Reviews #1: Samsung Wave S8500 (Preview)

I might have lost my Wave to a bunch of hooligans, but I now have two friends who own one and another one coming up. Yep, it's that popular. Samsung's very first bada OS phone has its strong and weak points, but one thing is clear: it's one of Samsung's best-sellers. Now, for 19K, you get a lot with the Wave--and I mean a lot: S-AMOLED display, a 1GHz CPU, anodized aluminum body a la N8. then again, just add 3-5K and you have yourself an N8. But I'm digressing.

People I know who have owned it for two weeks have very little to complain. So do I. And most of us didn't come from Android smartphones If you are planning to buy this phone, then I hope this review will help you make up your mind. And while the Wave has a lot going for it, after a month of strong usage you might get something iffy here and there that hurts the spiffy. Hopefully this partial review helps you decided.

Here are the stuffs I liked and disliked with the Wave:

What I liked:

* Wonderful movie player on the go -- plays anything save M4V. S-AMOLED rocks

* Mobile AP is just cool (your phone becomes a router!)

* Very responsive capacitive screen paired with an intuitive UI--a match for the iPhone

* Capable keyboard

* Easy access panel on every screen a la Android

* Threaded messages view that can switch to FOLDER view

* Fake call and scheduled messaging are just very useful

* SNS-integrated phonebook (though may need improvement here)

* Etiquette pause

* Music player dropdown from lock screen

* Packet data and connectivity control is very organized though takes a few clicks to get here and there

* Sunlight legibility is impressive

* Very good build, though not a fan of the look

* Good retail package earphones and equalizer presets

* Very detailed manual

What I disliked:

* Subpar music shuffling (may repeat tracks that has just been played)

* Dodgy Internet experience at slow speeds

* Mobile AP is not very configurable

* Wifi signal is present but strength indicator is missing

* Can't mark multiple emails as read

* IM client not very user-friendly, needs a lot of improvement

* Sent messages are deleted after the 200th sent message

* Can only save upto 1000 messages. Inbox conspicuously slows down with more messages, portrait and landscape switching struggles

* Functionally and Visually poor FB and Twitter native clients, outdone by mobile web versions

* Browser, slow or fast connexion, supports 3 tabs at most

* Memory overflow will reset your widgets and you have to set them up again

* Apps that have updates are not notified when you sync with PC; Samsung Kies can do a lot of speed and usability improvement.

* Battery life not very impressive

* Camera underpeforms at dark, may tend to oversaturate blacks.

* Internet browser keeps logging you out: cookie trouble suspect.

Continue reading >>