Samsung Jet S8000 Preview

This is a European GSM phone. It can be used with AT&T and T-Mobile USA but without 3G.

Introduction:

Devices with awesome multimedia capabilities have been all the rage in the mobile world lately. Samsung has taken over the competition with their blitzkrieg introduction of the OMNIA HD i8910i. Now the manufacturer needs to put a more affordable device on the table, since not everyone is willing to shell out an amount equal to the gross military spending of a small European democracy over such a thing as cell phone, even if this happens to be the ultimate move to watch the next Miss Universe contest with stunning quality. This is exactly the market niche Samsung is targeting with the Samsung Jet S8000, initially known as the Cubic. It comes with new version of the TouchWiz interface that is all about a 3D cube that, truth be told, brings the LG ARENA KM900 to mind the second you see it. Although it is not a smartphone, Samsung touts it to be smarter than one, with multitasking, Microsoft Exchange support and a fast 800MHz processor.Let´s go over its design and overall look first.

 
Design:

Even if the unit we have got our hands on is not a final, retail one, we simply must say this is one of the most polished pieces of workmanship by Samsung we have ever had the pleasure to behold. Most similar devices, i.e. ones with huge touch sensitive screens, tend to have rather nondescript faces with the only exception being the Samsung BEAT DJ M7600, due to its oddish overall shape. The front side of the Samsung Jet S8000 houses a beautiful 3.1-inch display with 16 mln colors and WVGA resolution, send and end buttons and a key with prismatic shape. The latter is used to enter the main menu, while holding it pressed calls up the multitasking interface on screen. It´s also half transparent and the particular way it reflects light is quite an eye catcher. 




You can compare the Samsung Jet S8000 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

You are to find something similar on the back of the phone as well. There are these small, nicely looking, red-colored, light reflecting plates that create a curved-mirror kaleidoscope-like effect. Unfortunately they love dust and fingerprints even more than Megan Fox in the nude would attract paparazzi.

The good news is the Samsung Jet S8000 sports standard connectors only, which are both on its top – 3.5mm jack and microUSB port. The volume rocker is on its left hand side, while the screen lock and a double button are on the opposite – the part that is more protruding is actually the camera shutter and the second button that is almost flush with the surface brings the 3D cube on screen. We are going to tell you more about them and all the new things in the interface on the next page.

Interface:

Now, think of at least two different, touch sensitive screen makes by Samsung that utilize exactly one and the same interface. Yes, most of them run the famous TouchWiz, but there are differences, always, no matter how insignificant they may be. What all phones have in common is a home screen full of widgets. You have three different screens on the Samsung Jet S8000 where apps can be placed plus there is the option to download more. There is a small icon that gets you to the widget settings menu on top of the list. We couldn’t set single wallpaper that shows on all three screens as we can on the Samsung Star S5230, Preston S5600 or any Android powered cell phone, but may be this is to be changed when retail units arrive. Still, you have this nice option to unlock the device and start apps by drawing a symbol on the screen. Pretty cool if you don´t feel like searching for buttons and icons or holding them pressed.


The most significant change to previous TouchWiz versions is to be found in the main menu, or is rather the main menu itself. Now it´s divided into three separate screens that are switched between by sliding your finger and give you access to all telephone functions (quite similar to the iPhone, really). This way there is no need for submenus that host their own dedicated functions, say, an Organizer you need to open to get to your Alarm Clock, Calendar etc. Unlike the iPhone and the S-CLASS 3D interface, TouchWiz doesn’t allow icon rearrangement.

Speaking of the new LG interface, let’s see why the new TouchWiz is constantly compared to it. Of course, it´s the 3D cube. Well, it´s really three dimensional here, since all six sides are usable. While the one found on S-CLASS 3D devices allows you to navigate between home screens, the cube on the Samsung Jet S8000 lets you access multimedia, entertainment and internet content, although all these have limited functionality if visualized through the cube itself. For an instance, the Gallery previews your pictures in reduced size only; the audio player only shows songs and album art of the last playlist loaded etc.



Holding the button that loads the cube interface gets you to the so called Motion Gate, where two shortcuts are to be found, which can be assigned functions to your own liking through the settings menu. Either of them can be selected by shaking the phone and controlled through the accelerometer. Say, a simplified camera interface is started through a double shake. Honestly, far be it from us to pass final judgment, we believe these two only exist to show that complex functions can be implemented through the accelerometer and despite the fact it´s pretty useless in places like the main menu.

The Samsung Jet S8000 delivers comfy onscreen keyboard that changes depending on the application and of course, you also have hand writing recognition. Similarly to the LG ARENA KM900, it offers support for Microsoft Exchange server. Sound of incoming calls can be muted by turning the phone sideways and device switches over to the built-in loudspeaker automatically the second you place it onto a flat surface. All told, these are all the novelty features in this version of the interface. Now, let´s take a look at the browser and multimedia capabilities of the phone.

Internet, Camera and Multimedia:

Well, it´s clear you need a proper browser to get better and easier access to the Internet. The Samsung Jet S8000 delivers one, along with high speed 3G and Wi-Fi support.

It´s still somewhat early to compare it to the leaders, but we do like what we see. Zooming is implemented through double tapping the screen, plus text gets instantly formatted for easier reading. You can fine tune its size via the volume rocker. Pages are rendered properly and selecting links is as easy as double clicking, so it´s really hard to do something wrong while surfing the Web. The good news is browser fully supports flash content, say the computer version of YouTube and there is specialized player for hassle-free streaming video playback. An option called “Communities” allows you to share snapshots on a variety of social networks such as Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Friendster, MySpace etc.





The Samsung Jet S8000 sports a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash. It features pretty much the same camera interface as the original OMNIA, which is good despite the fact it looks somewhat antiquated alongside of the S-CLASS 3D itself. It´s still comfy to use with your fingers though and offers a bunch of nice options like smiling face detection, fast motion shooting of up to 9 frames, blinking eyes recognition etc and allows proper control over white balance, contrast, color saturation and sharpness. Take a look at the pictures we snapped, just bear in mind this is a prototype, so overall quality might be completely different with retail units.





Video is captured at a maximum resolution of 720x480 and 30 frames and there is a slow motion option that is, unfortunately, only available at QVGA resolution. As a whole, the Samsung Jet S8000 can hardly measure to its elder sibling, the OMNIA HD.

Samsung Jet S8000 sample video at 720x480 pixels

The same goes for the video playback, but the device performs much better than its major rival, the LG ARENA, and manages to play DivX and Xvid content with 720 pixels width. Quality is good, but we do hope to see retail units cope even better.

The audio player can work in two modes. First, you have the portrait one that looks outdated, but allows you to access options like equalizer presets and 5.1 channel virtualization. While you will be able to relish album art in landscape mode, you have no control over sound volume in it.  We do hope this is a software bug that plagues the prototype only.

Radio operates in one mode only, but features the audio recognition called Find Music. The Samsung Jet S8000 features a built-in GPS receiver, but the only navigational software that comes preloaded is the Java version of Google Maps.



Expectations:

All told, we are definitely fascinated with what the Samsung Jet S8000 offers. Despite the fact its interface doesn’t feature any ground-breaking novelties or the much talked about 3D cube is simply a sophisticated way to make use of shortcuts, the phone is definitely up to the task of being more than decent midrange device.

If Samsung gets to offer the Jet S8000 at a reasonable price, we believe the days of the LG ARENA KM900 along with its beautiful S-CLASS 3D interface that can only play DivX/Xvid content at QVGA resolution are numbered. Unfortunately, we do not have any information on its pricing, so we can at least keep dreaming until it finally hits the shelves.

Samsung Jet S8000 Video Preview: