There is healthy competition in the mobile phone sales market. Nowadays, people lead an active lifestyle, they need 24-hour Internet access and all office facilities at their fingertips. In this regard, there is an increasing trend in the popularity of means of communication with the operating system; classic handsets are losing their positions and are often left unattended. The Korean company Samsung is increasing its turnover and striving to take a leading position in the market by introducing a wider range of smartphones. Not so long ago this company launched devices on the bada platform, which were designed to become a simplified and more affordable alternative to Android smartphones. Bada smartphones quickly found their consumers due to their affordable price, but they were not able to replace Android devices. Today in the review I want to look at a new samsung phone GT-S8600 Wave III, which is the new flagship of the bada platform on the latest version 2.0. Let's look at the quality and capabilities of this device.
Specifications
Black color
Type: smartphone/communicator
Case type: classic
Housing material: aluminum
Platform: Bada
Operating range: 3G (UMTS), GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GSM 900
Touch screen: yes
Touch screen type: capacitive
Multitouch support: yes
Screen diagonal: 4"
Screen resolution: 480x800
Screen type: color
Color Screen Type: Super AMOLED
Number of screen colors: 16777216
Internet access: EDGE, GPRS, HSDPA, HSUPA, POP/SMTP client, WAP
Bluetooth: yes
Bluetooth version: Bluetooth 3.0
Wi-Fi: yes
WiMAX: no
GPS receiver: yes
Synchronization with PC: yes
SMS: yes
MMS: yes
Type of ringtones: mp3, polyphonic
Vibration alert: yes
Speakerphone: yes
Camera: yes
Number of camera megapixels: 5 million pixels
Built-in flash: yes
Flash type: LED
Autofocus: yes
Camera for video calls: yes
Geo-tagging: yes
Maximum video resolution: 1280x720
Maximum video frame rate: 30fps
MP3 player: yes
Supported audio formats: AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA
Video player: yes
Supported video formats: 3GP, DivX, MP4, XVIDFM
Radio: yes
Headphone jack: yes
Headphone Jack Type: 3.5mm
Processor frequency: 1400 MHz
Memory card slot: yes
Types of supported memory cards: microSD
Maximum memory card capacity: 32 GB
Organizer: alarm clock, calculator, task planner
Battery type: Li-Ion
Battery capacity: 1500 mAh
Standby time: 535 h
Talk time: 14 hours
Additionally: compass, light and proximity sensors
Profile: A2DP
Case dimensions: Weight: 122 g; width: 64.2 mm; height:125.9 mm; thickness: 9.9 mm
Packaging and equipment
Cellular telephone Samsung GT-S8600 Wave III comes to market in compact cardboard packaging good quality.
The box is made in white. On the front side is an image of the device itself, its name and the manufacturer’s logo; Brief information about the model is written on the back side.
The phone package consists of: charger, user manual, stereo headset and USB cable.
All contents are neatly placed in a cardboard box, the dimensions of which are 145x85x55.
Externally
The body of the device is made of high quality polished aluminum and is a kind of seamless frame.
It looks very nice and high quality, of course, the metalized body has its drawbacks - it will be too cold in winter, and too hot in summer, but overall the look is very solid. Metal, even with its disadvantages, is much more durable than plastic. The device is very light in weight, weighing only 122 g. It cannot be called small in size, but in general the device turns out to be quite compact and very thin - 64.2 x 125.9 x 9.9 mm.
Most of the front panel is occupied by a 4" diagonal touch screen, in addition to it there are: speaker, distance sensors, lens front camera, a “home screen” key and two touch-sensitive call and end call keys.
On the right side of the device there is a power/restart/lock key.
The bottom edge contains a headset jack, a microphone and a multifunction jack.
On the left side there is only the volume key. The upper end does not contain any functional elements. The back side houses the flash, the main camera lens, an external speaker, the battery cover and its lock.
Our device does not have a typical way to access the battery and internals. By pressing the locking button on the rear end, the fastening of the battery cover is loosened and the wall is pulled up, thus revealing the battery, memory card slot and SIM card.
To remove the cards, you need to remove the battery, as it blocks them.
The device is very pleasant to the touch and fits comfortably in the hand. There are no complaints about the build quality; thanks to the all-metal body, there is no play, and there are no squeaks during compression.
In progress
Samsung GT-S8600 Wave III is the first model to run on operating system bada 2.0. The device operates on a Qualcomm MSM8255Turbo processor and an Adreno 205 video accelerator. The processor operates at a frequency of 1400 MHz, which is quite sufficient for it. The size of the built-in memory is 2.15 GB, part of it is allocated for the phone’s own needs, as a result, about 1.7 GB of data is available to the user.
Screen.
Super AMOLED screen with a diagonal of 4” and a resolution of 480x800 pixels. The display is capacitive, very contrasty and bright, with excellent viewing angles.
The screen supports multi-touch, displays up to 16 million colors and is easy to read in the sun. The sensor is very sensitive and responds instantly to touch. The image looks too bright, not even realistic, but beautiful and high quality.
Camera.
The device is equipped with a good 5-megapixel camera. The interface is familiar, there is touch focus and an LED flash. The device is not equipped with a separate key for shooting. The photos are of good quality, detailed and quite bright. The camera responds very quickly.
Battery life, reception quality and sound.
The battery of this model is capacious - 1500 mAh. The maximum standby time is 535 hours, and talk time is 14 hours. In the active mode of using the device (constant SMS communication, access to the Internet, calls and listening to music), the charge was enough for me for a day. I would like to note that using Wi-Fi It drains the battery quite quickly, so it's best to turn it off if you don't need it. I have no complaints about the quality of the connection; the phone picks up the signal perfectly and has a high connection speed. The phone rings loudly and brightly, you can clearly hear it from your bag or pocket. The vibration alert is average in vibration strength. The phone is equipped with an excellent player, which is displayed in vertical and horizontal positions.
The sound quality is very good. The cover is displayed in the list of files, and you can control the player even when the keyboard is locked.
