Samsung ATIV S review: the Galaxy S III, repackaged for Windows Phone 8

• Table of contents
• Hardware
• Display
• Camera
• Software
• Performance and battery life
• Wrap-up

Samsung was one of the first to join the Windows Phone parade with the Focus, and was quick to follow up with devices like the Focus S. It's been unusually conservative with Windows Phone 8, however: the ATIV S ($100 on contract through Bell Canada) is the last of the big three flagships to arrive in 2012, following weeks after the HTC Windows Phone 8X and Nokia Lumia 920 went on sale. Some would argue that Samsung has been especially conservative with the ATIV S, given that it shares the same 4.8-inch screen, Snapdragon S4 processor, cameras and overarching design traits with Sammy's other flagship phone, the Galaxy S III. There's a real worry that someone visiting the carrier store will see both devices and pick the Galaxy simply through name recognition alone.

And yet, they're not entirely cut from the same cloth: there's a design twist or two, a larger battery and, of course, a switch to an entirely different ecosystem. Some will want the phone to try Windows Phone's simpler, at-a-glance interface concept; others are shopping solely inside of Microsoft's universe and want to know if expandable storage and Samsung's custom app suite fend off rivals. We already have lots to like, but there are a few punctures in the ATIV S' faux-metal armor that will keep it from being the handset for everyone, even if they do prefer Windows Phone. Read on and you'll see why.

Samsung ATIV S review

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HARDWARE

You'd be forgiven for thinking the ATIV S was another of Samsung's many Android devices.

Much of that apparent kinship with the Galaxy S III is visible from the front: if it weren't for the Windows logo stamped prominently on the home button, you'd be forgiven for thinking the ATIV S was another of Samsung's many Android devices. It's that close. Spin it around, however, and you'll realize that it's not mimicking its siblings quite so literally. The brushed-metal effect on the back isn't real, but it doesn't have to be -- the result is a smartphone that could very nearly be called handsome, if a bit flashy. Build quality doesn't suffer, as it still feels very sturdy, and those swaths of metallic gray help minimize (though not completely eliminate) fingerprint smudges. Gorilla Glass 2 kept the front of the phone pristine during our testing.

Some may just like the feel of the ATIV S in their palms. While it's touting a larger screen than the 4.5-inch Lumia 920, it's easier to hold courtesy of its textured finish and thinner (0.34-inch), lighter (4.8-ounce) body. Your experience may vary, but we weren't as afraid of an impending drop when using Samsung's phone one-handed. For that matter, the interface itself is easier to navigate one-handed versus the Galaxy S III. The subtle design changes, along with Windows Phone's larger UI elements, reduce the chances of launching something by accident and put your intended target just that much closer.

Few will be surprised by the ports and controls around the device, which very closely follow both Microsoft and Samsung's guidelines. Not that this is necessarily a problem, mind you. Up top is the standard headphone jack, while the bottom has a typical micro-USB port. The main speaker is located on the back and isn't especially loud, although it's certainly audible from across a quiet room. We occasionally hit the volume rocker on the left by accident, but we had no such trouble with the right side's camera button and didn't struggle to reach the power button, like we did with the Windows Phone 8X. The capacitive back and search buttons at the bottom are almost too easy to graze, however.

The real highlight may be what's just under the surface. Unlike what we've seen with HTC and Nokia's highest-end Windows Phone devices, the ATIV S gives expansion a big, friendly hug. Pop off the rear cover and you'll find not just a space for a micro-SIM, but also a microSD slot and a removable battery. Some buyers may not need to hear anything more than this, really. We know many who refuse to buy a phone that can't grow with their needs, and they'll appreciate the opportunity to go beyond the 16GB of built-in storage (up to 48GB total) as well as carry a spare battery for particularly hectic days. The result won't be as capacious as 64GB models of the iPhone 5 or One X+, but it won't cost as much, either.

As we've mentioned, the ATIV doesn't usher in any great revolution in processing power. It uses the same dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 chip we've seen in some Galaxy S III variants, as well as many early Windows Phone 8 handsets. It sticks to 1GB of RAM rather than the 2GB of some of its Android brethren, but then again, there's less demand for the extra headroom. NFC is built in and once again uses the battery as the antenna.

Those hoping for a Nokia level of cellular diversity might be disappointed, though. In the Bell Canada model we tried, there's quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE (850 / 900 / 1,800 / 1,900MHz) and a similar number of dual-carrier, 42Mbps HSPA+ bands (850 / 1,700 / 1,900 / 2,100MHz), but just AWS (1,700MHz and 2,100MHz combined) for LTE. Variants for the US and elsewhere are poised to have either country-specific LTE frequencies or stick to 3G. As glad as we are that Samsung is catering to specific regions' needs, it's slightly disappointing to know that even an unlocked ATIV S sometimes won't reach its best data speeds on foreign carriers.

DISPLAY

We weren't kidding when we said the ATIV S had a familiar screen. This is the same 4.8-inch, 1,280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD panel from the Galaxy S III. That's both a blessing and a slight curse, in our minds. You'll ultimately get rich colors, wide viewing angles and deep blacks. That also results in the ever-so-slightly fuzzy look of a PenTile pixel arrangement. However, what we said for the Android device also holds true here: this panel is far better than previous generations, and the pixelated effect isn't really noticeable unless your eyes are too close to the 306-ppi image. Although AMOLED still doesn't have the best reputation outdoors, we could see it well enough on a sunny day with the brightness pushed up.

Next to its immediate Windows Phone 8 counterparts, the ATIV S faces a stiff fight. It has the biggest screen of the current bunch and doesn't have to worry about refresh rates when AMOLED has near-instant response. Still, it doesn't have the pixel density of the 8X, or the extra 48 pixels of width afforded by the Lumia 920. Anyone who lives in a cooler climate will appreciate the Lumia 920 LCD's glove-friendly screen, too. There were a few times during my mid-December testing of the ATIV S where I had to stop to avoid frostbite. We're fine with Samsung's approach when the screen is large and contributes to a thinner overall phone profile; we just have to accept that it's not the best in every respect.

CAMERA

Samsung recycled Galaxy parts once again with the ATIV S' dual cameras. Both the 8-megapixel, f/2.6 rear shooter and the front 1.9-megapixel, f/2.8 camera are lifted directly from the likes of the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. On bright days and in good indoor lighting, that leads to photos from the rear camera that are sharply focused, with soft backgrounds in macros and accurate colors. The choice does maintain the reduced dynamic range, however, and the sensor is nowhere near earning trophies for low-light performance or image stabilization like the Lumia 920. Dark scenes without the bright (if slightly harsh) flash still result in either a lot of noise or pitch black elements. We had an opportunity to shoot with both the ATIV S and Note II for a while, and many images from both cameras were nigh-on identical to each other -- lumping the mostly good in with the occasional bad.

Samsung ATIV S sample shots

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Samsung Galaxy Note II comparison sample shots for the ATIV S

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This assumes that we're shooting with the same settings, though, and it's here that the ATIV S stumbles. Windows Phone 8 will let you fine-tune core image details like exposure, filter-based effects and white balance, but there's no built-in burst shooting, high dynamic range modes, panoramas or precision controls like metering. Samsung doesn't preload any apps that take advantage of Windows Phone 8's Lens feature for extending camera functionality, so we're left either finding apps for ourselves or going without.

Some of the basics take a separate hit because of Microsoft's approach. Tap-to-focus doesn't work without also taking a shot, which leaves you to either gamble with the results or lock the focus using the hardware key and pan away. The settings menu obscures most of the screen, preventing a good preview of any mode changes. That vaunted near-zero shutter lag? Shot-to-shot times are still quick, but no longer instant when Microsoft inserts transition animations and there's no continuous shooting mode. It's true that many casual photographers may not mind, or even notice; we just don't like that the ATIV S has one arm tied behind its back.

Video recording is thankfully much better. Windows Phone leaves fewer settings to play with, but the high-bandwidth 20 Mbps capturing is clean in daylight and stays sharp as long as the phone isn't being thrashed around. Exposure changes kick in smoothly and quickly. Moviemaking in the dark is about the only area that's off limits. The microphone faces a similar ceiling, catching subtle details in quieter moments and coping less than graciously with wind and loud noises. We'd choose Samsung's Windows Phone for capturing video in many situations... just not for the nightclub.

SOFTWARE

We've delved into Windows Phone 8 a few times now, and the ATIV S of course shares that same UI, so we won't rehash everything here. As ever, it's a distinctive take on smartphone software, and the introduction of resizable tiles has done wonders for providing as much live information as you'd care for. Internet Explorer 10 is a modern, speedy web browser. Like we hinted earlier, the ATIV S feels like it's occasionally solving problems that we see in the Galaxy S III, especially for those who aren't normally fans of big screens or a deluge of on-screen information. The Windows Phone keyboard remains one of the easiest to type with, at least on Samsung's big screen, with smart autocorrection as well as straightforward text selection.

All the same, there are a few undeniable chasms that have to be crossed. Multitasking is still awkward. Notifications are more prevalent than ever, but the lack of a notification center (missing due to time constraints, Microsoft has said) means you could miss a vital message if you're not paying attention while inside an app. Also, Microsoft needs to go beyond having 46 of the top 50 Android and iOS apps -- it needs the top 500, as there are too many must-haves beyond just the smash hits, whether it's Path or Remember the Milk. Those who live in Google's ecosystem will be hard-pressed to make the jump, regardless of third-party alternatives like MetroTube that occasionally fill in the gaps.

Samsung ATIV S software

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Most Windows Phone supporters have their share of custom apps to tailor what's otherwise a very uniform experience, and Samsung is more than eager to follow suit. We'd call its strategy a potpourri. Where Nokia is focused mostly on location, and HTC is a fan of little conveniences, Samsung wants to cover a few areas at once. Company loyalists will most likely recognize its cross-platform messaging serviceChatON as well as the Music Hub, which (at least in Canada) centers on a 7digital-run music store. There are a few less common additions such as Family Story, which shares memos and photos between groups like a cross-OS version of Microsoft's own Rooms; Live Wallpaper, which shuffles photos on the lock screen; a MiniDiary app for cataloging memories with photos and voice; Now, a hybrid news and weather aggregator; and a self-explanatory Photo Editor.

