Remember this phone? It’s the Samsung SGH-i997, otherwise known as the Samsung Infuse 4G. Originally shown at CES in January 2011. Engadget did a great job covering the Infuse, letting loose the following specs:
- 4G (HSPA+)
- 4.5″ Super AMOLED Plus screen – featuring a “50 percent boost in sub-pixel count”
- 8 megapixel camera on the back
- 1.3 megapixel camera on the front
- 1.2 GHz single-core Hummingbird processor
- Android 2.2
- textured matte rear cover, described as feeling “exceptionally high-quality”
- thinnest smartphone on AT&T when it launches at a to-be-determined date
Truth be told, I didn’t care about the Infuse in January. It was another phone in a long list of phones being released. I’ve had my iPhone 3GS for a while and it was working fine. That changed when my iPhone’s screen stopped displayed one of the colors – turning all the colors purple/green and making links on the Internet pink. With motivation, the hunt for a new phone was on. A friend turned me onto the SGH-i997 and I’ve been patiently waiting, watching ever since.
I turned to Google, searching for SGH-i997. Apparently I’m the only one thinking about this phone…at least since January. Gizmodo ran a great piece on the Infuse. Here’s some good quotes:
- “Why exactly, wasn’t this the new Nexus phone?”
- “Whoa. This is quality.”
- “The fastest Android phone yet.”
pdadb.net has the most complete profile of the phone, where we found out a few more specs – notably the battery size:
To top off the specs I care about, a friend in the know informed me that it’s got near field communication.
So – this phone is awesome. Where’s the Android press been? They’ve probably been covering the Motorola Atrix, and with good reason. But surely there’s been some kind of mention of this phone…right? If you don’t count the typical FCC coverage, you’ll find that apparently Samsung is getting ready to silently release this phone into the wild…and Wal-Mart of all places is the first to shout about it! On page 9 of their weekly ad.
If you read the comments on that engadget article above, you’ll see exactly what I’m thinking. With Samsung waiting this long to release the phone, it’s no longer quite as super as it once was. Even if you’re only focused on Samsung, even the Galaxy S 2 starts looking better on paper:
| Galaxy S2 |
Infuse 4G |
| Android 2.3.1 |
Android 2.2.1 |
| TouchWiz UI 4.0 |
TouchWiz UI 3.0 |
| 2.0 mp front camera |
1.3 mp front camera |
| Dual core 1.0 GHz |
Single core 1.2 GHz |
There are couple items that I like more about the Infuse, specifically:
- 1.2 GHz single core processor – I’m not sold on dual core phones yet. 1.2GHz seems mighty fast for an OS that hasn’t had much time to be optimized for dual core.
- 4.5″ screen – yeah the Galaxy S2 will have a 4.3″ screen, but I’m stretching for things to like here, cut me some slack.
So the press has been absent on the Infuse. Samsung is pushing out a very competitive phone in the Galaxy S2 very close to the release of the Infuse 4G. Should I continue to look forward to picking up an Infuse? Is dual core really worth waiting another month or two with my purple/green screen iPhone 3GS?
I’m hesitant at this point. But if there’s one thing that would help, it would be some kind of announcement by Samsung on the availability of the Infuse 4G and when they will push an update to Android 2.3 to bring it inline with other leading phones. Will it be a few months? Or will they abandon the phone after letting it out? Am I better off just getting a Motorola Atrix?
Picking a new phone is fun at some level, but it feels like buying a car when you’re not sure if next year’s model (to be released in another month) looks better, has a bigger engine, and will have a longer lifespan. Yuck.