The device is equipped with a radio receiver with a convenient interface, there is a manual and automatic search stations and radio recording function. The phone comes with a standard headset, the sound through which is very pleasant, loud and bright.
Menu
The device is equipped with two working screens, one displays icons, the other displays various widgets, shortcuts, folders and applications.
There are five zones for graphic elements that can be customized to your liking. The menu itself consists of 33 icons, which are divided into 16 pieces work area, the last icon is the operator function cellular communication and one is displayed.
The icons themselves are large, distinct and very bright. The bottom line of the screen contains shortcut icons for menus, phonebook, keyboard, and messages.
In version 2.0 the following points have been improved: multitasking (became full-fledged with a manager running applications), support Wi-Fi technologies Direct and Near Field Communication (NFC), as well as speech recognition. In addition, the bada 2.0 platform implements support for HTML5 and improves work with many functions of Flash technology. The speed of the operating system is very fast, everything just flies, I didn’t notice any freezes or slow response.
Additionally.
The device supports Wi-Fi Direct, the transfer speed of which corresponds to conventional Wi-Fi connection. There is Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, microUSB with cable charging, FM radio with RDS. A-GPS with 3D cartography and LBS has not gone away. Used for navigation Google Maps. The set of applications is standard for Samsung. The smartphone is equipped with pre-installed services “Social Portal” (Social Hub) and “Music Portal” (Music Hub). There is also a new cross-platform communication service ChatON. It is designed for communication between smartphone owners and Internet users. Among its main features are chat conferences for simultaneous communication with several users, as well as the presence of a web client that allows smartphone owners and Internet users to exchange files and communicate with each other.
Bottom line
The Samsung GT-S8600 Wave III cell phone is a very beautiful, well-built device. New flagship The bada smartphone line has good functionality, an updated operating system and improved technical characteristics. The device costs very reasonable money for its capabilities; its price fluctuates around 16,000 rubles. The phone has excellent features that make the difference between bada and Android even less noticeable. This device is able to find more quantity its users among the consumers of cell phones.
Content:By the summer of 2011, the company's product range included seven versions of phones on this platform, which were sold around the world with a total circulation of about 6 million units.
Cheap models sold well, and many did not buy them out of love for the new operating system. No, they were in demand solely because of the fashion for inexpensive touch devices. There are still problems with the software; despite all the company’s efforts, not many programs are appearing. And bada in in this case looks like an outsider compared to the same Android.
However, let's put skepticism aside and look at the new bada flagship. The Samsung S8600 Wave 3 will be the most functional device in this line. The device is distinguished by high-quality materials, a pleasant design, and a rich list of options. For example, it offers Wi-Fi Direct, an NFC chip, and support for video codecs for viewing unconverted video. The display diagonal has grown to 4 inches, and the dimensions of the model themselves have become larger.
Contents of delivery
- Telephone
- Battery
- Charger
- Wired stereo headset
- Instructions
Player
The interface is well thought out and convenient. Initially, several tabs are displayed: all songs, playlists, albums. In the player settings, you can add or remove categories, among them, in addition to those listed, there are such as performers, genres, composers, year, most popular, recently played, recently added. If the cover art is specified in the track tags, then it will also be displayed in the list of files.
Tracks are shown both as a single list and as a preview with covers, without any file signatures: this is beautiful, but requires a well-organized media library. The player is displayed differently in vertical and horizontal positions. In the first case, there will be the usual album cover and information on the song. In the second, it is a string of files formatted as a CD. Switching tracks is carried out in both positions, only the interface differs. If you wish, you can click not on the virtual key to switch between tracks, but drag the album cover left or right with your finger, and a new song will play.
The player can be controlled with the keyboard locked. You just need to activate the phone display (pressing the screen lock button or another - depends on the settings), then you need to press the desired key. There is a search function among songs.
In the player settings, you can choose between displaying the cover or two types of equalizer. The built-in equalizer works well, its effect is felt immediately, and a variety of sound settings are available. There are also a number of effects that seriously change the sound picture.
The phone plays files in different formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, EAAC+, 3GA, M4A, WMA, FLAC, OGG. There is an option 5.1 Surround - emulation of surround sound into headphones (does not work without a headset), the option is not for everyone, in my opinion, the sound is quite distorted. In general, the sound of the device in headphones is very good. The phone plays music noticeably better than gadgets Galaxy line, preventing them from competing on equal terms.
Radio
The convenient and attractive interface of the receiver allows you to perform both manual and automatic search for stations and store up to 100 stations in the phone’s memory. There is RDS support, as well as a radio recording function. There is a timer for automatic shutdown receiver after a specified time period. The main screen provides space for eight favorite stations, which you can quickly switch between.
Gallery
The section contains previews of folders with pictures, where nine thumbnails are presented. They look like stacked pieces of paper. Inside each folder there are thumbnails of pictures. Sorting by date and type is available. Any image opens full screen and is multi-touch scaled.
Any file can be sent via MMS, e-mail, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or posted on social networks. The phone can also work as a photo frame, showing a slide show.
Video
The manufacturer's website indicates that the video player supports 3GPP, H.263, H.264, MPEG4, and WMV formats. Nothing is said about DivX and XviD, but videos played fine. Even MKV plays, so the phone can be used as a convenient movie player. If the film comes with stripes, you can enlarge the image by removing the black stripes. Subtitles are supported, just place the file in the folder with the video. Switching between audio tracks is not supported.
Settings
In this menu you can configure the device according to your personal preferences. The sound profiles (ring type, vibration strength, alert mode), and the display image (brightness, backlight decay time) change. The vibration feedback that accompanies pressing the screen is set. It also turns off. The System Manager application shows information about the battery and processor load. Using voice control, you can dial a phone number or call a person from the phone book, or start the voice recorder.
Samsung released a device on the Bada platform in 2011. This is the third smartphone from a proven series. How much is the new Wave 3 superior to its predecessors and in what ways is it inferior to Android devices?
Design
How does the new product differ from previous models? First of all Samsung Wave 3 got a little bigger. The increase in size is striking. Although the dimensions have increased, the thickness of the device has become significantly smaller, only 9.9 millimeters. The device weighs a little, only 122 grams. You can comfortably use the device with one hand.
The Samsung S8600 Wave 3 and its protected case are attractive. Users prefer devices running on Bada precisely because of this factor. The body of the device is made of wood. We also didn’t forget about protecting the display. The front of the device is covered with glass. The manufacturer protected its brainchild from dirt and fingerprints. The smartphone received good results
The device is collapsible, which means the battery and slots for SIM cards and flash drives are hidden behind the lid on the back side. The panel can be removed quite easily, and there is no need to worry about damaging it. The assembly of the phone, as always, is excellent. Actually, nothing less was expected from a device from a famous Korean company.
On the front of the device there was a speaker, display, camera, Home button and sensors. The bottom end is reserved for a connector and a headset jack. At the back of the device there is the main camera, speaker, flash and the company logo. The volume control is located on the left side, and the power button is on the right.
The smartphone looks pretty solid. The manufacturer did a good job on the appearance of the device. Compared to Android devices, Wave 3 definitely wins. Interesting design and metal body attract attention.
Autonomy
Considering that Samsung Wave 3's characteristics are not the most advanced, a 1500 mAH battery looks good. The device can work for two days without additional charging. Of course, with active use the battery drains faster.
The battery installed in the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 will last 8-9 hours of talk time. The device's battery drains a little faster when watching videos and surfing the Internet.
Camera
From Wave 3 I received a five-megapixel matrix. Don't expect excellent quality. The camera is no different from many budget cameras. The quality is enough for everyday needs. In addition, the lack of a camera launch button is disappointing. The manufacturer abandoned the additional mechanical element on the case.
Although samsung camera Wave 3 GT-S8600 is modest, but has a minimal set of functions. The user will be pleased with the presence of flash and autofocus in the device. Also present are the most necessary settings. The owner will be able to change the white balance, image resolution, ISO and, of course, contrast.
The maximum resolution available to a smartphone camera is 2560 by 1920 pixels. The video recording will be more interesting for the user. The device shoots videos in HD quality (1280 by 720). Naturally, the video turns out a little grainy and lacks proper sharpness, but overall everything is decent.
The “Korean” also has a front-facing camera. The facial eye matrix has only 0.3 megapixels. This front-facing camera can only cope with video calls. The front camera is not capable of more. Fans of self-portraits will be forced to completely forget about its presence. The image comes out with low detail, graininess and color rendering problems.
Display
Samsung screen Wave 3 is quite advanced. The manufacturer did not skimp and equipped the phone with a flagship display. The device has a diagonal of four inches. Of course, a resolution of 800 by 480 pixels is not particularly impressive. The cubes immediately catch the user's eyes. Although for a 2011 device the quality is excellent.
The display uses a Super Amoled matrix. This made it possible to improve the brightness, clarity and contrast of the picture. The screen performs well in the sun. The brightness reserve and excellent matrix allow you to avoid image fade. Separately, it is worth noting the good viewing angles.
There will be no complaints about the device’s sensor either. The display responds to every touch, despite the Samsung Wave 3 screen being on par with Android devices and even superior to them. Few devices released in 2011 can boast such a set of characteristics.
Hardware
Qualcomm MSM8225 was chosen for the role of the Samsung Wave 3 processor. The chip is single-core and its performance is only 1.4 GHz. The processor is not the latest, but it is quite suitable for a mid-class device. The smartphone received an Adreno video accelerator, model 205.
The device has only 3 gigabytes of internal memory. Of course, part is reserved for the platform, and a little more than 2 GB is available to the user. Fortunately, you can solve the problem of lack of memory using a flash drive up to 32 GB.
Like almost all phones released in 2011, Samsung Wave 3 received 512 MB of RAM. There is enough memory to ensure normal data processing speed.
System
The Wave 3 firmware is definitely better designed than its predecessor. The smartphone runs on Bada 2.0. The manufacturer has added its proprietary TouchWiz shell to the platform.
There is an ambiguous impression of Samsung firmware Wave 3. The platform has many settings and looks more interesting than Android, but there are also disadvantages. Application management is not well designed. In some programs, touch elements refuse to work.
The absence of many useful applications is also disappointing. The system is not adapted for Skype and other programs. The Bada Axis is not capable of meeting all the needs of an advanced user. Most likely, even a radical change in the OS will not make it able to compete with Android.
Equipment
Along with Wave 3, the user will get: USB cable, headset, documentation, network adapter. The set is standard and definitely needs addition. The user will need a flash drive to expand the memory; a case for Samsung would also be useful. Of course, the metal body and protective glass protect the device from damage. However, a Samsung case will prevent minor scratches or damage from falling.
Connection
Wave 3 works in 2G and 3G networks. In addition to GPRS and EDGE, the device also received Wi-Fi function. The user can use USB and Bluetooth to transfer information.
Price
The low cost also attracts attention to this “stylish guy”. You can purchase the device for 3-4 thousand rubles. The price for a reliable device is very affordable. The low cost won over most Wave 3 owners.
Advantages
Like all phones on the Bada platform, Samsung Wave 3 turned out to be very stylish. The appearance of the device is much more attractive and interesting than that of its Android counterparts. The tempered glass and metal body of the device attracts users.
The display of the gadget should also be given its due. The smartphone has a flagship screen with excellent brightness and viewing angles. Of course, in the background modern devices The 800 by 480 resolution looks mediocre, but for the 2011 model the performance is more than impressive.
The battery also showed good results. A battery of only 1500 maH ensures long-term operation of the device. The “filling” is not particularly “gluttonous”, and most of the charge is spent on communication and the screen. The system also made its contribution. Compared to Android, Wave 3 OS consumes less energy. The smartphone can “live” for two days. If you replace the battery with an analogue one with a larger capacity, you can completely forget about recharging.