In practice, there's a real hit-or-miss quality to these apps. We use Now the most for news and weather, as with HTC's hub. The Photo Editor app helps for a quick crop or tweaking the contrast before sharing a photo with the world. Live Wallpaper and the Music Hub feel redundant, though, and we honestly didn't see much point to MiniDiary when its content is completely disconnected from the outside world. ChatON and Family Story, meanwhile, both have strikes against them through their small communities (we struggled to find and recruit users among hundreds of contacts) and an arcane sign-up process that relies on phone numbers. Quite frankly, we got more bang for the buck from Nokia's mapping suite and HTC's attentive phone options.

At least Microsoft's hardline stance on the user experience works in the ATIV S' favor. Samsung's apps are treated like regular third-party releases and can be deleted entirely, if you can't bear to see them; they're sitting in a dedicated Samsung Zone section of the Windows Phone Store if you want them again. Carrier bloat is here, but you can still uninstall the apps from AT&T, Bell, Rogers and others if they're more hindrances than help. The loadout is light, as well -- our Bell unit has just a lone Mobile TV portal instead of the several non-removable apps we usually see on the provider's Android lineup. The sense is that it's our personal device, not just a profit engine for the network.

PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE

Theoretically, there shouldn't be any statistical difference between the ATIV S and any of its high-end Windows Phone 8 counterparts. After all, its 8X and Lumia 920 opponents share the same Snapdragon S4 and 1GB of RAM. For the most part, day-to-day interaction shows that to be true. The interface is still as speedy as ever, and 3D games in the Windows Phone Store like Ilomilo and Ragdoll Run stay smooth. Browsing is where you'll notice the jump the most; between Internet Explorer's improved renderer and the Snapdragon S4, pages load very quickly as long as the connection can keep up. We wish Samsung had used the extra time to stuff in a Snapdragon S4 Pro like that in the Lumia 920T, but the chip may be overkill when there are few things in Windows Phone's short-term future that would justify the added brute strength.

	Samsung ATIV S	Nokia Lumia 920	HTC Windows Phone 8X	Nokia Lumia 900
WPBench	241	227	221	92
Battery rundown	2:38	2:36	2:30	4:29
SunSpider (ms, lower numbers are better)	890	914	914	6,902
AnTuTu (*GFX test off)	12,064	10,957*	11,775	2,596

Going to more concrete numbers tells a slightly different story. Although the differences are imperceptible most of the time, the ATIV S just manages to edge out its Windows Phone 8 peers in every category. It crunches numbers faster and lasts just a tad longer in our battery rundown test. The longevity can be explained by the 2,300mAh battery pack, but there's no obvious explanation for such a consistent lead. We're intrigued enough that we've reached out to Samsung to see if there's a more logical reason than happenstance, such as the company's skills with in-house flash memory and RAM. We'll let you know if there's a definitive answer.

The extra 200mAh in battery capacity over the Galaxy S III is appreciated, though not quite as much of a boost to real-world use as you'd think. Our device had just under half of the battery left after the eight-hour span of a workday with periodic use of email, the web, social networking and the occasional phone call, and those who aren't any more aggressive should last the rest of the evening. It's very much possible to crush the ATIV S as a power user: on our first run, battery life shrank to about four hours after snapping 93 photos, recording three videos, streaming music over LTE and regularly hopping on to Twitter. Thank goodness there's a removable battery, then, even if we miss the wireless charging of the Lumia 920 and Verizon's 8X.

Outbound call quality was described to us as good by the various people we spoke to, although the inbound clarity on Bell's network wasn't as phenomenal as what we'd encountered with the Galaxy S III on other networks. Data was largely stable, albeit with a notable moment of inconsistency: we noticed that data traffic suddenly ground to a halt in downtown Ottawa on a Saturday night, even with three-bar LTE reception as we stood outside. Weekend revelers clogging the network may have played a part, but it wasn't confidence-inspiring. We can say that LTE was quick when working earlier in the day, and as we left the urban core. Our best result saw 21.4 Mbps downspeeds and 9.6 Mbps up, with downloads typically hovering around 17.5 Mbps. Outside of 4G, the dual-carrier HSPA+ 3G was good enough to reach a healthy 15.2 Mbps down and 1.6 Mbps up.

WRAP-UP

MORE INFO

• Samsung announces ATIV S, a 4.8-inch Windows Phone 8 device
• Samsung ATIV S: Hands-on with Samsung's first Windows Phone 8 device (video)
• Windows Phone 8 review

Samsung sits atop the smartphone world like a colossus thanks to its Android leadership, but the ATIV S ultimately feels like a third wheel on the Windows Phone 8 bicycle -- in part because it arrived late, but mostly because the design doesn't bring anything exciting to the table. HTC's Windows Phone 8X thrives on its compact, stylized body and helpful (if minor) tweaks; Nokia's Lumia 920 centers on major features for navigators, shutterbugs and cold-weather explorers. Samsung's phone stands out precisely because it's not trying to stand out, relying instead on historically reliable selling points like the slimmest design, the biggest screen and the most expansion.

Some will like it that way. Fans who've been waiting for full SD card support on a top-of-the-line Windows Phone now have that choice -- and it may trump everything else. Converts to Windows Phone and even smartphone newcomers might gravitate toward the ATIV S simply because they'll feel right at home. We genuinely enjoyed carrying one around, and it's a solid choice for those who aren't strongly attached to another mobile operating system (and don't mind the mixed bag of pre-installed apps). And at $100 or less on contract in Canada ($80 at Rogers; $30 at Telus) it's priced quite well.

Still, it's this conservative strategy that makes it a tougher sell for Windows Phone diehards and people who care less about expandable storage. While HTC and Nokia are guilty of saddling their Windows Phone devices with fixed storage and non-removable batteries, they've managed to carve out spaces for themselves through sheer originality: their camera and design features are irreplaceable. Samsung's decision to blend in makes the ATIV S less likely to stand out.

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Is this the Samsung Galaxy Note 2? Image posted on official site looks worryingly familiar

Hmmm, this is a strange one. Samsung Pakistan just posted the above pic on its official Facebook page. The caption reads, "Picture perfect view made even more perfect with Samsung Galaxy S3," but the picture clearly isn't of a GS III. So, what is it? It's big, that's for sure, and the bezel is quite the opposite. Dare we hope it's a next-gen Galaxy Note, or is it simply render fodder that has been re-posted by Samsung accidentally? There's one big reason to be skeptical, which is that this exact same pic already did the rounds as a potential GS III image before that flagship was launched. The only difference here is that it's on an official outlet, which implies the jpeg in question could be sitting on a member of staff's hard drive.
Oh, and since our brows are already furrowed with doubt, we may as well throw in another rumor that's going about today, which might actually connect with the notion of a thin bezel and no home button. Korea Times
is reporting that the Galaxy Note 2 will have a slightly expanded 5.5-inch display that just happens to be flexible -- or at least curved by the time it leaves the factory. We can't vouch for the trustworthiness of their sources, especially since we're still waiting on that 7.85-inch iPad Mini, but then again, Samsung has been exploring flexible AMOLED for ages, not to mention bezel-free panels (see More Coverage).
Update: And just like that, the Samsung Pakistan Facebook page has disappeared. For the sake of posterity (not least our own), we've kept a record of it after the break. Roll on, August 15th.
Update: As keen-eyed commenters have spotted, the page has re-appeared with the photo now captioned as a "Galaxy Note." Mind-boggling.
Update: Now the Facebook pic is truly dead. It's almost a relief. We've linked the main Samsung Pakistan page instead.
[Thanks, Kashif and Leonard]

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Posted in: familiar,Galaxy,Image,looks,official,posted,Samsung,worryingly

MetroPCS outs Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G: 4.3-inch Super AMOLED, LTE and Dyle Mobile TV

MetroPCS Dials In Unique Entertainment Experience with the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G Smartphone

Latest Smartphone Offers 4G LTE Performance and is First to Offer Dyle™ mobile TV to US Smartphone Users

DALLAS (August 3, 2012) – MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S® LightrayTM 4G*. The latest in MetroPCS' expanding 4G LTE Android™ smartphone lineup – and the first Samsung Galaxy S device for MetroPCS – allows consumers to browse the web and applications, download exciting content plus stream videos and music in a flash. Available today, this powerful smartphone offers 4G LTE service with no annual contract and tax-and-regulatory-fee-inclusive service plans starting at just $40 per month.

The Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G will be also the first smartphone in the U.S. to offer live, local broadcast television with Dyle™ mobile TV. Dyle mobile TV keeps consumers informed and entertained while on the go and allows them to watch local and national sports, news and entertainment broadcast programming on their mobile phones. Access to the Dyle mobile TV service will be offered in select markets and at no additional charge to customers on a MetroPCS 4G LTE service plan. More information about Dyle mobile TV is available at http://www.dyle.tv/ and the Dyle coverage map is available at http://www.dyle.tv/using-dyle/coverage-map/.

Powered by Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G features a crystal-clear 4.3-inch Super AMOLED™ touchscreen and a speedy 1GHz processor. Its 8.0 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera are great for capturing photos and video chatting with friends and family.

Additionally, the Galaxy S Lightray 4G will be MetroPCS' first smartphone to feature 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot, allowing customers to share their MetroPCS 4G LTE connection and data with multiple Wi-Fi®-enabled devices. MetroPCS will also offer 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot on future 4G LTE Android smartphones.

The Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G is available in MetroPCS stores and online at www.MetroPCS.com for $459 plus tax. More information about 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot is available at http://www.metropcs.com/4GLTE-mobile-hotspot.

