Samsung Wave Y S5380 Review

The Samsung Wave Y S5380 is the latest midrange phone from the Samsung that runs the latest version of the Bada OS, 2.0. The phone measures 110 x 58.2 x 12.3 millimeters and weighs 102.4 gm. Bada 2.0 has owned more than a few revisions from the time when it was initially released with the Samsung Galaxy Wave 3 and the most recent stable build runs great on the rather limited Wave Y hardware.

From the internal storage capacity point of view, the phone holds an internal storage capacity of 150 MB with a 2 GB microSD card included. The memory space can also further be expanded with a 32 GB memory card. The Wave Y S5380 also lets you collect files from other users as well as from the web. And for this purpose the Wave Y has three avenues: (i) WLAN, that has three kinds of Wi-Fi working—the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi hotspot (ii) version 3.0 of Bluetooth with A2DP and (iii) version 2.0 of microUSB. Furthermore, the handset also comes with GPRS, EDGE and 3G HSDPA connectivity for easy sharing of files from the web.

Though, Bada OS has limited number of available application that will be a major question for the people coming from Android. However, the Bada app store has been slowly building up content. On top, the Samsung Wave Y S5380 offers a good amount of extras that do not cost you high. So, if you are shopping on a budget, the Wave Y S5380 would be a good choice for you.

While unboxing the Samsung Wave Y S5380, you will get a 2 GB treat. Rest of the retail package is quite emblematic for the price range. Here are the accessories you will get with the handset.

• The Samsung S5380 Wave Y
• A microUSB Charger
• A microUSB Data Cable
• A Quick Start Guide
• A 2 GB microSD Card
• An Adapter

The Samsung Wave Y S5380 body is completely made up of plastics the feels good and solid. Furthermore, weighs less. Apart from its plastic body, its capacitive screen does not really take over the front similar to on most higher-end Samsung smartphones, and yet the handset does not have the oversized look if you compare it to the frame. Look wise, the Wave Y is quite stylish and elegant.

Advantages

• The Samsung S5380 Wave Y measures 110 x 58.5 x 12.3mm and weighs 102.4 gm.
• Appearance wise, it looks good and feels solid though it is made up of complete plastic.
• The back panel features a stylized groove which gives the appearance of a partially removable back panel area, but in reality the entire back part of the phone is revealed when it is removed.
• Talking about the display, the Wave Y does a pretty good job at displaying the content with a decent ~180 ppi pixel density.
• The volume rocker is present at the left side of the phone and is quite comfortably thick and easy to locate via touch and press.
• The handset comes with the 1200mAh battery that can provide 6 hours and 40 minutes of talk time, and up to 570 hours of standby.

Disadvantages

• Though it provides reasonably good display but its reflectiveness can have a fairly unpleasant effect on how visible the screen elements are in sunlight, and the screen surface is somewhat prone to fingerprints and smudges.
• The phone uses capacitive call keys around the physical Home key that are not backlit when phone is left idle for a time furthermore the backlighting is rather hazy and screen is not haptic enabled., and worse yet, haptic feedback isn't available for the touchscreen either.
• There is no dedicated camera key on either side of the Samsung S5380 Wave Y and no LED flash either.

The screen resolution is quite impressive on this size of phone from the TouchWiz UI over bada 2.0. The company introduced the eye candy through the widgets on the home screens that are reasonably detailed and text is readable. Furthermore, the TouchWiz UI in bada 2.0 brings in notifications on the lock screen. On top, the user interface also sports revamped icons and folders along with the green radio buttons that can be used to turn different functions on and off.

Advantages

• The bada OS 2.0 is optimized to run software flawlessly and professionally on high end phones as well as lower-end models such as The Samsung Wave Y S5380.
• The Bada offers Live Panel which basically is a dedicated homescreen for cool weather, news, etc. widgets with transparent backgrounds that you can easily scroll up and down, instead of swiping.
• The homescreen of the Wave Y can be stretched over as many as ten panes if you want to fill the screen with widgets and shortcuts. You can arrange them according to your own wish and can easily enable or disable them. However, you cannot add the new ones or remove them altogether.
• The Live Panel is a scrollable homescreen pane that comes with full-size widgets such as AccuWeather, Yahoo Finance, AP mobile, calendar and search. In addition, the bottom of the Live Panel is held in reserve for contact shortcuts.
• Since the Bada 2.0 is a suitable multitasking platform, therefore you get flawless multitasking on the Samsung Wave Y S5380. In order to access the task manager, you need to press the Home button for a long time and then you can switch between currently active applications, or terminate them.
• For editing the content of any specific pane, simply tap and hold on any homescreen. Whereas a pinch zoom shows a comprehensive view of all panes presently in use.
• The Wave Y goes together with a single hardwired control. Experienced Android user will miss the menu key. This absence results in all application specific settings being compressed in the general settings.

