Samsung ATIV Odyssey Review

Introduction:

All of a sudden, Verizon’s lineup is beaming with some decent Windows Phone 8 devices of late, and for the first time ever, we’re seeing one that’s coming from Sammy’s camp. Yes folks, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey has finally arrived, which is interestingly enough the first Verizon bound Windows Phone 8 smartphone from Samsung to feature 4G LTE connectivity. Frankly, it’s not a pencil pusher in any way with its specs sheet, but at $49.99 with a 2-year contract, some might be tempted to check out what Sammy has to offer in this front – then again, it’s facing stiff competition from Nokia’s recent offering.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Start Here Guide
• Product Safety & Warranty Information

Design:

What’s to say about this one, aside from the fact that it’s a typically made Samsung device – so there’s nothing particularly too fresh with its appeal. Rather, it’s more of the same, as it’s donning an all-plastic body that’s lightweight and compact feeling in the hand, though, it has a very slick feel, which tends to make it slippery. Sure, it’s still prone to the occasional smudges and fingerprints, but we do appreciate the faux-pas metallic finish it’s sporting. Overall, it’s more of the same and looks dated to the stuff we’ve been seeing with Nokia and HTC’s Windows Phone 8 offerings.



You can compare the Samsung ATIV Odyssey with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Sporting the usual trio of capacitive Windows buttons, they’re spaced away from one another to reduce accidental presses. Likewise, above the display, we find its light & proximity sensors, earpiece, and front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera. With the latter, it has the ability to shoot videos in 720p.

With its physical buttons, the power, volume control, and shutter key, they’re distinctive to the touch and offer springy responses when pressed. Comforting to say the least, especially when it’s rare to find with Windows Phones, we do appreciate that there’s a microSD card slot that’s easily accessible from its left edge. As usual, too, it features a 3.5mm headset jack, standard microphone, noise cancellation mic, and microUSB port for charging/data connectivity.

Around the rear, there’s a modest 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, which has the ability to shoot video in 1080p. Along the bottom edge, it appears as though there’s a giant speaker grill, but in fact, only the center area is tucking away its internal speaker. Removing the rear plastic cover, we’re given access to its 2,100 mAh battery and microSIM slot.


Display:

For what it’s worth, some people are still going to be attracted to the vividness of the Samsung ATIV Odyssey’s 4-inch WVGA (480 x 800) Super AMOLED display, which can be attributed to its wide viewing angles and overly saturated colors. However, its 233 ppi pixel density, combined with its PenTile matrix pixel arrangement, doesn’t produce the fine detail we crave nowadays – thus, producing garbled text in a zoomed out view in the web browser. Regardless of that, the display still has the wow factor we’d expect to see out of a Super AMOLED panel, but it still needs a good shielding when outdoors.

Interface and Functionality:

Windows Phones are all made alike, right? Well, at their core, we can vouch that’s exactly what we see with this, seeing that the core experience is uniform amongst all Windows Phone 8 smartphones. However, as we’ve seen with Nokia’s offerings, that’s not necessarily the case. Looking through the ATIV Odyssey’s Windows Phone 8 experience, there’s nothing out of the ordinary with its flashy live tiled home screen and set of standard apps. Strangely though this time around, Sammy didn’t put in the same Samsung Hub we’ve seen on previous Windows Phone devices from their stable – albeit, there’s the “Samsung Zone” area in the Windows Store. Considering that there’s nothing new or exclusive found with the ATIV Odyssey’s experience, it lacks the value found with the Nokia Lumia 822 in this category.


Digging down into some of the core organizer apps on the handset, it features the standard assortment we’re familiar seeing. However, Sammy manages to bring along its own MiniDiary app, which as its name implies, is an electronic journal of sorts – with the ability to add multimedia content, such as photos and drawing, to posts.


Smaller in real estate footprint that some other notable Windows Phone 8 smartphones of late, there’s a bit of a learning curve trying to adjust typing with its on-screen keyboard, since the layout isn’t as spacious. Nevertheless, the Windows Phone keyboard is responsive and accurate enough to keep up with our rate. As for the emailing experience, it’s the usual fanfare with its features and functionality.



Processor and Memory:

Somewhat a familiar chipset in many current generation Windows Phone smartphones, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey is powered by none other than a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 plus processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. Needless to say, it’s effective enough in executing all tasks with minimal fluff, which is the expected outcome with all Windows Phone 8 devices. From basic tasks to more complex things, it’s able to maintain a steady performance that’s rarely laggy or choppy.

Internally, it’s packing total of 7.28GB of free storage out of the box. Supplementing that capacity, though, is an available microSD card slot that’s ready to increase its tally even more, which is an inviting item to find in a Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

Internet and Connectivity:

Surfing the web couldn’t be any more pleasing on the Samsung ATIV Odyssey, seeing that it provides all of the comforts that’s found with 4G LTE connectivity. Beyond the lightning fast speeds seen with it, we’re greeted with fast rendering and slick navigational controls to make the experience super pleasant. However, due to the display’s PenTile matrix arrangement, there’s a lot of pinch zooming needed to draw out some finer details.


In the US, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey is meant to play nicely with Verizon’s network – both voice and data. However, it’s also enabled for global usage because it’s packing GSM radios as well. With the rest of its connectivity arsenal, it features aGPS, Bluetooth 3.1, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot functionality, and NFC. With the latter, it works in tandem with the platform’s “Tap + Send” feature to quickly share a variety of content with other NFC-enabled devices.

Call Quality:

Honestly, the call quality is superb on both ends of the line, since they’re clear, distinctive, and distortion free. Even better, the volume out of the earpiece is extremely powerful, which makes voices more than audible. Still, there’s only one issue that we find – and it’s related to the speakerphone. Specifically, the loudest setting produces a subtle amount of muffling with voices.

Signal strength isn’t a problem with this one, especially when it’s able to maintain a solid LTE connection indoors. During our time using it in the greater Philadelphia region, we didn’t experience any dropped calls or major fluctuations with its signal strength.

Battery:

Generally speaking, the majority of LTE devices are known to be huge battery sippers. However, we’re surprised to say that the Samsung ATIV Odyssey manages to deliver some unexpected results with its 2,100 mAh battery. In fact, we’re able to get 20 hours of usage with a fully charge battery, which is more than enough to get most people through a solid work day. Still, it’s something that requires nightly charging.

Conclusion:

Samsung is no doubt embarking on an odyssey with this venture, which should be a refreshing thing to see for Big Red’s customers. Attached with a very easy-on-the-wallet price point of $49.99 with a 2-year agreement, there’s plenty of things to like about the Samsung ATIV Odyssey – especially when it performs rather well in pretty much all categories. Despite that, though, we have to say that it doesn’t quite pack the same level of value seen with the Nokia Lumia 822’s set of exclusive apps. Knowing that, the compromise made here with the ATIV Odyssey is the fact that it’s not benefitting in any way with the platform experience over its main rival in the Nokia Lumia 822 – even more when they’re both priced the same.

Software version of the review unit:
OS Version: 8.0.10211.204

Samsung ATIV Odyssey Video Review: