Samsung Focus S (AT&T) – best Windows Phone to date

Windows Phone OS is popular on a lot of mobile phones now but I am yet to see a killer Windows OS phone in the market to date. Samsung Focus S is from AT&T and it is a really beautiful device with a light and thin design. It also has a really gorgeous 4.3 inches Super AMOLED Plus screen, an eight megapixels camera on the back, and a front facing 1.3 megapixels front facing camera.

This might sound familiar to you and that is because the spec list here is the same as that on the Samsung Galaxy S II also from AT&T. These two phones are almost the same and the big difference is the OS inside and physical button for camera. The specs guarantee a pretty smooth Windows Phone user experience and the phone will put you back by $199.99 with a two year deal. However, while I was writing this review, I saw an offer for $99.99 so I would recommend you to check around for discounts before buying.

In a few words, I would say that the Samsung Focus S is open, sleek, and classy. It has an all black design with flat sides and rounded corners. This phone also comes with a dimpled back cover and there is a slight rise where cover snaps on the phone’s bottom. Focus S is five inches tall, 0.3 inch thick, and 2.6 inches wide. The weight of the phone is 3.9 ounces and it feels quite substantial. Looking at the design, it will surely come smiling out through accidents.

Samsung Focus S come with a 4.3 inches Super AMOLED display having a 800×480 pixels WVGA resolution and there is 16 million color support. Just like other phones having this screen technology, the colors are quite vivid and they stand out from the display. The videos and photos might look more saturated on the display as compared to that on a computer monitor.

This handset runs on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS and the interface is just a start screen having live and dynamic tiles. A lot of them are updated with information real time. You can customize this page to some extent with the app order and color. The tiles can also be pinned/unpinned according to your choice. There is also a second screen for showing your apps.

Above the screen, there is a 1.3 megapixels camera. Below this, you get 3 touch sensitive buttons which relate to search, home, and back functions. Long pressing back button will let you switch amongst the tasks. The long press on home button launches the voice actions.

The amount of physical buttons on Windows OS is more than that on the other platforms. However, I was disappointed to see that these buttons are a bit cheap looking; the manufacturer has used plastic lumps which isn’t good considering the high end genre of this phone. Volume rocker is located on the left and the right side has camera shutter and power buttons. MicroUSB charging port is located on the bottom and the 3.5 mm headphones jack is there up top.