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Aug

31

2010

Samsung Epic already having issues on launch day

104

by Dustin Karnes
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According to one of our insider sources over at Sprint, there is already an issue emerging out of Samsung’s just-launched Epic 4G. In speaking with our insider, we are being told that the Epic 4G is having a problem with the capacitive back button on the bottom of the device. The button can become unresponsive, up to the point of being completely unusable. Sprint has, apparently, already had returns on the device due to this issue. There are also various reports that the issue may also affect any or all of the capacitive touch buttons. Not only that, but the issue had been previously reported in the Sprint insider forums (a forum dedicated only to Sprint Employees) by employees who were device advocates for the Epic prior to launch, and was already considered to be a very real problem. Sadly, however, it looks like the issue wan’t handled prior to public release.

What with all the problems we saw surrounding the HTC EVO 4G directly after launch, we here at TalkAndroid hope that these issues won’t continue rolling in. Any of our new Epic-toting readers having a problem in this area? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Thanks Robert for sending this in!

» See more articles by Dustin Karnes

Categorized as Android Leaks & Rumours, Android News, Android Phones

Comments

  • Matt

    I got the Epic today and I have had no problems with the capacitative touch buttons. Just my input!

  • brianad

    im not having any problems with my back button. neither on the front of the phone or keyboard.

  • george

    I just got the phone today and I am having issues with the back button…..I have to hit it several times before it responds…..I am returning my device….Last time I am ever buying a Samsung device…This is the second Samsung phone I had….Before it was the Samsung Intercept….Another POS phone…very slow and cumbersome to use…..I miss my Palm Centro.

    George

  • george

    Give it some time…You will have issues….Go to message or an app and then hit the back key…..I tried it on the store phone as well and it got into the same state….the back key works but you have to tap it several times or press down on it hard….it is very ANNOYING.

  • Tina

    I bought this phone today, I have had absolutely no problems what so ever with it, its a great phone I love it!

  • David North

    I’m experiencing exactly the problem you describe. Frustrated.

  • Zach

    I’m having no problems with the back capacitive button…

  • Steven

    I’m definitel having problems where I have to hit the back button several times for it to work. Also, I’ve found a software glitch I’m wondering if anyone else is having, my apps on my home page disappear all the time, especially after I power off and back on. I’ve been troubleshooting by resetting the phone back to factory settings. The problem goes away until I register on the marketplace (with only factory apps installed). Once I register, every power on/off resets my home page, leaving only widgets remaining. Is anyone else experiencing this?

  • Tony

    I was having a problem with the back button and decided to google it to see if I was the only one. It turns out I am not! VERY FRUSTRATING…I am going to the Sprint store tomorrow to see what they can do for me. I am sure my only option will be to return it. Maybe I will get the HTC Evo now…seriously…you mean to tell me Samsung was aware of this problem and ignored it? What a way to launch a product! Bad press equals sluggish sales! DO NOT purchase this until the problem is rectified…this is what I get for being an early adopter. Lesson learned…

  • Andrew

    I am having problems with the back button as well. The others are so much easier to press and the vibration on the back button isnt as strong as the other search home and menu buttons. I have posted a thread on sprint’s forums. Sprint or Samsung better admit this problem soon and get working on a fix or i’m bringing the phone back.

  • Allan

    My issue is with the home button. I am having the same issues…just a different button. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong when I was hitting the home key for it not to work like the others. Comforting to know I wasn’t crazy… very UNcomforting to know my long awaited bad boy phone is flawed. Hope they stay on top of this one.

  • Nik

    I got my epic yesterday and had no problems for the first few hours, after that the search kept going on and off by itself as if my phone was possessed. I couldnt do anything to make it stop. I powered it on and off then I removed the battery and still nothing. I returned it and got a new one and so far this one is alright… the screen stayed black for a little while when I was trying to set up email but SO FAR so good. Any recommended apps?

  • Jonathan

    All of the buttons down there need a little extra “push” it seems (which doesn’t make sense of course). And, yes the back button seems to be the stickiest. They haven’t frozen up completely yet. I’ll wait a little bit to see if it’s a major problem (and whatever else crops up) before I exchange it.

    Otherwise, I really love this device!

  • Todd

    I too have this problem. Freezes for a few seconds. I usually just power off and power back on to unfreeze it. It is so frustrating. Hoping Sprint store still has one to swap out before they sell out.

  • Matthew

    I picked up the EPIC yesterday, and since almost an hour into having the phone, it randomly goes all black and will not come back unless I pull the battery. Occasionally it will go all black but the buttons will be lit up, and lastly, a couple times it has lost all signal, and doesn’t get it back until I reboot.

