Samsung Focus 2 Review
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As we all know, the Nokia Lumia 900 kicked Windows Phones into the stratosphere by bringing 4G LTE into the mix with the platform, and soon after that, HTC brought to the table its offering in the Titan II. Strangely though, Samsung’s presence was absent as its competitors moved up one step ahead of them. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait much longer as the Samsung Focus 2 is set for arrival, bringing the Korean based company up to snuff, but more importantly, it’s aiming to stiff arm the competition with its tantalizing $49.99 on-contract price. Will its tempting price point be enough to sway consumers to it?
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- microUSB cable
- Wall Charger
- Stereo Headphones
- Quick Start Guide
- Safety & Warranty Guide
Design:
At its core, the Samsung Focus 2 follows firmly to the design principles found with previous Samsung devices, since it sports that all too conspicuous sturdy all-plastic body that makes it lightweight. However, we find its design on the adorable side thanks to its pristine white paint job and rounded curves. Adding more love to its design, we really like how its slick feel enables it to maintain a clean appearance at all times – meaning, it doesn’t exhibit any smudges or fingerprints. Having to compete against the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II, we’re happy to see the Focus 2 finding a sweet spot with its balanced approach.
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The Samsung Focus 2 sports a sturdy all-plastic body that makes it lightweight | ||
Donning the typical trio of Windows Phone buttons, they’re able to catch a lot of attention due to their piercing backlighting. Meanwhile, above the display, we find its earpiece, front-facing VGA camera, ambient light, and the proximity sensors.
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Windows Phone buttons | Front-facing camera |
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Power and camera keys (right) | microUSB port (bottom) | Volume rocker (left) | 3.5mm jack (top) |
The sides of the Samsung Focus 2 | |||
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Back | Battery compartment |
Display:
Neither too large or too small, the Samsung Focus 2 actually employs the same identical display found with its predecessor. Specifically, it’s a 4” WVGA (480 x 800) Super AMOLED display, which is nothing to write home about nowadays, but it’s still nevertheless a pleasant looking thing. WVGA resolution is hardly a surprise, even more when it’s used by all Windows Phones thus far, but it’s enough to make out some fine details thanks to its 223 ppi pixel density. Without a doubt, its high-contrast, wide viewing angles, and luscious color production all combine together to provide us with a visual treat.
Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out
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12 Comments
1. -box- posted on 17 May 2012, 08:22 1 0
Good review. About as expected, given the introductory price point compared to the other WP7.5 LTE devices
2. jackhammeR posted on 17 May 2012, 08:26 1 0
"Cons
Shoots terrible photos
Poor calling quality"
In particular the last one. It's a phone so if it doesn't have at least a good calling quality does it deserve 7,5?? I doubt.
Moreover, Lumia 900 has great calling quality and shoots much better photos and was scored only half a point higher.
3. lonestrider posted on 17 May 2012, 08:29 0 0
I think this is just another Windows Phone device. With no something new. All the specs is just like the others.
4. Muhannad posted on 17 May 2012, 08:30 1 0
It's ironic that there's review of a Windows Phone when just the previous article is titled "101 reasons not to buy a Windows Phone"
5. Mobile-X-Pert posted on 17 May 2012, 13:42 2 0
Yeah Phonearena made a great mistake by posting that article.
6. Sangeet posted on 17 May 2012, 23:11 1 0
Who has the white theme on in a Windows Phone Device which has an amoled screen, switch to Black theme and then see the beauty of the screen not like the one in this review, this one makes it look so bad, same happened with the nokia lumia 900 review
Windows Phone 7.5 (with black theme, ofcourse) is a joy to be used on the Amoled Display cuz it has the deepest blacks, and the white one really sucks bad on the amoled, looks bad and eats up all the battery
7. Sangeet posted on 18 May 2012, 00:32 0 0
Why the heck just a Windows Phone can't have a microSD card?
i mean that is a feature that is being given in a phone since the late 1990's. What the heck is happening to all these companies, HTC has the one X, but with a limited storage of 16gb out of which only 11 GB is practically accessible by the user, why not just include a micro SD slot and have the user to have more memory,
And having a HD screen in the one X and so contrast and other things, it is a joy to watch movies in it but can't get enough of it as once transferred some movies then everything is dead.
If the companies continued on doing things like this i think they have no better future as the demand for more memory is increasing
8. snowgator posted on 18 May 2012, 17:14 0 0
Okay, I have really done some questioning on this, especially with WP devices only having 8 or 16 G of storage. The best explaination I got was from a tech at the Champaign IL AT&T shop. The story he heard was the use of the storage card really changed some software features that caused a ton of "bricking" during tests. The orignal Focus used a stroage card, but the way it was incorporated more or less turned it into "hard" stroage- once in the software, you could not pull it without really messing with the phones performance. It was expensive to manufacturer, and a headache for all involved. So, future WP devices of the first and second Generations skipped it.
WP8 devices will allow for storage cards, as the software will be optimized.
9. snowgator posted on 18 May 2012, 17:17 0 0
My Focus S isn't great in camera, either. But the bad call quality is strange, as my "S" easily is among the better phones I have owned.
Overall, this will be down to 20.00$ or cheaper fairly quick, and it will be a steal at that price. I think it is a great looking phone, and a great LTE option.
No, not better than the 900, but it is not intending to be.
10. Saamic posted on 21 May 2012, 20:56 1 0
As far as design it looks simple and practical yet awesome
11. Meemomof7 posted on 31 May 2012, 16:03 0 0
My granddaughter graduated from USMC boot camp in February and before she left for MCT she purchased a Samsung Focus Flash cell phone thru AT&T at Walmart (March). She dropped her phone yesterday and the screen shattered. When she purchased the phone, she was not asked if she wanted insurance, and since this is her first cell phone, she didn't think to ask about it.
How can she get a replacement without having to pay full price?
Thank you!
12. lindsayorum posted on 18 Jan 2013, 06:47 0 0
I am as disappointed as can be with this device, can not update without home PC, volume sound is lousy, I have always had an android device phone and after switching to windows I see why. I could do everything rite from my cell phone, including downloading music to my library, again with this phone it must be connected to a home PC. My next phone purchased will definitely have more background done on it, I am not pleased with my phone at all. And there is no slot for an sd card. Can't change the font size in text messaging either, print is very small and hard to read at times, just not very many handy features on this device, it is eye captivating but looks van be deceiving!
