The Samsung Wave stole my heart on the first day and I struggled to find any major faults with it. Even the new Bada operating system surprised me by its flexibility, speed and usability which I really did not expect, but let’s look deeper into the hardware features to see if it is as good underneath as it is on the surface.
Camera (8/10)
As you may be aware, I am not a skilled photographer which is actually an advantage when reviewing smartphones because most people are as clumsy as me when it comes to capturing a moment. What I would say about the Wave is that the photography experience is most impressive and perhaps near the very top of what I have used to date. The HD video recording is stunning to look at produces excellent colours and perfectly smooth videos with only the sound letting it down slightly. The actual sound capture is very good, but the microphone appears to be highly sensitive and captures much more background noise than you are likely to want.
An example video is below which loses some quality thanks to YouTube, but it gives you an idea of how well the camera works. Notice the background noise.
Photos, on the whole, turned out better than most 5 Megapixel smartphones I have used in the past and the user interface is perfectly simple. There is touch to focus alongside a selection of styles which mean you can take photos and have them automatically captured in older styles which you may well be used to from the myriad of third party iPhone apps that do this. I shouldn’t forget the face/blink detection and Geo-Tagging which are also built in.
All in all I have been quite taken by the camera setup here and especially with the ease of use, but then I discovered another trick. Built in to the Wave is software that allows you to create videos using photos, video clips and background music and it is incredibly easy to use. I need to play with it a bit more to ensure that the results are as expected, but it is a bonus and one that is quietly tucked away for when you need it.
Media (8/10)
Media is growing in importance possibly more than any other area in new smartphones and Samsung has not forgotten this. The music software interface is reminiscent of the iPhone, but with a new twist in that you are presented with a scrolling list of CDs to find the tracks you want to listen to. The included in-ear earphones work very well and after a few minutes tweaking the different sound settings I found a quality that rivals the rest in terms of crispness and the ability to make every instrument heard. I still can’t use my iPhone earphones due to interference which is a shame, but at least Samsung has bothered to include a decent set for free. The acoustic settings, such as stadium, hark back to an earlier time, but they are a bit of harmless fun and really do adjust the sound markedly. Finally, the music recognition feature is smart and is effectively Shazam thrown in for free. Not quite finally- there is a music store widget included as well, but the prices seem a little steep to me.
Video playback is very good as well and only hampered by the 3.3” screen which makes long term viewing slightly uncomfortable especially when there is a lot of action going on at one time. The video performance and display is exceptional though and if this technology (software and hardware) was implemented on a bigger screen the experience would be fantastic. The YouTube app is acceptable and easy to use, as everything appears to be on the Wave, but the video quality is strangely blurred which surprised me considering that I was testing it on Wi-Fi. I believe that a software update could fix this though.
The photo app is exceptional in the way it manages a large library of images and is super quick no matter how many are loaded onto an expansion card. You can scroll through them without a finger; simply turning the phone to the left will start smoothly moving the images across or you can choose from a lively thumbnail presentation that shows, in great detail, the photos you want to select.
Voice Quality / Signal (10/10)
This is a real surprise. The Wave has a speakerphone that rivals the best of the BlackBerry smartphones and it is also very loud and clear which are the most important qualities in any speakerphone. It gets better though because the in-ear speaker quality is the best I have heard to date. It is better than the Nokias I have used and better than the digital landline phone I use at work. The only slight downside is that it breaks up at top volume, but the loudness is high enough that you should never need to move it up to this level.
Signal strength also appears to be beyond average; I get constant 3G at home with HSDPA appearing more than 50% of the time. This has not been achieved by any other phone I have reviewed to date.
Connectivity (10/10)
Another 10??? Let me explain- besides the excellent signal reception, the Wave is loaded up with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v3.0, microUSB v2.0, A-GPS and 3G/HSDPA. This is all great and at the very high-end, but the Wi-Fi is special in a way that a simple specs sheet cannot explain. When you turn the Wi-Fi toggle on it immediately connects to the router in a style that only Apple products have achieved to date. On BlackBerry devices there is a significant wait for the phone to connect, my experience with Windows Mobile devices has been disastrous with continual drop out and failures to connect and most Android devices I have tested have also had the occasional problem. The Wave connects in the blink of an eye and stays connected; it is quick and I have not had one single problem so far. Overall I am impressed with the high-end feature set and the way in which it all works so have no reasons at all for complaint, but many to get excited about.
General Performance (10/10)
Surely not another 10? Oh yes indeed. Performance has been peerless so far and I have not experience one freeze or any slowdowns at all. It feels like a feature phone in use, but even the more intensive features open immediately and perform as you would wish them to. It is as fast as the BlackBerry OS, but with much more capability within. Time will tell how well it copes with heavy usage, but my first few days suggests that it is a performer of the highest order. The fact that there is a 1Ghz Hummingbird CPU onboard possibly makes all of the difference alongside a POWERVR SGX 3D graphics engine. There is also 2GB of internal memory so it appears that Samsung has not scrimped at all on the Wave in any area.
Screen (10/10)
Hands down the best screen I have used on a smartphone. It is highly responsive and looks splendid in all conditions. The colours are incredibly vibrant and the screen content feels as though it is closer to the glass than most other smartphones. The main advantage of this screen is the performance in bright sunlight. I tested it next to the iPhone, which is very good in bright conditions, and it is much, much better. When I saw AMOLED on the specs sheet my heart dropped because they are often unreadable in bright conditions, but the mDNIe technology (whatever that is?) used here really does work. The viewing angles are to the extreme and it is simply wonderful to look at and use. Superb!
The marketing blurb from Samsung explains why the experience is so good, and it would appear that similar technology is being used in the iPhone 4- “The Wave is equipped with the superbly brilliant AMOLED display, an improvement on the previously considered the world’s best AMOLED screen. Gone are the additional air gaps and touch sensor panel of previous touch screens.
Instead users are able to enjoy much crisper images, vividly brilliant colors, higher contrasts all packaged in a slimmer device.
Super AMOLED’s vivid clear and less reflective images far surpasses the original AMOLED. Touch sensor is right on the top of the AMOLED screen, so no additional panel is needed for the touch sensor. The ultra-brilliance of Super AMOLED, makes video so astonishingly vivid, your display almost seems alive.”
Battery (8/10)
It suffers with prolonged Wi-Fi and voice calls, but I can see myself getting through 2 days of reasonably heavy use which is yet another surprise. The standby time is superb and in a day with little usage the battery barely dropped at all. To truly judge a battery, a full week’s use is needed, but so far so very good.
Other hardware features (9/10)
There is an accelerometer which is instant when moving orientation, is even quicker than the iPhone, a digital compass, FM radio and a proximity sensor. If developers are enticed to the Bada platform the hardware on offer here gives great scope for some smart apps that will make the user experience second to none. I really do mean second to ‘none’.
That’s your lot for today. I was going to cover the Bada OS and available apps, but that will now be covered in part 3. The hardware in the Wave is exceptional and I am not one to get excited by smartphones these days. I expected to be comparing it to the high-end feature phones that the likes of Sony Ericsson are releasing, but instead I find myself pitting it against the all conquering iPhone 3GS. The Wave is faster, has a better screen, better battery life, much better call quality and speakerphone and is beautifully put together. This does not mean that it is better than the iPhone or Nexus One because I need to look at the whole package and my run though of the software in part 3 should make up my mind.
Available from Clove for £323.13
I guess the big advantage of owning the OS is showing here, with it being optimised for the hardware. The big test will be software and third party apps tomorrow though.
How can you say its better than the iphone??? Its a Samsung, it isnt. The iPhone 4 will destroy this even more!!!
Not sure at which point I said it was better than the iPhone.
What is it about the Wave you didn’t like when you used it?
I havent used it but it cant be better than the iphone. Where are the thousands of apps? Where is the style? Its a normal phone nothing smart about it. Cant wait for the iPhone 4! Apple wins again:)
Oh OK, you haven’t used it. A good basis for comparing two phones.
Yes, Apple wins again- well done. Happy for you:)
Idiot
“This does not mean that it is better than the iPhone or Nexus One because I need to look at the whole package and my run though of the software in part 3 should make up my mind”
“poor old Johnny Ray”…..there’s a song in there somewhere….Dexy’s?
Anyway, is there a built in RSS app Shaunnny lad, what’s the email like (HTML?)
Email is not HTML sadly, but there is Exchange support. Will cover all of the software on Tuesday- I don’t think there is a built in RSS reader.
So are you converted to touch screen keyboards now or do you still prefer your Blackberry one?
It’s not better than say a Nexus or Iphone , it’s just different. For some people apps are irrevelant but the bada os is clever and Samsung will advance this very quickly. I am aware of a software gaming company launching an exclusive title for this platform.
The iPhone 4 still is not as specced out as my HD2. Is the iphone4 better. In some ways yes, others no, just depends what you need.
And Shaun, touch typing are we using swype. Clever system and very fast once you know how.
“It’s not better than say a Nexus or Iphone , it’s just different.”
But, that could be said in all reviews and would make the writing pointless. The screen is better than both, the battery life is better, the call quality is better, it is faster, the build quality is equal with both.
