The Samsung Focus S is the top dog in the Korean company’s Windows Phone lineup. It is the bigger brother of the Samsung Focus Flash in AT&T’s smartphone lineup.
The term “bigger” is almost entirely related to size here. Due to Microsoft’s tight hardware restrictions for their Windows Phone platform, the line between a flagship and a budget device is quite thin. Thus, the Focus S and Focus Flash share chipsets and CPUs. The differences between the two are in the screen size, built-in memory, and the camera units – here the Focus S is better equipped.
The Samsung Focus S, despite being a new release, should look quite familiar to you. In a rather clever fashion, Samsung’s designers have decided to shape the device as a twin to the highly successful I9100 Galaxy S II – not a bad idea given the fact that the Android powered handset is still selling like hotcakes.
As always, we’ll kick the review off with the key features of the Samsung Focus S, followed by its main disadvantages.
Key Features
4.3" 16M-color Super AMOLED Plus screen with WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA (14.4 Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76Mbps)
Windows Phone 7.5 operating system
Ability to uninstall wireless provider’s proprietary apps out of the box
1.4 GHz Scorpion CPU, 512MB RAM, Snapdragon chipset
8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and geo-tagging; 1.3MP front unit
720p video recording (the OS does not allow higher resolution yet)
A number of Samsung proprietary apps, including a capable photo editor
Bing Maps with free navigation
16GB of built-in storage
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Standard microUSB port (charging)
Wi-Fi b/g/n; DLNA support; Wi-Fi hotspot capable
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
Accelerometer for screen auto rotation
FM radio with RDS
Office document editor
Built-in A-GPS receiver
Voice-to-text functionality
Main disadvantages
No system-wide file manager
Non-expandable memory
No Bluetooth file transfers
No USB mass storage mode
Limited third-party apps availability
No Flash (nor Silverlight) support in the browser
Too dependent on Zune software for file management and syncing
No DivX/XviD video support (automatic transcoding provided by Zune software, but lowers quality)
We’ve already encountered Windows Phone 7.5 Mango on several occasions. The OS has significantly matured with the latest update – it is now a viable alternative for those, who don’t want to go down the iOS or Android road.
Sadly however, Microsoft’s creation leaves no room for customization. You get the same experience, regarding of the device you’re using it on. This means that it is up to the hardware of the respective devices to win the potential consumer over – a welcome news for the Samsung Focus S, given its Galaxy S II pedigree.
source: gsmarena.com
READ MORE - Samsung Focus S review: Different kind of flagship
The term “bigger” is almost entirely related to size here. Due to Microsoft’s tight hardware restrictions for their Windows Phone platform, the line between a flagship and a budget device is quite thin. Thus, the Focus S and Focus Flash share chipsets and CPUs. The differences between the two are in the screen size, built-in memory, and the camera units – here the Focus S is better equipped.
The Samsung Focus S, despite being a new release, should look quite familiar to you. In a rather clever fashion, Samsung’s designers have decided to shape the device as a twin to the highly successful I9100 Galaxy S II – not a bad idea given the fact that the Android powered handset is still selling like hotcakes.
As always, we’ll kick the review off with the key features of the Samsung Focus S, followed by its main disadvantages.
Key Features
4.3" 16M-color Super AMOLED Plus screen with WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA (14.4 Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76Mbps)
Windows Phone 7.5 operating system
Ability to uninstall wireless provider’s proprietary apps out of the box
1.4 GHz Scorpion CPU, 512MB RAM, Snapdragon chipset
8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and geo-tagging; 1.3MP front unit
720p video recording (the OS does not allow higher resolution yet)
A number of Samsung proprietary apps, including a capable photo editor
Bing Maps with free navigation
16GB of built-in storage
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Standard microUSB port (charging)
Wi-Fi b/g/n; DLNA support; Wi-Fi hotspot capable
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
Accelerometer for screen auto rotation
FM radio with RDS
Office document editor
Built-in A-GPS receiver
Voice-to-text functionality
Main disadvantages
No system-wide file manager
Non-expandable memory
No Bluetooth file transfers
No USB mass storage mode
Limited third-party apps availability
No Flash (nor Silverlight) support in the browser
Too dependent on Zune software for file management and syncing
No DivX/XviD video support (automatic transcoding provided by Zune software, but lowers quality)
We’ve already encountered Windows Phone 7.5 Mango on several occasions. The OS has significantly matured with the latest update – it is now a viable alternative for those, who don’t want to go down the iOS or Android road.
Sadly however, Microsoft’s creation leaves no room for customization. You get the same experience, regarding of the device you’re using it on. This means that it is up to the hardware of the respective devices to win the potential consumer over – a welcome news for the Samsung Focus S, given its Galaxy S II pedigree.
source: gsmarena.com
