Tech Specs

Hardware

Display

Connectivity

Processor

Memory

Storage

Front Camera

Rear Camera

Software

Interface

Sensors

Battery

• 9.0

  Show all User reviews

  Reviewed by jlnprssnr (Currently owns)

  August 22, 2013 09:55 am

  I replaced my trusty old Optimus 7 with this shiny toy. The hardware feels really great, the software is incredibly fast and stable. But the best thing about this phone is the price, I got it on amazon.de for 200€, without any coupon codes. 200€. That's ridiculous for a phone like this.

  As you see, I had a Windows Phone before and I don't regret getting another one at all. Windows Phone 8 brings lots of nice improvements and comes with some cool new apps that were'nt available on WP7.

  I strongly recommend this phone!

  The Breakdown

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

  • Design 8
  • Display 9
  • Camera(s) 8
  • Reception / call quality 8
  • Performance 9
  • Software 9
  • Battery life 9
  • Ecosystem 8

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown
• 9.0

  Show all User reviews

  Reviewed by Coolknight1968 (Currently owns)

  March 20, 2013 12:24 pm

  I have tried the HTC 8X, the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Samsung Ativ S. I now sold my Lumia 920, too many problems, still have my 8X and my Ativ S. The Ativ S is has many qualities, like a physical home button that wakes the phone, very good display, good reception and good battery. Battery life is much better than both the 8X and Lumia 920. The microSD card slot and removable battery are a huge plus. The auto brightness feature on the Ativ S is the only one that does in fact work well, when I compare it to the 8X and L920. As to apps... for me WP8 delivers what I want in form of contacts and email, I don't use Whatsapp and will only use Skype when it is out of beta. Yes it looks like metal and it is plastic... like the metal in a Porsche Cayenne interior which is also all plastic... I don't mind it. I like metallic looking phones. The camera on the Ativ S is good, similar to what you get on the L920, nothing wrong with it. But I find it less good than the camera on my HTC OneX+. For those who buy their phones, this is the WP8 device to get as it offers more, $ for $.

  The Breakdown

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

  • Design 10
  • Display 9
  • Camera(s) 7
  • Reception / call quality 8
  • Performance 9
  • Software 7
  • Battery life 10
  • Ecosystem 8

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown
• 9.0

  Show all User reviews

  Reviewed by weetigo (Currently owns)

  January 19, 2013 07:55 pm

  Its a shame Samsung isn't releasing this in the USA as it is a great high-end WP8 device. It sports the large screen (4.8" super AMOLED display), a replaceable battery (2300 mAh), a microSD slot (SDXC), a thin profile (8.7mm), and it's light-weight (135g).

  I am seeing a day and a half for average use and I've never run out of juice yet even with heavy use. I can stream music all day without a need for packing a recharge cable or a spare battery.

  In terms of negatives, it does have a few. The ringer & alarm volume is quiet in comparison to the 920 and I sleep through it occasionally and miss the occasional ring. The vibration could be improved. Stuff that could be fixed in an update.

  Samsung has also provided a sparse population of exclusive apps, ones that will be familiar if you've ever owned a Focus, but on the plus side they have been updating them regularly and they even released a lens app recently called 'Beauty' which lets you clean up photo blemishes on subjects.

  Overall it's been a durable and comfortable phone to use and battery life & screen make it a tremendously useful device for my daily driver.

  The Breakdown

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

  • Design 9
  • Display 10
  • Camera(s) 7
  • Reception / call quality 9
  • Performance 9
  • Software 7
  • Battery life 10
  • Ecosystem 8

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown
• 8.0

  Show all User reviews

  Reviewed by sudama.hebert (Currently owns)

  January 3, 2013 01:38 pm

  Hardware:
  The Phone itself is light in the and feel solid in the hand. The back cover feel flimsy but I dont think that it will ve a long term issue unless you plan to open it often. All buttons are well placed as well as ports.

  Display:
  The display is gorgous, I can't compare it hand to hand with a IPhone or another top of the line Android but I can say that it does the job well, but glare is a issue

  Sound:
  Sound is accurate however a small popping sound appear from time to time when listening through headphones (tried it with many headphones). From what I have observe those popping sounds appear whenever a new connection to a network through Wifi is attempted.

  Battery:
  Battery life is great on this phone. On light use, a little browsing, a few calls and text, you get two days of use. With heavy using: 2-3 hours of gaming, 5-7 hours of music listening, web browsing, full notification and sync and a few calls I went to bed with 20% of battery remaining! Great battery life.

  Camera:
  The camera is responsive, a click of a physical shutter away, easy to use and work well in most conditions. Low light pictures are average, better than my old Galaxy S but not as great as what I see from the Nokia or the IPhone. Colors are a little oversaturated, the blues and reds are really too intense.
  Here are some samples that I took around:
  https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114486866740131536619/albums/5828164249505426849

  Conversion from Android:
  I had some trouble importing a few contacts for no obvious reasons, appart from that Google Calendar and mail is well integrated in Microsoft's OS.

  BOTTOM LINE
  Strong suit:
  - Social Network integration
  - Lucious Screen
  - Excelent battery
  - SD card slot + 16 gigs on the phone
  - Powerfull processor
  - Excelent network connectivity
  - Good sound

  Weak suit:
  - No windows 7 drivers be warned!
  - No google services
  - No navigation out of the box
  - Less apps than other platforms

  Overall: 7.5/10 but potentially a 8.5-9/10 if MS and Samsung clean it's act as all flaws are software flaws.

  The Breakdown

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

  • Design 8
  • Display 8
  • Camera(s) 7
  • Reception / call quality 9
  • Performance 9
  • Software 6
  • Battery life 10
  • Ecosystem 7

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown
• 7.0

  Show all User reviews

  Reviewed by web.invoker (Previously owned)

  December 30, 2012 06:24 pm

  Its a fine gadget, but technology always left behind things so fast, so as it goes It is left behind by some other gadgets.Its a fine gadget, but technology always left behind things so fast, so as it goes It is left behind by some other gadgets.Its a fine gadget, but technology always left behind things so fast, so as it goes It is left behind by some other gadgets.

  The Breakdown

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

  • Design 6
  • Display 6
  • Camera(s) 7
  • Reception / call quality 8
  • Performance 7
  • Software 6
  • Battery life 7
  • Ecosystem 9

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown