Samsung I8520 Galaxy Beam
- D
- David, London
- mxG
- 11 Sep 2010
Hi all,
First of all Simon, thanks for responding to our questions especially mine.
I have to correct one thing you said, the Beam doesn't have strongest battery. Although it is up there. You can get an extended battery for the HTC Desire 3200 MAH. Somebody used it for I think 8 days without a charge in between. If you google search
htc desire mugen 3200 battery, you will see what I am on about. Also HTC Desire provide another extended battery if you google search Seidio Innocell htc desire. Why I mention is because some people who will not get the Beam may opt for the Desire. Also these extended batteries are much better than the one supplied with the phone.
I am no longer getting the Beam. I am just no longer interested. I did seriously consider getting the iphone 4 but the price and other issues such as no SD card, the micro SIM (stupid idea), only getting apps from Apple put me off it. I like Android and will the Desire. It is faster than the Beam at 1GHZ processing speed and much better looking. I don't need the projector at all and was only interested due to its beast of a battery. However the extended battery issues are solved with the Desire now. The price on amazon UK is very good too IMO.
I don't know if this will be released in Europe (London, UK) where I live. The Desire is readily available too.
- S
- Simon
- uBE
- 11 Sep 2010
David, London, UK, 10 Sep 2010Hi Simon,
Thanks for getting back to us. As you have a r... moreHey people, ill try and answer most of the questions:
@Tired of Waiting - Unless you are in Korea you are out of luck. Korea has a variation of Beam that is white colored with similar specs. Atm Samsung phone is focus entirely on the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Tab. Perhaps an eventual international release but by then the hardware in the Beam will be obsolete. And by the looks of thing they will rather develop a successor to Galaxy S/ Tab which is selling more than like 1000x more than the Beam. Eg you must import it from SIngapore! You are in luck however as the newest batch of Beam are free from the stuck screen issues due to the latest firmware.
@ ppl buying Beam - By reasoning if you want to get the beam, make sure you are getting it for the Projector, 8MP camera, Camera flash, 1800 mAh battery and the Sound Engine. Basically these are the only factors above the Galaxy S. Otherwise everything else the Galaxy S just do much better.
@ vince - if you want the Beam you will need to import it. End of story. Btw I am in NZ and i imported it on the 2nd week :p
@ david london - The phone was easily overclocked with no flashing. Basically two apps was used. 1 app for rooting and one app for on the fly overclocking. Can be done in minutes. There's a thread on hardwarezone sg where I posted the instructions.
Stable at 900mhz means it is stable to do everything :). I had it reboot, freezing when i was testing the higher mhz with not enough voltage. But that is common for overclocking.
The battery is the biggest in the industry at 1800 mAh. Obviously at only 3.7'' and running at stock 720mhz the battery life will be very good in comparison to say Galaxy S running at 1ghz with 4'' screen and a much smaller battery. It will most likely dominate every android phone on the market in terms of battery usage. Even iphone4 I reckon. It can project continuously for 3hours! That light on there is like 9lumens max? That's huge for a phone. I use the projector intensively so i charge everyday. But eg today I was out for 8-9 hours, did some texting, 3g browsing, downloading and had 65% at the end of it.
Im based in New Zealand. I ordered through a mobile shop online who are based in Singapore. Delivery was quick. 3-5 working days I recalled. Service was ok.
In comparison to the N8. You will be getting the Beam for its superior Battery life, Projector and the Android OS. If you are not getting it for these 3 reasons alone then N8 will be your better choice.
Massive mobile gamer as in a true gamer or only those who play phone only games? Because the android system can run easily games from nes,genesis,psx,gameboy,snes, neo geo and etc. How do you feel about ripping out the phone and playing a game of pokemon emerald and street fighter 2 turbo?
for PSX games however, atm only the SGS can really run the game smoothly. Due to its superior SGX540 graphics chip.
I dun really play phone games, so iphone specific games dun appeal to me at all. I play real console stuff like Street fighters, pokemon, final fantasy, super marioland on my android instead :p
- T
- Tired of Waiting
- Tv$
- 11 Sep 2010
Samsung pls let us know if this phone would be released internationally. I have been waiting for this phone since it was announced. if this wont make it to other markets, ill look elsewhere
- P
- Peter
- wdZ
- 11 Sep 2010
Simon, 10 Sep 2010Hi Guys I am back now with my beam fixed. I overclocked ... moreNow that it's fixed, have you tried using the Lock Pattern on it? Mine got fixed too (Android Screen freeze). Im on the new firmware (PDA:I8520DXJH1 CSC:I8520STHJH1). Is that your firmware too? (Dial *#1234# to find out)WHy did you send yours in for repair?
- C
- Canopus
- 0CU
- 10 Sep 2010
I'm still waiting for this phone
The other phones that has become later than this is available in Iran,but I can not find this in Market
Who knows when will it come in Iran?