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Posted in: 43inch,AMOLED,Galaxy,Lightray,MetroPCS,mobile,Samsung,Super

Samsung demos its take on LTE Broadcast, edges closer to TV over 4G

Samsung Demonstrates Broadcast Services Over LTE Using Anritsu's Rapid Test Designer (RTD) and MD8430A

RICHARDSON, Texas, Aug. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, has successfully demonstrated clear reception capabilities of LTE Broadcast services using evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) technology using Anritsu's (www.anritsu.com) Rapid Test Designer (RTD) and MD8430A to simulate the LTE network environment.

eMBMS technology allows the LTE network infrastructure to be used for the delivery of broadcast services, such as TV. It enables carriers to adjust coverage and capacity as needed, allowing for more efficient use of network resources. Samsung Electronics and Anritsu (two long-time leaders in new mobile technologies) have collaborated to bring this new technology to market.

Anritsu's RTD delivers a rich set of test features using its fast and flexible flowcharting user interface. The Samsung engineers were able to create the eMBMS demonstration using RTD's graphical script design to drive the execution of the test simulation on an Anritsu MD8430A LTE signaling tester.

"Anritsu is delighted that Samsung, the world's largest cell phone maker, has selected the technology-leading capabilities of the RTD and MD8430A to verify the implementation of eMBMS capability in its devices," stated Kenji Tanaka, Executive Vice President at Anritsu. "Samsung's demonstration shows how Anritsu's RTD helps LTE device makers prove their leading-edge technology in an intensely competitive market where reducing the product launch cycle time is critical to success."

"We have used Anritsu test equipment from the very beginning of our LTE development programs," said Inyup Kang, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics. "Anritsu's RTD and MD8430A have made a significant contribution to our leading position in the LTE device market."

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Posted in: Broadcast,closer,demos,edges,Samsung

Samsung GT-S3752 Duos gets snapped with dedicated ChatON button by Mr. Blurrycam

By Daniel Cooper posted Jul 26th 2012 7:57PM


If SammyHub
's blurrycam tipster is to believed, Samsung will soon be swelling its Duos line of dual-sim handsets with the (purported) GT-S732 you see before you. Presumably, the feature phone will sit at the floor of any pricing table since it's packing a meager 2-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch display and a 1,000mAh battery. Notably the handset includes a WiFi radio, which puts us in mind of a messaging-centric handset -- which explains the presence of a dedicated ChatON button beneath the screen. We'll keep our ears to the ground to find out if it's likely to make an appearance on these shores -- but we won't get our hopes up.
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Posted in: Blurrycam,button,ChatON,dedicated,GTS3752,Samsung,snapped

IDC: Samsung and Apple ship almost half of all smartphones, but Korean manufacturer maintains lead

IDC's latest figures offer some predictable reading. More phones are being sold than ever before; 406 million units were sold in Q2, against 401.8 million in the same period last year -- with a 42 percent increase in smartphone sales. The winners? Perennial court antagonists, Samsung and Apple, with the duo doubling their combined market share over the last two years. Samsung maintains its lead, reaching over 50 million phones sold -- and a new quarterly sales record -- while Apple saw a quarter-over-quarter decline, as buyers presumably wait for Cupertino's latest iteration, or go elsewhere. Nokia, meanwhile, had another "transitional" quarter, with sales of both Symbian and MeeGo devices shrinking, although its Windows Phones proved stronger. According to IDC's figures, Nokia and Microsoft's team-up handset sales have doubled since last quarter. HTC misses out on a top three spot, but its fortunes appear to have improved over the last two quarters, with the IDC pointing the finger at a more streamlined product range from the Taiwan manufacturer. ZTE continues to nip at its heels, reaching the top five thanks to strong entry-level smartphone sales in China, while continuing to inch onto US shores. If you're looking for a full breakdown of all phones sold, dumb and otherwise, read up at the source below.

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Posted in: almost,Apple,Korean,maintains,manufacturer,Samsung,smartphones

Samsung denied a second time, Galaxy Tab ban stands

You can't blame 'em for trying, but it's no surprise that Samsung's second attempt to put a hold on the impending American ban of its Galaxy Tab failed. Judge Koh has already say the preliminary injunction could not wait while the Korean company pursued an appeal, and now the Court of Appeals is backing her up. To make matters worse, the court has also refused to expedite the appeal process, potentially prolonging the time the flagship slates are missing from the shelves. Now Sammy will just have to wait for the trial to start on July 30th and hope for a victory, or go back and redesign its tablets to look less like an iPad. We hear that triangles might be the ticket.

