Samsung Epic 4G Touch hands-on (photos)

Sprint will be the first of the carriers to offer the Samsung Galaxy S II. Dubbed the Samsung Epic 4G Touch, the smartphone will be available on September 16 for $199.99 with a two-year contract.

The Epic 4G Touch offers a number of hardware improvements over the first-generation of Galaxy S phones, including a better 8-megapixel camera and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video calls. The smartphone also is also equipped with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, which allows for 1080p HD video capture.

The Epic 4G Touch will ship with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and the latest version of TouchWiz. The latter brings such improvements as more customization abilities, resizable widgets, and a more robust Social Hub.

The Samsung Epic 4G Touch, along with the GSM variants, is the thinnest 4G smartphone on the market. It measures just 0.38 inch thick.

Only a 3.5mm headphone jack resides on the top of the device. The power/lock button is now on the right side of the phone.

Aside from the standard Google apps, you will find a number of Sprint services, such as Sprint ID, Sprint Mobile Wallet, and Sprint Radio.

The Epic 4G Touch boasts a 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus touch screen, which is the biggest smartphone display offered by Sprint.

The smartphone's display has a six-axis motion sensor and supports touch- and motion-gestures, so you can do things like flip the phone over to silence an incoming call or tilt the phone to zoom in and out.