Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Samsung i8510 (INNOV8)

Tag : NEC Battery Pack
Table of Contents: Positioning Design, Size Controls Keypad Display Battery Hardware Platform Memory, Memory cards USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi GPS-navigation Preinstalled Applications Camera Extras Competition Impressions Eldar Murtazin's take on the INNOV8 Positioning
First thing we'll have to note in this write-up, is that it's not acomplete review, as we are going to avoid some moot points andfocus on what's already set in stone about the i8510.
Even though the Samsung i8510 is hardly the first powerhouse inSamsung's S60-based portfolio, it's considerably different from alltheir offerings in this segment. For starters, let's recall whatother phones Samsung can offer here: as far as its latest solutionsgo, these are the i400, i520, i550, i560 and G810. What'sremarkable is that all but one of the above phones are housed inthe slider type design, which should come as no surprise, seeingwhat weight this form-factor has always had in their portfolio.This is actually part of the reason why the Samsung i8510 is also aslider - in fact all their hopes now lie with this handset, as theyare aiming to take a stab at Nokia's very own playground.
Before the arrival of the Samsung G810 all S60-based phones fromthis Korean manufacturer were, let's face it, pretty lackluster.Samsung found it vital to maintain the image of a versatile companythat could churn out both feature phones and smartphones runningS60 and Windows Mobile. Over the last couple of years they havebeen experimenting with these two platforms and oftentimes theirofferings turned out to be mixed bags - always heavy on featuresbut rarely appealing to the mass market. And while things areunlikely to change for the Windows Mobile department any time soon,the situation with S60-based handsets is starting to turn around asthe Samsung i8510 is set to take the market by storm. But before wecut to the chase, let us take a few steps back to the fact thatwith the i8510 Samsung is jumping on Nokia's own turf. And thereare several reasons why we feel this is important.
First and foremost, S60 has always been considered the domain ofNokia's - furthermore, the vast majority of users who have heard ofS60 or have a vague notion of what a smartphone is, tend tosynonymize S60 with this phone maker. And this mental bond between"Nokia" and "S60" has been growing stronger over the years.
Secondly, the i8510 is in fact Samsung's first all-in-one phonerunning the S60 platform. In other words, they have taken some cuesfrom Nokia and their widely successful N95 and all other iterationsthat followed (N95 8Gb and N96). While Nokia has been around inthis field for years now, Samsung, being new to this game, havemanaged to deliver the fight right to Nokia's doorbell. If there isone thing we learned from our quality time with the INNOV8 (anotheralias of the i8510), is that not only have Samsung implemented allfeatures in a proper fashion, they have also used today's dearth ofpremium hi-tech phones to their advantage. All this chemistry hasworked out pretty well, to say the least&
Back to the table of contents >>> Design, Size
Looking at the i8510 it's hard to deny a simple truth - Samsunghave finally overcome, although with great difficulties, theirbog-standard design paradigm and brought in new colors and shapesinto their portfolio. A year ago it was extremely hard to tell thedifference between LG's and Samsung's offerings, but these daysSamsung have broken away from this "generic" Korean design, andwhile on some forums you will still bump into rants that theyhaven't made much progress on this front, we couldn't disagreemore. True, it probably isn't as no-nonsense as the Nokia N95 8Gb,but the i8510 has got no trace of that toyish feel left to it. Allin all, while it has no bells and whistles in the way of looks,this phone won't bore you, that for sure
As far as materials go, the Samsung i8510 is a step ahead of theNokia N95 8Gb - if feels more robust and enjoys a better set ofmaterials, at least that's what we felt after playing around withboth handsets for quite a while. Also going for the i8510 is thenumber of different types of plastic and metal in the mix: thedisplay is surrounded by a chrome strip, the keypad is made oflacquered plastic, the battery compartment is metallic and finally,the inserts on the sides are decked out in soft-touch plastic. Thisarray of materials makes the INNOV8 look a whole lot smoother andlends it a very pleasant feel in the hand, despite the handsetitself being not the most petite model around.
Speaking of the i8510's size - probably it's the first thing thatgives away its true nature and top-of-the-line functionality. Thisphone is thicker and wider than most other smartphones on themarket, let alone feature phones. Samsung i8510  106.5 x 55 x 20 mm, 140 g Nokia N95 8 Gb  99 x 53 x 21 mm, 96 g Sony Ericsson C905  104 x 49 x 20 mm, 136 g
Due to being so thick and heavy, the i8510 won't remain unnoticedin your jeans pocket, let alone a breast pocket on a shirt.
While some may think that the size of the Samsung i8510 is itsmajor letdown, it's not quite true. It is on the bulkier side, nodoubt about that, but even if they could make it twice as small,that would have been a mistake. As far as mobile powerhouses go,their weight and size somewhat help their credibility. Having ahefty and sizable device that looks the part in his hand, the userwill know right away what kind of phone he is dealing with. Shouldyou modify the i8510 size even a tiny bit, it will be perceived ina totally different way.
