About the new Microsoft mobile OS Windows phone now they talk more and more. With the advent of Nokia, it has become much more likely to attract the attention of buyers. But other manufacturers are not sitting idle. Samsung at the end of November brings to Russian market one of the most interesting smartphones on WP7 - Omnia model W. This is the first Korean-brand Windows Phone device in Russia.

Samsung is one of those manufacturers that support multiple platforms at once, including their own bada. This is absolutely true, because if one falls in sales, you can reallocate resources to another. Now the priority is Android, on which Koreans have the maximum number of devices and sales. The Galaxy S II and its predecessor alone are worth something. Moreover, despite the purchase of Motorola, it is with Samsung that it continues to make Google smartphones under your own brand. How long peace-friendship will last is unknown, so the Koreans look around and cook possible ways other development of your portfolio. One such path is Windows Phone. The Microsoft platform is clearly less weight for Samsung than it is for HTC or Nokia. However, it cannot be ignored.

It is valuable that in these conditions, the Korean company did not make its first smartphone on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango just for show. This is one of the best devices on the market with Microsoft OS. important points there are two - this is the cost of 15 thousand rubles and the Super AMOLED screen. As a result, Omnia W looks very worthy not only against the background of HTC, but even in comparison with Nokia. I8350 will appear at the end of November, i.е. before Nokia. Let's take a closer look at what to expect from the Koreans and compare with,.

Specifications Samsung Omnia W (Model GT-I8350):

Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
- Operating system: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
- Processor: Qualcomm MSM 8255 @ 1.4GHz (45nm chipset)
- Memory: 512 MB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, no expansion slot
- Screen: capacitive, Super AMOLED, 3.7", 800x480 pixels
- Camera: 5 MP with auto focus, flash, 720p video 30 fps, front VGA
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP), FM radio with RDS, DLNA, GPS
- Power: Removable 1500 mAh battery
- Dimensions, weight: 115.6 x 58.8 x 10.9 mm, 115.3 g
- Estimated start of sales: end of November
- Recommended price: 14 990 rubles

Design, ergonomics

They did not come up with something unique with the design of the Omnia W. It's a familiar Galaxy R look with minimal differences. Behind the same solid removable part: smooth plastic with an overlay made of metal of a different texture. Korean design in general is controversial, but here it feels like they were looking for a compromise or just one material was not enough. On the other hand, there was a metal that its predecessors did not have, and many will like it.

Omnia W, according to the rules of Windows Phone, is equipped with a separate hardware camera button. Moreover, thanks to the features of the OS, you can quickly remove from standby mode, and even if a lock code is set. I really like this feature of WP, you can take snapshots literally on the go. But another feature of this OS, on the contrary, I don’t like it is the lack of a slot for a memory card. Microsoft is promoting its SkyDrive service in this way, each owner has 25 GB available.

Filling

All Windows Phone smartphones are now based on the Qualcomm platform, and Samsung is no exception. Our hero is also based on the Qualcomm MSM 8255 chipset and has a single-core processor at 1.4 GHz. However, Windows Phone does not yet support multi-core, so the decision is justified. The speed of work thanks to the fast OS at the highest level. The Mango update further improved this setting. Complaints are caused by old versions of software that are not optimized for version 7.5 and do not even support multitasking. Gradually, there will be less and less of these, the total software for WP7 is now almost 50 thousand applications.

Prices for Samsung Omnia W (Model I8350):

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Samsung PC Studio is a free utility that can manage the processes and files of your phone or smartphone using a personal computer or laptop.

You can download Samsung PC Studio from the media library of third-party sites, because the Samsung developer company has transformed its priorities regarding software development, and now Samsung PC Studio is no longer relevant, since it has been replaced by Samsung Kies for a long time.

Initially, the main goal of the utility was to transfer the functions responsible for the operation of the telephone to a computer. The system for connecting a smartphone to the hardware was implemented using a special adapter wire, through an infra-red port or via wireless technology"blue tooth"

What did the creators of Samsung PC Studio for Windows offer us?
First of all, it is connecting your computer to the world wide web through a communication device (that is, the transformation of the latter into a full-fledged modem) and synchronizing the data of the communication device with a PC. How could such features be convenient or, in other words, what were the advantages of using such software in comparison with similar software? The answer is obvious: in 2008 (when the utility was launched into mass use), you could access data from global network without being tied to an Internet cafe or Internet payment cards. At the time, this was a revolutionary bonus when using a mobile device.

And what could compare with the security of all saved data if the phone was, for example, damaged or lost?
Whatever happened to the device itself, information about all contacts from the phone book, the history of SMS messages, all media files were on the PC unchanged in complete safety. This function, by the way, is called " backup» and in modern smartphones occurs most often by default automatically in background without causing any inconvenience to the user and without causing unnecessary questions.

Download Samsung PC Studio on your Windows 7 and 8 PC for the easiest connection and control mobile phone. Samsung PC Studio was capable of transferring files and processing them (video from the phone could be watched through the player on the PC). You can talk about other features of the program for as long as you like, but you can't help but touch on the very necessary and important ability to install applications on your phone. Prototype of an online application store.

