samsung focus s

Samsung Focus S judged Sleeper Hit of 2011 by CNET

December 20, 2011 | By Surur

sleeperhit

The HTC Titan is grabbing much of the attention as the flagship Windows Phones on AT&T, but the Samsung Focus S deserves a lot of accolades for its slim form factor, large battery, vivid screen and great camera.

CNET has scored it as one of its top 100 sleeper hits of 2011, “products(which) came in under the radar, but they are some of the best tech releases of the year. “

About the Samsung Focus S they write:

Can Windows Phone 7 really make a play in a smartphone market dominated by Android and iOS? The Samsung Focus S doesn’t answer that question, but it does make us think that the latest Microsoft mobile OS–dubbed Mango –deserves a place at the table.

Windows Phone 7 itself could easily be called a sleeper hit - a great product which still has to hit the main stream. Lets hope the general public wakes up eventually.

See their list here.

Thanks Stephen for the tip.

8

Samsung Focus S one of CNET’s Top 5 smartphones

December 14, 2011 | By Surur

Not content to let the HTC Titan keep the crown to itself, the Samsung Focus S fought back by showing up as one of CNET’s Best 5 smartphones.

The handset scored an excellent 4/5 starts and won praise for its “brilliant display and strong hardware specs” with CNET calling it “arguably the best Windows Phone ever released.”

The Samsung Focus S is a new Windows Phone with a 4.3” S-AMOLED Plus screen, HSPA+ data speeds, and a 1.4 GHz single-core processor. The phone has an 8-megapixel rear camera, a front-facing camera, gyro sensor, 16 GB of storage, and is only 8.5 mm thick. It is currently for sale through AT&T in the USA. The Focus S currently does not have an Omnia sibling. Full specs…

Read CNET’s full review here.

Via WPCentral.com

3

HTC Titan users–100% satisfied

December 13, 2011 | By Surur

100_percent_satisfied

They say size is not everything, but the HTC Titan does not only have 4.7 inches but knows exactly how to use it, if the satisfaction rates for the handful is anything to go by, with buyers reporting being 100% satisfied with the device, making it the top-rated handset for customer satisfaction on AT&T.

The Samsung Focus S have slightly less equipment, which probably explains why it comes in at position 3, but that’s still pretty good from around 50 handsets in total.

Are you a satisfied HTC Titan user? Tell us why it is the love of your life in the comments down below.

See the list at AT&T here.

Thanks Guy for the tip.

20

HTC Titan reviewed against the Samsung Focus S

December 11, 2011 | By Surur

Mobiletechreview have had a showdown between the two giants of the US Windows Phone Market, trying to help buyers decide between the near identically priced devices.

There found numerous differences between the often identically specced devices, finding the Titan had the better display, the Focus S the better voice quality, the Titan the better build quality and also the better camera quality.

They concluded:

So that’s our comparison smackdown between two high end Windows Phones on AT&T. Honestly, you won’t go wrong with either one, even if we give the HTC Titan the win for two important features; display and build quality.

Read their full review here for all the detail.

Do our readers have a specific preference between the two phones? Let us know why below.

Thanks Isaac for the tip.

14

Samsung Focus S now also sold out

November 28, 2011 | By Surur

FocusSBackordered

The HTC Titan sold out over the weekend (and is still sold out) and it seems the Samsung Focus S, the other high-end Windows Phone 7 handset, is also sold out, with buyers who were able to secure a deal being told AT&T is out of inventory and completion of their order will be delayed until new inventory is available.

While AT&T is not indicating the handset is out of stock on their website, it seems if you order one from AT&T you are in for some wait before your handset will be delivered.

Via WPCentral.com.

4

Samsung Focus S–Software and Camera

November 23, 2011 | By Matthew

Following up on our review of the hardware of the Samsung Focus S (read that here), here is a look at the software and camera.

Software

Now we get to the most important part of the phone. Hardware can be great but if the software isn’t, then it is all for naught. With Windows Phone the difference between the software used on individual phones isn’t that great. With the limited amount of modifications or additions that Microsoft allows OEM’s to make the software is very similar from phone to phone. But with their Mango phones Samsung has added some settings that do not appear in other Windows Phones so we will look at them.

Continue reading →

6

Samsung Focus S reviewed by Engadget

November 17, 2011 | By Surur

Engadget have posted their review of the Samsung Focus S, and after a surprisingly positive review, they still however came away unwowed.

They found performance good, battery life great and camera performance especially good, saying:

Sammy’s shooter is just a bit above average. Colors are crisp and just saturated enough, while offering plenty of detail with very little noise. Shots indoors with plenty of natural light streaming through the windows were equally good — we wouldn’t blow them up to poster size, but they’re more than acceptable as casual snapshots. The camera even took surprisingly good macro pics, though not quite as good as the Droid RAZR.

It seems their main issue is the build quality, which also goes towards making the Samsung Focus S one of the thinnest and lightest smartphones around.

