Verizon Wireless SCH-i405 Stratosphere 4G LTE

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 4 expert reviews

Excellent:

0
Good:

1
Average:

1
Bad:

2

Pros:

Beautiful Super AMOLED display; excellent physical keyboard; Android 2.3 Gingerbread; newer version of TouchWiz UI; good battery life for a 4G Android device; 4G LTE.
Has access to 4G LTE on Verizon, Super AMOLED screen is bright has great detail and nice colors, if sometimes oversaturated, Keyboard keys have a good level of tactile feedback, Sliding action is better than the only other QWERTY slide phone on Verizon, t
Fast 4G speeds, Gorgeous screen, Good call quality, Physical QWERTY keyboard.

Cons:

Otherwise great processor performance was marred by a choppy web browsing experience; poor HD video capture quality.
Nothing slows our typing down more than the width of the keyboard, Battery life is not great

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Last revision on November 15, 2011

Reviewers Liked

Beautiful Super AMOLED display; excellent physical keyboard; Android 2.3 Gingerbread; newer version of TouchWiz UI; good battery life for a 4G Android device; 4G LTE
Has access to 4G LTE on Verizon, Super AMOLED screen is bright has great detail and nice colors, if sometimes oversaturated, Keyboard keys have a good level of tactile feedback, Sliding action is better than the only other QWERTY slide phone on Verizon, t
Fast 4G speeds, Gorgeous screen, Good call quality, Physical QWERTY keyboard
Blazing 4G speeds, Gorgeous Super AMOLED screen, Comfortable keyboard, Good call quality
The Samsung Stratosphere has Verizon's ultrafast 4G LTE speeds and is the first LTE phone in its arsenal to have a QWERTY keyboard. Plus, it has Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, and VPN support. Its 5-megapixel camera takes good photos

Reviewers Didn't Like

Otherwise great processor performance was marred by a choppy web browsing experience; poor HD video capture quality
Nothing slows our typing down more than the width of the keyboard, Battery life is not great
Big and bulky, Older CPU, Poor battery life for 4G surfing and streaming
Short battery life, Single-core performance, Records only 480p video, Tethering difficult to set up
A sibling of the original Galaxy S line, the Stratosphere at times feels a little rehashed. Call quality was also hit or miss

Expert reviews and ratings

The Samsung Stratosphere is currently Verizon's only keyboarded 4G LTE smartphone. It's a solid handset, but both better Android and 4G options are available....

By PC Mag on October 26, 2011

Verizon first started selling 4G LTE smartphones way back in March, but the new Samsung Stratosphere is its first offering with a slide-out keyboard. If you want 4G speeds on Verizon and a full QWERTY, this is it. This $149 device has a lot more going...

By LaptopMag on October 20, 2011

Overall the Stratosphere ranks in as an 'Average' mid-level market smartphone. If it had been marketed at the high end market, the smartphone would've ranked in lower but for the price and target, the Stratosphere is average. There's no...

By BrightHub on October 19, 2011

The Samsung Stratosphere's blazing 4G LTE speeds, QWERTY keyboard, and business tools lend it credence as a handset for corporate minds, but its last-season specs may fail to lure those looking for the ultimate...

By cnet on October 12, 2011

If you like having a physical keyboard and you're in 4G coverage, buy the Stratosphere. If you don't need a physical keyboard, perhaps look into one of Verizon's so-called "superphones".Samsung Stratosphere Review... - Image Gallery...

By PhoneDog on November 01, 2011

The Samsung Stratosphere has two defining features: its slide-out landscape keyboard, and access to Verizon 4G LTE. In fact, it’s currently the only phone on Verizon with both of those features. This is unfortunate news for keyboard fans, because...

By Ars Technica on October 31, 2011

It's not fair, really. The Samsung Stratosphere is a better-than-adequate smartphone that hit the market at the same time that people were first getting a look at the iPhone 4S, the Droid Razr, and Samsung's own Galaxy Nexus, which features...

By Computerworld on October 27, 2011

This device represents a unique choice, as all good smartphones should. Again, this is the only 4G LTE device on the market with a full QWERTY keyboard on it, and it’s the second of two Samsung smartphones on the market today running on that same...

By SlashGear on October 24, 2011