I bought this mobile in August 2010. That was when Samsung's Galaxy S and the Wave had picked up enough publicity and popularity for people to recognize it. I was also due for my next mobile after teething problems with my old one and hence started scouting for a high end phone. My options were the Nokia N8, HTC Wildfire, Samsung Wave and the similar types in Sony and Motorola. iPhone 3G s, iPhone4 were also the ones I looked at but gave up due to their high price( no bluetooth file transfers!)
I somehow felt the wildfire lacked the stylish punch, N8 felt like it was cut off on both ends abruptly(and strangely for the first time I didnt like the font/interface - dissapointed given my high regard for Nokia), Motorola and LG and the other likes were the traditional looks.(although I liked the Sony Xperia 10)
I researched all the websites for reviews and saw all the unboxing/review videos on youtube for almost a week about the Samsung Wave. That was when I gradually got to know the finer details of the phone.
Looks
Pros: The first thing that catches the eye in the phone is the looks! The black and chrome metallic combination sets this phone miles apart from its competitors in looks. As they say, first impression is always the best impression and the Wave does not fail to impress you in that regard.
Having the metallic finish enables the phone also to be of the slim category. 2 Thumbs up!
Cons: Although I had seen the phone in innumerable videos and images, when I saw the actual demo peice in store, I felt it was a tad longer than what I had imagined and felt a little disappointed though!
Usability/Hardware/Handling
Pros:The standard samsung buttons/jacks come with the phone on all sides - There is a 3mm headphone jack which is common nowadays and very handy. The charger slot is the standard micro USB port, the ringer is at the top(unlike in Samsung Monte where it is behind and calls tend to get miffed when the phone is in a bag/pouch)
Sound clarity is pretty decent and up to the mark.
Camera click button is of the pinch and click model. i.e will auto focus with half press and click with full press.
Battery Backup is great and runs easily for 3 days continuously with all my r&d and constant usage to learn the features over the last month. Delighted especially after my past experience with large screen phones
Super AMOLED screen is the trump card of this phone. Forget the sunlight test, just normal usage of the phone is a treat! and the colours are definitely obvious when compared to other high end phones.
Cons: Vibration isnt that effective especially not as effective as Nokia phones. So chances to miss calls is possible.
The left button on the phone is rather used for very few functions and is under utilized. Same holds good for the separate lock/unlock button on the right.
Pouch that comes with it is of good quality but is an eyesore in design. Feel ashamed to carry the phone in the pouch provided!
Under the hood
Pros: The 1 GHz processor would definitely mean the phone can take relatively high end gaming, and multi-tasking features with ease.
The BADA OS definitely will give its peers a run for their money with the power packed quality and stability.
The Camera is a treat. Imagine a 5MP camera in your pocket all the while. With advance features like HD video recording, you are always ready for any "kodak moment". The clarity of the photos are to be seen to be believed.
Inbuilt flash is the feather in the cap that makes clicking pics in total darkness a peice of cake(wonder when would apple realise to include such a necessary feature)
Cons: The Samsung apps is next to empty when compared to the ovi store of nokia or the iphone app store. The phone is like a knight in shining armor waiting for his horse to arrive. Heard there is a competition of sorts to get people develop apps and once they are reviewed and certified, will appear on the store. yaaawwwn!
Software
Pros: Notification bar is proving to be more and more handy day by day. The tiny dropdown bar at the top of the screen that provides the latest notifications/alerts/current music playing/connectivity status etc.
Absolute seamless connectivity to mails, contact sync with email/social sites/phonebook.
Great feature of exchange server sync that allows office mails to be seen in the phone.(bye bye blackberry!)
There is a record feature while the FM radio plays.not sure if thats handy for anybody.
The style continues to impress.When the phone is ringing, overturning the phone face down would silence the ringing, and placing the phone on the table face-up puts the phone on speaker mode!
(However the response time is about 1-2 seconds and gets embarrassing while mute-ing a call during meetings)
The touch screen in itself is super sensitive and has the elegance and smoothness to the finger touch and scrolls. The multitouch feature enables zooming in and out a treat!
Cons:The privacy lock that can password protect personal stuff like mails/messages sometimes work and sometimes it doesnt! Or there is a pattern that I have not been able to guess yet!
The widgets are large and un-useable especially when it means to remember the multiple screens and which widget is in which screen! When the widget task is stopped, all the widgets vanish!
Had restart problems when I got onto the push mail feature for my exchange server mail. Read that in forums as well.
Kies Software looks okay. nothing flashy about it.
Drivers are not available with the pack. So when I need to connect the phone to a system without kies, Im left scrambling around.(more like the itune concept)
Since the bada is new, no google map support. There is a proprietary route66 navigation feature which is pretty good, but bummer.turns to paid feature after a months usage I heard.
While texting, the soft keyboard response is a little slower than the iphone(both qwerty or the keypad mode)
Heard iPhone4 has the concept of creating folders to group the menu items rather than have them lying all around, especially after the App store gets stronger and downloads increase. This could have been introduced in the Wave.
When I finally went over to buy the phone it was not available in store. It was selling like hot cakes last month. Visited a dozen stores just to leave my phone number with them and hoping they will call me when the phone arrives.Finally after a week, I got a call at about 4pm. One store called up to say they just got 11 phones from their dealer and were checking if I was still searching.I rushed to the store at about 7pm and mine was the last phone to be sold on that day!(17800/- plus 300/- for the screen shield) I will be updating more as and when I find more. So feel free to comment and I will try to respond/include in my updates.
I have read a lot of reviews and they get into a lot more in to the details of the phone but as a normal user with a smart phone these are the features I felt are important. There have been instances where people have had firmware glitches, outlook sync issues, bluetooth problems, memory card recognition issues etc. I kind of reached a stage of "Paralysis by analysis" with all my research while buying. But none of the phones are spared from those problems, not even the iphones or the blackberrys or the android OS phones. I have not faced any of the close calls with this phone and have simply been smitten with the phone's performance, features, looks and the value for money. My verdict is a BUY!