  • Neal

    Got my Epic today.
    Within 10 minutes I found 4 design flaws nobody has talked about.
    1. Inconvenient power button location.
    2. Main camera smudge by index finger during normal use.
    3. Unpopular/Inconvenient USB plug type and placement of USB plug. (mini is more popular and would be better on the bottom of phone)

  • dan

    i have the same issue with the back button. great phone just fix the button please

  • Johnal

    @Neal
    Your first point is simply a preference, and not a “flaw.” Your second point is a little tough to read, but it seems like you’re not please with the smudges your index finger makes during your “normal” use. The third point is again just a preference. Simply by design, the Micro USB is superior and more durable than the Mini. Also, as a person who spends a bit of time in the car and at a desk, having the USB port on the top was different, but actually kind of nice. My USB cable is routed from the back of my computer and up through the back of my desk, so now the cable just plugs directly into the phone without having to have the cable make any bends. In the car, I can now leave my phone charging in the cup holder without having to bend the cable.

    My issues are with slow gps lock ons, poor capacitive buttons, sub-par wi-fi signal, slow email sync times (compared to EVO), and poor speakerphone mic (again compared to EVO.)

  • DAnielm

    I purchased my epic 4g yesterday and already went through 3 of them. I contacted support at sprint and at samsung and they cant figure out the issue. Basically, the phone is having some issue with google apps account holders. It will sync, but after 5-10 minutes it will not download apps from the app store. Also, you cannot open attachments from emails. When you try to do a factory reset, the phone goes into manual reboot mode.

    This has been very frustrating and decided to just go to the evo.

    Does anyone else out there using a google apps account have this issue?

  • David peters

    This is a great phone I am not having issue I can’t deal with since I am sure this has to do with a software update. I can deal with the back button issue.

  • Jay

    Serves them right after boning Samsung Moment owners. Hopefully they can’t sweep this under the rug.

  • Mason

    i try charging my epic powered off. but as soon as i plug it. it turns back on???

  • **

    I had an issue where the screen stopped working. it blacked out. I could see the back and home buttons light up, but it made the phone unusable.

  • Mike

    I got the epic yesterday, I have the same issue – Plus I am having trouble with accessing the SD card when I connect phone to Computer through USB, 1 out of 20 time the computer reconizes the device, the other times I get no connection.

  • Josh Smith

    I am having issues with my back button as well. Only other issue I have noticed is I get a vibration in some cases when making calls. Seems to come and go and is getting less. Maybe just something loose, but the back button is getting annoying.

    If I can’t find some info from Sprint on this, I am getting close to taking mine back and exchanging it for the EVO (which was my original first choice).

  • Ray

    I noticed the same problem when I went to pick up the phone from RadioShack the first day. I was playing with it while the guy was doing his thing on the computer. All the buttons work, it just takes a little more effort. I bought two at the same time and my wife’s phone works like a charm, with the slightest touch. Gonna put up with it until Radioshack gets more in stock, otherwise I’m returning it for a new one, hopefully one that doesn’t have this problem. Or if the Evo is back in stock, I’ll just exchange it for that bad boy.

  • Johnal

    @Josh Smith

    I seem to be getting a buzzing noise too while on a phone call (not through speakerphone). I have to turn the in call volume down to half or less to make the buzzing noise go away – it sounds like a blown speaker and is kind of annoying.

    My newest complaints are with sending pictures through the gmail app and refreshing my email while on a call.

    1.) Sending a picture through gmail app brings the phone to a crawl. Pretty much unusable until it’s sent. This is not how it is with the Evo.

    2.) While on a call you can surf the net if you enable WiFi or 4G (if it’s in your area) but for whatever reason I can’t refresh or download new emails through the email app (not gmail app) while on a call. Maybe it’s because I enabled them after the phone call started? I dunno. Someone want to check that the next time they are on a call?

  • Sasha

    Well I just got mines. Today also I love this phone I pry I have no problems or back to the store it goes! Its an awesome phone so far!

  • Gina

    I’ve only had the phone for 36 hours, but the only time I’ve had an issue is when sending a picture via email. The phone slows to a near standstill while trying to compose the email… buttons seem unresponsive at that point.

    There was one other time that it seemed “frozen” and I got that “uh oh” feeling that there might be something blackberry-ish about the lag. (I loved by blackberry except for the endless waits as it tried to complete a task.) None of the buttons (back, home, menu, search) garnered a response. Only happened the once… and hope it was just an anomaly.

    Otherwise, everything is working as I would expect it to.

