Samsung Wave 3 Preview
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Our Samsung Wave 3 Review is now published - click here to read it.
Bada OS 2.0 is standing loud and proud in front of you when you unlock the screen of the Samsung Wave 3, and there is a difference in visual candy compared to the previous iteration. The new TouchWiz interface is very similar to the one found on the Android flagship Galaxy S II, down to the grids that show you where you can place each widget on the homescreen, and how much cells it will take.
The lock screen now shows the weather widget and message notifications, and on the far left homescreen you can place all your widgets at once in a scrollable list, with the only static widget being the one for your favorite contacts.
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Lock screen | Home screen | Main menu | Notification bar |
The TouchWiz interface of Samsung Wave 3 | |||
Even in this prototype form, the eye candy draws well without hiccups, as should be the norm on a 1.4GHz processor. We have to also note that the touchscreen was very responsive with no lag following your finger movement, and kinetic scrolling felt like it has been given a nitro booster.
Another big addition to the interface in bada 2.0 is voice recognition which pops up almost everywhere, inviting you to say a command or phrase. We found it to be pretty accurate, provided that you speak slowly and distinctly.
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Voice recognition | Voice options |
Messaging, Internet and connectivity:
The messaging app now has a helpful contacts bar under the recipient field, from where you can quickly choose a number from the call log, for instance, and there is a quick way to attach an image, video or sound file to your outgoing message.
The email app supports automatic configuration for the most popular online services, and you can adjust a lot of font options, like size, shape and even color. Typing messages is very comfortable on the large 4” display, in both landscape and portrait modes. The virtual keyboard employs more rounded buttons with extra space between them now, which eases the process of typing correctly.
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Messaging |
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The new Dolphin 3.0 browser of the Samsung Wave 3 | ||
The Samsung Wave 3 supports a full set of connectivity options – 14.4Mbps HSDPA, 2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS, DLNA and FM radio. As with most high-end Samsung handsets of late, we have Wi-Fi Direct as well, so their owners can exchange big files quickly without the need of an access point. Of note is that the GPS chip locked position pretty quick on cold start – for about 10 seconds, and it is a new version, which supports the Russian satellite system Glonass as well, so you are double-covered with the Wave 3.
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Samsung Wave 3
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51 Comments
1. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 09:21 4 3
Thanks phonearena !
You say that it doesn't support adobe flash. However you fail to mention that it supports flash lite, could you please update that ?
An you write "sans the live wallpapers!"
Does that mean it has live wallpapers (i'm swedish, i don't know what sans means) ?
When it comes to the processor, do you know what kind of processor it has, exynos ?
3. AKm007 posted on 12 Sep 2011, 09:36 3 0
they mentioned that it has a hummingbird processor.
2. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 12 Sep 2011, 09:33 3 0
Sans means it doesn't have the live wallpapers.
8. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 10:22 3 1
So what do you think, does the wave 3 look interesting to you ?
13. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 12 Sep 2011, 11:45 2 0
To me it does look interesting. I want to see a Bada phone for myself. I have never played with one yet!
15. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:07 1 0
Okay : )
Hopefully this will come to the US, at least it should be available at online stores like amazon.
25. joaolx posted on 12 Sep 2011, 15:07 2 0
The phone in my opinion has an amazing and simple design. I would love to have this phone.
33. AKm007 posted on 13 Sep 2011, 08:03 0 0
OK Peter, I agree. This one looks really really good. But i just prefer WP7 and there's nothing can do about it. And I still think its not high-end. :)
21. roldefol posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:34 0 0
Peter - more English stealing from other languages (French this time).
5. Man2006 (unregistered) posted on 12 Sep 2011, 09:57 1 0
I would love to get this phone, even though I just got a HTC Sensation. I really wish if I can buy one phone from every OS. An Android, WP7, Bada, Symbian Belle but not an iPhone.
7. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 10:22 2 1
I remember some people writing that the Wave 3 wasn't a high end phone...
What do you have to say now ? : )
PA themselves say that it is a high end phone.
9. roldefol posted on 12 Sep 2011, 10:45 1 1
I think they're saying it looks and feels like a high-end phone, but the specs and hardware are last year's Galaxy S. That makes it more of a midrange offering. The last paragraph says it all.
14. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:06 2 0
You think 1.4 ghz processor is not high end ???
Come on man, that's not serious.
18. remixfa posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:23 2 0
peter, GHZ doesnt denote power. Its a hummingbird witch is the best single core processor and at 1.4ghz has about the same processing power as a snapdragon S3 at 1.2ghz for basic stuff. It still doesnt have multithread capability and some other things since its not a dual core though.
No, its not high end. Last year's high end is this years mid end. If its not a dual core, its not high end.. point blank. Its not a dis on the phone so dont get all hot n bothered by it. I still rock an SGS1 that runs near identical specs and its an awesome phone. But hardware is hardware and new kings of "high end" have been crowned months ago. Quad cores are only a few months from launching, soon Dual cores will be mid end and hummingbirds will be "low end".
Just be thankful its not an S2 scorpion like the thunderbolt and others use. Thats a low end 1ghz chip.
20. roldefol posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:27 0 0
People keep talking about quad cores being "a few months away", but is that the chip release date or the phone release date? It takes months to develop a phone around a chip. Dual cores may have been available from the vendors in 2010 but it took until earlier this year for the first phones to arrive.
23. remixfa posted on 12 Sep 2011, 15:02 1 0
there is supposed to be a quadcore tablet by christmas. I think its the Transformer2 if I remember correctly. Quad core phones should be out early 2012. Thats not that far away anymore. .lol
26. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 12 Sep 2011, 15:07 1 0
That is true. I can't wait until it comes out. I really want a quad-core tablet, & from what I am reading it looks to be the Asus Eee Pad Transformer 2.
27. roldefol posted on 12 Sep 2011, 15:34 0 0
As a follower of the computer industry since the Pentium days... that is truly disturbing. I thought I was in good shape with my 1.6 Ghz dual-core laptop, and pretty soon I'll have that in my phone? And next year we'll have quad-core phones? Holy crap.
44. RageQuit posted on 19 Sep 2011, 17:23 0 0
Actually there is a quad core phone out now. its Chines and no one really cares but its quad core.
28. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 16:17 0 0
The article does not say anywhere that it is a hummingbird, neither does samsung in its official press release. In fact, wo don't know what kind of processor it has, except that it is 1.4 ghz. It could be a exynos too (my guess is that it is a exynos).
About high end, i'm not going to discuss that. It is obviously a high end phone.
29. Wavesdasd (unregistered) posted on 12 Sep 2011, 17:34 0 0
Exynos is dual core. I'm pretty sure that it's always dual core.
34. AKm007 posted on 13 Sep 2011, 08:06 0 0
They said that it was hummingbird. :|
35. PeterIfromsweden posted on 13 Sep 2011, 09:40 0 0
No, they said the Wave s8500 had hummingbird. They said nothing about the Wave 3.Read the beginning of the article again.
30. ngo2dd posted on 12 Sep 2011, 23:15 0 0
No, it is not. I have no ideal where you are getting the ideal that hummingbird is faster then the S3.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-786686.html
The S2 and the hummingbird are about the same.
10. jthiagesan posted on 12 Sep 2011, 10:50 1 1
This doesn't appeal much to me. Wave 2 looks better than this
11. anirudhshirsat97 posted on 12 Sep 2011, 11:02 3 0
Cool phone. I don't think it Really requires a dual core as when I used the wave 2 it was smooth and fast. And I didn't experience any force closes for crying out loud! Still its a mid range phone at best. I'd get this rather than for say a wildfire s or a samsung galaxy ace.
16. PeterIfromsweden posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:08 1 1
Agree that it doesn't really need dual core.
But, this really is a high end phone. 1.4 ghz processor, 4 inch superamoled that is really good specifications.
19. remixfa posted on 12 Sep 2011, 12:25 1 0
amoled and hummingbird are great, but they are last years news. in order to be high end you have to be the best of the bunch.. which neither of them are anymore.. replaced by dual cores and Super Amoled+.. and soon quad cores and super amoled HD.
36. PeterIfromsweden posted on 13 Sep 2011, 09:40 0 0
They only said that the Wave s8500 had hummingbird, not the Wave 3. They don't say what kind of processor the Wave 3 has.
