Samsung Wave M Review (GT-S7250)

Samsung announced to release some other devices this year in Berlin beside the Galaxy Note, being: the Wave 3 Wave M and Wave Y
These are all Bada devices which run on version 2.0 of the platform.
We at Sammobile had the privilege to test the Wave M.

Specifications.

Time for a review.
As we have noticed before the Bada Wave M runs on version 2.0.
Where most older Bada phones are the first to receive updates, this unit releases with Bada 2.0
Bada 2.0 is much faster and is a treat for the eye, but what makes bada 2.0 really special?
Samsung has developed its own system, called Operation Bada, Samsung already started a few years ago on this.
One of the reasons called is offcourse the ongoing Android patent war.
Samsung hopes to especially reach the younger user because the system is proven to be very user friendly.
The system is also quite fast and has some nice graphical points.
2.0 is the remake of Bada version 1.2.
Bada 2.0 is much faster Samsung has become confident even that Bada 2.0 can handle much more functions.
In Wave M Samsung implements the use of a  NFC chip. This is so far an exclusive feature for Bada version 2.0.
The die-hard Bada user will argue that with the wave 578 !
That's right, however the Wav578 runs Bada version 1.1
Samsung hopes with Bada 2.0 to especially increase their own system with NFC and social media updates.
Samsung aims directly for the blackberry users and the novice smartphone users.
If this will work is no question Samsung is near the number 1 position in the world and Bada phones sell very well.
Samsung sells almost as many Bada devices as Windows Phone sell devices from all manufacturers.
The expectation is that Bada will grow.
Rumors even allready started that samsung bada 3.0 wil be real competition for IOS and Android.
If you want to know more about bada 2.0, we recommend you to read our review of the Samsung Wave 3.

Design.
The Samsung Wave M resembles the Galaxy S / Galaxy Ace.
Looking at the size of the device its almost the same as the Galaxy Ace.
114 x 63 x 11.95 mm (Wave M) 112 x 60 x 11.5 mm (Galaxy Ace)
As you can see the device a little wider.
And that is also noticeable.
The design is also nice with nice designed touch sensitive buttons, the big home button offcourse is not missing.
The unit does not have a AMOLED screen, something that we would have liked.
Looking  at the front we see a FrontFacing Camera and speaker.
The back of this unit is made of plastic.
Yes, a plastic back. Why plastic?
This is probably necessary for the NFC chip that samsung used in this unit.
Samsung is known to only use expensive durable materials as you can see in our review Wave 3.
We may say that the plastic back looks a bit cheap but isn't annoying.
On the back of the Wave M we also find a 5 megapixel camera with flash, and the usual speaker.
We'll return to the camera a bit later.
The sides of the M wave are quite simple.
On the left are the volume keys and the lock button on the right.
At the top you will find a 3.5 plugin for your headset and microphone on the bottom + Mirco USB port for charging.

Interface
As mentioned earlier in this review this unit runs on Bada 2.0
We will not go in the details of Bada 2.0
This is because we have already done our review of the Wave 3.
However, we recommend to watch our videoreview on this =.
Here we walk through a number of features of the Samsung Bada 2.0 Wave M
We review in particular the role of NFC chip with you.
NFC is obviously something you will encounter more and more in 2012.
For us personally its still too early for NFC.
Our expectation is that by 2013 NFC really is going to be used by the mass.
Especially because the security of this system has to be completely solid.

Social media.
Samsung presented ChatON a while ago.
This is a whatapp kind of app only for each OS.
The beauty of this is that you can also install Chaton as a desktop client.
Something WhatsApp still did not achieve to do .
All information can be found at chaton www.chaton.com
Samsung Chaton installed by default on all bada 2.0 devices.
Not only does the Wave M come packed with Chaton, but Twitter, Facebook and Youtube can also be used on the device.
However, these aren't always installed out of the box but can be found in the Samsung Apps.
If all this still isn't enough Samsung also installed two messengers to leave the choice open.
No lack off Social media !
This is something that Samsung insists. A smarter and more social life for everyone.

NFC.
As stated before this device uses a NFC chip to quickly send things.
However, the payment option is stable yet.
But you can do the following:
– Bookmark Tag
– Contact Tag
– Memo tag
– Profile Tag
– Bluetooth tag
– Wi-Fi Tag
– Allshare tag

Unfortunately we could not test this as we at SamMobile at the moment do not own any other NFC device.
2012 will be the year for NFC to show its power.
And in 2013 probably  for commercial use.
Something that will be useful in the future but also a bit dangerous.
NFC is more or less still in its infant state but will definitely be something that will soon become very important.

Camera.
The Wave M uses a 5 megapixel camera.
The 5 megapixel camera takes great pictures but it can't shhoot videos at higher resolution.
The device supports it.Unfortunately one of the reasons is mainly the processor speed.
This is to low for high resolution movies.
Something why we would've liked it better.
Especially nowadays where HD really has become standard.
See below for some options of the camera plus some pictures and movies samples.
We have this unit compared to another device, the Wave 723 Bada. This device also uses a 5 megapixel camera.
First line are WaveM pictures second Wave 723.

Battery
The battery of this device is good and keeps a good charge especially after a lot of music playback and other things.
It looks as though Bada 2.0 also has become a lot more efficient.
Another plus for Bada 2.0.

Conclusion.
The Samsung Wave M is really an excellent device for its price.
Unfortunately there are a few minor setbacks in our oppinion.
We especially miss some more speed for higher resolution filming. The display just is a little behind comparing with whats out there.
We wanted to see a AMOLED screen, especially since it's Samsung's own system.
The plastic back is a special critical point it doesn look cheap but it feels that way!
But Samsung makes up for it designing the touch sensitive buttons very nice and Bada 2.0 is not bad.
Judging on friendly user interface Bada is one of the best systems.
We think even more user friendly than Android!
Yet we can not say that this is a really good Samrtphone OS.
Yes it is a smartphone but the real feeling no.
One thing is for sure with this device Samsung brought back the strenth in Bada.
Our expectation is that people are going to try NFC.
We also notice that Samsung made a great step forward  with the Wave M in comparison with the previous Bada system and devices.

Below are all pros  and cons lined up.
Let's start with the cons.

Cons:
– Processor
– Camcorder resolution
– No AMOLED screen

Pros:
+ Bada 2.0
+ Design
+ Battery
+ Touch sensitive buttons +
+ NFC chip

SamMobile grades this phone 7.5.