This smartphone made some noise at IFA 2012, when Samsung decided to show it a little before Nokia announced its devices, I remember that Microsoft was very unhappy with this act of the Koreans. The positioning of the device is quite simple - this is the company's flagship Windows Phone smartphone, designed for those who have already decided on the platform and want to have the best set of characteristics.

Equipment

• Smartphone
• Charger
• USB cable (also part of the charger)
• Wired headset
• Warranty card

Of the features of the configuration, it is worth noting only a comfortable headset-gags with a call acceptance button and a volume rocker.

Appearance, control elements, body materials, assembly

When I first saw this device, I sighed with disappointment - how cool this smartphone looked against the background of other Samsung products, but why did they decide to release it on Windows Phone? Why couldn't the Galaxy S3 be made in a similar design? Even now, this approach of the Koreans upsets me. But let's get back to the appearance of the Ativ S. The smartphone looks strict and does not look like a plastic toy at all. If we talk about the shape of the body, then it reminds me of the first Galaxy Note and Galaxy SII - the same rectangular case with rounded corners.

Most of the front side is occupied by a 4.8 ″ screen, above it there is a speaker grill, a company logo, and proximity and light sensors.

And below it you can see a block of three buttons - touch "Back" and "Search", as well as physical key Win. Samsung does not change its tradition of making one of the buttons physical. In the case of Ativ S, this approach is justified, because in addition to the usual actions, you can turn on the smartphone with this button.

On the left side are the power button and call the camera. Unlike the same S3, here the power button has been shifted a little higher, which is why it is not very convenient to turn on the smartphone using it. The camera key is traditionally two-way - a long press opens the camera and takes a picture, and a short one focuses it. Both keys have a nice soft touch and protrude just enough to be easy to feel.

On the right side is the volume rocker. It looks the same as in S3, only unlike the latter, in Ativ S it does not play, which is good news.

The place for the microUSB connector was taken away at the bottom end, the microphone hole was also located there, and only the 3.5 mm jack for headphones and headsets was left at the top end.

The back of the smartphone is made of silver plastic, stylized as metal. Even knowing this feature, for the first time the thought that the lid was metal did not leave me. But if you remove it, then everything falls into place. The shape of the lid is also similar to those of the SII and the first Note. It is fastened on a set of latches, and in the upper right corner there is a groove, pulling on which, you can easily remove it.

On the top of the cover there is an 8 MP camera with a flash, and on the bottom of the back there is a speaker. Initially, I thought that the entire surface of the mesh was the speaker, but when you remove the cover, you can see that this is not the case.

Hidden under the cover is a microSIM SIM card slot and a microSD memory card slot, cards up to 32 GB are supported. The removable back cover gives the smartphone two advantages at once - a removable battery and a memory card slot, these two parameters distinguish Ativ S from competitors.

There are no complaints about the assembly, unlike the same S3, the lid does not creak, does not play, the same can be said about the buttons, they do not “dangle”.

Dimensions

The smartphone has the usual dimensions for 4.8 ”devices, but the weight and thickness pleasantly pleased: Ativ S is comfortable to hold for a long time both with one and two hands. Compared to its competitors, it is on par with the HTC Windows Phone 8x in thickness and is thinner than the Lumia 920 and also lighter than the latter. Interestingly, with a larger screen diagonal, Ativ S is only slightly wider than 8x. Of course, fans of “feeling a thing in your hand” will be dissatisfied with the dimensions of the Ativ S and will call it a “plastic toy” with a grin, but I was pleased to use such a light smartphone, I got used to such dimensions even after a long Galaxy usage S3.

• Samsung Active S- 137.2x70.5x8.7 mm, weight 135 grams
• samsung galaxy S3- 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, weight 133 grams
• Nokia Lumia 920 - 130.3x70.8x10.7 mm, weight 185 grams
• HTC Windows Phone 8x- 132.35x 66.2x10.12 mm, weight 130 grams

Screen

The smartphone has a 4.8” display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, the matrix type is SuperAMOLED HD. The screen is covered with a protective Gorilla glass Glass 2. Supports multi-touch up to ten simultaneous touches.

The Ativ S uses the same screen as the Galaxy S3, with all its pros and cons. Let's talk about the good first: the screen has maximum viewing angles, a high level of brightness, the picture looks lively and juicy, the colors are much richer than in reality. In addition, SuperAMOLED matrices perfectly display black color, and do not turn it into gray. The disadvantages have also been known for a long time - PenTile and unnatural colors.

The impressions of SuperAMOLED screens are different for everyone, if you are in the mood to buy Ativ S and have not dealt with such screens, then be sure to first check out the smartphone in the same Samsung gallery. Personally, I like such screens - I don’t consider unnatural colors a disadvantage, on the contrary, I am pleased with saturated colors, but Artem Lutfullin prefers IPS matrices that are more “honest” in color reproduction.

operating system

The smartphone is running operating system Windows Phone 8. Let me remind you that in new version The OS added support for screens with HD resolution, introduced additional sizes for tiles and hid the annoying “arrow” down the desktop.

Otherwise, we have before us the usual "kingdom of tiles" with its own advantages and disadvantages. We already had a detailed review of this version of the OS, you can read it at the link below.

Add-ons from Samsung

Chat ON. Samsung is actively promoting its own analogue of the WhatsApp program - this program pre-installed on all new company smartphones, Ativ S is no exception.

Diary. Application for keeping notes and / or a personal diary.

family story. A strange program that involves communication between all Ativ S owners. I call it “weird”, since it is unlikely that the whole family will have the same smartphones.

Now. An analogue of HTC Hub from Samsung. With this program, you can view the weather forecast, stock and currency rates, as well as read the latest news. In addition, the application has a beautiful live tile.

photo editor. A simple photo editor that allows you to quickly crop a photo, add various effects or highlight the right place.

Music Hub. Music Store by Samsung

Performance

Responsible for performance dual-core Qualcomm processor MSM8960 operating at 1.5 GHz. Volume random access memory- 1 GB, internal storage capacity - 16 GB, there is a slot for a memory card. Despite the powerful “stuffing”, there is practically no place to realize its potential in Windows Phone 8, since there are no resource-intensive games for this OS yet. As for everyday work, there are no complaints here, web surfing, games, twitter, mail, calls - all these operations are performed quickly and without slowdowns.

Offline work

The smartphone has a removable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2300 mAh.

With time battery life something strange was going on, for example, leaving a fully charged smartphone with Wi-Fi turned on, in the morning I found that the charge level was 84%. Of course advanced Windows users Phone immediately tweeted to me that this was due to the many push services and various syncs enabled, but I just couldn't help but notice that if you use your smartphone in the out of the box state without disabling any services, you may encounter such a misfortune.

As for everyday use, the smartphone was completely discharged with ten minutes of talk time, an hour of Internet use (mail, twitter, web surfing), an hour of reading and two hours of music. Mail synchronization was enabled. Apparently, something was wrong with my test sample, since my friends, who also tested Ativ S in a similar mode, had a smartphone that worked fine for two days.

Wireless interfaces

The smartphone works in GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and UMTS (850/900/1900/2100) networks, both EDGE and HSDPA high-speed data transfer standards are supported. Enabling and disabling various communication modules occurs through the settings menu, you can also download one of the programs on the Marketplace to quickly enable and disable these modules.

Embedded module Bluetooth 3.0+EDR. Most common profiles are supported, including A2DP.

WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n). The smartphone has a dual-band Wi-Fi module (2.6 GHz and 5 GHz). Additional settings There is no Wi-Fi.

wifi router . The device has a function of "sharing" 2G/3G Internet connection via Wi-Fi. On the menu wireless interfaces the “Shared Internet” option is turned on and its settings are opened, where the user is prompted to select a network name and password.

GPS– there are no complaints about the operation of the module, satellites are within ten seconds, Nokia Maps is preinstalled as navigation software.

NFC. The device is equipped with an NFC chip, you can use it in Windows Phone 8 as follows. A number of applications support the "touch and send" function, this can be a contact, open page in the browser, document, image, in general, all applications where, when called context menu there is a line "Submit" and then the field "Touch and send". I can hit Send > Touch and Send in IE on an Ativ S, then lean it back against the back of another WP8 device and it will pop up a notification, accepting it will load the same page on my phone that I opened on my phone. The same goes for pictures and other content.

Camera

The smartphone uses an 8MP camera with flash and autofocus. The maximum photo resolution is 3264x2448 pixels. The smartphone supports two photography modes - normal and macro. Below you can find a comparison of photos in Samsung Ativ S, Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung Galaxy S3 (also, perhaps later we will have a separate article dedicated to their comparison).

Samsung Ativ S / Nokia Lumia 920 / Samsung Galaxy S3

macro photography

Shooting text

The maximum video resolution is 1080p. The camera has tracking focus.

Overall, I found the Ativ S to be slightly worse and slower than the Galaxy S3 and Lumia 920.

Conclusion

There are no complaints about the quality of communication, you and the called subscriber hear each other perfectly.

The recommended retail price of Samsung Ativ S will be 25 thousand rubles. For the money, you get a thin, light smartphone with an excellent SuperAMOLED screen and good looks. Ativ S has two key competitors - Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8x, so let's consider its pros and cons in comparison with these two models.

Samsung Ativ S and HTC Windows Phone 8x. The strengths of the 8x are its size and stunning design. When you pick up this smartphone, you just want to use it as the main one, even despite the presence of not the most beloved WP8. In addition, now retail 8x costs 19 thousand rubles against 25 thousand for Ativ S. Ativ S has a large screen size with almost similar dimensions, a memory card slot and a removable battery.

Samsung Ativ S and Nokia Lumia 920. Lumia 920 has a cool look, great camera, a bright screen with support for pressing with gloves, as well as many "chips" in the software (for example, navigation). The Ativ S benefits from being lighter and thinner, as well as having a removable battery and memory card slot.

To sum up: if you are planning to buy a Windows Phone flagship, then you should look at the HTC Windows Phone 8x if you are looking for a compact and inexpensive solution with flagship features, while 12-13 GB of internal memory without expandability is not a problem for you. .

Wishing to have the best camera, large screen size, navigation and other branded "chips" from Nokia will be happy with the Lumia 920.

What about Ativ S? In my opinion he has three key benefits before these two models: firstly, a removable battery, secondly, a memory card slot, and thirdly, a SuperAMOLED HD screen. If the presence of at least one of these items (or even all three) is critical for you, then you should pay attention to Ativ S.

Evgeny Vildiaev (

One of the undoubted leaders in the mobile solutions market - Samsung - of course, could not pass by the new version of the Microsoft operating system for smartphones. However, to say that a lot of attention was paid to her is not worth it. Comparison with the line of Android devices in terms of the number of models does not make sense, even if you take into account all versions of the Microsoft operating system.

Continuing to get acquainted with the solutions on Windows base Phone 8, today we will consider the only Samsung device with this OS version presented on the local market - Samsung ATIV S (internal designation - GT-I8750). It is unlikely that the manufacturer expects wide sales of this device. Rather, it is about maintaining the status of the company or supporting Microsoft. However, the model looks good against the background of implementations of other manufacturers and may be more interesting in some of the parameters.

Characteristics

The smartphone is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus platform. In this case, a dual-core SoC MSM8960 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz is used. The amount of RAM is 1 GB. The graphics module is represented by Adreno 225. The same processor is used in top models with WP8 by HTC and Nokia, so in general they will practically not differ in terms of computing performance. And in terms of graphics speed, the difference will most likely not be noticeable, since the screen resolutions of these devices are similar.

The Samsung ATIV S has the largest 4.8″ screen with a resolution of 1280 × 720 made using Super AMOLED technology among WP8 devices. This combination of diagonal and resolution looks great. True, different people may have individual characteristics of the perception of Pentile. Subjectively, the maximum brightness is very high, the device can be used in bright sunlight with little or no discomfort. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

The capacitive sensor works well. Support for ten simultaneous touches can be useful with such a screen diagonal, although, of course, it all depends on the applications.

Of the 16 GB of built-in flash memory, about 12 GB is available to the user. At the same time, it is possible to install microSD memory cards for storing multimedia information. Working with memory in this model does not differ from that of other devices with the Windows Phone 8 operating system. When connected to a computer, access to the smartphone's built-in storage is carried out in MTP mode. The user can overwrite any files, but the system and applications can only work with fixed formats located in certain folders.

The smartphone has one slot for Micro-SIM cards. 2G (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) and 3G (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) networks are supported. The maximum data receiving rate can reach 42.2 Mbps. In reality, everything, of course, will be determined by the operator and its network.

The device has a built-in Bluetooth 3.0 module, dual-band wireless controller Wi-Fi 802.11n with connection speeds up to 150 Mbps, and also supports NFC. For the coordinate system, compatibility with GPS and Glonass is declared. present and standard set sensors and sensors, including compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, orientation sensor, proximity sensor. Micro USB port used for charging and exchanging files with a PC (the manufacturer - apparently out of habit - calls it "multifunctional" in the documentation).

The main camera has a matrix of 8 megapixels, autofocus and flash. It is capable of recording video in up to Full HD inclusive. The front is expected to be simpler: 1.9 megapixels, and video only up to 720p.

The manufacturer installed a removable battery of relatively small capacity in the smartphone - only 2300 mAh. For a model with a large screen, this may not be enough.

In general, according to the characteristics, the model in question can be attributed to the upper segment of devices on Windows platform Phone 8.

Samsung ATIV S Smartphone Specifications

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960, 1.5 GHz, 2 Krait cores
• GPU Adreno 225
• operating system Microsoft Windows Phone 8
• Touchscreen 4.8″, Super AMOLED, 1280×720, capacitive, multi-touch, Corning Gorilla Glass 2
• Random access memory (RAM) 1 GB
• Internal memory 16 GB, microSD card slot
• Communication 2G GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz, 3G UMTS 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
• Data transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+ (up to 42.2 Mbps)
• Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 and 5 GHz), NFC
• GPS, gyroscope, compass, orientation sensor, accelerometer, proximity sensor
• Cameras: main 8 MP (autofocus, flash), additional 1.9 MP
• Removable 2300 mAh battery
• Dimensions 137×70×8-9 mm
• Weight 135 g

The table shows the specifications of the current high-end Windows Phone 8 devices on our market and the recently tested Nokia Lumia 720.

* the most common SIM card formats are described in a separate article
** average cost at the time of reading the article

Compared to the top models of other manufacturers on this software platform, the advantages include a large screen, a slot for memory cards and a high-capacity battery. The remaining parameters are practically the same - all models use the same SoC, have 1 GB of RAM, an HD screen, and a wide range of wireless communication adapters.

Equipment

In our case, a sample was tested, so the information on the configuration is based on the manufacturer's data. There is nothing unexpected in the kit in this case: phone, battery, power supply, USB cable, headset, quick start guide. The charger is standard - with a USB output and a current of 1 A. The headset has in-ear headphones and a remote control with a microphone and buttons on the cable.

Note that the test instance differed from official versions from the store with “Not for Sale” and other similar messages, and also behaved not very well - spontaneously rebooted, lost date and time settings. Unfortunately, the manufacturer could not provide us with another copy.

Appearance and usability

Despite the common features with the Galaxy line, Samsung ATIV S is still different from them. Unfortunately, the case material has remained unchanged - it is still the same plastic, despite the "metal/aluminum" coating on the frame and the back cover. However, the rejection of gloss on the rear panel and an almost imperceptible change in the shape of the case in total give a significant positive effect - the model no longer seems like an inexpensive plastic craft.