  • TNP

    I am also having issue with the back button. It seems to have lower sensitivity than others, and also slower to response. The vibration is also weaker on this than the other buttons.

  • CT

    Ok.. I love the phone but I have an issue with downloading apps, Meaning I will get the message: download unsuccessful anytime I try to download ANY app.

    Note, if I restore to factory settings apps will download IF the following stipulations are true:

    1. I add an existing google account ( Im only signing in, not newly registering).
    2. That google account is not autosyncing.

    Once I turn on the autosync, download apps from the market works for a while but disables again. I went to the sprint store and the technician couldnt replicate the issue on his own HTC. So I exchanged.. the issue is happening on this new one as well.

    Is anyone else having this issue, please speak up!

  • b8ascrub

    I am wondering if anyone is having problems with 4g being enabled? I noticed that when I enable 4g some of my apps say “no internet connection.” The two that come to mind are media hub/gas buddy. I think its doing the same thing on another app. However, when I disable 4g all the apps work fine. I am not having any other issues with buttons or freezing.. Just seems the 4g is a bit flakey right now. I am also in Philadelphia and a 4g coverage area. Can someone shed some light on this please!?? I just migrated from blackberry to android, so far I am very impressed! maybe I dont have a setting correct or something…

  • richard

    im having a problem where if my phone was on sleep mode or whatever mode its on when its on just there’s no display, that when a call comes in and i answer i can’t use the phone. i cant end the call put it on speaker nor use the back button neither are the keyboard keys responding and there is noo button on the phone that i can press. also if it was on sleep mode and i put it on and make a call right after its doing the same thing soo if a call where to goo to voice mail or is busy i cant end the call.

  • Phil

    Bought an epic on the 31st, have had zero problems with the back button, zero problems downloading apps, and the only problem I had moving music to the sd card was resolved with a quick settings change.

  • Tom

    I like the phone so far, but for some reason can’t get any notifications on new emails from Hotmail or Yahoo. Gmail updates me, but I use the other two a lot for work and need to see the notifications. I have them set to refresh every 5 minutes and have tried ringtones, notification in the top bar, and vibrate, but the only way to get the email is to refresh manually. Guy at the Sprint store can’t get it to work either. Wondering if this is a bug or just a bad phone. If I can’t get it fixed soon, I am taking it back. If its an issue because of Android(Google) then I am not sure what to do, EVO has the same system.

    Why did I have to drop my Pre last week?

    Anyone else with this issue?

  • Kim Robinson

    I have two issues with this phone: the back button, and the charge mode. when the phone is charging, it’s unusable??????? Come on now. This is insane.

  • Purban

    I like this phone however I have problems with the Corporate email, it stops syncing for no reason. I left the phone on my desk and get emails for a hours and then they just stop. Not sure what’s up. The battery life is pretty bad. I do love the screen and keyboard, I hope an update is coming down the pipe soon.

  • New Samsung User

    How on earth do you voice dial with this phone? I’m reading that it can’t do voice dialing with Bluetooth right now and that Samsung promises an update to take care of that, but … how do you voice dial even without a Bluetooth? I see no menu item or command where I can voice dial!

  • Todd

    @New Samsung User
    Voice dial using the google search box. Click it and say “Call so & so” not great while driving but it works. This phone is not a phone to have if you’re on the road a lot.

  • Michael

    I am having a problem with the phone. Voice search and voice dial works for about 5 min after my phone cycles on, then it does not hear any voice no matter how loud of soft I speak. Anyone else having this problem?

  • Kristie

    A few times, I have had an issue with the back button, however this is not a huge issue to me since within a few seconds it’s fine.

    Email is a huge issue for me and from the looks of it I’m not alone. Yes frequency is set up correct as well as notifications, I’ve checked and rechecked. 90% of the time I have to refresh manually. Also, can’t get the exchange sync to work with my email through windows live.

    Other issue is my contacts will not sync with gmail. A friend told me hers worked fine, she just hit the sync button and everything synced.

    Frustrating, my email is a huge part of my business. I can’t afford the errors. I’ll try it for a bit, but my go back to touch pro 2. I dislike how WinMo systems lock up (I was resetting every three weeks) but EVO isn’t an option either, I need a hardward keyboard.

  • kp

    I think part of the problem with the capacitive-touch buttons arises as an artifact of using cases on the phone. I notice that when I use the platinum cased from best buy the buttons do not work as well. The case that radioshack sells does not appear to put as much pressure on the touch-sensitive area.
    When I remove the case the buttons respond more quickly.

  • Erik

    @New Samsung User
    My phone has a voice dial app preloaded on the phone… that is real odd on Samsung’s part that some phones have it while others don’t. Luckily there is a fix for that no thanks to Samsung. By using the app Any Cut you can manually create shortcuts for many in-phone features including Voice Dial. Just open Any Cut-> New shortcut -> Activity and scroll down to Voice Dial. You will then be prompted to name the new shortcut and save it to your home screen. Hope that helps.

    In reference to the article, depending on the app I’m using, I too sometimes get the “sticky” back button, it can be frustrating at times. Also, on a personal note, the fully charged notification gets pretty annoying, that should have been made an option to turn on/off. Overall though this is a nice (yet expensive) upgrade to my G1.

  • Miles

    I also have the issue with downloading apps I get the message: download unsuccessful anytime I try to download ANY app. I have not tried restoring to factory settings. Was planning to take phone back. switched from an EVO and I may go back to it.

    My phones speaker quality seems to be pretty poor as well (the phone headpiece not the external speasker.) Is this the same for everyone.

  • Miles

    I have had this problem as well. Voice search and voice dial stopped working. It started again and I am not sure what I did to make it work.

  • CT

    Hey Guys, I found a solution for the downloading apps problem after syncing issue via the sprint forum. If you have this issue go to:
    http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/42713?tstart=0

    Now I am in total love with this phone.

  • Daniel

    Sorry to hear about everyone having issues with the epic. I haven’t experienced any problems with mine yet.

  • Shaner

    I’m also experiencing issues with the back button. It is less sensitive than the other buttons and only responds about 1 out of every 3 times. The vibration on the back button is also weak. Other buttons work good. Hopefully this is a software issue and not the hardware.

    Shane
    Shane.Walker@efficientsynergies.com

  • Lizette

    I haven’t had poblems with the back button but with making and getting calls. I can’t hear anything but the person I call can hear me. This happens also when someone calls me. It is really annoying. Also no matter what keyboard I use somehow it skips letters or it spaces them out when I’m typing a word. I’ve had this phone since Sept. 1st and I am not pleased. I’m taking it back today making calls is what its for and I can’t evn do tha its frustrating!!!!!!

  • Rosalie Berger

    OK,PLEASE HELP!!! I got the Epic yesterday and had it for about an hour and laid it on top of my purse, came into my house, and the screen was all green, everything. I went back to the store, luckily they swapped it out for me. NOW the latest problem is that when a phone call does come in, I CANNOT ANSWER IT!!! I can touch the answer button as much as I want and NOTHING, Same with the IGNORE! So it goes to voice mail, WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX THIS>??????????????

  • Vickie

    @Rosalie
    In order to answer the phone you need to drag the little icon in the middle of the screen to whatever button you want to. So if you want to answer the call you need to drag the picture up to the answer button. If you want to ignore the call you need to drag the picture down to the ignore button.

    I too am having troubles with the back button. Sometimes it presses itself. So when I am doing something it will back out of whatever app I am in and will continue backing out until it gets to the home screen, without me pressing the back button at all.

  • Kimberly R

    I am having issues with error message. “no network avalavble” when I know 3g is working on my other phones. I is very slow at times. And today of all things the touch screen stopped working completly. I tried taking the battery out and restarting it but no luck. They will be taking this phone back in the morning.

  • Mike

    I got the phone last Thursday and for the first day it was great. From there on is a different story. I went to california and the thing would freeze up, to the point where I would have to turn the device off. I am thinking that since Samsung modified the OS platform for their liking it altered the way the Droid platform should work. That being said I believe it is freezing due to the graphics card being used. Dont get me wrong the graffics are great, however it heats up the phone which is weird being that it has the AMOLED screen. The other problem I see is the TouchWiz screen. Anyway I will be bringing back my phone tomorrow and going with the HTC EVO. May be one problem to another however it has been out for a while and I hope the glitches are out. Co-worker has it and she doesnt have any problems. Kinda sad to get rid of the Epic but I have to do what i got to do.

    P.S. You may want to consider the slide keyboard, sounds great but we all know what happens with slide keyboards. It loosens up after a while and in my case it has only been a couple of days. Just something to consider.

  • http://www.lostandtired.com Rob Gorski

    I got an Epic on launch day. I returned it a few days later do to the button issue. None of the were working correctly or at all. My second Epic worked very well until I tried to use the GPS and I could only lock 1 sat no matter where I was at. The other issue I had was with the screen. I developed image retention after only a few days. On a solid color screen I could still see the “ghost image” of my dialer buttons. I also noticed the notification bar had retention as well.

    I called Best Buy and they had gotten 1 white Evo and were willing to hold it. I give up on Samsung. This phone was clearly rushed to market to compete with the Evo.