Disadvantages

• The Bada operating system has limited number of the available applications that will be a major question for the people coming from Android. However, the Bada app store has been slowly building up content.
• The phone does not support proper smart dialing.

You will only get a 2 mega pixel camera with the Samsung Wave Y S5380 with no front facing cam. There is no flash either. However, the interface of the camera offers some really cool features such as Panorama mode and smile recognition along with sprinkling the experience with a couple of effects you can apply to your photos and videos. Video recording is miserably unimpressive. While, talking about the connectivity, the Samsung Wave Y S5380 offers complete connectivity.

Advantages

• The Samsung S5380 Wave Y is capable of taking 2 mega pixel photos and capturing QVGA video.
• The camera viewfinder is rather suggestive of the company's current camera phones. The comfy interface is satisfactorily touch-optimized furthermore has got all you require on the two vertical bars on each side of the viewfinder, and there is an option to hide them both.
• Photos captured indoor are only bearable if there is strong light, and the phone is held steady.
• All the important setting for taking up photographs such as white balance, brightness, default storage, geotagging, exposure metering, etc are user-configurable.
• For the connectivity purpose, all sorts of network connectivity are there. For example GPRS, EDGE and 3G with HSPA, GSM/EDGE networking that comes in quad-band flavor and there's dual-band 3G - 900/2100MHz.
• WiFi and Bluetooth are also supported. Download manager is also there however, desktop Adobe Flash is not supported.

Disadvantages

• Video recording of the Wave Y is really pathetic and even does not worth the finger tips amortization we employed to write this sentence, regardless of its "smooth" 30 fps speed, it’s just hardly watchable even on the phone’s screen.
• SatNav software offers only a 30-day trial.

The Samsung Wave Y S5380 comes with an improved and better Gallery app UI with some really cool page-turning effect. On the other hand, there is no picture or video editors embedded in the gallery, but yes, few basic functions are there such as crop and rotate. Performance wise, the Samsung Wave Y S5380 is pretty decent, however loudspeaker performance is somewhat disappointing.

Advantages

• The Gallery app UI is more or less like those of Android ones but it has been redesigned under Bada 2.0. Thus, it is fluid and efficient, and prettier than in previous versions.
• Pinch zooming is also available but you can also double tap on the screen to zoom in and out. The Wave Y gallery shows the pictures in full resolution thus, zooming in on a picture will reveal much greater detail.
• The video player is simple but functional supports MP4/H.264/MKV files, but it does not include support for AVI files, regardless of format.
• The music player is a real eye candy and sports one-touch DLNA streaming functionality, but no equalizer presets. The music player is capable and the interface is simple.
• The handset is also equipped with an FM radio with RDS. Navigating to different stations is simple. You just have to drag across the dial on the top and alternatively can also use the arrow keys.
• You can navigate to different stations by dragging across the dial on the top, or using the arrow keys below.
• Call quality is comparatively good with clear and sound voice, and the other side also can hear us loud and clear.

Disadvantages

• The loudspeaker performance is quite disappointing.

The Samsung Wave Y S5380 comes with a revamped Bada 2.0 OS, Touchwiz UI, notification on the home screen, dedicated page for widgets that are the main attractions for this midrange phone. It is the new low end smart phone from the Samsung mainly targeted to the young audience. On the whole, the handset is a pleasant one with no key faults to actually tug.

Design wise, the handset sports a comfortable and powerful design and features a bright display with above standard for the category pixel density. Call quality is also good and you will have no trouble in hearing the other party. Furthermore, most of the social networking and communication apps that are used on a daily basis are also covered, along with some good games that are thrown in for a good measure.

Talking about the camera resolution and the image quality, it could have been a bit better along with a better loudspeaker performance. Price range is quite reasonable however there are better competitors in the market for this price range.