It should also be noted the successful choice of the color of the panel around the screen - metallic gray gives the device austerity and style. The dimensions of the smartphone for its diagonal turned out to be successful. Of course, the ability to work with it with one hand depends on this hand, but it is comfortable to hold the device, it does not slip out. In addition, remember about the relatively small weight of the phone.

The front panel uses protective glass, so the manufacturer quite reasonably refused the protruding frame. True, it should be noted that the speaker grille and the central button still protrude slightly above the glass surface. At the top is a speaker front-camera and sensors. The device does not have any additional indicators. Under the screen - two touch buttons ("back" and "search") and a mechanical "home" (can also be used to bring the smartphone out of the locked state). The first have a bright automatic backlight that turns on when you touch the screen and turns off after a couple of seconds. The central one boasts only a silver operating system logo. To be honest, the combination of hardware and touch buttons seemed not very convenient to use, because you have to think about the applied effort. Perhaps the same type of controls in this sense would be better.

At the top end of the device there is a headset jack (3.5 mm) and a hole for the second microphone. A Micro-USB connector was placed in the center of the bottom end, and the main microphone was placed a little to the side.

At the top of the left side there is a volume control button. On the opposite side of the body is the power button, and at the bottom of the end - the camera button.

The button cases are also made of plastic, and they dangle noticeably. The power button is made almost flush with the body, which makes it difficult to work with it. The rest of the keys protrude slightly, making them easy to find by touch. Pressing is clear, the necessary effort is at a comfortable level.

The rear panel has an aluminum-like texture, which has a positive effect on the appearance. At the top of the panel is a slightly protruding window of the main camera. It uses a black background and an aluminum frame, which is somewhat out of the general style of the device. To the left of the camera is the flash LED. A little lower we see the manufacturer's silver logo, under it is another one, already the operating system.

Interestingly, the lid does not go all the way to the bottom of the case - about a centimeter is occupied by an extended glossy frame. Between it and the lid there is a decorative grille, part of which is used for the device's external speaker. Given that the grille has a slight bevel, the sound will not be blocked when the device is placed on the table with the screen up.

The smartphone has a removable cover, behind which there is a battery, a slot for Micro-SIM and microSD memory cards. The lid is held on by traditional latches. The memory card can be replaced without turning off the machine.

In general, the device makes a good impression. Despite the use of plastic for the case, the chosen colors and texture give the model solidity, slightly leveling the effect of "cheap plastic". At the same time, the smartphone's hardware buttons are not very convenient in everyday use.

Screen

The smartphone in question has the largest screen among devices with Windows Phone 8. A 4.8″ diagonal by modern standards allows you to comfortably use the device in many scenarios - from working with e-mail to watching videos. Although, of course, convenience is more dependent on the OS and applications. Here the situation is somewhat strange: WP8 models with Full HD screens in currently not on the market, so the 1280×720 used in Samsung ATIV S are practically maximum resolution(there is another option 1280×768). The screen is made using Super AMOLED technology and has a Pentile pixel placement structure. It is almost imperceptible on the interface of the operating system and in applications, although users may have individual perceptions. Corning Gorilla Glass 2 helps protect the screen from rough handling. Subjectively, the screen seemed very bright, quite visible in the sun, with good viewing angles, with normal colors.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted by the editor of the sections "Monitors" and "Projectors and TV" Alexey Kudryavtsev.

The screen is covered with a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface and, judging by the reflection of bright light sources in it, it has an anti-glare filter. There is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating on the outer surface of the screen, so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was about 250 cd/m², the average was 130 cd/m², and the minimum was 20 cd/m². Despite not the highest brightness value, even with bright daylight the smartphone can be used, as it helps less, in comparison with LCD, the reflection of OLED screens from dark areas. You also need to take into account the fact that in this case the smaller the white area on the screen, the lighter it is, that is, the actual maximum brightness of the white areas will almost always be higher than the specified value. The low brightness mode allows you to use your smartphone without any problems even in total darkness. Automatic brightness control works according to the light sensor (second eye to the right of the front speaker). In complete darkness, the auto brightness function reduces the brightness to at least 20 cd/m² (comfortable level), in an artificially lit office, the brightness is set to 85 cd/m² (normal), in a very bright environment, the brightness rises to 190 cd/m² (why - something not up to maximum value). Instruments register brightness modulation (trapezoidal pulses with almost 100% amplitude), but it has high frequency(240 Hz), so screen flicker is not visible during normal use. However, if you try, you can detect flicker, for example, by waving a pencil in front of a white field on the screen (this is a classic "pencil" test for flicker).

This smartphone uses a HD Super AMOLED matrix - an active matrix on organic light emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphoto:

For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The luminance is mainly determined by the green component, so the luminance definition actually corresponds to the density of the green subpixels, and the fact that the color definition is lower (because the density of red and blue subpixels is lower) does not actually affect the image quality, since the color definition of human vision is also lower than the luminance clarity. However, this does not mean that the image on such a screen looks exactly the same as on a screen with the same resolution, but with the same number of subpixels of different colors. For example, at high magnification on PenTile RGBG, a fragment with two worlds looks like - with vertical black and white stripes through one pixel and with the same horizontal stripes:

It can be seen that the vertical stripes are displayed more or less well (although the large red and blue subpixels visually increase the jaggedness of the black lines), while the horizontal stripes are displayed much worse. A similar effect is present, for example, when displaying small black text on a white background:

However, the readability of such small text is in any case low due to the small physical dimensions on a screen with such a resolution and such a diagonal. As a result, PenTile RGBG can be considered a justified compromise between the cost of the screen and its consumer qualities.

