User Reviews - Ativ S

the_thunderbird

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I have only had an Ativ S for about 7 hours, so this first post will only represent my initial impressions of the phone.

Background - in 2012 I have used three Windows Phones previously, the 710 for four months, the 900 for about seven, and the 920 for 15 days. I enjoy the Lumia experience on the whole, however my 900 did not get data for the first six days I owned it, and then an update to fix something else disabled by internet sharing which I frequently enjoy using - never worked again afterwards. So that was frustrating. And then my 920 had the overheating issue, making it unpleasant to hold surfing the web which is the primary activity of my phones; it was returned and I went back to the 900. So, I feel like I gave Nokia a good kick at the can but wanted to try something new.

My User Type - I am a fairly conventional in my use. Lots of texts, about 20-30 e mails a day, casual Facebook/Twitter and a lot of web use. I am not a huge app users as most seem useless to me since WP renders the web so well and quickly. I take pictures, but of stupid things, so the low light super camera of the 920 is not a huge deal for me.

Cost of the Phone - it is priced to high. There were a lot of financial incentives thrown in that made it more tolerable to buy. If you do not have incentives then I would personally suggest waiting. Best part is a great quality Roots sweater thrown in for my WHL team! Go Wheaties Go!

OS - I will not touch on the OS too much as I believe that WP is WP is WP. It is slick, fast, and everything you would expect. And Microsoft, fix X Box Music!

Only Beef So Far - To get metric on the Maps app the phone has to be set to any language except "United States (English)." However, to use Local Scout the phone language has to be on "United States (English)." I do not speak imperial, and I love Local Scout. Hoping to find a solution for this.

Screen - I prefer the apparently "inferior" AMOLED screen on this bad boy compared to the 920. But both are amazing so I find this to be an apples to apples comparison. It seems a lot brighter than the 920 was and is a joy to look at. The sensitivity allows the use of gloves; I am in Manitoba so have already tested this extensively.

Physical Buttons - I accidently hit the home captive button on my 900 a lot. While the larger lower bezel on the 920 made this error substantially less frequent it also, in my opinion, makes the phone looks really disproportionate. In fact I found the 920 ugly when I first saw it. So for me, the physical home button is a plus. The sound control and sleep button (or whatever it is called) are placed very high - too high - so are a bit of a pain to use. Certainly I will acclimatize to it reasonably quickly.

Camera - it works well enough. Not much of a camera person here.

Vibrate - nice that the phone does not sound like it is falling apart when it vibrates. Although I was used to that on Lumia's people at work made fun of me lol

Battery Life - it would be unfair to judge at this point but seems reasonable. What I have noticed, though, is that it takes forever to charge! I was away from home for almost two hours to go to the gym, it was at 33% when I left and 89% on return. However, like most normal people, it will recharge at night so it so irrelevant. More to follow on this, though. Caveat - I do not really understand how phones actually work - but it looks like the GS III wireless recharging add-on could be used on the Ativ S if it is resized. That is the main feature of the 920 that gets me excited.

Size - this phone is big. Maybe too big for me? Certainly have hit the upper ends of what I will use.

Internet Sharing / Bluetooth / NFC - all worked well.

Custom Apps - have not really tried this yet. There are six Samsung exclusives, only "Now" seems of interest to me at this time. Looks like a reliable and attractive way to check the weather real quick.

Overall - the lighter weight is nice. The 920 did not bother me, but it is nice to not have the left side pocket of my coat drooping down a bit - sort of amazing what the fifty gram difference makes. With a bold but conservative look the phone will also fit my lifestyle well.


So far, so good. More to follow as the thing actually is tested over the next week in a more realistic environment.
 

the_thunderbird

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Oh and one last thing!

Having switched 710 - 900 - 920 - 900 I had to start from scratch every time, except for items that carry on the MS account, Facebook, etc. I even had that switch app Nokia has. It did not work.

The 900 - Ativ S switch, though, carried EVERYTHING over. Ring tones, colour theme, apps, preferences, everything. My phone was set up while I was still reading my new terms of service on the contract. Awesome!
 

freestaterocker

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I have one very minor gripe with the phone, and one very MAJOR gripe.

Minor: Physical home button takes some getting used to.

Major: Music sounds horrible through headphones. Even good ones. As a music lover, this has me thinking about returning it.
 

Mankku

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I have one very minor gripe with the phone, and one very MAJOR gripe.

Minor: Physical home button takes some getting used to.

Major: Music sounds horrible through headphones. Even good ones. As a music lover, this has me thinking about returning it.

Hi!
I'm also really interested more about the music quality of the phone, I haven' the opportunity to try the phone here in Finland yet. I don't listen to so much pop music, so emphasized bass isn't important to me, nor equalizer though it would be a good option. I found some reviews / hands on where they say the audio output is good and loud: Samsung Ativ S Review: Not the Best Windows Phone 8 Device, but the Design Shines (Video) - GSMDome.com Samsung Ativ S review: A fresh start - GSMArena.com

I use for best audio quality Shure SRH440 headphones.

Samsung Ativ S really seems interesting, good allrounder, but the audio output quality is really important for me also!

Samsung Ativ S or Nokia Lumia 820 - the one with the best music quality will be my next phone! :)

Best regards,
Magnus B.
 

freestaterocker

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Hi!
I'm also really interested more about the music quality of the phone, I haven' the opportunity to try the phone here in Finland yet. I don't listen to so much pop music, so emphasized bass isn't important to me, nor equalizer though it would be a good option. I found some reviews / hands on where they say the audio output is good and loud: Samsung Ativ S Review: Not the Best Windows Phone 8 Device, but the Design Shines (Video) - GSMDome.com Samsung Ativ S review: A fresh start - GSMArena.com

I use for best audio quality Shure SRH440 headphones.

Samsung Ativ S really seems interesting, good allrounder, but the audio output quality is really important for me also!

Samsung Ativ S or Nokia Lumia 820 - the one with the best music quality will be my next phone! :)

Best regards,
Magnus B.

It's a great phone in every other regard. It's not just bass that's lacking. The sound is just thin overall. It sounds anemic. And the price is the same as the 920. The 820 will have the better sound quality, as it features a 7 band graphic EQ, not to mention Dolby Digital sound.
 

the_thunderbird

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Today I received the updates that had been pushed to the 8X, call forwarding, call text reply and a few other things I didn't pay attention too. Every Samsung app was updated. Was nine total updates for me, however I have uninstalled some of the Samsung apps.
 

Alex Rodriguez

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It's funny when a device has some slower specs or are inferior in certain aspects to other device people justify that by saying; Ohhh that doesn't matter to me i don't use that feature that much.

If my device or the one i want has a camera, audio etc, for me it has to have the best camera , the best audio even if i don't use those features because that's why i'm paying for. I'm not going to come here and say Ohh the camera i don't care because i'm not a camera guy or i don't care about audio cause i don't use it with headphones or it doesn't matter i don't listen to music on it.
 

the_thunderbird

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It's funny when a device has some slower specs or are inferior in certain aspects to other device people justify that by saying; Ohhh that doesn't matter to me i don't use that feature that much.

If my device or the one i want has a camera, audio etc, for me it has to have the best camera , the best audio even if i don't use those features because that's why i'm paying for. I'm not going to come here and say Ohh the camera i don't care because i'm not a camera guy or i don't care about audio cause i don't use it with headphones or it doesn't matter i don't listen to music on it.

That would be a logical position if such a phone actually existed. But it doesn't. Thus, one should prioritize for max enjoyment.
 

baseballbert

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It looks like a well made phone, but kind blah from the design perspective.

Seems to have pretty good specs, and while not my particular cup of tea, if it gets more people into WP, it's a great device.

It does look like it would at home in the board room in terms of design, so maybe that was Samsungs angle: upper end executive types?
 

crystal_planet

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It's funny when a device has some slower specs or are inferior in certain aspects to other device people justify that by saying; Ohhh that doesn't matter to me i don't use that feature that much.

If my device or the one i want has a camera, audio etc, for me it has to have the best camera , the best audio even if i don't use those features because that's why i'm paying for. I'm not going to come here and say Ohh the camera i don't care because i'm not a camera guy or i don't care about audio cause i don't use it with headphones or it doesn't matter i don't listen to music on it.

You're expecting that one magical device to do it all - no such device exists. If it did it would be the only one available. That's why folks that aren't using their devices as mp3 players will gravitate to this device, guys who love their music may get on board the HTC bus, etc...

If you wan't that all powerful device, you better be prepared to pay top dollar for it, because you're going to get a custom made handset.
 

freestaterocker

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You're expecting that one magical device to do it all - no such device exists. If it did it would be the only one available. That's why folks that aren't using their devices as mp3 players will gravitate to this device, guys who love their music may get on board the HTC bus, etc...

If you wan't that all powerful device, you better be prepared to pay top dollar for it, because you're going to get a custom made handset.

All Samsung would have to do is issue a little firmware. Nokia achieved a dramatic improvement in the audio quality of the Lumia 800 with a simple firmware patch. Wouldn't even require that much effort, and it would help sell units, in addition to preventing many returns of units already sold.
 

Alex Rodriguez

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You're expecting that one magical device to do it all - no such device exists. If it did it would be the only one available. That's why folks that aren't using their devices as mp3 players will gravitate to this device, guys who love their music may get on board the HTC bus, etc...

If you wan't that all powerful device, you better be prepared to pay top dollar for it, because you're going to get a custom made handset.

Compare the HTC 8X with the Lumia 920 with headphones which is the way most people use their phones, then come back and tell me. Dolby audio on the Nokia sounds wayyyyyyyyyy better than beats on the HTC 8X
 

Alex Rodriguez

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You're expecting that one magical device to do it all - no such device exists. If it did it would be the only one available. That's why folks that aren't using their devices as mp3 players will gravitate to this device, guys who love their music may get on board the HTC bus, etc...

If you wan't that all powerful device, you better be prepared to pay top dollar for it, because you're going to get a custom made handset.
It's not about a perfect device is about if there are phones with better specs why come and say i don't use that just to justify if you know that's not true cause you will one day use that camera or listen to music on the phone. It's like buying a smartphone and not putting a data plan on it cause you have internet at home.
 

TonyDedrick

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It's not about a perfect device is about if there are phones with better specs why come and say i don't use that just to justify if you know that's not true cause you will one day use that camera or listen to music on the phone. It's like buying a smartphone and not putting a data plan on it cause you have internet at home.

Come one dude. Your trying to tell people what they will and won't use? That would be like me telling folks to get a 820 instead of 920 cause "One day, you might want or need a microSD slot for expandable memory. Bottom line, some features are more important for some users than others. I would have loved to have had a 920 with its pretty sizeable screen (which was a one of my factors in choosing a next phone) and monster specs. However, I realized expandable memory was MY most important need and I went with the 820.

And believe it or not, my mother in law wouldn't have a data plan if she could. She mainly uses her iPhone with her home WiFi. So yes, those folks are out there
 

the_thunderbird

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I tested running my battery almost dry - I am on call at work so could not go all the way.

unplugged Sunday at eleven am, used roughly twenty minutes of talk, a ton of texts, thirty-ish e-mail, twenty five minutes of GPS, lots of internet, an OS update, and twenty or so song downloads. Also used it as a music device when showering and getting ready for work.

With a reasonably heavy workload it was at ten percent battery at 330pm today (Monday). Wow! It does still take a long time to charge, plugged it in at 330pm and left at 515pm for dinner and it only got to a charge of sixty percent or so.
 

Drewstwitts

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Just swapped my Lumia 820 for the Ativ s. Not disappointed with changing it so far, the only thing I'm missing is the wireless charging but you can't have everything it would seem. If your torn between these two phones I would recommend the Ativ s.
 

VelJharig

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The Ativ is a great device. Better audio would make it damn near perfect, IMO.

Interesting... I actually found the audio on the Ativ S better than expected for a smartphone on first listen (better than my Samsung Focus). I've only had the phone for a couple of days, but my first impression was that soundstage is better and there is more detail when attached to a pair of Sleek Audio SA6s. Going to hook it up to my Adam A7Xs at some point to give it a proper listen. I wouldn't rule this one out based on audio quality yet.
 

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