Samsung Infuse 4G review: Extra legroom

In America, it is widely believed that bigger is better. Or so Samsung must have thought when they decided to launch the phone with the biggest and brightest screen first in the United States, and with the biggest network ? AT&T. The Samsung Infuse 4G is definitely meant to stand out ? its 4.5? Super AMOLED Plus screen is nearly unmatched on the market, and a beauty to look at. It makes 4-inchers look petty and irrelevant.

Despite its humongous screen, the Samsung Infuse 4G has an impressively thin body. At 8.99 mm, it is only a tad thicker than a Galaxy S2. It does have an excuse though ? it?s packing a larger screen than the current Samsung flagship. That?s the spirit.

Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support4.5" 16M-color Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 512 MB of RAM8 MP wide-angle lens auto focus camera with LED flash, face, smile and blink detection720p video recording at 30fpsDual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g and n supportGPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass16GB internal storage, microSD slotAccelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensorStandard 3.5 mm audio jackCharging MHL microUSB port with USB host and TV-out (1080p) supportStereo Bluetooth v3.0FM radio with RDSGreat audio quality Super slim and lightweight at 8.99mm and 139g1.3MP secondary camera, video-callFull Flash support and GPU-acceleration enable 1080p flash video playback in the web browserDocument editorFile manager preinstalledThe richest video format support we?ve seenAll-plastic buildNo dedicated camera keySuper slim body has poor grip when taking picturesSingle-core processor No 1080p video recording despite having the same camera unit as the Galaxy S2Sheer size raises questions about single-handed useNon-hot-swappable memory card slot The device ships with Android 2.2 (Froyo), not the latest Gingerbread

Certain comparisons are not in the Samsung Infuse 4G?s favor. It looks like a flagship, but it?s not quite there. The Infuse just doesn?t have the raw processing power of the Galaxy S2. What?s fair?s fair though ? it does look even more impressive.

Oddly enough, Samsung has decided to go with their older generation, single-core CPU which we know well from the Galaxy S line of phones. Is it going to be enough to power the Infuse 4G? We are about to find out.

Editorial: You might notice that this review is shorter than usual and doesn't include all of our proprietary tests. The reason is it has been prepared and written far away from our office and test lab. The Samsung Infuse 4G is a US-only phone, so it will probably never get to the shores of the Old Continent. Still, we think we've captured the essence of the phone in the same precise, informative and detailed way that's become our trademark. Enjoy the good read!