Many people who saw the Samsung i8510 for the first time pointed atits width and thickness, however when we told them what features ithad under the hood, this initial disappointment turned intoapproving nods in an eyewink.
Back to the table of contents >>> Controls
The smartphone's front fascia features a forward-facing camera forvideo conferencing within 3G networks; on the left is the ambientlight sensor that handles the backlight intensity of both thedisplay and keypad. The earpiece is mounted right next to it - it'sslightly recessed into the casing and covered with a metallicgrill.
The lanyard eyelet is perched towards the top of the left-handspine, along with the volume controls, 3.5 mm audio jack andmicroUSB slot (covered with a plastic flap) that accepts chargingdevices and sync cables.
On the right there is the camera slider key that allows jumpingbetween different modes (Album, Video recording and Still images)in just one flick. In fact, this control is more common amongstandalone digital shooters rather than imaging-savvy mobilephones. Several inches below is the microSD memory card slot sealedbehind a removable flap. Keep in mind, however, that it enablesbeefing up the i8510's already huge 16 Gb of bundled storage.
Further down is the two-stage capture key. The top and bottom endsof the i8510 are completely empty.
Mounted on either side of the battery cover are two loudspeakers.While there is no distinguishable "stereo" effect, these twospeakers do put up clear and noise-less sound. The camera lens ishidden behind a plastic shutter; sitting next to it is the LEDflash. You can learn more about the i8510's camera in our dedicated write-up .
One thing about this phone's camera that many tend to overlook isthat much like all Samsung's latest and greatest digital camerasthat sport a thin blue strip rimming their lenses (it's especiallydiscernible in the NV-series), a tiny blue line runs around thei8510's camera module too. It certainly does make its rear sidelook more Samsung's standalone digital shooters.
Like we already said, the i8510's build quality is supreme - thehalves don't feel wobbly at all, we never encountered creakingnoises or anything of this nature. Plus it's not a finger-printmagnet (although its display sort of is, but all screens of thissize have this drawback) - the i8510 manages to look relativelyclean even after a day of intensive use. The spring-loadedmechanism isn't flawless here, however - while the INNOV8 readilyzips open, closing it may prove to be a challenge. The thing is,the mechanism kicks in too late in this case, just about the timeyou have already closed the phone with your fingers alone. Otherthan that, we have no gripes with the i8510's casing or buildquality.
Back to the table of contents >>> Keypad
The number pad of the i8510 employs a single-slab design, texturedwith several strokes of laser. All keys rows are separated fromeach other with slim stripes of grey plastic that are easy tonotice on this otherwise all-black casing. While the buttons havepretty short travel, they don't feel wobbly and are generally easyto press.
All in all, texting with the Samsung i8510's keypad was a breeze -the keys are neither big nor small, which certainly adds to thephone's ergonomics.
The navigation cluster seems to be quite ordinary at a glance - ithas a five-way navigation button in the middle, two soft-keys, Calland End buttons along with the S60 key and Quick Menu shortcut.
However as it turns out Samsung couldn't resist the temptation tothrow in a touch-pad into their top-of-the-line phone. They havebuilt it into the central button in the D-pad, so that you canslide your finger across it to move around the menu (it can bedisabled it in the Settings). So, in case you are sweet onconventional controls, you won't run into any troubles with theSamsung INNOV8.
First versions of the phone that we managed to get our hands on,feature the Cube user interface that is somewhat similar to thatfound in the HTC Touch. Basically, it allows you to put variousshortcuts to applications, contacts and files onto its facets.Using the touch pad you will be able to toggle between these facets(thankfully, the i8510 comes installed with a 3D accelerator thatmakes the whole process a gratifying experience). Also the i8510features a bundled accelerometer that automatically rotates thescreen to landscape mode and back, plus allows utilizing varioussport-minded applications, including those developed by Nokia.
Back to the table of contents >>> Display
The i8510 sports a 2.8-inch TFT display capable of 240x320 pixelresolution (42x55 mm) - similar screens are found in the Nokia N958 Gb and N96. This unit shows up to 262 K colors, which cometogether in a bright and juicy picture. Subjectively, I found it atad better than that the of the Nokia N95 8Gb - the i8510's picturerevealed fewer pixels and appeared smoother overall. However, itdidn't fare all that well in bright light - the picture got washedout and reading texts became somewhat difficult.
The screen accommodates up to 12 text and 3 service lines, althoughin some modes you will see as many as 16 lines of text.
Back to the table of contents >>> Battery
The smartphone comes packaged with a 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery. Ourtest unit managed to stay up and running for around 1,5 days -during this time we were particularly heavy on its camera and music(3-4 hours a days), whereas calls made only a small part of ouractivities (30 minutes a day or so). Nevertheless, we will reserveour final verdict until we get our hands on a commercial unit.