22. PotDragon posted on 12 Sep 2011, 13:33 0 1
Maybe you can convince yourself that this is a high end phone...but it is not.
32. PeterIfromsweden posted on 13 Sep 2011, 02:41 0 0
Well it doesn't matter what you say, the facts are still that this is a high end phone.
38. Eingild posted on 14 Sep 2011, 01:35 0 0
Bro, it is a high-end bada handset. However, comparing it with the whole mobile phone industry, i'd place it between the mid-range and high-end class.
39. PeterIfromsweden posted on 14 Sep 2011, 06:15 0 0
Did you see the new SE Xperia arc S that came out ?
that is considered to be a high end phone (the best SE has). And you can't say that the SE Xperia Arc S has better specifications than the Wave 3.
Seeing you have the Wave, will you be getting the Wave 3, or are you keeping your wave ?
40. XiphiasGladius posted on 14 Sep 2011, 06:57 0 0
The Arc S Has better Specs at the moment in my dumb opinion LOL. . . But the Battery life of the Wave 3 as posted in GMSarena is pretty impressive compared to the already impressive battery life of the Arc. . . Man I can now envision the Wave 4's specs. . .
42. PeterIfromsweden posted on 14 Sep 2011, 12:44 0 0
The screen is better on the Wave 3 (4 inch superamoled, while the Arc S has 4.2 inch TFT). The Wave 3 is better here.
Processor the Wave 3 has 1.4 ghz (we don't know what kind it has, we don't even know if it is dual or single core yet, but my guess is a single core exynos 1.4 ghz). The Arc S has 1.5 ghz snapdragon. since we don't know what kind of processor the Wave 3 has (except that it is 1.4 ghz) we don't know for sure yet which one has the best processor.
When it comes to build quality the wave 3 is made of glass and metal, while the Arc S is made of plastic. and the Wave 3 has better battery life.
so in my opinion the wave 3 has better specifications. Just imagine how good specifications the Wave 4 will have : D
43. Wavedasd (unregistered) posted on 15 Sep 2011, 21:54 0 1
If the wave had a dual core they would have stated it. Exynos isn't and never was a single core processer. Arc has the better processer. Imo arc wins
12. nb2six posted on 12 Sep 2011, 11:17 0 0
that battery compartment looks sketchy to me. I know we dont open them often. (just to take out the microSD or hard reset) but it looks like that could cause some issues down the road.
Other than that, the all metal design is pretty appealing but it's def a mid range device.
24. GTS8500 (unregistered) posted on 12 Sep 2011, 15:03 0 0
I think Samsung wave series phone are always concentrated as feature phones within the budget, not a high end smart phones..... Only Multitasking (MT) does not suffice for the definition of a smart phone ( i had already seen MT in one of the motorola razr series running on java, two year bfore). Its OS must be powerful like android & ios with the option to hav millions of apps to downloads, not an app to download million times...... but still sammy is going gud with bada taking lead from windows platform though mango update is still there to roll out....... So still bada needs to be improved. And BTW i am a user of Samsung Wave (GT S8500).
31. ToneDef posted on 13 Sep 2011, 01:51 0 0
My sister has the Wave 2, and I have the Galaxy S. Very similar in spec, except for the screen, body material, LED flash, etc. IMHO (which my sister agrees with) the Galaxy S is far better due to (1) its screen, and (2) the huge amount of apps on the Android market. My SGS1 was high-end in its day but is decidedly mid-range this year. I knew this when I bought it 4 months ago, and I'm absolutely loving it.
45. S8500 user (unregistered) posted on 21 Sep 2011, 20:30 0 0
I am just disappointed that Samsung hasn't upgraded its camera & video. I'll definitely buy a Wave3 if it captures 1080p video. To me it is basically a Wave1 with bigger screen & faster CPU. Personally I think NFC is overrated. Better pay a bit more and get a Galaxy S2.
47. jenniferzhao (unregistered) posted on 28 Sep 2011, 00:51 0 0
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48. jaswant (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2011, 05:16 0 0
give me price of s8600 mob-
9660798468
50. puneet sethi (unregistered) posted on 30 Sep 2011, 04:15 0 0
samsung ph,s are looking smart ph.. now samsung wave 3 look active,display is nice,
all over samsung wave 3 very nice nh smart ph...
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