Samsung S8600 Wave 3 Malaysia Review

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Samsung S8600 Wave 3 is a new Bada OS v2.0 based phone from Samsung. The new Samsung S8600 Wave 3 is the first phone based on Bada OS version 2.0. In the past, Samsung had released a smartphone based on Bada OS earlier but Samsung for the first time has introduced three phones at the same time with the same Bada OS version 2.0.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3: Display

Dominating the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 is the huge, 4.0 inch display, which uses an Super AMOLED screen that presents well, rendering images in sharp contrast, and providing decent legibility even in direct sunlight. The WVGA capacitive touchscreen display supports up to 16 million colours, and is protected by a Gorilla Glass covering, adding a level of strength and durability to one of the weakest parts of a modern phone.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3: OS

The new bada 2.0 style brings a new design to the standby homescreen, with redesigned menus, an updated gallery, music player, web browser, and so on. The OS allows for multiple homescreens, upon which can be added shortcuts to a variety of applications and services, offering complete customisation, and control over how you make the phone look. In use the bada OS is very comfortable, and given the many cross over elements from Android devices, such as a pull down menu bar, pinch to zoom pane view of the many homescreens, and so on, the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 is an easily usable handset.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3: Design & Build

Size wise the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 tends towards to smaller feel of a modern smartphone, despite incorporating such a large screen. The handset has a more metallic feel to the materials used in construction, as opposed to the usual plastic feel associated with Samsung smartphones. The dimensions of the handset are 126 x 64 x 10mm, and it weighs in at an acceptable 122g.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3: Camera & Video

Included on the phone is a quality 5.0 Megapixel camera, with support for autofocus and an LED flash. Other features on the camera include geotagging, face, smile and blink detection, image stabilisation for those shaky hand moments and touch focus, which lets you focus in on different parts of the image by touching on the relevant area of the display. There is a front facing VGA camera, for video calling, and the camera is capable of capturing 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. There is also a video light, which helps when capturing video in low level lighting conditions.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3: Processor & Network

Powered by a 1.4 GHz processor, the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 offers all the high speed data options usually found on a modern day smartphone, including HSDPA up to 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA at up to 5.76 Mbps, and WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n. The handset can also be used as an ad-hoc WiFi hotspot, allowing other WiFi capable devices to connect to it and use the handsets GSM data connection for web browsing. The handset supports quad band GSM for full roaming options, and also offers Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, and a Micro USB connector for data cable and charging the phone.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3: Multimedia

The device is also loaded with an assortment of multimedia features, including a full media player for music and video. A wide range of digital formats can be played on the Samsung S8600 Wave 3, including DivX and XviD. The handset will come with support for the new Samsung ChatON messaging feature, which lets users send instant messages to other ChatON subscribers. There is a stereo FM radio with RDS included, and with A-GPS support the handset can be used also as a satellite navigation device, using the Samsung Mobile Navigator software.

Conclusion:

All round the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 presents as an excellent device, with many features on the phone that set it as a leading smartphone. The bada upgrade looks great, with an easy to use UI, with a superb AMOLED display. In all, it would seem that the Wave 3 has enough to offer against the multitude of Android smartphones.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3 Specs & Price >