Tanx dears
- C
- Canopus
- 0CU
- 10 Sep 2010
Hey Jimmy .hehhhh
It's not the secondary camera
It's video projector
- t
- tictoc
- pKP
- 10 Sep 2010
Vince, 10 Sep 2010It does look like both the USA & Australia will not be ... moreI agree with you Vince, I think this Beam is just a prototype for sale in Singapore,just to test the water to see if it takes off and will probably be dumped for a newer version next year, it'll never hit the UK shops not while they are pushing the sale of the Samsung S.
Goodbye dream phone, maybe see a better one next year, in the meantime, I'm saving up for the Iphone 4.
- m
- met
- 4u@
- 10 Sep 2010
who cares about the camera or any of that if they stopped pushing for it into other countries and even singapore. Has anyone heard any NEW news on this? I want this badly but seems like its not worth the price with all the flaws. Still waiting to see if it will be fixed up or even have updates to android 2.2
- J
- Josiah
- 4q1
- 10 Sep 2010
When is it coming to the states?? I dont want to spend $1100 to get it here from Singapore but my phone right now stinks!
- V
- Vince
- i5B
- 10 Sep 2010
It does look like both the USA & Australia will not be getting this phone for different reasons. I really thought that a UK/EUROPE date would have been announced at the IFA show in Berlin this week. Unfortunately, this hasnt been the case so you have to doubt whether this phone will ever make the UK. I could be wrong but i do have my doubts. Anyone agree? or does anyone have info to the contrary?
- E
- Expansion
- PZP
- 10 Sep 2010
samsung beam i8520 chip SGX540 want to use, if possible, like other.
- D
- David, London, UK
- TXF
- 10 Sep 2010
Simon, 10 Sep 2010Hi Guys
I am back now with my beam fixed. I overclocked ... moreHi Simon,
Thanks for getting back to us. As you have a rare breed mobile phone, be prepared for several questions from people on here. Anyway mine are as follows;
In simple terms, how would you overclock the machine?
When this has been overclocked, does it worsen the performance of the phone in any aspect (gaming, music, photos, calls etc)?
I have heard the battery is excellent. Can you confirm this? All the other smart phones irrespective of brand have poor batteries requiring at least daily charging. The Beam battery really attracts me from what I have read.
I am based in London, UK. Which country are you based in and where did you get your phone from? If a foreign company, did you get a quick delievery and good customer services?
I am still undecided about what phone to acquire. This still remains my first choice and costs around £400 on a certain website through google search King of Gadgets. The Nokia N8 is my second choice (good battery) but I am tired of Nokia as I have always had them. I still own one. Nokia 5800. HTC have poor batteries hence me avoiding them. The Iphone is too expensive for me but great for gaming. I am a massive mobile gamer. Would you recommend this phone for games? Thanks, David
- S
- Simon
- uBE
- 10 Sep 2010
Hi Guys
I am back now with my beam fixed. I overclocked and left it at about 900mhz atm, 1ghz needs too much voltage to stable, perhaps I have a bad cpu.
But anyway for some questions recently.
Of course the Beam can play 3D Games, it spots a SGX530 graphics chip. Eg Droid X. Pity this chip's performance is only roughly 50% of SGX540 from the SGS. However it is fully capable of running games like Quake 3, I tried Tekken 3 as well but the frames are too horrible lol
The exact CPU in the SGB is an TI OMAP3440 under clocked to 720mhz. With some tinkering you can easily OC It to 900mhz. Not sure why we can't easily push it higher even thou the older OMAP3340 can be taken to 1.2ghz with little effort.
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- Expansion
- PZP
- 10 Sep 2010
Samsung I8520 Galaxy Beam support PowerVr sgx ???
Be curious
- t
- tictoc
- pKP
- 09 Sep 2010
Anonymous, 09 Sep 2010If it is a MHz cortex 8 CPU that would be a good news. I th... moreit's definitely not a hummingbird processor, I think you're mixing it up with the Galaxy S, more likely it's an ARM based one
- t
- tictoc
- pKP
- 09 Sep 2010
jimmy, 09 Sep 2010Anyone know what that lens is on the top of the phone? Is t... moreOMG where have you been!
that lense is the whole point of this phone, that's the pico projector that puts a picture on the wall 50 inches across
- ?
- Anonymous
- 0pi
- 09 Sep 2010
If it is a MHz cortex 8 CPU that would be a good news. I think that this might be a hummingbird model but i might be wrong. If somebody who have got beam can test it to see what CPU actually is inside that would be great.
- j
- jimmy
- jbJ
- 09 Sep 2010
Anyone know what that lens is on the top of the phone? Is that where they placed the secondary camera?
- t
- tictoc
- pKP
- 09 Sep 2010
expansion, 09 Sep 2010samsung beam support play games 3d ???Yes or noI don't think the BEAM can play 3D games, in fact I'm pretty sure it doesn't, only the new nintendo DS can do that.
Anyone care to back me up on that!
- e
- expansion
- Mfx
- 09 Sep 2010
samsung beam support play games 3d ???Yes or no