Review of the Samsung Charge

Eventually, all of our cell phones will work on a 4G network. 4G offers better speed, and every major cell phone network, including AT&T and Verizon, is working on expanding 4G capabilities. Cell phones are becoming more like laptop computers and they simply need the extra speed.

The Samsung Charge was recently introduced as a 4G LTE phone on the Verizon network, and Verizon appears to be aware of the fact that it's important to support a 4G network with some serious hardware.

The first thing that you'll notice when holding the Samsung Charge is its brilliant Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen, which compares favorably to the iPhone 4's high-resolution display. At 4.3 inches, the display is bigger than what a standard smartphone would have. This is a mixed blessing, as it does mean that the Samsung Charge is sort of bulky. However, it makes up for its large screen by slimming down a bit. Samsung promotes it as the "thinnest 4G LTE" smartphone available, at about .46 inches thick.

There are a few major features, other than size, that set the Samsung Charge apart from other Samsung smartphones and specifically from the HTC Thunderbolt, which is the other 4G LTE phone on Verizon's network. Its Android 2.2 operating system works very well with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and provides a rich user experience that's every bit as easy to use as the iPhone. There are two cameras, a rear-facing 8 megapixel camera and a forward-facing 1.3" camera to allow for video conferencing applications. Its browser is HTML5, which means that it's ready to display newer websites without any hiccups. It also boasts an 11-hour battery life, although this depends on how frequently the Charge is used to access web content; it won't last nearly 11 hours when it's accessing video or other demanding data.

When compared to the other big-name smartphones on the market, the Samsung Charge holds its ground quite nicely. It's got a big screen, which is its only truly significant downside, but it's at least as powerful as Apple's iPhone and has 4G functionality, which the iPhone doesn't offer (at least for now). Overall, the Samsung Charge is one of the best choices out there for smartphone users who aren't dedicated to the iPhone and who want something on Verizon's network. It retails for about $300 with a new contract.