Samsung Focus
Phone Scoop Review
Oct 20, 2010 by Philip Berne
We tackle the Samsung Focus, one of the first Windows Phone 7 devices, from a business users perspective. Does it earn Microsoft a promotion? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Hocus Focus
Ok first of all I never write reviews. I will keep this short and sweet. I am a 2 to 3 phone a year guy not very cost effective I know but I like having the newest phones and features. About a year ago I bought the focus and loved it from the begining. Four monthes after I bought an iphone because I thought I might be missing something.4 days after that purchase I switched back to the focus. I love it camera is fast to load and takes great pics, power on and off doesnt take forever, slim ergonomic design is perfect for pocket users, tough I have dropped it on cement and exploded it into the battery front case and back cover more times then I like to admit and just put it back together and it fires right back up,no lag when multitasking the phone when wifi or 3g. Now down to the nitty gritty the batt life and os. The battery life is the only downfall to this phone If you have alot of active windows you better be by a plug 2 times a day. The opperating system for a phone what more could you ask for lightning fast and only a hand full of times in about a years time has it locked or was incapable of linking to a site. I can't play all flash but I am sure windows will figure it out.
The things I would like to see for the next gen of windows phone. 1 a capable flash player that is updatable. A music player that is easier to put music on more of of pull and place like older symbian music player. and a bigger screen what is wrong with a five inch samsung.
All in all my best phone to date. Plus it has kept me frombuying a new one. Samsung windows phones saving husbands from getting yelled at everywhere. From there wife when they buy a phone out of contract.
By the way I gave the iphone to my 13 year old because all that phone is really is a game system that can make calls.Sorry for rambling I hope this helps someone.
p.s.
go out and buy it if you are switching to att&t its only 50 bucs and it will be great money spent
Great Phone!
I got this phone 2mos ago to replace my Samsung Eternity, the Focus is a big step up!
PROS:
Beautiful 4" OLED Screen!
Fast 1Ghz Processor!
Overall great call quality
Size and weight
Good Battery life
Great Music Player!
Sync to Windows Live!
5mp Camera w/Flash and 720p Video
Good speaker phone(clear sound)
Great WinP7 UI!
CONS:
Earpiece volume too low.(Not as loud as the Eternity) Not usable in a loud environment. Sometimes when phone is in the vertical position screen data is displayed in landscape mode.
A more robust sounding speaker would be a big plus! The sound is a little on the thin side.
Camera Focus is too slow.
FM radio not able to pull in stations in my area, Van Nuys, CA
Conclusion:
Although not perfect this is a great phone and the more I use it the more I like it. Sorry I can't compare it to the iphone because I've never owned one. But I find this phone to be very easy to use and very fast! And it has all of the features that I need. I primarily use this device for making calls, texting, Music and very limited email and internet use. This phone is a real pleasure to use.
Wow! What A Phone!
This is the first phone I've owned in many years that wasn't made by HTC. I compared the HTC Surround to the Samsung Focus and LG Quantum.
The look, low weight and screen performance were the aspects that made me go with the Focus.
After having a physical keyboard with HTC Devices (8125, 8525, Tilt, Fuze & Tilt 2) I was shocked at how easy it is to type on the screen.
The Zune UI and Zune Marketplace are both incredible and worked with my Zune library flawlessly. Installing Windows Phone 7 Apps from the Zune Software is a snap and simple.
The screen & device performance are great. Watching movies or streaming video is a great experience.
I seriously, 'tip my hat,' to both Microsoft and Samsung. The OS is a joy and the device is sleek and feature packed.
well...
I had this phone since its release but just got rid of it recently. A few things I can say is that the phone itself is very light and the look of it is INCREDIBLY attractive. The super AMOLED display was beautiful with crisp colors. The UI was easy to use and also very elegant. But I will say that the phone has minimal functionality... no multi tasking.. no copy paste.. market place is about a 3 out of 5 as well, I know they are developing lots of apps quickly but it kind of shows because some of the apps are glitchy and crash a lot. The call quality for me was pretty awful I woul try to make a call and it would not ring and it would read "system busy" 5 or 6 times before I could actually make the call. I thought it was the service area where I was but then it was happening in more places. So overall between the lack of functionality for me and the call issues.. also combined with the complete and utter failure to update on behalf of microsoft, I sold this phone and got the Atrix and am much happier.
Awesome phone. Get good deals
I love the phone - And got good comparison deals here http://www.samsung-focus.co.cc/
Great phone!
Had an Iphone 3gs and thought maybe it wouldn't work out. But it did lol I like it so much more! Less hastle all around and my email actually works. No dropped calls when I had like 10 a week with my Iphone. Love it 100%!
Best phone in the market!
Smooth fast and easy to use. The best thing about it is that it keeps getting better and better. Updates are fast and free; no need to plug it into a computer at all! Fast download speeds, great touch response, and a it's OS is sleeeeek! All I know is that the copy and paste and the exclusion of ringtones is going to be changed in January through an update. And then they have another update coming in March! Good stuff. This OS is the next hit. I've been selling phones for awhile and this one is the only one that I've bought myself. Better than Android by far!
Great Phone for everybody
An excellent Galaxy S phone with Microsoft's innovative OS.
Pros: Thin and light, Great Super AMOLED screen, Office Apps for business users, Xbox Live for gamers, Zune subscription service for music lovers, Facebook integration for social network addicts, Top notch camera with quick upload to cloud services. Windows Phone 7 OS is fast, stylish and intuitive. 3000+ apps and growing every day.
Cons: Average battery life due to Super AMOLED. No multitasking yet.
Great Phone
I was tired of the iphone because I like new things periodically. The Samsung Focus is definitely different and if you will give it time, you will love it too. If you like lots of apps, the Focus is not for you, not now anyway.
Pros: Super fast internet
Easy to use interface
Phone, email & text - Excellent
Great for business use
Best new phone since the iphone (androids are good but not really that different from iphone)
Cons: Font is too small with some uses & cannot be adjusted other than increasing the size of the entire page.
Not enough apps (not really a con since it is a new phone)
No "cut & paste"
WP7
As a big time smartphone user I have used Symbian, Windows 5, 6.5 and 7, iPhone (every OS), Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, Blackberry OS 4, 5 and 6, I can say that the WP7 operating system is amazing! Anyone that says it is not as good as Android must be extremely biased. This OS has been referenced by many media to be superior to everything but iOS4, and I would even debate that.
I particularly love the fact that a text msg comes as a notification on the top of your screen (ala Android), which is a big downfall of iOS, in my opinion. There are so many insightful features of WP7 such as this that really give an advantage over the others. Another great example is how you can be on Craigs7 (a craigslist app), the OS knows that you are entering a numerical value, such as price ranges, and automatically selects the numercal keypad inputs. This is something lacking on the iOS software.
I'm not here to do zdnet, c|net, or anyone else's job with a review, but I would consider closely anyone's personal views on the OS, as it is currently not offered by all carriers. Check with the professionals with a relative non biased opinion of carriers, and make your decision from there.
The hubs are amazing. You need to try it. Microsoft's integration with Zune is something that Apple wishes it had thought of, and probably will shortly. The value of streaming the nearly endless supply of entire albums that you have yet to download cannot be understated. Microsoft OWNS the PC world for good reason, and it appears this is their big investment for the years to come.
As it pertains to the Focus itself, some of the buttons are cumbersome at first, it will be even better once those growing pains cease.
Simply put, WP7 is a force, and may possibly end Android's days. Switching from iOS to Android is nearly impossible, but with Windows, there are so many new features and usabilities over iOS that I don't miss much and look forward to the future of WP7.
