Samsung Stratosphere: LTE and QWERTY for $149 [UPDATED]
by Jason Inofuentes on October 10, 2011 10:20 AM EST
With Palm essentially dead, and RIM undergoing a less than smooth transition, it seems at times that more companies are going after the suits and ties crowd that have been ardent devotees the the former mobile giants. And so, in the press release today announcing the Samsung Stratosphere, the first LTE device on Verizon Wireless to include a QWERTY keyboard, the bulk of the text involves the business features of the device, with just a few lines to discuss media features and a single mention of playing games. Nonbusiness types might have a few nice things to say about the Stratosphere, though.
Sporting a 4" SuperAMOLED WVGA display, a 1 GHz Hummingbird SoC, 1.3 MP front-facing and 5 MP rear-facing cameras and running Gingerbread, the Stratosphere is basically, a Galaxy S. So, this may be last years internals, but the reportedly slim form factor, keyboard and LTE may strike a note for those itching to upgrade. There's no mention of TouchWiz, though the press stills feature its familiar home screen. Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync is present for e-mail, calendar and contacts. Cisco's AnyConnect provides corporate VPN connectivity, and Sybase Afaria provides remote device management, so work issued phones can be wiped by IT when you leave yours in a cab.
We're curious just how thin the device might be, certainly Samsung has experience building devices that compete on thin, but thin QWERTY is hard to do. To find out, check your local Verizon store Oct. 13th, and if the upgrade bug bites you this'll ring up to $149 on contract after a mail in rebate.
UPDATE: We got the Stratosphere's dimensions in and are including them in a comparison chart below, and at 0.55" thick, this isn't Galaxy S 2 territory, nor was it expected to be. It is however thicker than its most recent competitor on VZW, the Droid 3, whose 0.51" doesn't have to make do with the additional LTE chip. Still, it is comparable to other LTE stablemates and to other QWERTY's on the market.
| Physical Comparison | ||||||
| T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide | Motorola Droid 3 | Samsung Stratosphere | Samsung Droid Charge | |||
| Height | 122 mm (4.8") | 123.3 mm (4.85") | 126.0 mm (4.96") | 129.9 mm (5.11") | ||
| Width | 66 mm (2.6") | 64.1 mm (2.52") | 64.5 mm (2.54") | 67.5 mm (2.65") | ||
| Depth | 14 mm ( 0.55") | 12.9 mm (0.51") | 14.0 mm (0.55") | 11.90-14.96 mm (0.47"-0.59") | ||
| Weight | 184 g (6.49 oz) | 184 g (6.49 oz) | 164.4 g (5.8 oz) | 143 g (5.04 oz) | ||
| CPU | 1.2 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon MSM8260 | 1 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 OMAP 4430 | 1 GHz Hummingbird S5PC110 | 1 GHz Hummingbird S5PC110 | ||
| GPU | Adreno 220 | PowerVR SGX 540 | PowerVR SGX 540 | PowerVR SGX 540 | ||
| RAM | 768 MB LPDDR2 | 512 MB LPDDR2 | 512 MB LPDDR2 | 512 MB LPDDR2 | ||
| NAND | 4 GB NAND with 8 GB microSD Class 4 preinstalled | 16 GB NAND, up to 32 GB microSD | ?? | 2 GB NAND + 32 GB microSD preinstalled | ||
| Camera | 8 MP AF/Dual LED flash, f/2.2, 1080p30 video, VGA front facing | 8 MP with AF/LED Flash, 1080p30 video recording, VGA (0.3MP) front facing | 5 MP with AF/LED Flash, 480p video recording, 1.3 MP front facing | 8 MP with AF and LED flash, 720p30 video capture, 1.3 MP front facing | ||
| Screen | 3.7" 800 x 480 S-LCD | 4.0" 960 x 540 RGBW LCD | 4.0" 800 x 480 SuperAMOLED | 4.3" 800 x 480 SAMOLED+ | ||
| Battery | Removable 5.62 Whr | Removable 5.65 Whr | ??? | Removable 5.92 Whr | ||
Source: Verizon
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
11 Comments
View All Comments
moinmoin666 - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
LAME, Fake-News :($149 on contract...
Red Storm - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
You must read a lot of lame, fake news then because this how cell phones have always been advertised.thewickyman - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
He does have a point, the price is $149 on contract after a $50 mail in rebate. So on contract the price is actually $199 up front.jordanclock - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
Unless you get it from Best Buy, you pay $149 and they handle the rebates themselves.Exodite - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
...in the US.dennphill - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
...just before T'day, got this phone for $29.99 at Costco. (Actually receipt showed price at $99.99 with instant $70 rebate. Think a good deal.) I just came from a Verizon store where they wanted $149.99, and they told me no way to attach a lanyard. (I sail and have lost my share of phones in the drink before my last one - a Samsung Convoy - on which could attach a lanyard.) Verizon doesn't even know it's products - the Costco vendor immediately snapped off the rear cover, removed my lanyard from the Convoy and attached it to the Stratos! I'm happy. Now all I need do is figure out how to use a Smart(erthanme)phone. 4G, too. And a keyboard.shabby - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
This is last years samsung epic with lte.JasonInofuentes - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
I think it's fair to say that this is an opportunity for corporate clients who are frustrated by the absence of both Palm and RIM from competitive phones from a technology stand point. This isn't a huge market but its enough to consider going after, especially when you consider how many corporate types have a work Blackberry and a personal Android or iOS phone.thewickyman - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
The only thing that matters to a corporate client is long term support. Most of these android phones are designed for consumers and are just the flavor of the month. Shortly after introduction something faster comes out and thats what consumers hunger for.Most handsets that shipped with 1.x or 2.x OS never get updated beyond that and that kind of thing leads to such fragmentation. Not to mention all the various app stores outside of the official droid market place, and the different levels of hardware (cpu, gpu, and ram in each handset), screen resolutions, and OS level requirement for some of the apps business clients would use.
A handset maker would have to come out with a design catered to the corporate clients before any serious consideration would be done. RIM and iOS have that support to a larger degree. The 3GS came out with iOS 3.0 back in 2009 and in 2 days it's getting iOS 5.0. Sure it may not get all the features with each update but it is still supported, still getting security updates, still getting some new features. And above all else, it is still being produced. The 3GS has had over 2 years on the market already and if the current line up is any indication it probably has another 2 years in it.
The irony is the "freedom" android consumers want is the complete opposite of what corporate clients want. The idea of switching an established eco system from RIM or iOS into android is a HUGE undertaking even before handset cost comes into play. Without a big name like google launching a handset and putting 5 years+ of support into that handset, I doubt any big corporation would even entertain the idea of android at the table.
JasonInofuentes - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
I'm not going to argue with you, I think you're right that enabling the type of full support that you see from RIM and, yes, iOS isn't likely to be an easy undertaking. I think Google made an intentional move not to support enterprise services in Android because they knew that they were going to be moving pretty fast and that the kind of legacy support that's necessary would be a burden they wouldn't want to deal with.That doesn't mean that manufacturer's can't make a shot. EAS and Afaria may not be the ideal means of managing and accessing corporate networks from mobile devices. But it is an option.