Despite the terrible quality of the images, the video from the device turns out quite good. The smartphone is capable of recording videos in HD quality, which is definitely pleasing.
The price for this miracle plays a key role for buyers. The low cost prompted almost all of its owners to purchase Wave 3.
Flaws
The main problem of the device lies precisely in its unusualness. According to reviews, the Bada 2.0 system turned out to be not only an interesting solution, but also problematic. Many applications are not adapted for the OS, and the user is deprived of useful resources. The system itself also seems underdeveloped. One gets the feeling that the platform lacks integrity.
The hardware will also be a problem for the owner. If you can still put up with 512 MB of RAM, then native memory is depressing. A little more than 2 GB of memory is available to the user. It is impossible to do without a flash drive, which means that the buyer should include the cost of the card in the price of the device in advance.
The owners are not impressed with the device's camera either. A 5 megapixel matrix is not capable of providing acceptable quality. Low detail and poor color reproduction - this is what the user will encounter. The front camera doesn't make me happy either. A regular 0.3 MP peephole is of little use. The ability to record HD videos slightly improves the impression of the camera.
The buyer should be prepared in advance that the device is intended mainly for making calls and surfing the Internet. Low functionality and inability to install useful programs make the device unsuitable for advanced users.
Many buyers are faced with the problem of packaging. In some stores, dialing to the phone was incomplete. Most often, the device's headset was missing. Most likely the problem lies with the place of purchase.
Bottom line
The phone is stylish in appearance, but with a rather simple “filling”. The situation also worsens the OS. Although Wave 3 is considered a smartphone, in fact it is a regular cell phone with Internet access. The phone is suitable for SMS, calls and small tasks. The owner should not count on more.
At the end of 2011, the share of phones on the Samsung Bada platform in Russia was 16%. The exit played a significant role in this Samsung models Wave 3 on the updated Bada 2.0 system. The device received impressive specifications and an excellent screen. It's a pity that there are still few programs for Bada OS.
Samsung Wave 3 was a logical development of the line of flagship devices running Bada OS. It replaced Wave 2, introduced 1.5 years ago. The phone brought not only a package of software changes to the operating system, but also an updated hardware platform. The processor here is 1.4 GHz with an integrated video accelerator, 512 MB of RAM, 2.5 GB of built-in flash memory. The eye catches the eye with the excellent 4-inch touch screen. All this was packaged in a compact metal case (it became the standard for the flagship of the Wave line).
True, among all this beauty there are also shortcomings that cross out much, if not all. We are talking, of course, about the lack of choice of programs and utilities for the Bada OS platform, which was aggravated by the incompatibility of the Bada 1.x and Bada 2.0 programs.
Dimensions. Contents of delivery
id="sub0">From point of view Samsung sizes Wave 3 has quite typical characteristics - 125.9x64.2x9.9 mm. The device is thinner than its predecessors. The weight of 127 grams is felt in the hands. It is impossible to say that it is redundant. I would say that this gives the device additional reliability or solidity. It is immediately clear that this is not a plastic rattle.
Like many modern Wave phones 3 is slightly elongated, which allows you to view HD video in natural resolution. The device can be carried comfortably in a trouser pocket, in a jacket or bag.
The scope of delivery includes:
- Samsung S8600 Wave 3 phone
- Battery A8 - 1500 mAh, lithium-ion
- Charger (microUSB)
- Stereo headset with 3.5 mm mini-jack connector
- Cable for synchronization with computer
- Instructions
Design, construction
id="sub1">The design of the Samsung S8600 continues the tradition of the Wave series flagships. The appearance is strict and at the same time sophisticated and elegant. The model is a classic touchscreen phone With big screen and a single mechanical key underneath.
The design of the device uses metal. Everything is made from it rear end. Moreover, the metal has a polished structure and is painted. Thanks to this coating, fingerprints are not visible on the device. The only element made of plastic is the bottom of the phone. This is where the GPS transmitter is located, as well as the GSM/3G antenna. As Samsung notes, metal structures do not affect the quality of communication.
The design and fastening of the back cover are original. The metal part slides off on a slide, giving access to the removable battery, as well as the microSD slots and SIM card. The back cover is attached to the body securely. It is important to understand that the entire cover cannot be removed, resting against the blockers and opening access to the slots only to a small extent. This is quite convenient in the case of microSD, which jumps out of the slot using a spring mechanism. But it creates certain difficulties for the SIM card. Only the very tip of the card protrudes, and it’s not easy to pull it out.
Samsung Wave 3 comes in a single color, where the metal parts are dark brown and the plastic parts are black.
Most of the front of the device is occupied by a large 4-inch touch screen. Above it is a speaker for voice calls. In the upper right corner you can see the lens of the built-in front camera for video calls, as well as a light sensor and an accelerometer (on the left). The first adjusts the intensity of the keyboard backlight. The second allows you to transform the picture on the display depending on the position of the device in space (landscape or portrait). In addition, the device has a proximity sensor and a built-in electronic compass.
Below the screen are two touch buttons“Call” and “Hang Up” (in the menu it performs the “back” action) and one mechanical “Home”. All of them are comfortable for work.
There is a display lock button on the right side surface. The volume rocker is located on the left side of the Samsung Wave 3.
At the bottom end there is a hole for connecting wired headphones, a microphone and a microUSB connector for connecting a charger and connecting to a computer.
The back surface of the Wave 3 is a textured painted surface made of metal. It looks very stylish and elegant. Here you can also see a built-in 5.0 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash (in the shape of a square). All these elements are slightly recessed into the body, which protects them from mechanical influences.
On the right you can see a speaker for playing audio files. Its quality and volume are at a decent level. Regular melodies play perfectly and very loudly. MP3 melodies sound a little worse due to the fact that sometimes the speaker wheezes. To avoid this, I recommend setting the volume to level 8 or 9 out of 14.
