Samsung Wave M Review

Introduction:

On our own count, the Samsung Wave M is not supposed to replace the Wave 723, which was a midrange bada alternative with some clever design tricks to make it stand out. It is introducing a lower- midrange category in the bada lineup, as it sports a 5MP camera and a larger screen than the entry level Wave Y, but keeps the same resolution and processor.

With this filing issue out of the way, let's examine what will make the Samsung Wave M stand out in comparison with its low-ranked Wave Y brethren and the plethora of Android handsets with similar specs out there.

In the box:

• Wall charger
• microUSB cable
• 2GB microSD card
• Quick start guide
• Warranty leaflet

Design:

The back cover seems brushed as if with metallic finish, but is made of plastic, and is pretty slippery. It is a somewhat bulky piece for its screen size at 0.48” (12.2mm), and there's enough grip on the sides. It is light, but comparatively thick, and this chubbiness, coupled with the signature tapered back of the new bada handsets make it easy to hold.



You can compare the Samsung Wave M with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The 3.65” LCD display sports the same 320x480 resolution we find on the lowly Wave Y, which means  that its 158ppi pixel density is worse than the category average - the interface looks granular throughout. Sunlight visibility is decent only when the screen is at full brightness, and you have to do this manually as there is no light sensor.


We have a 5MP camera on the back with an LED flash, situated next to the speaker grill, and the addition of a front-facing cam compared to the Wave Y is a nice touch. The volume rocker on the left, power/lock key on the right, and the home key underneath the screen are all easy to discern, with good travel.

Interface and Functionality:

As mentioned above, the screen resolution on this size is detrimental to the initial impression from the TouchWiz UI over bada 2.0. Whatever eye-candy the interface overlay adds, the pixel density takes a bit away from, but, as with anything else, you get used to it as time spent with the handset goes by.

The TouchWiz UI here, however, introduces notifications on the lock screen, and a dedicated homescreen for cool widgets with transparent backgrounds, which you can scroll up and down, instead of swiping, called Live Panel. The UI also sports redrawn icons and folders, as well as the new radio buttons for turning different functions on and off.  


The 832MHz processor runs things very smooth and zippy, without any interface jams.

The 3.65” display size makes it comfortable enough to type on the virtual keyboard, and bada OS 2.0 has a pretty well-spaced layout we've come to appreciate, so communicating via the new ChatON messaging service, or using the Social Hub that aggregates your social networking and messaging services in one place is fairly easy.



Internet and Connectivity:

Samsung's new version of bada's Dolphin browser adds a download manager and prettier interface compared to the previous version, but still doesn't support desktop Adobe Flash, only Flash Lite for ads. Text reflow, pinching and scrolling are executed fine, but while reading text we again get unpleasantly up close and personal with the crappy pixel density, which makes letters look a tad jagged.


The Samsung Wave M sports a nice set of connectivity options – 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct, as well as Bluetooth, A-GPS, DLNA with the AllShare app, FM Radio and even NFC, which has its own app for making and receiving NFC tags.

Camera:

The 5MP camera is accompanied by a LED flash for indoor shots, and the camera interface is the standard bada fare with Panorama mode and blink detection, as well as a few effects you can apply to the photos. Shot-to-shot times are 2-3 seconds with the on-screen shutter button, provided that you have turned the default preview feature off.


Photos turned out with accurate colors, but slightly notched-up contrast compared with reality. The camera focuses well and sharpness is decent, plus the phone captures detail commensurate for a 5MP shooter. Indoor pictures came a bit soft under strong light, and under medium lighting the white balance was off, resulting in yellowish cast over the photo. The LED flash did an average job illuminating the scene from about six feet, and didn't cast any weird shadows. Apart from the slight hiccups we mentioned, indoor photos are pretty good.

The Samsung Wave M records 640x480 video with 30fps, which makes for a watchable experience, but can't be compared to HD 720p and 1080p video capture regimes, of course. Other than that, the video is with accurate color representation and enough sharpness.

Samsung Wave M Sample Video:



Mulimedia:

The Wave M has a decent music player, which supports albums, artists and playlists, but there aren't equalizers or song recognition features. Visually it is polished, employing some transparencies, as well as cool album art carousel in landscape mode, which you can switch to a jog dialer if you get bored by it. There is a 5.1 channel mock surround sound present in headset mode.


The handset only plays MPEG-4 video files up to 640x480, which is a bummer considering DivX/Xvid support comes standard on a lot of Samsung mid- or even low-end handsets. There are also no photo and video editors, not only embedded in the Gallery interface, but also missing as preloaded standalone apps.

Performance:

Call quality in the earpiece of the Wave M is with adequate volume, and there aren't any notable distortions in the sound. The other party said they can hear us well, and our voices sounded clean. There is no secondary mic port for noise-cancellation on the Samsung Wave M, so the ambient noise around you will be present on the other end along with your voice.

There is also no proximity sensor, so the screen just locks up after you answer the call, and you have to unlock it to key in something with an automated reply system, or turn on the speaker.

The 1350mAh battery is quoted for 6 hours and 30 minutes of talk time in 3G mode, as well as 20 days on standby.

Conclusion:

Overall, the Wave M sports an OK design, without any bells and whistles, but it feels sturdy, and is comfortable to grab and hold, albeit bulky. The biggest gripe is a lower than usual pixel density for the category, which sometimes makes text appear jagged, and the TouchWiz interface granular.

What we did appreciate were the decent outdoor pictures from the 5MP shooter and the good call quality. The Wave M doesn't stand much chance against a decent Android midrange phone with the hundreds of thousands of apps backing it up, but it is a decent addition to the bada lineup nonetheless.

Phones like the Samsung Galaxy Ace with Android are in the Wave M price range, and offer access to Android Market with similar hardware specs. For the same screen size as the Wave M plus Android you can look at the Acer Liquid Metal, which can be found currently very cheap, but its camera shots are worse than with the Wave M.

Frankly, you can also get the Wave II, or even the first Samsung Wave, which are way better than the Wave M, and can be found at similar prices.

The Nokia 603 is also a good alternative, despite missing an LED flash, since you get more apps than with bada OS, and free lifetime navigation, plus a very bright display with higher resolution.

Software version of the reviewed unit: bada 2.01110162350LISS

Samsung Wave M Video Review: