Samsung S8500 Wave review: Hello, world!

01 June 2010
Smartphone for the masses or feature phone of the future? Samsung would gladly have it either way. The question rather is, will the Bada OS keep up the pace of its debut device. We’ve been following the new smart platform since its first. Update: Samsung Dive overview added...

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  • s
  • scoopyscoopy
  • x$K
  • 07 Jun 2010

paulpaul, 07 Jun 2010finally got the facebook integration working on contacts. i... morepaulpaul, you are making us jealous... :P.. i ordered mine from UK since the 2nd. 2 - 3 working days but sat, sun and queen's birthday..hopefully arrives tomorrow if custom doesn't mess it up...erhhhhh... can't wait for my baby...

    • A
    • Anderw
    • U2c
    • 07 Jun 2010

    I know its bit early to ask this question.. but still, Does any one know how many sms can Samsung Wave store?

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 0U$
      • 07 Jun 2010

      Did you see the "Dungeon Hunter"? it's a game for Bada made by Gameloft
      IT HAS 131.22 MB SIZE...

        • p
        • paulpaul
        • 3pb
        • 07 Jun 2010

        finally got the facebook integration working on contacts. its absolutely awesome how it pulls up all my friends events notification and show them right on the contacts. im so glad i went for wave.

          • J
          • JK
          • q{T
          • 07 Jun 2010

          Narcolepsy, 07 Jun 2010Please bring out swipe text app for the wave!!!!Yes! That would be perfect! I hope the Wave will arrive in Canada by July or August at the latest. :)

            • N
            • Narcolepsy
            • wvP
            • 07 Jun 2010

            Please bring out swipe text app for the wave!!!!

              • V
              • Valera
              • vCM
              • 07 Jun 2010

              Hi guys, I'd like to ask something. Did anyone experience an issue with widgets completely disappearing from home screens? This is happening if you simply close the widgets from the task manager, to free some RAM memory...

                • p
                • paulpaul
                • 3pb
                • 06 Jun 2010

                hi sally here's how u change volume for keyboard/keypad
                from main menu > settings>sound profiles> select the profile ur using > scroll down till u can see system> change the volume here.

                that should answer ur 1st question.
                now for the 2nd one, when using keyboard, press and hold @EN (2nd from bottom right, beside enter key)> that brings up "keyboard settings" > select "keyboard type"> choose "keypad"

                walla! now u can use old phonepad to text. hope that does the magic. cheers

                  • w
                  • worya
                  • 0CA
                  • 06 Jun 2010

                  hey guys ive already gotten this phone n its excellent, i waz just wondering if any1 knows how to type a text in the old numberpad way, as i have gotten used to that style n while the kwerty keypad is good its not the same. thanks

                    • s
                    • sally
                    • ny5
                    • 06 Jun 2010

                    paulpaul , 05 Jun 2010i got my wave through post yesterday and been playing with ... morepaulpaul, would you be able to tell me how to turn down the sound when inputting on the keypad. I went through all the sound profile stuff but couln't do it. also i prefer to text using keypad rather that qwerty keyboard but every time i go to text qwerty comes up. how can i use keypad for texting. thanks.Sally

                      • M
                      • Mr Chips
                      • tAU
                      • 06 Jun 2010

                      Thanks for the reply PaulPaul,

                      I guess the one bad thing being navigation software shortfall that you thought of is good as I already knew that. Since you have no other real bugbear with this it just confirms what I already thought - great phone - unmatched for what you get for the money.

                      Now if they will just release on Aust. market for Next G network....

                      cmon Samsung.... hurry up!!!

                        • p
                        • paulpaul
                        • 3pb
                        • 05 Jun 2010

                        Neil, 05 Jun 2010thanks a lot paulpaul.. I too ordered the Wave a couple hou... moreha ha... good one neil. so should i contact samsung or u gonna do it for me? lol

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • p1s
                          • 05 Jun 2010

                          any problems with oleophobic coating wearing off (as on 3gs)?? have heard about it! just one week after release!

                            • N
                            • Neil
                            • nCh
                            • 05 Jun 2010

                            paulpaul, 05 Jun 2010sounds like a wise man. i belive, from now on every day ull... morethanks a lot paulpaul.. I too ordered the Wave a couple hours back...
                            Samsung should give you commission or something lol...
                            cheers!

                              • p
                              • paulpaul
                              • 3pb
                              • 05 Jun 2010

                              sounds like a wise man. i belive, from now on every day ull get to see new apps piling up the store. keep them comming.

                                • a
                                • alex
                                • ph@
                                • 05 Jun 2010

                                paulpaul Thanks a LOT!!! Guess I'll buy wave after all, don't think there's a device that good for such a low price. Good thing there's still some kind of navigation available. And also I've read that Ndrive will be available after some time on Bada aswell and stuff will get ported eventually, because of the new competition for developers.

                                  • p
                                  • paulpaul
                                  • 3pb
                                  • 05 Jun 2010

                                  hi alex..i suppose my last post should clear out some of the questions u asked. ill try to answer rest of them here

                                  1.onboard GPS is very sensitive, locks satellites pretty fast. like i already said navigation soft is route66, it shows ur position on map in realtime, it moves as u move, rotates as u take turn (uses magnetometer) but cant be used for turn-by-turn voice guided navigation unless u pay for it, aka buy licence.

                                  2. i was browsing youtube (desktop version, not the mobile one) on wave less than half an hour ago without any sort of problems, video loads up very fast but thats becasue i was useing wifi, i suppose over 3g data, i would be slow but the browser itself is very fluid. yah so there's no problem surfing flash sites.

                                  3. picture quality is very good, quality doesnt depend on how many MP cam u do ve, rather it depends on optics. as far as the quality goes, it takes better indoor shots than x10. pretty low noise, images r very clear and sharp. and outdoor shots under direct sunlight or bight conditions are crystal clear. ll post some images later on, check them out.

                                  hope i was clear enough.
                                  cheers

                                    • p
                                    • paulpaul
                                    • 3pb
                                    • 05 Jun 2010

                                    Anonymous, 05 Jun 2010Hey PaulPaul, Thanks for review. SatNav and Maps appa... moresatnav is standard route66 application which comes preloaded on the device. 1st time when u run the route66, after initial installation it ll ask u to activate the version and from then on its pretty straight forward. uses on-board compass for direction. follow the link to get more information.
                                    http://www.66.com/samsung/wave/help/

                                    and in terms of google maps, well its just browser based standard google maps. the google widget on the home screen (3 options-search,maps,mail) is just a shortcut which takes u to internet browser....has pretty much all the options and layers but turn-by-turn google navigation is a no go. as far as i can tell, turn-by-turn google navigation only works with android devices.

                                    other than route66 and google maps...i dont see anyother navigation software available at the moment. but it might change in couple of months time (or at least, i hope so).

                                    Sorry mate, i vent seen any apps for VPN and SSH clients on bada apps store. keep in mind that bada store went live about a week ago, its too early to tell anything. if wave sells as well as samsung predicted, in couple of months bada store ll get flooded with new applications.


                                    "And one last thing. What have you found that you are a little dissapointed with (if anything)??"...........now thats a very tricky question...hmm let me see...hmm i always wanted a cash-machine on my phone, too bad wave didnt ve this magnificent fiture...imagine the possibilities
                                    other than that i wished samsung gave away lifetime licence for route66 like nokia doing with ovi maps or android with googlemaps. honestly speaking giving away lifetime worth route66 with wave would ve been the best way to promote a brand new os.

                                    sorry guys took me quite a while to get back. its just i vent left my flat since yesterday (after wave arrived through the post) but in order answer a few satnav related question, i actually had to go outside and test it out myself.... hence the delay

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • xmh
                                      • 05 Jun 2010

                                      Is the one 'bada' app you can have open only closed when another is open or can you leave it running while you use one of the native apps?

                                        • h
                                        • hurr
                                        • tV3
                                        • 05 Jun 2010

                                        Jade, 05 Jun 2010That was the point what i want to write here.... The mid... moreOCD and proud of it eh?