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Posted in: denied,Galaxy,Samsung,second,stands

Samsung set to reveal next US Galaxy device on August 15th

By Brad Molen posted Jul 20th 2012 2:52PM

We just received a "save the date" email from a Samsung US representative that revealed a new Galaxy device will be seeing the light of day on August 15th. We didn't receive any details on what it could be, though this is most likely a US-bound device -- the email says "please join Samsung Electronics America for a major announcement and unveiling of the newest Galaxy device." With that tidbit in mind, we have a couple ideas: first, it may be the Galaxy S Blaze Q, since internal docs pin the phone's release on same exact day. With that being a T-Mobile exclusive for now, however, we're unsure that it'll be the recipient of so much pomp and circumstance. There's also a possibility that we'll see the Galaxy Note 10.1, which was announced at MWC in February and previewed in March. While we'd love to see the Galaxy Note 2, the odds of it being the mystery device are incredibly slim since the phablet is rumored to launch on the worldwide stage at IFA 2012 later in the month. Gotta love the guessing games that leave us in suspense and keep us on our toes, right?

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Posted in: August,device,Galaxy,reveal,Samsung

Samsung Jasper for Verizon leaks on Twitter, dual-core Snapdragon and ICS in tow

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Posted in: dualcore,Jasper,leaks,Samsung,Snapdragon,Twitter,Verizon

Samsung Series 7 Gamer review: the company's first gaming laptop makes its way to the US

Sure, thin, light and power-efficient may be the latest trend in notebook design, but one category of portable computing isn't afraid of going against the grain: the oversized gaming laptop. These big machines often flirt with double-digit weights, with screens in excess of 17 inches and the most powerful chipsets under the hood. Samsung's Series 7 Gamer is no exception, of course, weighing in at 8.39 pounds and packing plenty of power. The machine's recent US debut isn't its first foray into the market, however -- this machine first appeared in Europe late last year, albeit with an older processor and GPU. Now, Sammy has brought the rig stateside, adorning it with new parts for the New World, namely a 2.3GHz Core i7-3610QM CPU and NVIDIA's GTX 675M graphics processor. How does Samsung's first oversized gaming machine measure up? Let's find out.

If, at first glance, you thought the Samsung Series 7 Gamer was anything but a 17.3-inch desktop-replacing behemoth, you'd be forgiven. When viewed from on high, the rig's sharply tapered edges lend it a deceptively thin appearance. The illusion quickly disappears, however, when you inspect it from the sides and behold the machine's substantial, 1.96-inch-thick chassis. Still, the angled edges highlight the system's design: brushed metal, glossy plastics and clean lines. The Gamer may be built for fun, but it's all business on the outside -- meaning it avoids the siren call to cover itself in loud colors, over-designed speaker grills and "hardcore" accents. In fact, it's downright respectable-looking, which might be a welcome change for gamers who want a machine with a more professional facade.

The design isn't without its faults, however -- the glossy veneer on the lid, for instance, loses some of its charm the instant it comes in contact with human skin, collecting fingerprints like a regular gumshoe. And that chunky edge? It doesn't exactly make the most of the rig's requisite thickness, housing only a Blu-ray drive on its starboard side, flanked by a pair of USB 2.0 ports. On the other hand, the machine's left edge crams in a decent selection of connectors -- two USB 3.0 sockets, a multicard reader, outputs for HDMI, VGA and DisplayPort, Ethernet, and a spot for the AC adapter all crawl up the edge. The front and rear, however, are largely blank, save for a pair of HDD / power LEDs on the front lip and some generously sized air vents around back.

Straddling the edge of the hinge we find a set of touch-sensitive controls, including a power button and one-touch access for mute, WiFi, volume controls, LED backlighting and a few keyboard status lights. There's also a rather large graphic that says "Turbo" on it, but it isn't touch-enabled like everything else on the glossy strip -- in fact, it's isn't a button at all. No, this is a fancy backlit indicator, one that doesn't light up at all until you thumb the dedicated performance switch on the machine's right side.

Here's where things get a little too cute for comfort. The rotating toggle allows users to quickly switch between four modes: green, library, balanced and gaming. These tune the rig to save power, run quietly (disable the fans), work efficiently or crank performance to 11, respectively. The nub is actually fairly useful, if a bit stiff to turn, and the transitions between settings are quick and to the point -- at least until the dial lands on "gaming."

Suddenly, the machine's display fades to black, temporarily blinding the user while a targeting reticule overlays the screen, accompanied by a series of mechanical and digital sound effects. As the desktop comes back into view, that target finds a home in the desktop wallpaper, which darkens to match the hardcore motif that power setting so clearly requires. The notebook's exterior layers play along as well: most of the backlit keys transition from white to blue. The exceptions are the "WASD" keys, which darken to a serious red. Crimson circles now surround the power and volume controls, pulsating along with the sound coming from the machine's stereo speakers. Tread carefully, son, you're in gamer country. The whole show is controlled by (and can be disabled through) Samsung's ModeShift, which actually turns out to be a minor boon, albeit a cheesy one. (More on this later, of course.)

Overall, the Series 7 Gamer is a respectable, well-designed rig with only a hint of the stereotypically hardcore. More often than not, its clean, unassuming lines don't draw it unwanted attention -- but gamers with a flair for the flashy can change that with a flick of their thumb. At worst, it's a minor collector of grubby-looking fingerprints. All in all, that's not much to whine about.

Throw a stone in any electronics retailer, and you'll probably wind up smashing some poor machine's chiclet keyboard. That arrangement of island-style keys has become such a staple of mobile computing that it's become hard to imagine a laptop with anything else. The Series 7 Gamer eschews that fad altogether, adopting a "classic" laptop keyboard with slightly curved key caps that bump up against each other. Writing prose on the Gamer is like typing on an old Thinkpad, and it's a good feeling. Keys depress silently with minimal pressure, but push back with enough force that it never feels mushy. In truth, the keyboard isn't anything to fawn over, but as a touch typist, it's hard to find fault with something so tactile.

Gamers won't find much to gripe about either -- the very same pop that makes the rig's keyboard a pleasure to write with feels just as good in games, and the left Ctrl and Alt keys fall naturally under the pinkie and thumb. The Windows key is thankfully hard to reach while gaming, though butterfingered gamers can choose to have it automatically disabled when the rig is in "gaming mode." Despite these little nods, the keyboard remains pretty standard -- more than passable for the average gamer, but enthusiasts (and the special few who keep track of keyboard ghosting) shouldn't expect anything out of the ordinary.

Speaking of things that are hardly out of the ordinary, let's talk about the trackpad, and by natural extension, our hands. Call us mutated freaks of nature (go ahead, do it), but we have a habit of rubbing mouse sensors on laptops just the wrong way -- and not when we mean to. Like so many pads before it, the Gamer's mouser is flush with the unit's palmrest, making it easy to brush with your palm while you're pecking at the keyboard. This causes the cursor to jump, drift and even click mid-prose.

Ironically, while we were typing the keyboard portion of this review, the cursor jumped no fewer than nine times, mucking up our text and generally wreaking havoc. As always, a quick Fn combination disables the trackpad, if necessary. A slightly recessed pad might have avoided this problem, though it admittedly wouldn't have looked as slick. The pad itself actually works quite well -- it's luxuriously large, and, as previously illustrated, plenty sensitive. It even does a passable job of picking up most gestures, a minor feat for many Windows laptops. Its buttons are a bit stiff, too, but all told, the touchpad does its job well enough. Still, there's no substitute for a proper gaming mouse, so folks picking up this machine will want to accessorize accordingly.

Gaming machines are expected to be large, overpowered and brimming with attitude -- but all that means bupkes if they're packing a dim, washed-out display. Luckily, that's not the case with the Gamer's LED-backlit, 400-nit SuperBright Plus panel. This 1,920 x 1,080 looking glass definitely adds to the eye-melting experience so many gamers strive for, if only thanks to its incredible luminosity. It doesn't slack in the color department either, washing our retinas with rich, vibrant hues and dark blacks. The rig's visual fidelity fades a bit when you view the screen from too far off center, but not so much that we couldn't fully enjoy a personal screening of Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.

The machine's speakers, on the other hand, manage neither to impress nor disappoint: its stereo drivers and accompanying subwoofer are merely okay. The upside to a truly average audio experience is that you won't feel let down by a system that's trying to overreach -- music and games come through at maximum volume without a hint of distortion, and higher-pitched sounds aren't particularly tinny. On the other hand, a deep, full bass is also absent, and more subtle, complex undertones may well go unheard. Dolby Home Theater 4 is on board to stretch the speakers' capabilities a tad, but gamers looking for a virtualized surround sound trick to help them audibly pinpoint enemy footsteps won't find much purchase here. The Series 7 Gamer can certainly fill a room with sound when needed, but its onboard audio options are no substitute for a good headset.

Looking to cash in on NVIDIA's latest mobile chipset? Better hold your breath -- despite the Samsung Series 7 Gamer's impressive specs, Kepler isn't the pulse that keeps it alive. That's not to say the rebranded GTX 580M at the machine's core isn't killer in its own right. Paired with a 2.3GHz Core i7 CPU (3.3GHz with Turbo Boost) and 16GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA's GTX 675M GPU painted the plains of Skyrim at 56 frames per second, capturing its essence in the rig's native 1,920 x 1,080 resolution at ultra high quality. The seedy end of Liberty City pitched a similar average, clipping along at 50fps on high settings -- though GTA IV's score was quickly halved when anisotropic filtering was doubled to 16x. Arkham City's streets, on the other hand, were safe at 61fps -- making no concessions in quality along the way -- and Valve's premiere hat simulator Team Fortress 2 captured an insane 128 frames per second. Rebadged Fermi or not, the Samsung Series 7 Gamer is playing with power. And yes, it runs Crysis -- though not quite as well as it runs modern games. The five-year-old resource hog clocked 33fps on high settings, with maximum fidelity knocking an extra 10 points off its score.

After watching the Series 7 Gamer shrug off every gaming challenge pitted against it, we were hardly surprised to see it could survive a standard Engadget workday. Multiple browser applications, each with at least two dozen active tabs, Photoshop, two word processors, IRC clients, Twitter and Spotify all churned along without a hitch. To be honest, we expected nothing less, and we weren't disappointed. Its 7,200RPM 1.5TB HDD wasn't sluggish either, booting in under 35 seconds and waking from sleep in six -- possibly leveraging the same 8GB of flash "ExpressCache" memory as its cousin, the Series 7 Chronos. Not too shabby.

