Samsung Wave 2 : Is It Worth The Money?

Bada, Samsung’s open mobile platform, experienced its debut via the Wave smartphone. Encouraged by the positive response from both consumers and critics, Samsung has taken the next step to promote Bada, developing the Wave 2. Intended for release in new and growing markets such as Russia, the Wave 2 is intended as an introductory handset.

Since the Wave 2 is not intended for use in established smartphone regions, 3G network support has been replaced with GPRS/EDGE capabilities. The Wave 2 still provides WiFi b/g/n, but Bluetooth v3.0 is gone for v2.1. The Wave 2’s companion model, the Wave 2 Pro, experiences a change in design by way of a slide out QWERTY keyboard. A touch only screen is found on the standard Wave 2. Samsung’s TouchWiz is the user interface installed and the screen is 3.2 inches.

Samsung placed 80MB of onboard memory in the Wave 2, with an additional 16MB possible by using the microSD slot. Higher end models obviously provide more memory, but the Wave 2 has more than enough to perform what it needs to do. The Wave 2 is being marketed as a social networking device, so it has been provided with Facebook and Twitter apps right out of the box. It doesn’t end there, as many other applications can be found in the Samsung Apps store.

Of course, since the Wave 2 is being marketed as an introduction for developing markets, there are sacrifices to be made in order to keep the phone affordable. That is not to say that the device is barebones, however. There may be no DivX or Xvid playback, but there is an FM radio, GPS, microUSB, and the aforementioned microSD slot on the Wave 2. And since the phone is designed to focus on social networking, Samsung installed its own Social Hub that combines Twitter, Facebook, IM, and email all into one location. Apps such as games and navigation tools can be downloaded without installing additional software onto the phone, or the user can synch the phone to a PC for larger files. And since cameras are a necessity on smartphones these days, the Wave 2 comes complete with the 3-megapixel variety.

While the Wave is still on the shelf, the Wave 2 is a fine cousin to it directed toward new markets. The Samsung Wave 2 has been designed for affordability and reliability rather than for the latest and greatest extraneous functions. It is a fine addition to Samsung’s Wave line.