06 September 2008
I want to love my Samsung
but,
I just don't!
 I want to love my Samsung i8510 but ... .. ... I just don't.
I have had it for a few days now and I have popped my SIM card back in my Nokia N82. The Samsung INNOV8 is a fantastic device, there is no doubting that.
It is however lacking something. It’s not groundbreaking in the way the Nokia N95 was and it is like it says and innovation.
My aim in a mobile device is the ultimate convergence. I have been using my Nokia N82 as what I believe to be pretty close to that on the basis below:
-
Camera - Above average and just about enough to ditch a separate point and shoot. The images are a little grainy but xenon helps a lot with that in no/low and average light conditions.
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Video recorder - perfect for what I need.
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MP3 Player - Player above average with podcasting integration although slightly below average audio performance.
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Radio - Despite the lack of RDS the reception is pretty good when I listen to radio.
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Sharing media - I use Shareonline a lot to upload to Flickr and Ovi.
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GPS device for navigation and mapping - With A-GPS enabled this device is brilliant for navigation and mapping although screen is a little small.
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Web - Web browser is suitable for browsing on the go although screen size is a limitation.
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Email - I use Gmail through IMAP and get my emails pushed through.
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Gaming - Is a good gaming device but not as good as the N95, it works enough for me. Ngage games are hit and miss but more than you get on other phones.
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Watching video - Works well in most formats, I mainly use emTube and Coreplayer.
So that is kind of the benchmark I have set for a convergence and this is how the INNOV8 fairs in the same catagories:
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Camera - Image quality is unrivaled from what I have seen on a cameraphone. It is equal to my £120 cyber shot camera in terms of noise levels which is impressive. Lack of xenon means the sensor has to work harder in low light conditions and is pretty rubbish at night unless the object is less than 1m away.
- Video recorder - Better than N82, it has focus before shooting as well as the ability to make use of the LED's as a video light. The QVGA@120fps is a bit of a gimmick for me to be honest and is only in there because it’s possible.
- MP3 Player - Standard S60 player that doesn’t separate podcasts from the music and has no other enhancements. The sound quality is far superior to the N82. There is no background noise compared to the N82 where it is quite audible.
- Radio - It has RDS but I have found so far that the reception is not as good as my N82 which is frustrating.
- Sharing media - Shozu is one of the bundled apps that allow me to upload to Ovi, Flickr and Facebook but it’s not as simple and nice to use as Shareonline.
- GPS device for navigation and mapping - A-GPS is not as good as Nokia. It uses Samsungs GPS+ which downloads 7 days worth of data but when I use GPS software it takes a while to lock (1-2mins). If I have my N82 it will lock pretty much everytime even indoors in less than 1minute but the Samsung tends not to look indoors. Navicore and ViewRanger are my main software and they both work which is good.
- Web - Web browsing is brilliant with the scroll pad and the 2.8" screen, more than enough for what I need
- Email - I set up Gmail on this and set it for automatic retrieval but it doesn’t seem to push the mail through. Settings match the N82 exactly but it doesn’t work. Auto retrieval every 15mins is OK though.
- Gaming - Is a good gaming device. The built in games are exactly as the N-Gage versions but I would love to have Ngage on this device.
- Watching video - This works well playing FLV files in the flash player and DivX, MP4 in real player. I haven’t tried WMV yet. Sound quality is good through speakers and headphones.
So overall it is nearly there but not. The N82 does everything I want but overall it does them all as an average whereas the i8510 doesn’t do all I want it do but the things it does do it does excellently.
The hardware is spot on so it’s all down to software. The other niggly things are like you cant disable auto keypad lock, it tells you to remove your charger to save energy, many apps that I like to use wont install, there is no WLAN wizard, google search doesn’t work, the icon links you to the browser, the auto-rotate is 90 degree.
I wonder if I am being a bit too hasty. I mean when I got my N95 I was instantly happy because there was nothing about that was even close. It was a new device and was simply groundbreaking but many N95 owners will agree that it took a good year before the N95 became truly an exceptional device after and now it is still up there with the best.
Will the INNOV8 just fade away or will it grow and develop in the N95 did. Do you think in 6 months time all of my issues will be sorted (either solved or hacked) and I will be in love with it?
More about this cute Samsung’s slider you can find
HERE and HERE and HERE
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