Samsung S8500 Wave preview: First look

Design and construction

Under the display we find the only three hardware keys on the Samsung S8500 Wave front panel. The Call and End knobs are either side of the menu key. Those are all large enough and with good press, so no usability issues are to be expected.

Whether or not you will like the transition between touchscreen and hardware keys is another question but it doesn’t have a straight answer.

The Call, End and Menu keys are below the display

Above the display are the earpiece and the video-call camera, along with a couple of sensors. Those weren’t functional on our unit so we aren’t able to tell what exactly they do.

The earpiece and the video-call camera are up there

The left side of the Samsung S8500 Wave features the volume rocker, which is admittedly a bit too thin for our liking.

The volume rocker could have been better

There are two buttons on the right side. Our early pre-production sample had the camera key missing, but now it's in place. The other key on this side is the screen lock button.

There are two keys on the right side

At the top we find the microUSB port, hiding under a small plastic lid, the uncovered 3.5mm audio jack and the loudspeaker grill.

The microUSB slot and the loudspeaker grill are either side of the 3.5mm audio jack

The Samsung S8500 Wave rear only hosts the camera lens. There is a small LED flash next to it to boost its low-light performance but we shouldn’t be expecting miracles here.

The camera lens and the LED flash

The battery cover gets released by pressing a small knob at its bottom. Under it are the microSD card slot and the 1500 mAh battery. At this stage of the handset’s development it is impossible to comment on battery performance but a 1500 mAh unit should be able to keep the power-efficient AMOLED display going for quite a while.

The battery is surprisingly powerful for such a compact phone

Unfortunately, the microSD card slot is below the battery so hot-swapping is out of the question.

The build quality of the Samsung S8500 Wave is commendable even at this early stage and we only hope they keep it up. As far as hardware is concerned, the handset actually delivers more than expected and that’s rare to be seen recently.

The Samsung S8500 Wave held in hand

Now for the software side of things - the Bada user interface awaits on the next page.