Samsung Wave, the first handset running the company's Bada OS platform, is a full-fledged smartphone, marked by high-end hardware, compact frame and an affordable price.
Physically, it's far from the flashiest touchscreen device. Regardless, the ultra-slim 0.4-inch frame and aluminum construction makes it one of the better-bodied offerings in Samsung's roster. Out front sits a 3.3-inch Super AMOLED screen. Like the company's other phones with a similar display, it makes for gorgeously vibrant images with wide viewing angles.
As a phone, the Wave manages excellent call quality, with natural-sounding voices and plenty of volume. Those on the other end reported a very slight echo; otherwise, everything was peachy. Speakerphone worked similarly, being very usable even in noisy environments. Battery life is rated at a whopping 15 hours of talk time, making it one of the better smartphones out there as far as power consumption is concerned.
Despite the rather affordable pricing, the Wave doesn't skimp on hardware. Aside from the AMOLED display, it boasts a 1GHz CPU, 720p video recording and decoding, 5.1 channel surround and 2GB of built-in storage (with microSD expansion). Video playback is fantastic on the gorgeous screen (with support for H.264 and DivX, among others), making it one of the better multimedia handsets around.
The pairing of Samsung's Bada OS and TouchWiz 3.0 worked pretty well, making for intuitive navigation and fast operation. Despite positioning itself as a non-competitor to other smartphone OSes (e.g. Android, Windows Phone 7), Bada packs most of what those other platforms have to offer - robust messaging (with a unified inbox and Exchange support), social networking integration, push services and its own app store. We love the usefulness of the included widgets.
Both 3G and WiFi are onboard, although it doesn't support US 3G bands. Those overseas, however, should find the full connectivity offerings very handy. The 5.0 megapixel camera offers plenty of settings and takes very good photos, with 720p captures proving to have really good quality for a smartphone video.
Priced well under $400 unlocked, the Samsung Wave is one of the most cost-effective smartphone offerings around. While it's obviously going to be thinner on the variety of apps compared to Android or iOS, the default capabilities easily make it a very competitive choice.
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