I am not about to declare it the best phone in the world, but it is significantly better than the HD2, iPhone and Nexus in many areas which has shocked me.
Absolutely, Shaun – no pointless writing, please. Just say what you think, most of us are secure enough to handle it.
Oh my gosh like wow. If Bada os is badder than we thought this could be one of the baddest smartphones out there. Looking forward to part 3.
Nice review.. Can’t wait for part 3..
Jonnyray is a dick tho.. So insecure…
By the way,about iphone 4′s screen,it’s not really similar to this one,cz it still uses LCD technology.. But glad u liked it.. Might get this phone too..
Hey Shaun,
Great review of the Samsung Wave. I am looking forward to it arriving in Canada.
You and the readers might already know this website called gsmarena, if not, they have a similar positive review of the Wave as well: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_s8500_wave-review-480.php
Also, recently they did a battery life testing and the Samsung Wave is the champion! http://blog.gsmarena.com/the-king-is-dead-long-live-the-king-samsung-s8500-wave-is-the-new-battery-life-champion/
A lot of iPhone lovers are saying that iPhone 4 screen’s better than the Wave’s Super AMOLED. I wouldn’t know first hand but I can’t wait for a side by side screen comparison. Anyways, keep up the good work!
Cheers,
JK
Quote JK “A lot of iPhone lovers are saying that iPhone 4 screen’s better than the Wave’s Super AMOLED.”
And they know this how? I didn’t think iPhone 4 was out yet.
The Wave’s screen is indeed gorgeous – beautiful vibrant colours, and very readable. (I’m looking forward to comparing it to the new iPhone too of course!)
@Graham maybe reviewers who got the iPhone 4 preview at WWDC? Or just speculation!
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I grabbed one of these phones to try out yesterday – I’ve been after a HTC Desire but Orange are taking forever to get enough stock to satisfy my upgrade requirement and with 7 days to play with this phone and still change my mind I felt it was worth giving Samsung a look in.
Initially I was blown away by the Wave – the screen is gorgeous, easily beating my partners 3GS side by side, and as I worked my way through the essential features – web browsing, e-mail (GMail), MP3 Player, Video Player etc, every one worked flawlessly – very fast, simple to use, great quality picture and sound. I was fairly convinced at this point!
But as the day continued, I hit upon some issues – first of all the homepages, which feature “Widgets”, don’t appear to by as configurable as I would expect – buttons from the menu cannot be placed here, which seems strange. Sure, you can have three quick buttons, but with the keypad, contacts and messaging occupying these out of the box, no matter how much I wished there was a link straight to my tunes, I couldn’t justify replacing these key items.
My next major disappointment was the apps store – I expected to find certain basic applications such as eBay and Google Maps but the selection was laughably small – I am sure the situation will improve over time, but it seems a risk.
Overall this is a brilliant handset if your needs are covered by the software already on the phone – I have no doubt that the interface will get a few tweaks in the future. But if your a dedicated gadget freak you might find it a little restrictive.
Well the Samsung wave, Is clearly better than the iPhone, I can go into so much depth, But I used to have this with the Xbox/Ps discussion, The only thing I’ll say is, I’ll be laughing when I get my Samsung wave, Knowing I spend half as much, for a phone with Bluetooth 3, and all the things I use on my Current Nokia 5800, Music, Camera, Video, Social networking, Why would I spend a whopping £500, for a piece of trash, Seriously, That’s more than my laptop costs, And for a phone, That’s an appalling price tag, More the reason why I don’t get the iPhone.
Iphone’s gonna down man.In Turkey 3GS 16 GB 950 €.Iphone 4 probably will be 1000 € but this is 489 € and as well as Iphone..
To the one’s saying that iPhone 4 will beat the Wave, read this
http://www.gsmarena.com/you_are_holding_your_iphone_4_the_wrong_way_you_know-news-1763.php
DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THE CURRENT IPHONE!!!
The BIGGEST Failure of their year..
I have owned a Samsung Wave for 7 days. It is a really beautifully made aluminium handset but having owned and used it for a week I must report it’s faults:
-Battery life of a single day with moderate/heavy
-No ability to place menu short-cuts on the home screen
-Call quality is odd: the volume fades in/out and on max volume the ear-piece distorts
-App store is young (i.e. small), can’t criticise this but 3/5 apps I downloaded and used crashed the phone, necessitating a battery pull to re-start the thing!
The above 4 reasons might not bother everyone using this phone but they should! Call quality is an overlooked aspect in most phone reviews because it’s taken for granted that it should be of an excellent standard on a handset with this price tag, after all this is the primary function of a phone. Beyond this fault it’s a nice looking phone with some software teething problems which I really hope Samsung can sort-out. I’m back to SonyEricsson
…did I mention that you cannot install Google maps or Opera web browser on the Samsung Wave due to Bada’s restrictive nature? Nor can you select 2G/3G networks in an attempt to conserve the short battery life…
I didn’t have one issue with call quality on the Wave and stand by four days of use without one signal problem. What’s your signal strength like?
Hey Shaun great review lad proff. done. I have been revewing the phone for 3 hours now and everyone has positive reviews about this smartphone; i think this is the first time i have seen this happen. The new Iphone has completely failed i currently have 3GS and the specs and features of the Wave makes me feel like giving it away! I want this phone 4 anumber of reasons 1) Camera 720p i have a PS3 and Samsung Series 5 TV and this will allow me save my clips and view in full HD. 2) I like programming and this will be another chance to try out extreme customisation on this platform. Thanks looking 4ward 4 three incase wount have bought the phone!
Standby of four days? Really? I managed two at best, full 3G signal in my area according to the handset itself and T-mobile coverage checker. I realise low signal strength flattens the battery. My replacement phone the SonyEricsson W995 does 3-4 days with moderate use, much better I think than the Wave despite being >1 year old now
Shaun is right, the battery life is terrific. Bought this for the wife, and it way kills my iphone. Even if it did not, the wave is still better as you can replace batteries. Apple, seriously? Still can’t change batteries? The first Nokia I got in 1990 had that ability. Watch for the iphone 5 for this new innovation to take your breath away, yes folks for the first time interchangeable batteries on a mobile phone, available at your Apple Store June 30th 2011.
Back to real life, and the screen of the wave is breathtaking, as is the camera and video capability. Some tweaking needed on the OS to get things easier to access, like hot key or scroll down menu to change profiles, more app customisability, categories/folders in the app screens, swype, more devs to write apps etc. make this the killer phone. Can’t believe that with this hardware spec we got this phone for around half the price of the iphone or galaxy/9000. Way to go Samsung!
To Mike
“Some tweaking needed on the OS to get things easier to access, like hot key or scroll down menu to change profiles, more app customisability, categories/folders in the app screens, swype, more devs to write apps etc. make this the killer phone.”
So what you seem to be saying is that the Wave 2.0 will be a competent phone, whereas the current version feels like a beta…? I doubt Samsung will siginificantly update Bada to bring the neccessary changes required to make this a decent phone.
@Joe
“So what you seem to be saying is that the Wave 2.0 will be a competent phone, whereas the current version feels like a beta…? I doubt Samsung will siginificantly update Bada to bring the neccessary changes required to make this a decent phone.”
I don’t think anyone can predict where Bada is going from where we are now at. They might just surprise you, Joe. I am only hoping so. Considering the steps from where it is already at to where it needs to go is relatively miniscule, compared to the steps they needed to take to get Bada to where it is now. I mean, why go to all the trouble of baking a nice cake if you are going to turn around at the last minute and say it is too hard to put on the icing? Sure there are things that devs have to do and things that Samsung has to do with the OS, but this looks like a great start to me. In the meantime the Wave is a nice bit of relatively very cheap and feature filled kit.
Incidentally I haven’t seen the crashes or battery life probs that you mentioned earlier, at all. Could be FW difference–I am not following this, but have you the latest?
I hope you’re right Mike, I think the Wave and Bada have potential, I hope Samsung do deliver in time.
Re: crashes – I downloaded Barcoo (bar code price checker) and an app for converting metric to imperial weights and measures. Both of them caused a blue screen on my Wave so I became a bit wary of using any new apps after this.
Re: battery life – I looked on a few different forums and found a code *#8740# which when entered via the keypad enables a high-def mode (cp_uart) with enhanced internet speeds and screen brightness/resolution, which eats the battery. If you enter the code again you get the standard version (ap_uart) which prolongs battery life.
http://forumuk.samsungmobile.com/PostsList.aspx?ForumPostID=212533
Hope this helps
A good tip Joe, and link. Thanks.
Ive liked it a lot but I think there r some issues wid its WI-FI,..Mine has started giving me problems,.Rgtnow trying 2 upgrade my version,.Evthng worked fine till yday but after that d wi fi is irritating me,..any more buyers having d same problem?..d vidoe quality is awesome,..and d sound it captures is phenomenal,.Ivent experienced such sound recording in any cell phone device,.D vidoe quality is also d best ive seen so far,.D picture quality is on d softer side,.the sharpness factor is missing,.Ov all its a champion phone,.and it comes so cheaper,..The apple in my country(india) will cost me arnd 1400 USD adn dis came for a mere 450 usd,..:))