30 May 2009

Samsung i8910HD
The first 24hrs review by Dogmann

Having been away from Symbian and S60 for the last 9 months it was this device that tempted me back.

Having been a great fan of the OMAP2420 with PowerVR graphics in my previous S60 devices I have eagerly awaited one to be released using the newer improved OMAP3 and PowerVR SGX graphics to see for myself all the benefits this would actually deliver in the real world and for a users experiences.

So my Samsung i8910HD as it is now called in the UK arrived from Orange who for the moment have an exclusive, here are some pictures of the contents included in the box and the actual device.

I was aware there was already an upgraded version of the PC Studio V7.2.20.9 so installed this version instead of one on the supplied CD. This was easy and straight forward and is very similar to the Nokia PC Suite many of you may be used to.

My first task after it was installed was to sync my new device with Outlook for my Contacts and PIM information I synced 6 months back and forward entries which totalled 1,008 entries along with 86 Contacts all of which took a little over 5 minutes.

I then proceed to copy some of my Albums that are already encoded @256kbps AAC then I copied the Pictures and some Videos I wanted on it. This also had very fast transfer times and quicker then I remembered it being in the past as all I did was drag and drop what I wanted on the device by using Mass Storage mode. Alternatively there is a Music Manager that you can use for both conversions and transfer and again this is virtually the same if not actually the same as the one found in the Nokia PC suite.

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My next task was to install my apps and some themes and here I came across my first problem as by using the installer app in the PC Studio it was generating an error. Luckily I was able to just drag and drop the apps on the phone for them to install to the phone.

• The apps I installed are
• Handy Taskman
• Best ScreenSnap
• Y-Browser
• Accu Weather a WRT Widget
• Seven Push E-Mail
• Google Maps
• 4 PiZero Themes for S60 5 th Edition

I then proceed to set my WiFi access point and enter my WPA2 security key to create an access point this was both quite easy and simple and followed the instructions in the user manual as to how and where to do this. After this I then proceeded to complete the installation and set up of my apps. Now I encountered my first real problem on the device itself as the WiFi connection was not staying connected. So I looked at the Access point I had just created and checked out all the options including ignoring a warning and going into the advanced options.

*click to enlarge

In this section I found that by default Power Saving was enabled so I changed this to disabled and it solved the problem immediately.

It was now time to actually start using and set up my device the way I wanted it to look and followed the things I have always done on my previous devices. So I changed the Theme, Clock display and added my ringtone, E-Mail alert tone and set up my Alarm sound.

Now all this was done it was time to start using and exploring the device and I have to say is the first thing you notice is just how good the build quality of this device is. Although it is plastic it is far from being a cheap plastic it exudes a real feel of quality to it although it really is a fingerprint magnet a cleaning cloth really is a must if fingerprints annoy you. Now although the fingerprints on the glass screen look bad when the screen is off they really aren’t noticeable when it’s on. The screen really is quite unbelievable words just can not do it justice it has to be seen to be believed it is so sharp bright and clear. Both pictures and Videos have never looked so good on any device I’ve seen or used before including my short time with an iPhone. Talking of the screen it is actually very responsive but did take me a little while to be comfortable and proficient on it having not used a touch screen for a very long time now.

This is easily the fastest and smoothest S60 device by a long way proving IMO that there are advantages to the OMAP processor that go far beyond just giving a big number and great Multimedia support along with the Power VR SGX. Now this along with the 256MB of RAM makes for a great user experience IMO and there really is no lag when going through menus or applications. The only place IMO there is any real slowdown is in the Web browser whilst the page is downloading but that’s more of an S60 fault then anything to do with the device itself.

I am also not using the Touch Wiz interface as it is just not to my liking I really don’t like having my Home screen that cluttered or really want or need anything that it offered me. It may be great for other users who will find its features useful but it just isn’t for me.

Being able to just drop unconverted avi files makes using this device so much easier and the quality really is nothing short of stunning. Forget about the iPhone the quality here really is vastly superior and both sound via the speakers or using ear phones again is of the highest quality. The same goes for music playback using my Shure EC2g in ear phones the sound is really clean and rich with a full soundstage. The Music player offers all the usual options we are used to and supports Album art and most important of all sounds great.

Despite what many have said after just 24hrs with the device my typing is already speeding up and I am hardly making any mistakes at all. I am not into using T9 so am sticking with the full QWERTY in landscape mode.

The browser experience is really good on this device although there are occasional slow downs whilst the page loads there nothing terrible. Scrolling is also good once the page is loaded and you have learnt where the sweet spots for scrolling up and down and left to right are. I keep forgetting up is down and down is up and left to go right and right to go left but whilst my brains in training it continues to improve with use. It’s only been 24hrs and I’m already improving with my control I’m sure within a week I will of nailed it. My one and only really big annoyance is with whoever thought it was good idea to have a third of the screen default occupied until you select Full Page mode. The things in this side bar are add Bookmark, Go to Web Address and the Zoom Bar along with options and close. There are two ways to zoom in either double tap or use the zoom bar that goes down to 60% or all the way up to 200%.

Camera samples
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I haven’t really had much time to check out the Camera or shoot any Video yet but will do over the coming days and update with the results. Here are the 3 pictures I have taken so far and what I would say is the Camera is very fast to start and be ready to take a picture and the next picture. Once again I would have to say faster than on any S60 device I’ve seen or used before.

Here are some screen shots of my home screen and the applications on it and some Handy Taskman shots showing apps and RAM.

It’s worth mentioning although it shows Shozu on their I removed it as hated it and have found just going to m.flickr.com is by far the easiest and fasted way to upload pictures.

It’s also worth mentioning that Samsung have added a few neat little touches to base S60 V5 for instance as well as the Motion sensor having an option for Auto-rotate display it also works for Snoozing alarms or Silencing calls.

The only other things at this point I can think of to mention is that the Nokia Wireless Keyboard app wouldn’t install it said unsupported and although the BBC iPlayer WRT installed no problem the message from the BBC was my device isn’t supported yet but I’m going to see if there a solution for it.

Well that’s all I could really think of for my first day with it but for me it’s definitely a keeper and a device I’m going to enjoy using. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask them and if I can I’ll answer them.

Marc