Samsung ATIV Odyssey Review

Interface and Functionality:

Windows Phones are all made alike, right? Well, at their core, we can vouch that’s exactly what we see with this, seeing that the core experience is uniform amongst all Windows Phone 8 smartphones. However, as we’ve seen with Nokia’s offerings, that’s not necessarily the case. Looking through the ATIV Odyssey’s Windows Phone 8 experience, there’s nothing out of the ordinary with its flashy live tiled home screen and set of standard apps. Strangely though this time around, Sammy didn’t put in the same Samsung Hub we’ve seen on previous Windows Phone devices from their stable – albeit, there’s the “Samsung Zone” area in the Windows Store. Considering that there’s nothing new or exclusive found with the ATIV Odyssey’s experience, it lacks the value found with the Nokia Lumia 822 in this category.


Digging down into some of the core organizer apps on the handset, it features the standard assortment we’re familiar seeing. However, Sammy manages to bring along its own MiniDiary app, which as its name implies, is an electronic journal of sorts – with the ability to add multimedia content, such as photos and drawing, to posts.


Smaller in real estate footprint that some other notable Windows Phone 8 smartphones of late, there’s a bit of a learning curve trying to adjust typing with its on-screen keyboard, since the layout isn’t as spacious. Nevertheless, the Windows Phone keyboard is responsive and accurate enough to keep up with our rate. As for the emailing experience, it’s the usual fanfare with its features and functionality.

Processor and Memory:

Somewhat a familiar chipset in many current generation Windows Phone smartphones, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey is powered by none other than a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 plus processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. Needless to say, it’s effective enough in executing all tasks with minimal fluff, which is the expected outcome with all Windows Phone 8 devices. From basic tasks to more complex things, it’s able to maintain a steady performance that’s rarely laggy or choppy.

Internally, it’s packing total of 7.28GB of free storage out of the box. Supplementing that capacity, though, is an available microSD card slot that’s ready to increase its tally even more, which is an inviting item to find in a Windows Phone 8 smartphone.


Internet and Connectivity:

Surfing the web couldn’t be any more pleasing on the Samsung ATIV Odyssey, seeing that it provides all of the comforts that’s found with 4G LTE connectivity. Beyond the lightning fast speeds seen with it, we’re greeted with fast rendering and slick navigational controls to make the experience super pleasant. However, due to the display’s PenTile matrix arrangement, there’s a lot of pinch zooming needed to draw out some finer details.


In the US, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey is meant to play nicely with Verizon’s network – both voice and data. However, it’s also enabled for global usage because it’s packing GSM radios as well. With the rest of its connectivity arsenal, it features aGPS, Bluetooth 3.1, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot functionality, and NFC. With the latter, it works in tandem with the platform’s “Tap + Send” feature to quickly share a variety of content with other NFC-enabled devices.