PCMarkVantage3DMark06Battery lifeSamsung Series 7 Gamer (2.30GHz Core i7-3610QM,GeForce GTX 675M)MSI GT70 (2.23GHz Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX670M)Sony VAIO Z (2.7GHz Core i7-2620M, Intel HD Graphics 3000 / Radeon HD 6650M)Note: higher scores are better.

Phenomenal computing power comes at a cost, of course -- that is, phenomenally lousy runtime. Like most of the machines in its category, the Series 7 Gamer suffers from short battery life. Tuned to Engadget's standard run-down parameters, the Gamer lasted two hours and 11 minutes before reaching a critical low -- certainly not bad for a 17.3-inch gaming monster, but not impressive for its class, either. The machine's own "green" mode improved matters slightly, netting an extra 20 minutes of runtime before the machine gave out -- an improvement, but still a far cry from the laptop's claimed 3.7-hour runtime. In the off chance you lug the Gamer to a LAN party and forget your AC adapter, you won't be playing much -- the machine's GPU won't run at full barrel without an external power source.

As much as Samsung nailed the hardware aspect of its first mobile gaming rig, it still leaves users to stumble over unnecessary bloatware. The serious PC gamers sighted in the machine's hardcore reticule typically know their way around a Windows machine, and will resent being babied by would-be companion software that further dumbs down Microsoft's vanilla experience. Not that its meager offerings are truly offensive -- Cyberlink's Media Suite, YouCam and a host of customer support / migration tools are hardly uncommon pack-ins, and Sammy's standard Easy Settings puts much of its own special tweaks in a single, easy-to-access location. But do we really need another launcher aping Mac OS' staple dock? Between the Windows 7 start menu and task bar, users already have ample room to pin their favorite applications or files; these launchers are, quite frankly, redundant.

As aggravating as common bloatware and silly launchers can be, real disappointment comes from lost potential. The aforementioned ModeShift manager, for instance, lets users gently tweak a handful of useful settings -- disabling the trackpad and Windows key while in game mode, for instance, or toggling color optimization for the hardcore setting -- but the depth of customization it could have offered leaves us wanting. Remember when we described the rig's fancy "game mode" transition flourish? It actually has four different animated transitions to choose from. This is fun, for sure, but we were disappointed to find the software wasn't open to creating custom themes and transitions.

After mucking around in the software's INI file, we found we could shift into game mode with a custom, Engadget-themed SWF file and choose our own context-appropriate background, but the software offers no official way to create a personal transition. Similarly, ModeShift's LED control panel is limited to adjusting brightness and timed dimming presets, leaving no option to customize the mode's color tenor beyond the blue and red accent it defaults to. Want to game with the balanced mode's white backlight? Tough. What Samsung offers is useful and functional, but we still ache for the potential tweaks we couldn't make.

A quick glance at the Series 7 Gamer's specs will tell you almost everything you need to know about configuration options: there aren't any, at least not out the door. Officially, the Gamer ships with a 2.3Ghz Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor (3.3Ghz with Turbo Boost), NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 675M, GPU, a 7,200 RPM 1.5TB hard drive with ExpressCache, a Blu-ray drive and 16GB of DDR3 RAM. Our review unit differed just slightly from this, revealing two smaller hard drives, as opposed to a single massive one. The total available space is about the same, but the distinction is worth noting -- as is the fact that both drives and the RAM can be manually serviced. Prefer a fast-booting SSD to buckets of storage? Do it yourself -- or don't. You've got options to spare.

The Series 7 Gamer is definitely one of the top performers in its class, but that $1,900 price tag is nearly as hefty as the rig itself. Still, it isn't as expensive as it could be -- deck out an Alienware M17x ($1,499-plus) with the same hardware, and you'll be paying over $2,300, even more if you opt for a GeForce GTX 680M. Likewise, Origin PC's EOS17-S racks up a $2,263 price tag when built to match the Series 7 Gamer, and can be configured with a wide range of processors and GPUs to tailor the price to your budget. MSI's recently updated GT70 ($1,550-plus), on the other hand, features the very same GPU and processor as the Gamer at a small discount, and can be had for even less with the rig's original GTX 670M intact.

Samsung carefully ascribed the "Gamer" moniker to its latest piece of kit, knowing full well that a failure to deliver would incur the ridicule of a particularly knowledgeable and opinionated customer group. Good thing, then, that the Series 7 Gamer lives up to its handle. Despite our minor gripes, we can't deny its screaming performance. Yes, it has average speakers and a trackpad that might be a large-handed person's worst enemy, but its flaws are easily outshined by that gorgeous 400-nit display. At $1,900, the Series 7 Gamer isn't the cheapest oversized rig on the market, but for Samsung, it's an excellent first foray into the category -- even if it does go a little overboard on those "game mode" transitions.

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