    I do miss the screen and the video play back but the Evo just works and feels so much more solid.

    Google image retention and AMOLED screens to see what I’m talking about.

  • Jim

    After the worthless Samsung Moment I’m stuck with I wouldn’t touch another Samsung phone. I’m not surprised in the least at all the negative feedback I’ve heard on the Epic.

  • kg

    Thanks for the feedback. I was ready to buy this phone. Palm Pre all over again.

  • Shaner

    I owned the HTC EVO for a few weeks, and traded it in for the Epic. To the EVO’s advantage, it’s touch-screen is smoother and it’s easier to navigate between windows/desktops. The built-in HTC apps & themes are also more advanced and graceful than the Epic counterpart. My biggest complaint about the Epic is the weak sensitivity on the back button.

    However, to me, the Epic is still superior (as least for business use) because of the keyboard. I love the fact that I can use the keyboard AND have a full 4″ screen at THE SAME TIME. This is not possible on the EVO. Everytime you use the EVO’s keyboard (virtual) you lose 1/2 to 2/3rds of the beautiful screen. (This is especially annoying when filling out online forms, user-names, passwords,etc.)

    Anyway, just my $.02. Hopefully future software upgrades will improve the Epic’s shortcomings.

    @ShanerWalker

  • Nicole

    I’ve had the Epic for a week now beautiful phone however I noticed problems almost immediately, the back button, unable to sync with computer (worked fine after adding Gmail account), unable to download attachments/pictures received via mms, phone freezing, although I have two Gmail accounts unable to delete the first one w/o resetting phone, WiFi..ugh!!! I am trying to give it time but I think I just want to try a different phone.

  • Droid Haters

    It appears this board is full of droid haters! I presume they are all apple users posting BS on here. We ordered 8 Samsung Epics for our IT staff and no one is having problems at all. All the buttons work fine, the phone is by far faster and more reliable than the IPHONE 4G and EVO. We did notice an issue with 4G and some APPS… However, upon further research we learned that a lot of apps do not support 4g yet. So just disable the 4G and the app works fine.

    I also think the issue with half of these people is lack of training. READ THE BOOK~!

    Our company has been testing Android, Iphone and WinMobile for a while now. The Epic is by far the best and must user friendly phone available. We have Techs who are trying to get rid of their EVO’s for the Epic.

    APPLE IS DEAD~!!!! Droid is going to eat you..lol

  • Kim Robinson

    I am a Blackberry user, never had an iPhone. What is obvious is that Samsung’s QA department is wack, having delivered a few bad batches of their Epic phone to Sprint.

  • Kimberly R

    I know nothing of apple. Never had and apple divice. I got my new epic and paid full retail for it as I wasnt due for and upgrade.
    I did post some problems I am having. I.e. “network unavalable” (frequent), I get “Unexpected string error” when I try to comment on my facebook threads from time to time. It slows to a crawl at times when I am connecting to the web. Seems to be no rhyme or reason. Nothing the same each time. I have read the entire manuel all 200 some pages online. Both before and after I got my phone. So I check the 4G and other settings all the time when I have a problem. I check wifi is off as well when I am not using that. (follow manuel)
    But by far the most annoying problem is the screen is unrsponsive to touch at times. Sometimes when plugged in sometimes not. It comes and goes. Of course when I took it to the store it worked fine.
    I love most of the features and It is overall fast, but I am really hoping these other problems smooth out. And $10.00 more for 4 G service that they don’t have readilly avalable??? That is totally inapproprate. Would you pay for somthing you don’t get with anything else?? So here’s hoping it gets better. Kimberly

  • Brian

    having trouble with Back key…can’t keep apps open or anything else due to the Back key automatically triggering. Hope this gets fixed real soon.

  • Mark

    In my case its the menu bttn dont work since day one. Im returnin this to store tmorrow mornng!!!

  • Jena

    Within having this phone for only two weeks, it has already been frozen to a green screen for the past two days and I have no clue how to fix it. It’s obviously a software problem because as I was using it, it happened. Now my phone is useless and has been for the past two days.

  • http://www,life2oh.com Phil

    Had my phone for two weeks loved it unit today. Started freezing up. Did a hard reset..problem still remains. Sorry to have to return it. I guess its back to my nexus one.

  • Dennis

    Ordered one for my wife and myself. She has a roaming problem while at work even though this is in a solid coverage area. no other problems so far. The first one I received did not even last for four hours of use. Problem started with the browser not working then with the phone locking up to finally to where the phone would not even boot up. I got it replaced and the second has not had any problems so far. So far the only down side to this phone is the battery life. If using it for business you will want a back up battery. I have gotten up to 6 hours of heavy use.

  • Urbanlimitz

    It should really come as no surprise now that Samsung should stick to making TV’s and not phones. They have altered the Android OS platform to better suit their future motives with their tablet and other products. I had the Epic for a whole week,(which was amazing that I kept it that long), but I traded it in for the EVO and I seriously knock on wood have not had any problems with the phone. The feel of the phone seems to be much better, the apps run much smoother, you never have problems with the back button, its easy to text, let me repeat it is easy to text even if your a big guy! The list goes on and really there is no comparison. Ditch the Epic and go with something else. If you want and Android due to the unbelievable nature of the platform then go with the EVO.

  • grizzly561

    Got the phone on Sept 11th. Apps download just fine. Buttons do not stick if you use your fingertip instead of your fingernail. Phone doesn’t respond well to a “hard” touch. I really wanted the EVO since my last several phones were HTC (last one was Touch Pro Two), but that isn’t possible for me since HTC refused to put a slide out keyboard on the EVO. Touch screen typing and I do not get along. So far (knock, knock, knock) my Epic is working just fine. First time I turned on the phone it immediately downloaded an update. I am hoping for the best!

  • Cait

    I had the same issues with the back button, took it back and exchanged it. But the one I got in exchange is having serious issues with locking up. If I am about to open an app (in the app menu) and get a text, it locks up and the screen sleeps and awakes over and over without my being able to alter it. So sad. :(

    Anyone else having weird issues with the physical keyboard not registering about 1/10th of your presses? Driving me a bit insane.

  • RB

    I returned my Epic 4g because of this issue..Granted that the back button on the physical keyboard works fine, BUT who wants to open up the keyboard every time they need the back button? I was willing to give Samsung another chance after so many disappointments (I used to own a Glyde, and a Moment) But Samsung has dropped the ball, yet again..Nice screen on the Epic, though..

  • j

    Bought two of these on launch day. Both had back button problems but we kept them. Eventually determined volume button on one was stuck. Camera button on the other was stuck. Replaced the one with a bad volume button, new one still has back problem. Replaced one with camera button, replacement works flawlessly.

    Must I really take ANOTHER Epic back? Does anyone have a link to a definitive source on this?!

  • Andy

    Add me to the list of users with a sometimes-unresponsive Back button. Frustrating to have such a basic control work improperly on what’s otherwise a beautiful phone. I just got it today, and am considering returning it. We’ll see how the next couple days go.

  • RB

    I was really fond os this phone (for the 24hrs that I had it), the screen was ebautiful and the keyboard was awesome..But the non responsive back button was too big a flaw to overlook..I would have to press the back button 4 or 5 times to get it to respond..Why won’t Samsung fix this glaring issue?

  • xjman

    You all just got taken by samsung. You think they are going to fix a janked button when they won’t fix a lockup on the moment that prevents a call to 911. That problem is well documented and has been done at numerous corporate stores on displays and personal phones.

    I tried this phone, after all I had 30 days to exchange it. First issue came after the ota, phone just died. Second issue after they replaced the first phone was with the cap buttons and accelerometer, the phone woul jump from landscape to normal regardless of how I had it in my hand, then the third phone the keys fell off the keyboard, the 4th phone would over heat while charging and shut the phone and charger down. I hope my house doesn’t catch fire at night, a call to 911 would be tough on a dead phone, especially if it was the overheated battery that caused it

    basically I’ve got an evo now, its amazing knowing my evo has been reliable. I’ve had it about 2 weeks and I’ve yet to have an issue. I wish the rest of you luck, however I think you are stupid for sticking with that phone

  • ctate29

    Who did you get your phones from. lol. I have had no issues with my phone. I originally had a downloading apps problem but found a fix for that. SInce then.. not one issue!

  • Cait

    ^^ you’re a pleasant person!

  • Andy Kaiser

    Chill out, everyone. I had a phone with the button problem. I took it back to the sprint store. The manager played with it for about 30 seconds before deciding that it was a hardware malfunction. He exchanged my phone for a new one.

    Problem solved: I have a new Epic and it’s working perfectly.

  • TDAG

    Just got the EPIC and problems with the back button doesn’t work properly (extremely frustrating). Also microsoft exchange email won’t work on it. Every time I try to set it up error message comes up and says “unable to open connection to server”. This is my work phone and of course my work email doesn’t work on it. I have the Htc incredible for my personal phone and no problems with it. My incredible has froyo and according to user forums.. the exchange problem has to do with android 2.1 on the epic. :(

    • TDAG

      This is followup to previous posting. Contacted my work system administrator and they were able to grant me permission to access my microsoft exchange email on the samsung galaxy s phone. Unlike my HTC Incredible, the Galaxy s requires special permissions from my administrator. Still having problems with my back button along with three other coworkers with the same issues..we all got our phones at the same time. We all don’t want to hassle with exchanging out the phone so will wait until Froyo comes out for the Epic …maybe it will fix the issue if not then we will just have to exchange it at the Sprint store.

