Samsung Droid Charge - Video and Audio Playback Review

Of all the electronic gadgets that have changed our lives, in my opinion, the one that changed our lives the most is the cell phone. What started out as a convenient way to make phone calls, has evolved into a comprehensive device that has the ability to provide us with several ways of communicating, location finding, game playing, music listening, photo taking, and video shooting.

The cell phone has even invaded the home theater environment, most basically as an alternative to the traditional remote control, and now also as additional home theater audio/video source component.

Case in point: The Samsung Droid Charge is one of a growing number of cell phones that has the capability of streaming and downloading "DVD-type" content, playing that content either for enjoyment on the road, or being able to feed that content to your TV and home theater system. For more on this, keep reading my review of Samsung Charge's home theater capabilities.

Before going into more detail into the home theater aspect of the Samsung Droid Charge, I want to first provide general overview of the phone. I am not going to go into detail on its communications-related features, as that is not the purview of this site.

Features of the Samsung Droid Charge include:

1. Network: Verizon 4G LTE

2. Operating System: Android

3. Screen: 800x400 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen.

4. Processing Speed: 1 GHZ

5. Memory: 2GB Internal, 512Mb RAM, 32Mb external via MicroSD Card (phone comes with 32Mb card).

6. Cameras: Front - 1.3 Megapixels, Rear - 8 Megapixels, HD Video Capture, LED powered flash.

7. Media Features: Media Hub, YouTube, VCast, Rhapsody, Blockbuster, Video Calling, Video Player.

8. Video Playback: DivX, Xvid, H.263, H.264, MPEG4, WMV, 3GP, and 3G2. 720p HD video capable.

9. Audio Playback: 2-Channel Stereo, SRS 5.1 Mobile via video player app.

10. Additional Capabilities: DLNA (Samsung AllShare), Mobile Hotspotting for up to ten devices.

11. Connections: Power, micro USB, micro HDMI, 3.5mm Headphone jack (can also be used an output for connection to self-powered speakers).

12. Included Accessories: AC power adapter/Charger, 32mb micro SD card.

13. Price: $199 with two year Verizon Mobile contract, $499 without contract (prices may vary depending on promotional variations).

For a detailed look at the Samsung Droid Charge that focuses primarily on its communication capabilities, refer to a review posted by Android Central.

With the built-in capabilities of the Samsung Droid Charge you can download a movie (such as a DVD digital copy) using the Blockbuster-on-demand App. You have the ability to play back your movie (or TV show) using the Charge's built-in video player feature.

Portable

The first way is to view your movie or other video content on the Charge's own screen, and listen to the audio by plugging in a pair of good-quality earphones or compact over-the-ear headphones. Just like that, you will see your movie in widescreen on the Charge's 4.3-inch screen and also hear the soundtrack in 5.1 channel surround sound on your headphones.

Semi-Portable

Another way you can way you can enjoy a surround sound listening experience with the Samsung Droid Charge is instead of plugging in headphones, you can use the headphone jack on the phone to connect it to a set of powered speakers. This is a great option if you are staying in hotel for a night or two or live in a small dorm room where you might not have room for a TV and audio system.

SRS 5.1 Mobile

If the movie has a well-mastered soundtrack, it will sound great, just like you would if you were listening to your own home theater. The reason for this is that the video player also includes SRS 5.1 Mobile which is optimized to deliver a realistic surround sound experience on mobile devices, such as the Samsung Droid Charge.

By incorporating Circle Surround technology into the SRS 5.1 Mobile audio platform, the Samsung Charge has the ability to provide a surround sound listening experience, with dialog clarity and extended bass that is compatible with any set of headphones or a pair of connected self-powered speakers. Of course, the sound reproduction quality of the headphones or speakers contributes to the result. Also, SRS 5.1 mobile not only provides 5.1 channel listening for already-recorded surround sound tracks, but two channel stereo content is processed by SRS 5.1 Mobile for surround sound listening as well.

The SRS 5.1 Mobile listing option can be activated, or disabled, by tapping the 5.1ch icon in the bottom left hand corner of the Samsung Charge when positioned horizontally for viewing and accsssing the playback controls. If SRS 5.1 mobile is activated, the 5.1ch icon will be bright, if it is deactivated, the icon will be grayed-out. This also enables you to hear the difference in the audio listening experience between SRS 5.1 mobile and standard 2-channel stereo. I found the difference to be dramatic.

Video Display

On the video side, the image, as displayed on the Samsung Charge's own screen, even though small by TV viewing standards, actually looks pretty good; the screen is bright enough and detailed enough to view under most lighting conditions. However, the 800x400 aspect ratio of the screen is not exactly proportional for HD movies, so the objects displayed on the screen may look slightly fatter than normal.

As a home theater enthusiast, I am not one to spend my time watching movies on a cellphone sized screen, that is, unless I am on the road. However, the Samsung Droid Charge can also be used with a large screen TV, or video projector, and home theater audio system.

It turns out that the Charge has a micro-HDMI port that allows connection (via a micro-HDMI-to-HDMI adapter cable) directly to an HDTV (or video projector) or to an HDTV via an HDMI-equipped home theater receiver. Doing this allows you to view any video content from the Charge full screen on your TV (at the correct aspect ratios). According to the Charge's specs, it is capable of shooting video at 720p resolution, but it looks like on the video output side, it can output up to 1080p. When connecting the Charge directly to a Toshiba 47TL515 47-inch LCD TV (on review loan) the info display on the TV indicated it was receiving a 1080p signal. Visually, on the 47-inch screen, with the downloaded and transfered content watched, the image looked slightly better than DVD quality.

In terms of audio, the Charge outputted via HDMI, with the content accessed, a two-channel PCM audio signal (at 48Khz) is sent to either the TV or the receiver, but on the receiver, I was easily able to access a surround sound listening experience utilizing the Dolby Prologic modes (II, IIx, IIz), DTS Neo:6, SRS Circle surround modes on the home theater receiver. Check to see if you have one or more of these sound processing modes available to you.

The Samsung Droid Charge is not only a versatile communication device, but has an abundance of entertainment options, with a little home theater functionality thrown in, that makes it the perfect traveling companion. I also found that video and audio quality of the Samsung Charge was more than adequate (depending on source content quality) for viewing on a TV and listening through a home theater audio system.

The only cautionary point to make when using the Charge as home theater device, in either a portable or home setup, is that you do use up a lot of battery power, so anytime it is convenient to plug the Charge into AC power, using its provided power adapter/charger, that is highly desirable.

That being said, if you are looking for a cell phone that can do it all - the Samsung Droid Charge is definitely worth checking out.

Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.