Samsung Wave S8500 - An Ocean of Possibilities

Creating a Wave

Smartphones have become commonplace these days thanks to the uptake of various mobile platforms over the years - starting from the mature Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile OS, to the current Apple iOS and Google Android. The relationship between the smartphone and its accompanying mobile platform is a closely knit one. Close, to the point that if one doesn't live up to its end of the bargain, the other suffers for it.

Samsung has dabbled with a variety of platforms and the company has also made some headway with its customized user interface (UI), dubbed as TouchWiz. However these were merely measures to matchup with competitors. As the mobile ecosystem evolves towards a more comprehensive stage, the Korean company realized that more needs to be done and to be more involved in the ever-changing ecosystem.

Enter Samsung's very own mobile operating system, bada, running the show on the new Samsung Wave device. What is bada (which means ocean in Korean) and what does it mean for Samsung's stake in the smartphone market? We go head-on with the Samsung Wave, and examine how it stands and even affects the current mobile trends in the next few pages.

The Metal Sea

The Wave left a deep impression on us when we laid our eyes on it for the very first time. Or to be more accurate, when we held it in our hands and embraced the cold metal body. There wasn't much plastic used on the Wave's chassis, hence giving the Wave a more solid and heavy build. While we were pleased with the additional weight and overall balance for easy handling, it might be a little too heavy for some people's liking.

From the front, you'll be looking at Samsung's Super AMOLED display that's also seen on the Samsung Galaxy S. But the differences are apparent in its physical size, with the Wave measuring in at a smaller 3.3 inches. Fortunately, it retains the same WVGA resolution of 800 x 480 pixels on the screen. The placement of its physical buttons is generally accessible. This includes the volume button on the left, which is slightly off the middle strip and thus easy for the thumb to stretch and adjust the volume accordingly. Its right profile holds the lock and camera button, which are quite self-explanatory in their functionality. The final physical keys would be the call/end buttons surrounding the menu button. The latter is also the search and multi-task button, activated when you either double tap or hold the menu button respectively.

The crown of the device houses the 3.5mm audio port and a microUSB port. The latter utilizes a slider to cover the microUSB port, which keeps the device neat and tidy instead of a plastic cover that's both hard to grip, remove, and unsightly when opened. At the rear, we have the usual 5-megapixel camera, and an accompanying LED flash for both still and moving image recording. To remind us that the Wave isn't a shoddy product, the removable back is also of metallic material, and underneath it are the SIM and microSD card slots.

The New (bada) Frontier

The Wave holds much importance for Samsung for the fact that it is the company's first device running on its bada mobile operating system (OS). That's not to say that bada is a relatively new entry to the smartphone market, as it did originate from Samsung's earlier proprietary OS. To streamline the experience, you'll notice a few similarities between this phone and Samsung's other devices. This is done through the TouchWiz 3.0 UI, which is also loaded onto Android devices such as the Galaxy S. While we can say it bears some similarities to the Android UI, it's more accurate to state that the Wave retains the same user experience even for a different platform. This is evident from its pull-down notification from the top, which lets you activate the device's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection. More importantly, it allows us to switch the phone to silent mode within two clicks.

Taking another cue from Android and its Samsung Galaxy S sibling, the Wave is also capable of creating mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. In the context of mobile networks turning stronger with faster HSDPA speeds, this gives the Wave an edge over other smartphones that require you to have a direct connection to initiate internet tethering on-the-go.

Widgets and apps play a huge role in the whole bada ecosystem, or for that matter, any other mobile OS that has emerged over the last two years. On the home screen, you can add up to ten pages to store widgets downloaded from the Samsung Apps store (more on that later). Clicking on the Widget button at the top left will allow you to add widgets onto the pages. What isn't immediately obvious is how one adds or removes pages. Through sheer luck, we rotated the phone to landscape mode during the widget editing phase, and discovered the page editing feature.

Introducing bada into Samsung's portfolio is mostly a reaction to the growing popularity of Apple's iOS and Google's Android. In short, it is Samsung's foray into the full mobile ecosystem, which links up the user, developer and manufacturer. Thus, it is of no surprise that the Korean company has also dabbles in the apps market, with its own Samsung Apps store. Looking purely at the numbers, there's still a lot of catching up to do for Samsung should they wish to match up to the iOS and Android figures.

That's not to say that Samsung hasn't covered its bases well before the Wave was formally introduced to the masses. Right out of the box, you get pre-loaded social media apps such as Facebook and Twitter. Beyond what we've talked about in the apps segment, push email and instant messaging are also included within, giving you full fledged access to all forms of communications on your Wave smartphone.

Surfing the Wave

When we evaluated the Wave's overall performance, we had to factor in two considerations - usability and the hardware. The former is closely related to the design of the bada UI, while the latter is dependent on the Wave's hardware specifications and capabilities.

Following the footsteps of the recently introduced smartphones, the Wave is also armed with a 1GHz processor. This is evident as we blazed through the screen with smooth and fluid transitions across the menus. Loading apps isn't a slow affair, which took no more than two seconds to get the app active. The Wave was also able to handle its multi-tasking duties well with minimal lag in its operation, which we found out upon loading multiple apps.

The implementation of Samsung's Super AMOLED on the Wave has two implications - better screen clarity and power efficiency. Looking at the former point, we can admittedly say that our eyes had a more comfortable viewing experience on its 3.3-inch screen. Colors came off as rich and screen legibility under strong sunlight is good. With its 800 x 480 screen resolution, we also found details to be sharp and clear while we flipped through images and videos at the native resolution. Complementing the visual aspect is the audio performance, which came off average with no added bonuses such as a 5.1 channels surround sound as heard on the Galaxy S.

Part of its the multimedia capabilities evaluation also involves the device's imaging capabilities. The Wave's hardware includes a 5-megapixel camera located at the rear of the device, ready for night shots with its LED flash.

As we've often said, it's not about the quantity, but the quality that matters. Though the Wave doesn't have the fancy 8-megapixel numbers used on devices such as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, it's imaging sensor did the job just as well. White balance and color correction was decent, though the images might not have the rich colors one might expect due to what you see on the Super AMOLED screen versus the actual image results. Not to forget that this camera is also capable of 720p video recording, which turned out to be lag free and was smooth.

Our last performance evaluation segment is related to its battery mileage. What keeps the Wave going is a 1500mAh battery, a capacity that's commonly seen on smartphones of its caliber. Similar to our previous tests, we adopted our battery test with the following parameters: screen brightness and volume at 100%, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi active, with the latter used to constantly update Twitter feeds to simulate data download. Following which, a video encoded at 240 x 320 pixels resolution was looped on the Wave, and the results are listed as below.

We rounded up the various mobile OS in this comparison to give you a better gauge of how the Wave's bada OS performed. Looking at Android (HTC Desire), Windows Mobile 6.5 (Garmin-Asus M10) and Symbian (Nokia X6) devices with similar specifications, we find Android scoring quite well in the power management scene.

Considering that the Wave is using a Super AMOLED screen, it's surprising to see it falling behind the Desire, which indicates a better power management on the Google Android platform. Nonetheless, its advantage over the more power hungry Windows Mobile 6.5 and Symbian devices is proof of how the hardware, i.e. its Super AMOLED screen, makes a difference in the device's usability. Though the Wave doesn't have the higher battery mileage, its Portability index was better than the HTC Desire's despite the higher battery mileage as enjoyed by the Android device. This goes to show that at times, you need a fair balance of design and hardware to get the best all-round performance. Interestingly, the Samsung Wave pulled it off and was a pleasant surprise.

Spreading the Wave

Why would anyone choose the Samsung Wave, over the more common Apple iPhone 4 or the flood of Google Android devices? If you are looking for a unique experience, or feeling experimental with all things new and fresh, it's easy to see why you would opt for the Wave and its new bada OS.

As much as touch screen interfaces have become the norm, the Wave doesn't skimp on the hardware buttons, leaving us with those that really matter, such as the call/end, lock and camera buttons. Thanks to this aspect, we didn't find ourselves fumbling with the controls and had an easier time with all the basic features of the Wave.

In our labs, we've seen a combination of the Wave's 1GHz processor and the intuitive TouchWiz 3.0 at work, and it did impress us with its speed and execution of multi-tasking with no foreseeable lags. Truth is, speed is an essential consideration for any mobile device, and it goes beyond just the device, but also to the user experience and the learning curve it entails. TouchWiz 3.0 won't be a stranger to those who have been on the Samsung smartphone camp, but neither will it be unfamiliar to the newcomers with its simple approach.

When a phone is no longer purely a communications device, we tend to place a stronger emphasis on its additional features, such as is multimedia capabilities. We admit that a 3.3-inch screen might not be a comfortable size for the multimedia enthusiasts, but it duly makes up for it with the rich colors and clarity thanks to the Super AMOLED screen. Its audio capability was average at best, but it did appease our eyes with the sharpness of its 5-megapixel camera. And if you're into the high definition scene, the 720p video recording capabilities should keep you occupied.

The significance of this new Samsung phone goes beyond its status as a usual smartphone. While the market is dominated by Apple's iOS and Google's Android, Samsung is taking a huge leap of faith with its bada OS. Its intention to create a mobile ecosystem under their wings and opening up doors to both consumers and developers alike could be the start of a new mobile movement. Nonetheless, it is still too early to tell of the success of this Samsung project.

What should be of importance to consumers is the retail pricing of this bada smartphone, which is priced at S$698. At this price point, we find its offerings more than reasonable. For mobile phone users wanting to try something new and aren't tied down to any particular app commitments or needs, Samsung's new Wave is a breath of fresh air. Furthermore, when you factor in its good blend of hardware features, form factor and performance, the Samsung Wave is indeed a good phone for your consideration. We hope the bada OS flourishes along with the Samsung apps store in time to come to give more choice and competition in the market and ensure that the Wave and its successors have a good fighting chance.

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