  • RB

    Ive also found another annoying issue, that has to do with the construction on the phone itself. The top half (screen) does not sit flush against the bottom half (keyboard). As a result, there is a “jiggle” to the top half, when the phone is closed, that feels almost as if it will fall off if not handled very delicately..This is such a beatiful phone, and so expensive, you would think Samsung would have used higher quality materials!

  • http://?? Miss America

    I’ve had my phone for 7 days… SEVEN days and it won’t even power on. The battery is not the issue. I was thinking about trying the EVO.. but I heard that one is having tons of issues too.

    What to do? What to do?

  • mike

    Had the epic. Needless to say I have the evo with no issues. loving life. Got big fingers and can still text too.

  • Tina

    My first Epic lasted 4 weeks. Then every time I made a phone call over say 10 minutes long I could not make another phone call with out turning the phone on and off several times, SUPER annoying especially when you’re driving! Exchanged it for a new Epic and with in a week the screen on that one was wobbling so bad it felt like it was going to fall off! Try texting with your screen wobbling! They exchanged that one for a customer return, refused to give me a new one, so far this one the screen is still tight and functioning well.
    I had an Epic, had to return after 2 weeks, cant handle the size of the phone with out a full keyboard. Its just too big for me who has little hands to text with out a full real keyboard. Hoping this last replacement will work well. I am unhappy they gave me someone elses used phone, sure it looks new but the point is I paid full price for my 1st one cuz it was not time for my upgrade yet. So 2 phones later I have a used one. I think its the principal of the thing they should have given me a new one. Oh well I do love the phone, and trying to be patient with it.

  • Miles

    I had the EVO and switched to the Epic for the keyboard. Big mistake. Switch to the EVO if you can. It is a much better designed & robust phone than the EPIC. I have had countless problems with EPIC. They rushed it and it is nit fully baked.

  • RB

    If the Epic had not been so darned expensive, I wouldnt nitpick so much about it, but for a phone as pricey as this to be as flimsy and have so many software issues, its unacceptable!. I think Samsung intentionally put out a shoddy phone but was hoping people would br too distracted by the Super AMOLED screen to care

  • Katie

    I have had the Epic for 6 weeks and have been having problems with the phone part. When I place a call, the screen goes black, without putting it up to my ear. And it won’t come back, no matter what you do until after the other party hangs up. You cannot access your speaker-phone, mute, dial pad, end call button or any other in call feature. Sprint says its a typical hardware problem and they want me to give the phone back to get a refurbished one. Am I the only one that has a problem with that? I just paid a fortune for this phone, NEW, 6 weeks ago and I do not want a refurbished one. If I did, I would have waited awhile and paid a third of the price! Any other options I may have??

  • Tina

    Regarding Katie, they gave me the same crap about a refurbished one. I got fed up and decided I’d use my insurance plan to cover the problem. Dunked the phone in the sink full of water then took it to the sprint store and tearfully requested a new phone. 24 hours later a new phone arrived by Fed Ex. Brand new phone not refurb.
    I agree we should not be given refurbs because a lot of the new phones from release day were returned for various hardware and software problems which I doubt they fixed. Finally after getting close to 3 months I have a phone that works right, it was manufactured October 20th, only a week prior to me receiving it.

  • Shannon

    I just got my Samsung Epic yesterday, and within 10 hours of having the phone I started having issues with the “back” button. My “back” button keeps firing itself off without me touching it. The phone started by kicking me out of the the chat screen that I was currently in for text messaging. Everytime I sent a text to someone, it would kick me back out of the screen. Within 2 hours this evolved into the phone flipping through screens on its own, and every time it would do so, the “back” button light would pulse. I’m simply returning this phone and getting a different one. I’m not going to take my chances with a second phone. Bummer, because this phone was beautiful. It had wonderful graphics, and had the touchscreen as well as the physical keyboard, which is an essential feature on a phone for me.

  • Irate

    I am so damn upset that samsung will do this and that sprint would allow it. At $500 I demand either a fix for all these bs issues or b******s from the wives & daughters of every b*stard involved

  • josh

    shannon: im having the same problem with mine! just keeps pressing the back button on it’s own….taking it back tonight!

