Samsung Wave GT-S8500 – Not for U.S. markets
Sum and Substance:
Thumbs Up:
Great AMOLED touch screen, 1 GHz fast processor, good call quality, the 5 MP camera captures HD video.
Thumbs Down:
The interface is better than earlier versions but it has a long way to go to compete with other phones, contact info is not merged from the different accounts, Samsung App store cannot be accessed from US.
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: GSM global roaming (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS dual-band Asian/European 3G (2100/900 MHz)
Band: GSM/UMTS
Phone design: Candy bar
Caller ID: Yes
Other features: GPS, music player, camera, etc.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Samsung Wave GT-S8500 has a 3.3 inches AMOLED display with 480×800 pixels resolution, the camera has a five megapixels resolution with features like Panorama, GeoTagging, Blink shot, Smile detection, Face detection, Auto focus, and flash LED. The resolution for video is 1280×720 pixels or 720p HD. Supported video formats are WMV, XviD, DivX, H.264, H.263, MPEG4. Supported memory cards are microSDHC and microSD. The phone has built in 2 GB memory.
The handset is powered by 1000 MHz processor. For internet, the connectivity options include RSS, HTML, Dolphin Browser 2.0. Wi-Fi options are 802.11 b/g/n. There is also a 3.5 mm headphones jack. Phone book features are Caller groups, Multiple numbers per contact, Search by last/first name, Picture ID, and Ring ID. PIM features include World clock, Calculator, To do tasks, calendar, and alarm. E-mail options are Microsoft Exchange, SMTP, POP3, IMAP.
Razzle Dazzle:
Samsung Wave GT-S8500 may not be the sexiest smartphone out there like Droid X or HTC Evo 4G but buyers will still be attracted to it due to the compact size. The handset is 4.6 inches tall, 0.4 inch thick, 2.2 inches wide and feels very much good in the hand. The exterior is made up of aluminum and this gives a high end look to the phone.
Inside Dope:
We first saw the Samsung Wave GT-S8500 at Mobile World Congress 2010 and this is the first phone from Samsung to run the Bada OS. The OS is not on par with Google’s Android or Apple iOS but you will still get that smartphone experience irrespective of geographical location or cost. Samsung says that it is still pretty committed to Windows and Android Phone but still the new OS is pretty exciting. This phone is available unlocked for $370 to $400 which will certainly make a hole in your pocket.
The display of the Samsung Wave GT-S8500 is 3.3 inches big (measured diagonally) and it has a AMOLED touch screen. It supports 16 million colors along with WVGA resolution. There are plenty of goodies that come along with AMOLED display like better improved responsiveness and viewing angles. However, the best feature of this technology is the sharpness which is really good. The better quality certainly cannot be described in words here and if you haven’t checked out an AMOLED display yet, we will encourage you to do so. The colors literally jump out of the screen and the experience is really great even if the screen is a bit smaller than other high end phones. Finally, an AMOLED display, unlike standard LCD, can be easily viewed in bright sunlight.
Touch screen of the Samsung Wave GT-S8500 is very responsive and it gives a smooth scrolling and swiping experience. You can also pinch to zoom the images, just like iPhone. The screen orientation can be easily changed using the built in accelerometer. But we had a few problems with the virtual keyboard. For instance, the layout in portrait mode is a bit cramped and the letter keys too are quite tiny. We had a lot of mispresses and our typing too had to be slowed down. Things get a bit better in the landscape mode but it is still not as spacious as that ones on other smartphones and people with large fingers will have lots of problems using it.
There a few buttons below the screen like menu, talk and end/power buttons. On the left, there is a volume rocker and the right side has a lock and camera button. On the back, there is a five megapixel camera along with LED flash. On the front, there is a camera too for video calling. Finally, on the top, there is a 3.5 mm headphones jack, and microUSB port.
Samsung Wave GT-S8500 comes with wired stereo headset, USB cord, travel charger, reference manual and 1 GB microSD card. This handset is meant for international use and the charger is not compatible with USB wall outlets but you can still charge this phone on any computer using the USB port.
As mentioned earlier, Samsung Wave GT-S8500 is the first phone from the manufacturer to have a Bada mobile OS. Bada means ocean in Korean language and this term is used to refers to the ‘limitless variety’ of the platform. This OS certainly cannot compete with iPhone or Android OS but this handset aims to bring the smartphone to mid range users and hence some features are sacrificed. Some features on this OS which are common to others too include unified in-box, social networking and push calendar. Apart from that, Samsung also offers its own app store now.
There are some new widgets added which make it useful and nice but we wish there was support to add app shortcuts too. On the bottom, there is a toolbar along with quick launch buttons for messages, contacts and phone. On the top, there is a pull down tray which lets you manage the wireless connections, notifications, sound profile, just like Android. The main menu has attractive icons in a nice grid view. The apps are spread over lots of pages and you have to swipe to move through them.
Nitty Gritty:
This phone is made more for the international markets and hence we won’t recommend it to US users.