The type of the screen determines the special properties: this screen has very good viewing angles - the white color changes its hue only when deviated at large angles, and the black color always remains just black at any angle, and it is so black that the contrast parameter is simply inapplicable in this case. . When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is very good. Switching the state of the matrix elements is actually performed instantly, so the response time can be equated to 0. The gamma curve constructed from 32 points did not reveal a blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power function is 1.69, which differs from the standard value of 2 ,2, while the real gamma curve noticeably deviates from the power dependence:

Note that the brightness of image fragments dynamically changes in accordance with the nature of the displayed image - it decreases for light images in general and increases for dark ones. For example, this is how the dependences of brightness on time look like, obtained when switching from a black field in full screen to white and back (0-100) and when switching between shades of 25% and 75% in a similar way (according to the numerical value of the color - 25-75):

Therefore, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) may not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential grayscale output on the entire screen.

The color gamut is very wide:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, the colors of normal images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated. The spectra of the components are very well separated:

The balance of shades on the gray scale is acceptable, since the color temperature is even higher than 8000 K, but on the entire part of the gray scale that matters, this parameter changes slightly, while the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (delta E) is less than 10, which is considered to be a good indicator, and the variation of delta E is very small:

Therefore, according to the visual assessment, there are no special complaints about the transmission of shades of gray.

As a result, the main and only significant drawback of this screen is that the manufacturer did not provide for adjusting the color gamut to sRGB.

Sound

The main speaker makes a good impression when listening to music. It has a high maximum volume level, a wide frequency range, relatively little distortion, and the grille does not block when placed face up on a table. Complex saturated compositions, traditionally for mobile devices, and this smartphone is difficult.

The speaker also performed well. Of course, the transmission bandwidth is limited, but the volume is high, the speech is transmitted clearly. The microphone is quite sensitive, there is a noise reduction system. In general, comments on the script telephone conversation we do not have. In this case, the restrictions are dictated rather cellular communication, because in the same skype sound much better.

There is nothing to say about the complete headset, since we did not have it. Checking the work with the HTC model showed that the sound is good and loud, you can use the microphone, the start / pause buttons and volume control work (in the original - track navigation). Apple Options less fortunate: only headphones and start / pause worked. However, the sound quality and loudness were up to par with them.

Additional ringtones from Samsung seemed too "synetic". However, the ability to install your own audio recording on a call in Windows Phone 8 allows you to ignore this. The intensity of the vibrating alert can be assessed as average: it will not be easy to notice it in a bag or a deep pocket.

Camera

The device has a dedicated button to call the application "Camera", and it can work even when the screen is locked. Unfortunately, the button itself is not very convenient: it is small, and the second level of pressing (shoot / shutter) requires noticeable effort. And the unpredictable delay between pressing the button and taking a picture makes the job even more difficult.

The program for shooting is standard, no additional features(panoramas or HDR) is not in it. For video, you can select the white balance, video effect, and resolution. There are a few more options for photography, as well as a focus mode, ISO, exposure compensation and others.

It's one of the few devices where the front camera delivers good image quality even in indoor environments in low light, which is important for applications such as Skype.

The main camera has a matrix of 8 megapixels, autofocus and flash. It allows you to take pictures with a resolution of up to 3264 × 2448 and record video in Full HD. The additional one is rated at 1280x960 and 720p, respectively. Video recording parameters are shown in the table. Examples of videos from the main camera are available via the links.

Please note that the sound is presented in mono version. The video is recorded with the orientation flag, so remember to hold your smartphone correctly if you want to watch the result not only on the phone, but also on other devices. Due to the relatively high bitrate, the video recording quality is at its best, we also note good fps stability.

Sample photos taken with the main camera are shown below.

Outside, partly cloudy
Outdoors, partly cloudy, after rain
bright sunny day
bright sunny day
Cloudy weather, light rain
Outdoors, different conditions
Indoors, with or without flash
Shooting text	With a flash at night

In general, the results are above average. Pictures are sharp, with good color reproduction and low noise levels.

Software

The device uses an operating Windows system Phone 8 in almost unchanged form. Additionally, pre-installed programs: ChatOn - Samsung's proprietary multi-platform messaging client, Live Wallpaper - a lock screen saver setup program, MiniDiary - a diary for daily entries (text, photos, pictures, voice notes), Now - weather, news, stocks, exchange rates and others, Photo Editor - photo editor.

Programs can be uninstalled if desired, although free place in the phone's memory, this will have almost no effect, since the utilities take literally several tens of megabytes in total. There are a few more in the "Samsung Zone" section of the app store free programs Samsung. Note the presence of standard Office and OneNote for this platform.

Everything else is traditional - phone, messages, email, camera, calendar, alarm clock, maps, shop, music, photos and videos. Recall that the maps support map and satellite modes, traffic display, offline mode with map preload desired regions, search by address and POI directory, allow you to calculate the route (walking or driving, without guidance mode).

Telephone part and communications

The smartphone is claimed to support operation in GSM/2G (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) and UMTS/3G (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) networks. GPRS, EDGE and HSPA+ technologies are used for data transmission, the latter provides a technical data reception rate of 42 Mbps. In testing in the conditions of Moscow and the region in Megafon and MTS networks, results were obtained at the level of 3-5 Mbps for reception and 1-3 Mbps for transmission, which are quite typical for modern models with 3G. True, it should be noted that these results raise certain doubts about the support of HSPA +. In terms of stability voice communication and data transfer, there were no comments to the device.

The smartphone is capable of WiFi networks 802.11a/b/g/n on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. In the first case, the connection speed can reach 72 Mbps, the actual performance is about 40 Mbps for reception and 15 Mbps for transmission. In the 5 GHz band, you can take advantage of two-channel operation with a connection speed of 150 Mbps. At the same time, the real performance will increase to 60 and 20 Mbps for receiving and transmitting, respectively. Testing was carried out in conjunction with the RT-N66U router. There are no comments on stability and range of work.

Through Bluetooth, the smartphone can work with headsets and speakers, including playback control, as well as share files. The download speed is about 180 KB/s. Confirm remote work With notebook failed, the Broadcom stack used on the PC did not see this service in the phone.

The smartphone is equipped with a GPS receiver, GLONASS support is indicated on the manufacturer's website. The system is quite stable in operation, navigation programs work correctly, the smartphone determines the coordinates quickly. The sensitivity of the receiver allows you to use it inside the car. True, not everything is good with the temperature regime: when using this scenario, the smartphone case got very hot, and on one of the trips with the Navitel program, it simply turned off after about an hour of operation.

Since our first introduction to NFC technology, the situation with programs for it in Windows Phone 8 has improved a bit. Of course, the limitations of the operating system have not gone away, but today you can find free utilities for reading and writing NDEF tags, allowing you to work with text / links / contacts, dial a number, establish a connection with Bluetooth devices and run programs.

Performance

We have already said that in terms of platforms, devices on Windows Phone 8 do not shine with diversity. At the core top models All manufacturers use Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, so the performance of the Samsung ATIV S should not differ from the previously tested Nokia Lumia 920, except in some graphics tests, where a slightly higher screen resolution in the Nokia device may affect.

Absence interesting utilities to change performance, it is somewhat offset by the general "poverty" of the Windows Phone 8 application store. However, it should be noted that we have not encountered a situation where the phone's interface or application visually "slows down". It is unlikely that this is due to the "optimization" of the operating system, but rather the fact that a pair of modern Qualcomm cores is enough for most smartphone usage scenarios.

That's why this section rather it is a confirmation that the manufacturer of the device did not “spoil” anything, than a real comparison different devices among themselves to determine the convenience of working with them. This is confirmed by the following table, which presents the test results of devices that have been in our laboratory.

A similar situation is observed in browser tests, most of which fall into the “computing” category.

IN this device one gigabyte of RAM is installed, so you can run the GFXBench 3D gaming graphics benchmark. In it, we got exactly the same results as in Nokia Lumia 920 - 5.2 fps in 2.7 T-Rex HD (onscreen) and 11 fps in 2.5 Egypt HD (onscreen), since the platforms for these models are the same. It seems that the developers of the test are still overestimating the capabilities of Windows Phone 8 devices, suggesting a computational problem too complex to play smoothly on current devices. During the test, heating was observed in the upper rear of the case, but the device passed the full cycle of scenarios without comment.

In addition, we tested the work in Asphalt 7 Heat, Assassin's Creed - Altair's Chronicles HD and NFS: Hot Pursuit, where the model in question performed very well in terms of speed. Although, of course, I would like a higher resolution screen or at least stronger post-processing.

Flash memory speed USB cable in MTP mode is shown in the table. A 32 GB SunDisk Ultra memory card was used in this test. The figures correspond to those received earlier for the Nokia Lumia 720.

Work with the built-in memory is implemented well, but recording on external card relatively slow. It may be worth using a separate card reader if you need to transfer a large amount of data to it.

Video playback test

As we wrote in the previous article, testing devices with Windows Phone 8 in the video player mode is difficult due to the modest capabilities of the standard player and the lack of convenient alternatives. So our standard plate with the results of playing formats popular on the net looks a bit sad.

However, the hardware platform itself is capable of more and wins back on the MP4 container. It can play videos in it in formats up to 720p50 and 1080p30 depending on the codec parameters, including files prepared with profiles for Android, Apple and YouTube.

Using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see "Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)"), we checked how the video is displayed on the smartphone screen. Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the output frames of video files with various parameters: resolution (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps) varied. With). The results of this test are summarized in the table:

Note: If both columns Uniformity And Passes“green” ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven interleaving and dropping frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect viewing comfort. "Red" marks indicate possible problems associated with the playback of the corresponding files.

With the exception of two files, the intervals between frames alternate unevenly. However, even in the case of 1080p at 24 and 30 fps, even frame interleaving is an unstable state, since some external and internal background processes cause the correct interleaving of intervals between frames to periodically fail. A 1280x720 file at 60 fps plays normally for a couple of seconds, then the picture freezes, and the regular player simply refuses to play 1080p files at 50 and 60 fps. However, in fact, the declared support for playing Full HD files is available, there are no complaints against the manufacturer. The only pity is that this smartphone is deprived of the ability to display images on an external screen.

When playing video files at 720p (1280 by 720 pixels), the image of the video file is displayed one-on-one, exactly on the edge of the screen in true 720p resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen exactly corresponds to the standard one: in the video range (that is, in the range of 16-235), all gradations of shades are distinguished in the shadows and in the highlights.

Battery Life

The smartphone has a removable battery with a capacity of 2300 mAh, which is a little more than is usually found in devices of this class with Windows Phone 8. The ability to replace the battery, in our opinion, does not seem very important today, since increasing battery life in this way for the mass user relatively difficult. It is usually much more convenient to use one of the models of universal external batteries.

Full charge time from a 1A output power supply is 3.5 hours, which is relatively long. Using a more powerful charger in this case does not make sense, since the built-in controller will not use more current.

When testing the battery life, the display brightness was set to the “medium” position. This corresponded to 133 cd/m², which is more than the other participants in the table (about 100 cd/m² for the Nokia Lumia 720 and about 75 cd/m² for the Nokia Lumia 920), but is the closest value to the reference 100 cd/m². In addition, the reading mode was tested not only with the traditional "black letters on a white background" scheme, but also with an alternative "white letters on a black background" scheme (the second result is indicated in brackets). The fact is that for AMOLED screens, consumption depends not only on the set brightness, but also on the number of white pixels on the screen. For obvious reasons, you can’t do a similar operation to watch a video.

It is impossible to call these figures otherwise than a disappointment. Perhaps they should be attributed to the sample used, but if official devices have the same result, then the smartphone will have little chance. And it’s hard to say anything about AMOLED with these numbers, except that when reading, the use of the inverse circuit gave an increase of 20%. We will try to study the issue of consumption in the following articles on a more “friendly” platform. different types screens. Fortunately, in real use, not everything is so bad. The device is able to work on a single battery charge for a couple of days, if you do not use it very intensively.

Prices

At the time of this writing, the average cost of Samsung ATIV S in Moscow was a little less than 14 thousand rubles. This value is comparable to the price of HTC Windows Phone 8X, it is lower than that of Nokia Lumia 920 and higher than that of Nokia Lumia 720. If you look only at the technical specifications, then Samsung is on the side of the screen size, support for memory cards, battery capacity. Nokia Lumia 920 features slightly higher resolution, LTE support and wireless charging, but does not have a microSD slot.

So, in our opinion, among the data Samsung models ATIV S looks very good. Given the close characteristics, the design of the model will have a great influence on the choice. It is impossible to give an unambiguous assessment here, and it is difficult to single out a clear leader. All models have certain features, and the user will have to evaluate their importance in a particular case on their own.

with models on Android based there is practically no point in comparing these solutions, since in this case the choice of the operating system is usually more important than other parameters. But if you look only at technical specifications and price, then you can write down the leaders of the past generation as competitors, for example, Samsung Galaxy S3 or HTC One x.

Outcome

Judging by the fact that Samsung has only one model on Windows Phone 8, the manufacturer prefers not to waste energy on this platform. The release of the ATIV S is more of a gesture of maintaining a relationship with Microsoft than a real bid for business in this segment. In terms of platform, the model differs little from other devices given level. Two fast processor cores, a gigabyte of RAM, an HD display, dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC - it all looks quite modern, but just like the competition. Perhaps the only significant plus is the slot for microSD memory cards. In addition, the diagonal of the screen this model- the largest on WP8. But such features as a removable battery or a Super AMOLED screen cannot be called obvious pluses.

The case turned out to be quite interesting in terms of the combination of design, materials and colors, but the bad buttons greatly spoil the picture. The screen has excellent viewing angles, but relatively low brightness - however, the peculiarity of the manufacturing technology still allows you to use the device in bright light. I liked the sound of the built-in speaker, although it is unlikely that at least for someone this will be an important parameter when choosing. The camera in terms of the quality of the resulting images generally corresponds to the level of the device.

In terms of performance, the smartphone does not differ from other models on the same platform. But in testing the battery life in the reading scenario, he did not perform very well. To empower Samsung firmware in this case did nothing. Perhaps it was still worth offering something interesting to users, especially since the company has a lot of resources and good ideas.

If you decide to purchase a device on Windows Phone 8, then you should add Samsung ATIV S to your consideration. Fortunately, there are not very many models on this platform, and the differences are in technical specifications they still have. So it remains only to determine the parameters that are important to you personally and make a choice.

Sample photos taken with the built-in Samsung camera Omnia M

Battery

Those who think that Android is the most gluttonous OS are mistaken. In terms of appetite, Windows Phone still does it. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain why this phone in "vegetable" mode with a SIM card cannot lie for more than two days. Moreover, if the “Sim card” is pulled out, then he can remain conscious for a week or even more. You can refer to the driver or a bad radio module specific model, but after all, for android phones, this is often the cause of gluttony, so the comparison is correct - platform representatives are on an equal footing.

In the mode of active use, the device is able to work for a day and a half - typical for budget smartphones.

Competitors

Almost completely similar to our guest in terms of characteristics, except for the installed OS, Huawei smartphone Ascend G300 costs an average of 2 thousand rubles cheaper. There even built-in memory is also only 4 GB, however, unlike Samsung Omnia M, it has a microSD card slot. But the processor and graphics accelerator are too old for new items.