Samsung Wave 525 Review : Specs, Panels, Verdict

Last weekend, TP friend Jhoseph Llorente sent us photos of his new phone, Samsung Wave 525, and expressed his desire to share a quick review of the device.

To help him with the review, I gave him 10 guide questions about the phone to answer. But before we go there, check out the Samsung Wave 525 photos that Jhoseph took --

samsung wave 525
The face of the phone flaunts the 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 256K colors and 240 x 400 pixels resolution. The screen supports multi-touch zoom and works with accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate. Below the screen, you will find the home button and the call and drop knobs. Above it you will see the earpiece.

samsung wave 525
Samsung Wave 525 runs on the company's new proprietary OS called Bada, which is then skinned with widgets-based TouchWiz 3.0 user interface.

samsung wave 525

samsung wave 525
The phone has dimensions of 109.5 x 55 x 11.9 millimeters and weighs only 100 grams.

samsung wave 525
The back of the device sports nothing but the plastic battery cover and the 3.15 MegaPixel camera.

samsung wave 525
Bada OS features threaded SMS conversations, downloadable applications and games from Samsung Kies, and a sizable virtual keypad that works in both portrait and landscape orientations.

samsung wave 525

samsung wave 525


Alright.

Now on to Jhoseph's answers to my review questions --

1. What can you say about the design of the phone? Does it feel sturdy? Does it look appealing?

It's like Samsung Star redesigned. The hardware buttons feel comfortable to press.


2. What are some features of the phone that you like?

The wifi connectivity support and the great 3.2-inch QVGA capacitive display.


3. What can you say about the camera of phone? How's the photo quality and video quality?

The camera works well outdoors or in well-lit conditions but doesn't deliver quite as well in low-light situations due to lack of flash. Video resolution is low at only 320 x 240.


4. How about the sound quality?

Sound quality is good. When you're using earphones, you'll be given the option to play files with 5.1 channel, which greatly improves sound quality.


5. What can you say about the speed about the phone? Does it lag or is it snappy?

It's snappy when you're just playing music but when you do something else, it lags a bit. It's not as snappy as phones with more powerful processors.


6. How's texting experience on the phone?

The phone features a full QWERTY keypad in both landscape and portrait mode. In portrait mode, however, you have the option to switch to alphanumeric keypad. You have two options to view your text messages, either threaded or in folders.


7. How about browsing websites? Is the browser a joy to use?

The browser is snappy when you're on wifi. It supports multi-touch gestures.


8. What can you say about its touchscreen? Is it responsive?

The phone features a capacitive touchscreen which responds to mere touch. Works better than resistive touchscreen, I believe.


9. Do you like the user-interface of the phone? Is it attractive? Is it easy to use? What can you say about it?

The UI looks good. I think the widgets are a definite eye candy. The Bada OS, on the other hand, works well even if it's just version 1.1. I intend to upgrade to 1.2 through Samsung Kies once it's available. The apps are good although they aren't as many as those available for Android, Symbian or iOS.


10. For the verdict: How would you rate this phone? On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest?

If I'm going to compare it with other touchscreen phones in its price category (Samsung Wave 525 costs PhP 8,990) like Samsung Star, LG Cookie or Samsung Corby, I'm going to give it a 10. But comparing it to ALL smartphones, I'm going to give it an 8 because there are good Android smartphones that are even cheaper. Overall, I'm giving it a 9.

That's it! Thank you so much, Jhoseph! You're the best!

Want to share your gadget review with other TP readers?
Email us at events.nobounds[at]gmail[dot]com

3 comments:

  1. can it type arabic?

    www.hotmobilenews.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, this Bada blog (http://www.bada.com/category/blog/news/) announced that it will support many languages. Maybe it can input Arabic depending where you will buy the phone. I haven't own that phone so its better to ask assistance through the sellers of this phone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, this Bada blog (http://www.bada.com/category/blog/news/) announced that it will support many languages. Maybe it can input Korean depending where you will buy the phone. I haven't own that phone so its better to ask assistance through the sellers of this phone. And maye, it will have the Korean text input for it is Samsuns, a Korean company. :)

    ReplyDelete

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