To summarize in terms of ease of use, Wave 3 is a step back compared to Wave: the call and end call buttons have become touch-sensitive, the camera button has disappeared, and the headphone and interface cable jacks have moved to the bottom edge of the case. Although all this is a matter of taste.
The quality of Samsung Wave 3 is beyond doubt. The device is reliable. The model is produced at a factory in South Korea.
Screen. Graphics capabilities
id="sub2">The main difference between Wave 3 and its predecessors is the larger diagonal screen. Here we see a 4-inch capacitive touch display. This screen belongs to the first generation of Super AMOLED and differs from the screen of the same Galaxy S II in being more grainy.
The display has a resolution of 480x800 pixels and displays 16 million colors. It is covered with a glass panel, but it is not Gorilla Glass.
The screen has a large reserve of brightness and high contrast. The colors are rich and clear. The existing matrix provides viewing angles close to maximum. For example, in most cases, 4-5 brightness levels out of 10 will be enough for you. When exposed to direct sunlight, the display goes a little blind, but remains readable.
Keyboard and information input
id="sub3">Entering information, as well as writing texts and dialing numbers, occurs using a touch screen. There are four options for typing text in the Samsung S8600. The first one is a classic keyboard mobile phone. That is, you can type both numbers and letters. The T9 function works in this mode.
The second option is a mini QWERTY keyboard. This text input option is relevant for portrait screen orientation. The buttons here are small, and therefore typing text is not very convenient.
The third option is a full-screen QWERTY keyboard that only works in landscape orientation. In this mode, the buttons are large and allow you to type text without any problems. The language is changed by pressing the special RU/EN key.
The last option provides handwriting letters and numbers. To do this, simply draw the required symbol on the display. Sensitivity to recognition is quite high.
Menu. Interface and navigation
id="sub4">The Samsung S8600 Wave 3 interface runs on the Bada 2.0 operating system. The main difference lies in the redrawing of interfaces and device control systems. The functionality and performance, according to my subjective assessments, have not changed.
But a new problem has been added to the already meager set of programs for the operating system. Applications written for Bada 1.x are not compatible with Bada 2.x and require at least recompilation, so the process of moving to a new version of the OS is unlikely to be painless, both for users and developers.
After this, only very inexperienced people can call bada phones smartphones. In the year and a half that has passed since the release of the first Wave, neither Skype, nor WhatsApp, nor even the world's most popular casual games Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja have appeared on the Bada platform.
Now about the visible innovations of Bada 2.0.
At the top of the screen in the notification line, the operator signal indicator, time, and battery capacity are still displayed. It is also possible to display battery charge data as a percentage. Additional data is also displayed there: missed calls, unread messages, working Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. By clicking on the center of this line, you can call up an additional menu that contains notifications about missed events. You can turn on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi or set your phone to silent mode. If the media player is running, a small music control menu will also be displayed.
Missed reminders appear as separate icons on the lock screen. To unlock the screen, you need to press the key located on the side of the phone. After this, you either need to hold it for a few more seconds, or move the image on the screen with your finger.
In standby mode, the user has access to several desktops with the ability to change them. You can install widgets on them. In order to configure widgets, you need to long press on any part of the home screen and drag the corresponding icon from the bottom area. In total, the device has about six widgets by default, and it is possible to download new ones. However, these new widgets are not available in the app store.
At the very bottom of the screen there are four touch buttons: “Keyboard”, “Contacts”, “Messages” and “Menu”.
The main menu is presented by default with three screens. The user has the opportunity to change the location of screens and individual items in them. To do this, you just need to stare at the screen for a long time. After this, you can start moving both within one screen and between screens.
In addition, the user can enable the function adaptive menu, which generates a menu depending on how often you use a particular application.
In the background Samsung mode Wave can run about 10 applications without compromising performance. Of the limitations of multitasking, only one thing is worth noting. On this moment It is possible to run any number of built-in applications, as well as one Bada and one Java application. It is not possible to launch two Bada applications at the same time. This was done to increase the stability of the product at the time of launch; in the future, the number of applications is promised to increase.
In order to open the running programs manager, you need to press and hold the central button under the display for a long time. Applications are displayed with icons. To exit the program, you need to press the center key, and to end its work, press the end call button.
One interesting thing worth noting is that Wave 3 can be unlocked when shaking. Just shake it in your hand and it will unlock. When the alarm goes off or the melody rings incoming call, you can turn off these notifications by turning your phone over.
Programs and services
id="sub5">Stored in Contacts detailed information about 2000 numbers and subscribers. You can choose one or another data presentation option. You can configure the device for left-handed people, then the cursor slider will be displayed on the right. The list is displayed only by names, to the left of them is a photo of the subscriber; to view the details of the contact, you need to open it. Any name can be used as a picture graphic file, as well as your photos or videos.
Records are sorted in order: first, all contacts in Russian, then all names in English. A contact is given 50 characters for their first name and the same number for their last name. Each subscriber can add five telephone numbers different types, address Email, instant messaging service number (Google talk, AIM, ICQ and others), other contact information.
The “Messages” item contains all the options and options for working with SMS, MMS. There is a mode for displaying messages in classic form and in chat form on both Apple iPhone. Settings for working with all types of messages are also concentrated here. A unique feature is sending a message to specified time. After writing a message, you can specify what time and what day to send it to the recipient.
“Log” contains the history of calls, SMS/MMS messages, email, chat and social networks on Facebook, Twitter and others. It was not possible to find a limit for the list; in particular, it contains up to one hundred events without any problems. For separate rooms You can maintain a blacklist, then calls from them will not be accepted. When dialing a number, intelligent contact selection works: when entering numbers, numbers that match the order of the characters are displayed.
“E-mail” item - built-in mail client POP3/IMAP4/Exchange Active Sync. Here you can set up up to 5 accounts, the limit on the number of messages for each is 1000. Attachments are supported, but the message size limit when sending is 1 MB. The limit for received messages is 5 MB. The resulting files can be viewed on your phone using the built-in browser. HTML is supported, pages are displayed normally.
The next item in the main menu hides “Browser”. Dolfin 3.0 is installed as the base one. It implements full support for HTML resources and many useful functions. You can call up a panel with frequently used functions: a list of links to visited resources. Here you can also adjust the brightness of the screen backlight in the browser itself. Flash support allows you to view all resources without any restrictions. The browser supports an RSS client, you can download feeds.
“My Files” is a built-in memory manager. It displays the contents of the phone's memory and memory card in the form of folders. All files are divided into folders by default: photos, videos, pictures, music, etc. The program allows you to rename, move and run various files. In the settings you can display folders in a list or in thumbnails.
Shop Samsung applications Apps are organized in the same way Apple Store. All applications are divided into categories: programs, games, themes, videos, music, etc., there are lists of the most popular free and paid applications, keyword search.
The “Clock” item contains four utilities at once: alarm clock, world time, stopwatch and timer. World Clock displays the time for selected cities. A map has appeared on which you can select a time zone.
In “Settings”, each user can configure the operation of the phone and individual applications, and personalize the mobile phone interface. This subsection includes all options related to bluetooth operation, 3G packet data transfer, and data synchronization. In addition, settings for profiles, display, time, menus and widgets, security, phone memory and other service information are also available here.
Among installed applications Polaris Office looks the most interesting. The program allows you to open and create MS Office format files (for example, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint) on your phone, Adobe Acrobat(PDF), graphic and video formats. The beauty of the technology is its speed: opening 20 MB PDF file takes about a few seconds, then you can quickly scroll through the pages, scale them, rotate them as you please. You cannot edit or create files.
“Social portal” is a place where all accounts from social media Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, mail, IM messengers.
Yandex services
id="sub6">It is worth noting that last fall Samsung of the Year and Yandex have agreed on a strategic partnership. As a result, Yandex search becomes the default service in all new devices on the Bada platform intended for the CIS countries.
In addition to the Yandex search engine, Samsung Wave 3 also comes pre-installed with: Yandex.Maps, Mail, Metro, Market and other popular Yandex applications.
Musical Features
id="sub7">When you open the player in portrait screen orientation, you see a list of all the songs in front of you. Scrolling horizontally through titles reveals playlists. In landscape orientation, Samsung Wave 3 appears as a carousel of discs and tracks.
The application supports mp3 files with different bitrates, including high ones. When playing a song, the display shows information about the track, album, and artist. The controls are clear, anyone can understand it. There is support for random or sequential playback of files. Sorting by artists, albums, genres, composers is available. You can minimize the player and continue working with other applications. The player interface is specially adapted to the capabilities of the touch display. The central buttons are responsible for playback settings. A long press on the scroll bar allows you to rewind a specific track.
Tracks are shown both as a single list and as previews with covers, without any captions for the files. It's beautiful, but requires a well-organized media library. The player is displayed differently in vertical and horizontal positions. In the first case, there will be the usual album cover and information on the song. In the second, it is a string of files formatted as a CD.
In addition to the player, Samsung Wave 3 also has an FM radio. The user can search for up to 99 radio stations in the range from 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz. There is automatic tuning of all stations, but you cannot assign your own name to individual channels; they are always displayed as a frequency. The radio also works in speakerphone. The radio works in background. The RDS function shows not only the title of the radio station in the general list at the top, but also other information. Radio broadcasts can be recorded in the phone's memory.
Camera. Photo and video capabilities
id="sub8">Samsung Wave 3 has a 5 megapixel camera with four times digital zoom and autofocus. Unlike previous models, the phone has lost a dedicated shooting key.
The following image resolutions are supported: 2560x1920, 2560x1536, 2048x1536, 2048x1232, 1600x1200, 1600x960, 800x480 pixels. The volume buttons are responsible for zooming in/out of the image. There are also improvements compared to previous models. They mainly affected the color rendition of pictures, as well as the ability to select the focus point on the screen by touch.
Automatic contrast allows you to achieve good quality images on a bright sunny day. IN manual mode ISO settings available in 50, 100, 200, 400, 800. The following shooting modes are available: single shot, smile detection, continuous, panorama, vintage, portrait, landscape, night mode, sports, indoor, beach/snow, sunset, dawn , autumn colors, fireworks, text, twilight, against the light.
The phone supports video recording in mpeg4 format for maximum resolution, and in the settings you can specify whether the video will be recorded with or without sound. All settings are comparable to those for photographs, but the video resolutions are different, plus effects are supported. The maximum resolution is 1280x720 pixels, there is also 720x480 pixels (30 frames), or a resolution of 640x480 pixels (30 frames). Two additional resolutions - 320x240 and 176x144 pixels.
The recorded video is not bad. It looks great on a phone screen, and it looks great on a computer too.
Photos and videos can be viewed from the Multimedia menu. Photos and videos are displayed as thumbnails, the list opens very quickly, there are no delays even when large number pictures or images. In the gallery, you can scroll through photos by tilting the phone in one direction or another. All this became possible thanks to the built-in accelerometer.
Memory and speed
id="sub9">For storing files and other data in the internal Samsung memory Wave 3 is allocated 2 GB. The phone has the ability to expand the internal memory using microSD memory cards.
The performance of Samsung Wave 3 is high. This can be seen from the very beginning of using the device. The interface practically flies, applications launch quickly.
Among the hardware features of the model, it is worth noting the Qualcomm MSM8225 processor based on the ARM Cortex A8 core, clock frequency 1.4 GHz. In addition, the phone has an integrated video accelerator Adreno 205, which is responsible for audio processing. RAM- 512 MB.
The phone supports multitasking for applications. A long press on the "Menu" button activates the running applications manager. The user can not only terminate the application, but also minimize it.
Communication capabilities
id="sub10">In addition to the standard connection of Wave 3 to a computer via microUSB, there is support for Bluetooth 3.0. The theoretical transfer speed is about 24 Mbit/s. Bluetooth provides wireless connectivity peripheral devices: For example, A2DP/AVRCP stereo headsets. Connecting to a computer via USB 2.0 is accompanied by charging the device from this connector.