  • bobbie

    I purchased my Samsung Epic about a month ago. I haven’t had a problem with the back button, but I do with the ‘answer call’ button. I cannot answer a call from the phone — only from my bluetooth. Now I have to make another trip to Sprint. I complained to them about the battery life — it really sucks. They turned off a few things, but the battery just keeps draning whether I use it or not. I’ve never had a phone with such a poor battery life.

  • Ladybug

    Same issue with chat/text – kicks me back a screen and deletes my text attempt. Sounds like I just need to return it.

  • Bryan Chance

    ARRGGHHH!!! I’m having the same issues as some of you are having with the microphone and speaker on my Epic4G (Froyo 2.2).
    It’s almost like the mic input gain is set way too high. The speaker sounds like it’s blown. Trying to use speaker phone is out of the question, no echo cancellation? Even when using the mic from a wired headset hardly makes any difference. The sound on the headset is fine when on a call or playing music. I was hoping the update from 2.1 might fix it but it didn’t make any difference. I called Sprint and they said to a reset the phone –no difference.

  • dcp4osu

    I have had my Epic fot almost a month now & not had any of the above issues. I do, however, have trouble downloading & sending pics. It was fine until a week ago…now I get the “download” box & when I press it it just says “downloading” & then just goes back 2 download. I am very frustrated. Updated all software, shut off phone, went thru all options. Has anyone else had this problem? I need help. Please!

  • bake

    you peopel are all nuts or a bunch of apple freaks with nothing better to do. First-I’ve had Macs for 25 yrs and love them. Second-I have an iPhone AND a Samsung epic right here/right now and I can tell you that the samsung is by fae the superior phone. The only thing about the iphone thats nicer is the attention to design and the seamless app response and better battery. Everything else about hte epic is better. Better keyboard/swype, no earpiece problems and so big f-ing deal-you have to hit the back button 2x sometimes. iPhone was king til now. now its just…overrated.

  • Donna

    I just got an Epic 4G and have the same problem noted above – I can answer a phone call and the person can hear me but I can’t hear them unless I put it on speakerphone (which is quite echo-y) — and if I try to make a call w/o using speakerphone, I can’t hear anything. Does anyone know what the fix to this is?

  • Seven Strand

    I’ve had my phone for 7 days. worked great for the first 5. on the fifth day I turned the phone off to charge and it and it would turn back on. Now the screen stays black and wont turn on most of the time and when it does it freezes up and gets all distorted?? Sprint is going to replace it, but if it starts to act up again I’ll go back to a crack berry it was pretty much bullet proof.

  • travis

    i got the epic i think its a pos ive had it for 7 days and im onto my second one the backspace on the touch activates itself without me touching it so i can really do nothing with my phone im taking this junk back and gettin the evo

  • Danny

    I just got my Epic and it presses the back button activates itself!! DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE UNTIL THEY FIX IT!

  • Gregg Eshelman

    I’ve had my Epic a whole two days and the backlight on the keyboard and buttons is already going bad. Most of the time the keyboard backlight won’t come on when it’s opened and it flickers dimly as keys and buttons are pressed.

    The screen buttons backlight flickers when they’re touched and also when the camera or volume buttons are pressed.

    No problems at all with the screen buttons working. A bump or dimples or some sort of tactile guide for the buttons would help a lot.

  • Brad

    Heeeey people!! I GOT A FIX for the back button or some buttons not working right. I read it somewhere else how to fix it and it actually worked!! Turn off your phone completely, take the battery out.. Let it sit for around 3 minutes then put the battery back in and turn it on. My back arrow was not working right and this fixed the problem!!! YESSSSSSSS!!!!!

    • Kelsbabyboy

      I done that several times throughout the night and still nothing has worked I. Love my epic and this has been the only issue I had since I got it in july none of my 4 button icons on the screen light up or work anymore what to do

  • liz

    having a problem with my epic. i noticed for the first few weeks that it dies fast.after a mth. it started feeling hot when charging.after mth in a 1/2 it is too hot when chargin not all the time but most. and today it wouldn’t let me move the touch screen icon up at all, like the touch screen wasn’t working. and i took battery in and out like 5 times and nothing now the screen it pitch black but u can hear the volume when u turn it up or down….so fustrating..

  • Dixie46

    My problem is with the touch screen. Every few days it decides to stop working. The only way to do anything is to use the keyboard, even to shut it off. After rebooting it works again but is very annoying. Also once in a while why charging the battery gets too hot and start flashing red and won’t charge. Then I have to take it out of the phone and cool it down before it can charge again. I thought getting rid of my moment for this one was a good idea. Not so sure now.