Technology I just left the Android camp, a Bada OS story.

[masta247]

Not for long and not literally of course.

I've been hypnotized by the Wave. Samsung Wave. A friend of mine offered a trade, to switch our phones for a few days because she didn't use hers anyway and she agreed to play with Android for that time. That's a win-win situation.
I won't lie, I didn't even think for a second because that Super Amoled screen had me hypnotized. It will sound nerdy but just looking at that screen makes me smile inside. It's amazing.

After a day I can say that this I'm in love with that phone - it seems literally perfect for needs like mine.
That screen, 720p video recording at 30fps with a Led flash, it's slim and small, has amazing battery life and to top it off best video player and best audio quality any phone ever had which is unexpected in a phone in that price range:
Samsung S8500 Wave review: Hello, world! - GSMArena.com
Nothing more nothing less, technical specs don't do it justice anyway.

The only thing that I regret is that it doesn't run Android obviously.. BUT honestly - Bada OS is so heavily based on Android it's hard to tell the difference.
Chances are you won't tell it apart from Galaxy S software-wise.
It feels exactly like Galaxy S because it uses the same user interface, actually everything is the same apart from the OS and a smaller display. And price tag, that is. It's a bargain, a great deal to catch - I guess that Samsung wants to push BadaOS that way.

The OS itself is very similar - there's even an Android-style scroll-down status bar!
The most obvious loss is the Android market. There are only a few thousand Bada apps available and you can't find whatever you want as easily. There's no google maps navigation etc but to be fair I was able to find some equivalents of most other apps that I had on my Android smartphone. The choice was much, much smaller though.
Also, there's no way to replace the generic message app. It's very good but doesn't offer threaded view. Has its own system which is hard to describe - a combination of the Android system and a traditional tab system.
On the other hand there's something I missed a lot on Android - a proper task manager. On Bada tasks act more like Windows tasks. You can shut down unused apps permanently and most of the time your task manager is just empty which is a calming view after having like a dozen apps open in Android.
Also, it's way more noob-friendly. It's a combination of a smartphone and a feature phone. No modding or customizing like with Android but it also just works as it is.
Android is made to be customized and set-up. Bada is made to work and look good out of the box.

I know that it's the highest rated phone on GSMArena and reviews were very positive (Samsung S8500 Wave review: Hello, world! - GSMArena.com) but I didn't know that this phone is that great really. There's nothing bad I could really say about it. It's probably the most perfect phone that I've ever used. Period. I might have something bad to say about it after using it for a few more days but the first impression is great.
I wish I could keep it but it belongs to a friend of mine. To anyone considering a new phone, anyone who don't really want Android this is it. ALL features and technical specs as well as quality at their best, small form factor and an intuitive user interface, most noob-friendly operating system for people who would just want it to work, without much playing around.

Touchwiz + Android + IphoneOS + great build quality and finest specs = Samsung Wave.
Or to put it this way - just like an Android-less Galaxy S, only smaller and actually refined but also much cheaper. Imo these are 2 of the greatest phones on the market at the moment. If you don't need Android and are keen to give away the 4 inch display for a 3,3 inch display (also super amoled) in a much smaller phone then this is the phone for you. OS-wise though Android>>Bada. It's just that Wave really amazed me for a non-Android phone because of what it packs and its quality.

 

[Shadows]

It sounded nice until you said there apps pretty much sucked. =/

 

[Flipmo]

50 years ago, you'd be hung upside down with a FORK IN YOUR ASS.

 

[masta247]

^lmfao

It sounded nice until you said there apps pretty much sucked. =/

Yeah, just because it's a new OS, there's basically only 1 phone supporting it yet but developers are paid well by Samsung.
It's growing:
Samsung Apps turns one, 14M apps downloaded by Wave users - GSMArena.com news

 

[Casey]

No tight Gmail/GMaps/YouTube/GTalk integration, no Android Market, no choice of anyone elses hardware (frankly, Samsung make great internals but the design aesthetic of their phones is inferior to HTC and Motorola). No dev community. No thanks.

Samsung will probably kick it to the curb sooner or later. They've already said they are putting the majority of their resources into Android.

 

[masta247]

Aesthetics is a matter of personal taste. I really like their design. I think that Galaxy S and Wave are stylish.
True about lack of Google tool integration.
About community - there is already a growing Bada/Wave community. The fact that Wave is pretty popular and easily available and it's the only Bada phone only add to that.

Bada OS can't and won't be a direct competition to Android, at least I can't see it. In my opinion it's a very intuitive, user friendly and simple OS that is meant to resemble a feature phone in its simplicity but offer a smartphones' integral environment for apps/software (as of one App store for all non-Android Samsung phones). That would make the "smartphones for everyone" concept very real because most touch screen feature phones could be replaced by Bada smartphones, which would be a step up. I don't think Bada would like to compete in the higher mid-end and high-end smartphone market. I see it as Samsung's evolution to their cheaper phones, with Wave being just the first "grounbreaking" flagship. I don't think that Bada would be as interesting if their flagship was just a lower mid-end phone.
The fact that all upcoming Bada phones are just lower mid ends might prove my theory.
I think it's what they were after - to create a simple operating system, an integrated single environment that they could just use on their future phones.

I would be silly to argue that Android is not superior as an Operating System because it is. I was just pointing out that Samsung Wave is a great phone. Especially for people who don't need all of Android's features but would like a very good phone with high-end specs and features. It's really a polished phone that is great at everything it does. Clearly there's been a lot of work put into creating it.
It's an awesome value for money and a perfect phone for those who would want something in between a smartphone and a feature phone - A very reliable device with feature phone's simplicity and smartphone's functionality.

To make it more clear I'd like to compare it to the Galaxy S - I think the latter is a proper, advanced smartphone with a lot of customization options, many productivity apps on the market etc. - a more "serious" smartphone.
Wave feels like a more "phone-ish" device that is more focused on more basic use - calling, texting, occasional apps and games, music, movies etc.
Samsung Market is dominated by basic apps and games, Bada offers less customization options and is meant to "just be used out of the box". Yet it does things it can do flawlessly. It has awesome hardware, at least as good as the Galaxy S yet is cheaper.
Galaxy S is technically similar but with a more advanced Operating System and a bigger screen. The fact that Wave has a smaller screen and is overall smaller also proves that it's focused on more "casual" use than a true 100% smartphone like the Galaxy S.
Make a call, fit in in your jeans pocket, listen to the music, play a game and then watch a movie and let it be type of phone.

That's how I see it.

 

[Casey]

I see your point but I think the days of the featurephone are pretty much done at this point.

If Android was like iOS and only available on high-end smartphones, I see why there'd be a need for this. But there's plenty of low and mid-range Android phones available.

I just don't see why anyone would choose a Bada phone over an Android phone when the OS is inferior, there's a lesser range of hardware (and only from one OEM), no Google integration, etc. There doesn't seem to be any Unique Selling Point.

 

[masta247]

Yes I'm not going to defend Samsung with BadaOS, I was just trying to understand their point. Like I said clearly at this point Android is technically much superior as a smartphone OS.

Well, Samsung Wave is a very good phone in a good price range for people who don't need everything that Android offers. Technically you basically get a polished but a tad smaller version of the Galaxy S for a lot less. At least here. That's a selling point that I see.

In practice I really like that phone. Sure I miss a lot of Android's features. Actually mostly apps, the Android market, Google maps and that everything circulates around Android now which brings a lot of positives.
But anyway Android aside Wave is a very nice piece of hardware with very intuitive interface. Something about that phone makes me really like it and like I said - it's also that feel that someone has put a lot of effort into creating it - to make every piece of hardware inside to be best and build quality very solid. Actually the whole BadaOS project depends on its success so they made it great and they succeeded in my opinion. Even if BadaOs turns out to be a failure I think that engineers at Samsung did as much for BadaOs with this phone as they could and that's what I like it for.

We'll see after I play with it more and after I'll go back to my Spica but I was under a very positive impression. And yes, I won't lie that I'm mostly impressed with what the phone can do technically and how nicely everything works and how the screen looks, not the system itself (but imo it's not bad and could be even better for a specific group of consumers).
And what it offers for its price. Here it's much cheaper even than its (technically) inferior Android counterparts like Desire or Droid. Actually it costs 1/2 of Droid's price. That's also why I think that it's a great deal.

Maybe Samsung thinks that there's need for a system like Bada. Otherwise they wouldn't even get it started. I mean - sure Wave would feel much better with Android on board and I agree with that. But still it's a very good phone for what it is if you don't really want to play with the system much but want to use its main features that it's really awesome at. I guess that's what it was made for.

 

[masta247]

Update:

I'm in the middle of the 3rd day of rather heavy usage and battery life still points 3/4th which is amazing.
I absolutely love that phone. The only downside is, that the operating system is much inferior to Android. It doesn't look as good and definitely doesn't offer as much - especially apps. Actually there are many things I can't find on the Samsung market. For example there's only 1 paid app that turns the Power LED flash into a flashlight lol.
So I decided to write one myself but I'm not that good with C++ and am new to BadaOS.

However if it comes to simple tasks like messaging, calling, movies, music, taking and browsing photos, video and gaming it's at least as good and often faster and more user-friendly. That's where it shines.
I really highly recommend Samsung Wave to anyone who doesn't really need a proper smartphone (though technically it is a smartphone, just the OS is not as popular) but wants an amazing phone with high end specs, Super Amoled screen and a very long battery life in a 1ghz running phone. It's really an awesome value for money.

A nice extra at Samsung Market is that many big 3d games like Asphalt 5 or Need for Speed shift are free. I suppose that's to promote the phone - it packs the same CPU and GPU that the Galaxy S packs so games work like charm.