When connected to a USB port, there are several connection options: Media, Mass Storage, Samsung Kies. In USB Mass Storage mode, the device connects perfectly without additional drivers, and you can copy the necessary data.
The model supports third generation HSPA networks. The phone can be used as a modem, which provides incoming traffic speeds of up to 14.4 Mbit/s.
It's also worth noting that Wave 3 supports Wi-Fi standard 802.11 b/g/n. The operation wizard is similar to that for Bluetooth. Moreover, for the correct Wi-Fi work A SIM card must be inserted into the phone.
Duration of work
id="sub11">Samsung Wave 3 has a 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery. According to the manufacturer, the device's talk time is up to 6 hours in 3G networks; standby time up to 20 days. Under testing conditions, with a number of calls of 15 - 20 minutes per day, listening to the player (2 hours per day) and browsing the Internet for an hour, the device worked for two days. With less phone usage, you can expect three days of use.
It is worth noting that the operation of Internet widgets that require a constant connection to the Internet negatively affects the operating time. Charging accumulator battery in 2 hours.
Video
id="sub12">
Results
id="sub13">Samsung Wave 3 turned out to be quite controversial. On the one hand, this is a quite beautiful and stylish device with a large touch screen. The phone has decent performance battery life.
On the other hand, there are practically no programs for Wave 3. In addition, even what was developed for the previous generation of Bada devices does not work or is unstable. Some missing programs can be downloaded from Samsung App Store, but there are very few of them.
It turns out that Samsung Wave 3 is easy beautiful phone. But why is he so needed?
With all my desire, I cannot recommend this device for purchase. For the same money, you can buy a much more functional Android smartphone or even an iPhone 3GS with enormous capabilities for installing any program, utility or game.
Advantages
- Large touch screen with multi-touch support
- Reliable metal case
- High speed
Flaws
- Few programs to install
- Flaws in the logic of the operating system
On the day of publication, Samsung S8600 Wave 3 could be purchased at a price 12,590 rubles.
The testing device was provided by Euroset.
There is a joke about Samsung's telephone division: if Samsung releases less than 100 new phone models in a year, it will simply explode with a terrible roar, like the bus in "Speed" (oooh, Sandra...). Developing the joke, experts usually mention that the Koreans manage to do this quite simply - to do this, they are simultaneously developing five lines, namely regular phones with buttons, regular phones with a touch screen (descendants of Corby), smartphones on Android, smartphones on Windows Phone 7 and something like that based on Bada’s own OS.
The relatively new flagship of this particular line, the S-8600 Wave 3, was given to us to be torn to pieces. The experience seemed somewhat ambiguous to us, which can be read in more detail below. In the meantime, it’s worth remembering one significant point - phones based on Bada OS are not sold in the “fattest” smartphone market in the world, in the USA. With cheap models this is understandable, but the hero of our review is not there either. The American market is distant and fundamentally different in its structure - cheap subsidized phones, expensive contracts and capricious, snickering subscribers. But we must remember that for many reasons everyone is equal to this market, and this affects the fate of mobile platforms - we also did not forget to write about this [negative] impact.
⇡ About APPEARANCE
It is impossible to find fault with the materials themselves - glass on top of the display, a metal main part and a little high-quality, albeit slippery, plastic in those places where radio transparency needs to be ensured. All this also lies quite comfortably in the hand and has the most suitable weight. But in the end it looks like a patchwork quilt - no solidity.
This patchiness is partly understandable: the body is a slider, the upper metal part of which slides off on rails, freeing up access to the removable (what a blessing!) battery, and after it - to the microSD and SIM slots. It is important to understand that the entire cover cannot be removed, resting against the stoppers and opening access to the slots only to a small extent. This works quite well in the case of microSD, which jumps out of the slot using a spring mechanism, but for SIM it creates certain difficulties - only the very tip of the card protrudes, and it is not easy to pull it out. And the microSIM in adapters does not need to be inserted there at all, because when pulled out, the card itself falls out, and the adapter gets firmly stuck, clinging to inaccessible spring-loaded contacts (and don’t ask how the author knows this).
The screen leaves a special, interesting impression - it seems to be 4 inches diagonal, but you can’t tell by the sensations, it’s more like an iPhone 4 or Nokia Lumia 800. In terms of image quality, this is a regular SuperAMOLED, similar to its brother in the Galaxy S, only with somewhat “muted” colors. The screen is covered with a glass panel, but it is not Gorilla Glass. The author does not have the habit of carrying the phone in the same pocket with the keys, but even without this, quite noticeable scratches appeared on the glass in a couple of weeks. By the way, this same glass hides a couple of buttons under it - surprisingly, but, contrary to modern fashion, Wave 3 has buttons for receiving and rejecting calls (aka “back”). There is also one physical front button - the same Home button as on the iPhone or Galaxy, which calls up the manager of running applications with a long press.
⇡ About OFFERS And POWER
The Bada operating system doesn’t need much, so Wave 3’s hardware is similar to smartphones based on Windows Phone 7 - a single-core Qualcomm Scorpion (this is a CPU from Snapdragon assemblies) with a frequency of 1.4 GHz and 512 MB of RAM.
The only obvious difference is permanent memory, of which, according to official data, 4 GB is preinstalled. According to the “statements” of the operating system, these 4 gigabytes are divided quite intricately: 2.14 GB are allocated for “ System partition", 1 GB is for users to tear to pieces, and the rest is used in secret projects of the South Korean military and therefore is not shown to the user.
As for performance, the assessments are mostly subjective - the smoothness of scrolling is reminiscent of Android 2.3, applications hardly slow down when launched, but sometimes widgets get stuck, but screen rotation is faster and smoother than on most Android handsets. All that remains is to launch the built-in Dolphin browser and run the SunSpider and BrowserMark tests in it.
