectly happy unlocking the phone to read the news or check my inbox. I never found myself wanting to quickly check the headlines. Overall, it's a neat feature, but not one I'd rather have over the larger 4-inch display on the Fascinate. I would, however, be really interested in a Fascinate sized display with a secondary screen.
Android 2.1 provides seven home screen panels for customizing with a number of Samsung's preloaded widgets, and moves between home screens were quick most of the time. The main menu is tweaked from the default Android one, and it shows apps in pages that you can flip through by swiping left or right on the screen. The menu can be customized to a list view, and you can also customize where the icons appear on the various pages. The whole interface is intuitive and easy to use.
Coming from a larger 4-inch Galaxy S device, I can't help but feel the whole screen feels cramped and scrunched. This is particularly noticeable with the Swype keyboard. It takes very deliberate taps to type accurately, and while Swype works well, it's not for everyone. You'll want to make sure you're comfortable with Swype before making a purchase on this device, and I think most people will prefer the larger screen on the Fascinate, which makes nearly every interaction easier.
Contacts are sorted clearly and you can link up Google, IM, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and email accounts with each contact. Images can be pulled down from Facebook, and if a contact is in sync with your Facebook account, you can also see their recent photos or status updates that they have posted. While the Continuum has a "Groups," option for quickly contacting a group of people, I noticed that the Favorites tab inside contacts is missing on the Continuum. That was probably my most used feature of the address book on earlier Galaxy S phones.
Bing is the default search engine on the phone, and while that's a turnoff for some who prefer Google search, I found that Bing works just fine.
Sometimes the software on the phone felt a little half-baked. It runs the same 1GHz processor that the Fascinate has, but some actions just felt slower and more sluggish than on the Fascinate. Another case in point: one time while using the camera the entire device crashed and required a battery pull before it could be restarted.
Calling / Data
Calls on the Continuum were satisfactory. Generally I thought the calls were clear, although they did sound a bit hollow at times. I didn't have any complaints from those I called on the device. Its signal reception was good, and in my house in Pennsylvania I was thankful to have a full Verizon signal on the Continuum where my personal AT&T Captivate Galaxy S failed to hold a strong one. Its speakerphone was tinny sounding, but loud enough.
Using our standard DSLReports.com/mspeed data throughput test, I found that the average download speed on the Continuum was a 1,089Kbps although I saw dips to the 700Kbps a number of times, too. Generally data was fast and I have no complaints in that area. The Continuum also supports Verizon Wireless' 3G Mobile Hotspot feature that lets you share your 3G connection with up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices. Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n support and Bluetooth 3.0 are also on-board, as are Bluetooth and USB support.
Messaging
The Continuum is a solid messaging device, but as I noted earlier, its keyboard was too cramped for typing accurately. I found that while touch typing my thumbs were usually tripping over one another, even in landscape mode. Swype worked very well and is the obvious best choice for writing emails and text messages, but it's not for everyone. While typing fast I'd look at my sentence and notice a few misplaced words and I'd have to go back and edit them. Still, Swype is wildly popular and most will find that it works just fine.
As is the case with most Android devices, the most robust email client on the Continuum is its Gmail client, which worked very well. I was also able to setup my work IMAP account in just a few minutes on the standard email client, and you can configure accounts using POP too. Microsoft Exchange is also supported.
Google Talk comes pre-installed as the default chat client, but you can download a host of other chat applications from the Android Market. There's also the option to add Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger accounts inside the pre-installed IM app. For staying in touch on Twitter, the Continuum comes preloaded with Twidroyd, although I prefer the official Twitter client over any other app. MySpace and Facebook are also loaded on the phone.
Apps / App Store
The Continuum comes with a host of preloaded apps that, to some, may seem like bloatware. Those apps include V CAST Music, V CAST Tones, V CAST Videos, VZ Navigator, trials for Tetris and Scrabble, My Verizon Mobile, Blockbuster, and CityID. That's quite a list of installed applications, and it seems unnecessary to add some of them given that the Android Market is home to over 100,000 applications. Any user should know they can find and install what they want, apps like the game trials seem unnecessary.
The Blockbuster application allows you to stream movies on the phone and it includes access to some new releases. The movie "Grown Ups," for example, is available as a $3.99 rental or you can buy it for $17.99. Blockbuster subscribers can also choose to get movies by mail or pick them up in a store. You'll have to register and create an account before using Blockbuster.
Browser
The web browser on the Continuum remains untouched from the default Android 2.1 browser, from what I can tell, and that's good. I've always found the Android WebKit based browser to be more than up to the task for browsing full HTML websites. Everything rendered well, although I did notice some jitters while pinching and zooming around some sites. The high resolution screen made reading text easy, too. I would have liked the option to view Flash content on the Continuum, but that's not a deal breaker and I'm fairly certain Samsung has plans to upgrade the device to Android 2.2 Froyo, which will add that support later.
Camera
The Continuum has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, a single LED flash, and support for recording 720p HD video. I took a number of shots while walking around New York City and thought that the camera generally took nice pictures that are more than worthy for uploading to Facebook or Twitter; you may even decide to frame a few. On a cloudy day the white sky blended into buildings in a few brighter shots, and taking shots of some moving objects caused some blur, but otherwise they were all pretty solid photos. The 720p HD video also looked good when played back on both the phone and on my computer.
Music
Like the other Galaxy S devices, the Continuum has a custom Samsung music player that displays album art nice and large. It's also easy to find a track or album as everything is listed by album, artist, song, and playlist. Verizon Wireless even included its V CAST Music store which allows you to purchase tracks for $1.99 each. Songs downloaded within about 30 seconds onto the Continuum. You can also download the free Amazon MP3 store application from the Android Market and get DRM-free tracks for much less than what Verizon charges on its store.
Battery
I was able to get through a day of normal use before the Continuum needed a charge again, so you'll want to keep your charger nearby if you're heading off somewhere overnight. I did find, however, that the Continuum idled quite well, so if I used it lightly, I could get about two or three days of out of it.
Reviewer Spin
I like the Continuum, particularly because the secondary display is unique and can be useful should you need quick access to the news, weather, or updates, without having to unlock the phone. Personally, I don't need to access most of that information so badly that I can't unlock the phone. I think there's a lot of potential here, though, and it will be exciting to see what Samsung and developers can come up with. I'm thinking Fantasy Football score updates could be a neat idea, if ESPN wanted to jump on board.
The Continuum is too cramped for my tastes, though. I like the larger 4-inch display on the Fascinate, and I'd trade the secondary Super AMOLED for that screen any day. Tap typing, since I prefer not to use Swype, was tedious and I had to be deliberate to type an accurate message.
To be blunt, I think you should buy the Fascinate, but if you want a neat little secondary display that no other phone has, paired with a smaller form factor, then give the Continuum a whirl.
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