They concluded in the end:

Honestly, we don’t have any major complaints about the Samsung Focus S, but there wasn’t much that wowed us either. If you’re a Windows Phone 7 fan you’ll find plenty to like about the device. Mango hums along nicely and the Super AMOLED Plus display, despite its shortcomings in the pixel density department, perfectly highlights the stark beauty of Microsoft’s mobile OS. There’s also a very good camera with a dedicated dual-stage button and the battery life borders on epic. But, none of that changes the fact that we came away feeling underwhelmed. The build quality is mediocre at best and there just isn’t anything distinguishing about the handset that would make us definitively say this is the Windows Phone to get. More than anything, though, our disappointment probably stems from the cost. At $200 on a two-year contract we expect a high-end experience that matches the high-end price and the Focus S simply doesn’t deliver that. Making it even tougher to recommend, is the fact that the Titan will be landing on AT&T any day now delivering a better build, faster performance and a larger screen for the same wad of cash. The Focus S isn’t a bad phone — far from it — but it just doesn’t feel worthy of its flagship-like price tag.

Read their full review here.

23

Samsung Focus S keyboard sound bug demoed

November 14, 2011 | By Surur

The Samsung Focus S is a great device, but has one annoying bug which has been troubling many users.

The staccato rhythm of the keyboard sound is just enough milliseconds out of step with the actual key presses to make rapid typing a chore. See it demoed in this video above by WPCentral.

We don’t know if Samsung considers this a bug or not, but we know users certainly do, so we hope Samsung is planning to fix this soon.

12

Get $75 Off On Buying Samsung Focus S And Focus Flash From AT&T

November 7, 2011 | By Pradeep

If you are planning to buy either Samsung Focus S or any other Windows Phone device from AT&T, you can get an $75 off from your purchase amount. This is only for online purchase and it comes with free shipping. So you can order Samsung Focus S with 2 year contract for about $125 approx with free overnight shipping and waived activation fee promotion from AT&T.

Click here to use make use of this deal.

Thanks Ahmed for the heads up.

3

Samsung Focus S compared to the HTC Titan and HTC Radar

November 6, 2011 | By Surur

WPCentral managed to collect together 3 of the new Windows Phone 7.5 offerings coming to USA this quarter.

In the above video they compare the newly releases Samsung Focus S with the HTC Titan, which will soon arrive on AT&T and the HTC Radar, already available on T-Mobile USA.

Interestingly, despite the Samsung Focus S being slim, sleek and with a great screen, the other handsets do seem able to hold their own, especially in the screen stakes.

Which handset will our readers be choosing? Let us know below.

The Samsung Focus S is a new Windows Phone with a 4.3” S-AMOLED Plus screen, HSPA+ data speeds, and a 1.4 GHz single-core processor. The phone has an 8-megapixel rear camera, a front-facing camera, gyro sensor, 16 GB of storage, and is only 8.5 mm thick. It is currently for sale through AT&T in the USA. The Focus S currently does not have an Omnia sibling. Full specs…

23

Get Samsung Focus S For $149 Under Contract And $499 Without Contract

November 6, 2011 | By Pradeep

Amazon Wireless has listed Samsung Focus S for $149 under contract which is $50 less than the AT&T’s offering. But Amazon Wireless price of Samsung Focus without contract is $589 which is $40 higher than AT&T’s $549. Also the listing page of Samsung Focus S is filled with last generation Samsung Focus photos which is yet to be corrected. You can check it out here.

Microsoft Store at University Village, Seattle is running an awesome deal for its customers, you will get 20% offer for any purchase made over $500 and 25% for purchase over $1000. So if you buy a Samsung Focus S device without contract from them, it will cost only $399 (20% off from their price of $499) which is pretty great for this new device. Also $499 price tag at Microsoft Store’s is also $49 less than AT&T’s price.

How many of you are buying Samsung Focus S and Focus Flash devices today ?

Thanks to Omar Shahine for the info.

10

Samsung Focus S confirmed to have no microSD expansion

November 5, 2011 | By Surur

KB411153_1

We were recently able to confirm the Samsung Focus S only came with 16 GB of storage, but questions still remained about the presence of expandable storage via a microSD card, a feature of the original Samsung Focus.

Documentation and pictures on AT&T’s support website however confirms the absence of any expansion, meaning users are limited to 16 GB of storage after all.

There are still rumours of a 32 GB version, but that is unfortunately likely only wistful thinking.

While many have said 16 GB is enough, it is disappointing that there is no Windows Phone 7 handset in the current generation which has clear high-end features across the whole feature set.

Thanks RyoTGZ for the tip.

25

Samsung Focus S vs Samsung Focus Flash

November 4, 2011 | By Surur

CNet have published this comparison of AT&T’s first new Windows Phone 7 handsets, the Samsung Focus Flash vs the Samsung Focus S.

The Focus S has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED screen, is impossibly thin, and costs $199 with 16 GB of storage. The Focus Flash has a smaller Super AMOLED screen and only 8 GB of storage.

See their full specs in our device hub here.

Thanks Edd for the tip.

8