And this is where the fun begins. Remember how, in a recent test, the Nokia Lumia 800 (which has the same CPU and amount of RAM) took a serious beating for being two to three times behind the market's flagships in web tests, scoring 31,300 points in BrowserMark and running SunSpider with a score of almost 7,000 ms? So, for Wave 3 everything is much sadder - on average 26590 points in BrowserMark and 10678 ms on SunSpider. For a completely fair comparison, we present the results of another “outdated” model on a single-core processor with 512 MB of RAM - iPhone 4, which with firmware 5.0 scores 50,500 BM points and passes SuSp in 3,602 ms. I want to turn towards Seoul and cry out in despair: “What are you doing, Eagle Yesi As?”
⇡ About CONNECTION And BATTERY
The main capabilities of Wave 3 in this direction are clear from the tablet; I would only like to note the unexpected possibility for a seemingly “budget” OS of using the phone as an access point with Internet distribution via Wi-Fi (up to 3 clients at the same time). It’s nice that in the settings panel of this option there is a window showing the amount of traffic passed through the access point.
As for quality voice communication, then with such a dense, weighty metal case, the plastic ends of the case (somewhat reminiscent of those on the iPad 3G) absolutely justified themselves - the voice quality is as good as the network usually allows.
The battery life also greatly depends on this factor. Standard hardware and a standard battery give the same standard results - a day of active use. The only “advantage” of Bada in this sense is that the operating system somewhat slows down an overly active user, not causing the desire to use Wave 3 as often as any decent smartphone on Android, iOS or WP7, which extends autonomous navigation by another half a day.
⇡ About SOFT
Why is this happening? The answer lies in the operating system that runs the Samsung Wave 3 - Bada 2.0. As already mentioned, it seems to “run” quite quickly and sometimes pleasantly surprises you from around the corner (distributing the Internet via Wi-Fi), but at the same time, many things about it are unpleasantly surprising. For example, the design is terribly canary and... well, let's say, Asian. Periodic failures in menu logic - for example, when the “back” button in one place looks completely different from the rest.
At the same time, the Bada interface leaves a “solid” feeling, mainly with Android 2.x and iOS. This is beneficial for Samsung - after playing with Bada, the user will (possibly) switch to Galaxy phones and find a fairly familiar interface there, with the same notifications in the drop-down menu and the same several screens with widgets and very similar icons. Thus, the tactical goal is an “affordable” imitation of Android from Samsung, which is a bit reminiscent of student experiments with Mac OS X skins for Windows XP.
At some point, another user may be deceived by the similarity and want too much from the system. It’ll go into Samsung Apps (let’s forget for a moment about the possibility of launching Java games), and then... It’s a ball ride, to be honest. There are some useful programs like unit converters (10 rubles, payment with premium SMS), but in general it’s poor. The usual Google+, Opera, Evernote or Skype are not available. Social media are available only through Samsung’s Social Hub, and they haven’t heard anything about VKontakte (however, there are several home-made applications for VK). Themes are mixed together with applications - good for corporate reports, bad for users. And most importantly, the level of many applications, even quite popular ones, is depressingly low.
And the explanation is very simple - as a rule, truly high-quality projects are financially motivated in advance; they are rarely created “for oneself.” The US almost always dominates software revenue, and in Bada's case the US is excluded from the process. To put it very crudely, if the mobile OS is not in the USA, then consider it to be non-existent for the progressive public, and developers will not be excited by its popularity in France, China and Russia.
⇡ About YANDEX
The local partnership between Samsung and Yandex improves the situation a little. Samsung representatives even threatened to “make Bada for Yandex what Android is for Google,” but developments suggest that Yandex has slightly different plans.
In the meantime, the buyer of Wave 3, when turning on the smartphone for the first time, receives four pre-installed applications (“Maps”, “Metro”, “Mail” and for some reason “Market”), as well as a large convenient widget on the first screen with weather forecasts, traffic jams, and exchange rates and search. We must admit that the additions from Yandex were of great benefit to Bada 2.0, we look forward to the new ones.
⇡ About ENTERTAINMENT
We decided to highlight this item because the phone’s firmware has as many as 8 applications of this type. These are “Music” (carousel scrolling of covers works in horizontal mode), “Video” (MP4, DivX/XviD, WMV and 3GP are supported), “Gallery”, “Radio”, “Voice Recorder” (quite suitable), “ Voice control"(Russian is not supported), "Music Store", YouTube and AllShare.
The Wave 3 multimedia component has a couple of differences. Firstly, the sound chip on this phone is something called the Digital Natural Sound Engine. We don’t undertake to evaluate the improvement in sound quality, but the volume has definitely increased; it will not be difficult to sound an average room with a sufficient initial volume of the file for Wave 3.
Secondly, it’s not for nothing that the phone was released by Samsung - through the AllShare application it allows you to play video, audio and photo files available on the device on compatible TVs, provided that they are connected to the same network - essentially, a more human and easily manageable version of DLNA .
⇡ About CAMERA
The camera is the most common 5-megapixel camera, which we suggest you see by looking at the example photos in the gallery. From an ergonomic point of view, the complaints are the same - the lack of a dedicated hardware start/shutter button and a hidden settings menu that needs to be called up by a separate press.
⇡ About CONCLUSION
As for the Bada OS itself and the accompanying ecosystem, they currently represent a kind of huge loaf of bread that an inexperienced baker put in the oven, but periodically pulls out so that everyone can break off a piece and evaluate the degree of baking. There is nothing wrong with this, everyone has to start somewhere, but there are three problems: 1) the loaf still won’t bake; 2) taking samples for innocent consumers is quite expensive real money; 3) excellent fresh bread is already being sold around at reasonable prices.
However, approaching the assessment of Wave 3 less critically, we can draw the following conclusion: if the display, design and (possibly) sound are more important to you than the richness of the choice of applications, then you can forget about the Wave 3 being a smartphone and pay 13 thousand. But you will never understand the “trick” of owning a smartphone and the endless expandability of its functionality through applications. Which will be at least regrettable.