The battery compartment cover feels very solid and seems unlikelyto loosen up with time.
Back to the table of contents >>> Hardware Platform
The Samsung i8510 is no bells and whistles in this department,running on the same platform as the Samsung G810. For those of youwho haven't skimped through our review of this phone yet, itemploys Qualcomm MSM6280 radio module and TI OMAP 2430 chipset thatcomes included with a 2D/3D accelerator that kicks in when shootingwith the i8510's built-in camera too.
You can learn more about the OMAP 2430 technical merits on itsmanufacturer's official page .
Back to the table of contents >>> Memory, Memory cards
The Samsung i8510 comes bundled with 60 Mb of flash memory and 16Gb of main storage. As far as smartphones go, this is as much asyou can only get these days. The user also gets to access 85 Mb outof 128 Mb of the i8510's RAM (right after the phone's first boot).On top of that the handset allows beefing up its already hugestorage space with microSD memory cards (that can be over 4 Gb insize all thanks to the support of SDHC standard).
Back to the table of contents >>> USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
USB . The handset comes in with USB 2.0 support, upon a successful PCconnection you can choose one of the following modes:
Data Transfer (Mass Storage USB) - memory cards is available, nodrivers required, as your OS identifies the handset automatically.Data transfer speed makes around 2800 Kb/s (USB 2.0).
PC Suite - used for device management via PC Suite, enables allfeatures of the phone, data backup etc.
Image Transfer
Media Player (MTP protocol) - synchronizes data with Windows MediaPlayer.
Bluetooth . The smartphone sports EDR-enabled Bluetooth 2.0 alongside thefollowing profiles: A2DP AVCRP BIP-ImagePush DUN-GW FT-Server HandsFree-AG (1.0) Headset-AG OBEX OPP-Client OPP-Server SIM Access-Server
The top speed you can get with the i8510's Bluetooth connection isaround 100 Kb/s. We also tested its A2DP profile in pair with theSony Ericsson DS970 headset, which worked just fine - we managedour play list, skipped within tracks and adjusted volumeseamlessly.
Wi-Fi . We didn't bump into any difficulties with the i8510's Wi-Fiwireless connectivity - it instantly located and tapped into anyavailable local network. We were also pleased by the fact that evenafter 2 hours of wireless data transfers the phone's casingremained pretty cool.
Back to the table of contents >>> GPS-navigation
The i8510 runs with Route 66 for its navigation package -basically, it's not the most widely adopted solution among phonemakers (Nokia used to implement it some time ago, but these daysthey equip their phones only with Nokia Maps), although as far asfunctionality goes it is not much worse than Nokia Maps and thelikes. We already covered this application's feature pack in our review of the Nokia 6110 Navigator, so if you are willing to learn moreabout it, you should better look through that article.
Apart from Route 66, the Samsung i8510 comes preinstalled withGoogle Maps 2.0 that was a cinch to handle. In case you have gotall the latest data on satellites uploaded, it won't take the phonelonger than 30 seconds to get a GPS fix on your location.
Back to the table of contents >>> Preinstalled Applications
The handset doesn't come preinstalled with a host of applications.The standard suite only includes Adobe PDF, QuickOffice for readingdocuments. Unlike Nokia's S60 solutions, the i8510 comes bundledwith a full version of this package - in other words, it allows youto both read and edit documents. Pretty neat addition, if you askus; it will certainly save you a couple of bucks.
Video Editor . Another application that goes beyond the standard suite offeatures found in Nokia's S60-based phones. There are three modesavailable with this Video editor - the first and the leastsophisticated one allows you to edit video clips (clip length,start time, sound track, sound recording etc).
The second mode is more a valuable addition to the defaultfunctionality of the system. With a bunch of photos on your hands,you can create a CIF, QVGA or QCIF clip. In a word, you pick allphotos you will need, set the background music and then tweaktransition effects. There is a multitude of options available inthis mode, but it doesn't get too complicated - on the contrary,everything is pretty intuitive. Naturally, you will need someskills and taste for this, but it's worth your time. And this is byno means a replacement for the slide-show mode, you just get ashort video that can be shared right away.
The last mode you can find in this Video editor is 'StoryBoard',that is quite similar to the previous one, however here you canthrow photos and video into your clip. All other settings have beenleft intact.
The i8510 also features a slew of other apps, but this list maywell change before its official retail release, so we won't coverall programs in this review, for now at least.
The smartphone sports three themes and do make some difference tothe way the i8510's menus look.
Back to the table of contents >>> Camera
We have already reviewed the i8510's camera in a separate write-up. Below are some morecamera samples taken in different environments.
Daylight images: