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Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T)

Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T)

January 28th, 2012
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Customer Reviews : 3 Reviews
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Reg. Price : $ 499.99
Price : $ 499.99
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Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T)

  • Ultra-thin 3G-enabled Windows Phone 7 smartphone with 4-inch Super-Amoled touchscreen
  • Windows Phone 7 OS provides easy access to social networking, personal/corporate e-mail, office apps, Xbox LIVE games, streaming media, and more
  • 5-megapixel camera with HD 720p video capture;8 GB internal memory;microSD memory expansion;Wireless-N Wi-Fi;Bluetooth stereo music;GPS for navigation
  • Up to 6.5 hours of talk time, up to 300 hours (12.5 days) of standby time; released in November, 2010
  • What’s in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, USB cable, stereo headset, quick start guide

The Samsung FocusTM debuts as AT&T’s thinnest Windows Phone and offers a visually stunning experience with a Super AMOLEDTM screen on a sleek 9.9 mm-thin touch screen phone. With the Focus’TM amazingly crisp, brilliant screen, photos, games and videos come alive. Work better. The Samsung Focus makes it easy to get moving with its large, ultra-thin touch screen that gives you the room you need to type. For balance, you’ll have access to AT&T U-verse® Mobile* made brilliant by the large screen

List Price: $ 499.99

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Customer Reviews


166 of 175 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A phone that lets you focus on your life, not the device, November 7, 2010
By 
Robert L. Stinnett (Boonville, MO) – See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)
  
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
  
(REAL NAME)
  

This review is from: Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

I’ve been a Windows Mobile user for years — partially because it was necessary to interact with various workplace based e-mail and networking programs, and partly because I always found them to be “boring, but dependable”. Windows Mobile never was the life of the party, but rather was always the responsible one that made sure that after the party was over that everything got cleaned up and everyone made it home safe. That was the past 10 years, but times, they are a changing… the Samsung Focus has taken the boring Windows Mobile interface, replaced it with the all new Windows Phone OS and turned a boring mobile smartphone into a serious player that all of a sudden may very well be the life of the party.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Samsung Focus early on, and I have to say that I’ve had a very hard time putting this phone down. It’s absolutely nothing like I’ve used before when it comes to a Windows phone. The entire interface has changed, and the phone itself has went from business boring to social media connected powerhouse.

One of the first things you will want to do when you get a Samsung Focus is to pop in a memory card. The Focus is the only U.S. based Windows Phone that currently supports expanding its memory via a MicroSD card. You’ll want to do this from the get go because otherwise you will need to do a master reset on the phone to get it to pick up later. This is because in the new Windows Phone OS the microSD is not removable — it actually becomes part of the overall system memory and is a permanent addition to the phone (which is why its located behind the battery). I highly recommend you pop in a 32GB card to give you a 40GB phone out of the box — it will let you really put the phone to use storing your media and other data while not having to worry about it down the road.

Next, get ready to be connected to your family, friends and social networks like never before. One of the absolutely coolest things about this phone is how good the AMOLED screen looks. With a 480×800 display size, the display is very crisp and the colors are almost — well, almost true to life in many aspects. I really didn’t appreciate how well the display looked at first but once I started using the phone I was just constantly blown away at how darn well this screen on this guy looked. The Windows Phone OS uses what I like to call “squares” or “slides” to display information, and they are constantly updating and even changing color and pictures. Your friend just post something to Facebook? You’ll know in an instant without having to switch back and forth between a Facebook app. New email arrive from a friend? Boom – another square changes to reflect it. It’s really cool and you have to experience it firsthand to understand how revolutionary this type of interface is. It let’s you focus on the world around you, and not constantly have to be pecking away and fooling with the phone. On my old Samsung Jack I was constantly switching between apps and looking at the phone — with the Focus it’s like I’m just glancing to see whats going on in my social circles and at work. My only gripe? In direct sunlight the display is a bit bleached, but still holds its own. Much better than my old phone – though not as good as I think it could be or would like it to be.

One thing you will want to make sure you have setup (and many of us already do) is a Windows Live or Xbox Live account. When you first power on the phone you will be prompted for your Windows Live ID. You don’t have to provide one, and the phone works just fine without it — but if you do provide one you are going to really unleash the power of this device. It’s what ties everything together — your social networks, email, photos, etc. I would highly recommend that if you are going to go the Windows Phone route you make sure that before the phone arrives you get a Windows Live account up and running if you don’t have one already.

Battery life is good — not great — and holds up comparable well to other smartphones. The phone does a lot of synchronization via the Windows Live ID and such, so it is hitting the network a lot. I noticed that I could get through about 1.5 days of normal usage without a recharge. My best was 2.5 days when I wasn’t checking email or using apps too much. You’ll probably want to go ahead and pick up a spare charger for the office or the car.

So this thing is a phone right? Let me tell you, the phone quality and sound through the earpiece was amazingly crisp and clear. I’ve struggled a lot with my old Samsung Jack find it difficult to hear, especially when outside. The Focus totally redefined for me what a good voice call is. I had no problems being outside with background noise and still being able to hear and hold a conversation over the phone. The speakerphone portion was equally crisp and loud without being tinny…

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79 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What Happened To Microsoft?, January 8, 2011
By 
Geir Friis (Nesconset, NY United States) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
  

This review is from: Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

What happened to Microsoft?

I took a chance and ordered the Samsung Focus Win7 phone from Amazon. My current phone was the HTC Fuze and I liked it. It had so many capabilities, but was very cumbersome to learn how to use and using it was never easy. I got used to it after a while and really grew to enjoy and to depend on the whole smartphone experience.

I had wanted to get the iPhone, but after trouble with a new iPod (160GB, Gen 7), iTunes and having my otherwise perfect, best ever computer experience with the Win 7 Asus ROG G73J laptop tainted, I was reluctant about Apple. With the new iPod, my computer freezes every time: restart and everything is perfect except iTunes and iPod. So, I couldn’t get myself to order the iPhone.

After two days the Samsung Focus Win7 phone arrives. A few minutes later the phone lights up. Hundreds of contacts are in. A few more minutes: numerous mail accounts are set up and running; Facebook as well. I get to put my favorite contact in the upper left hand corner with shuffling beautiful pictures. I put my favorite photo on the beautiful (!!!) 4 inch welcome screen and start messaging. And phoning and mailing and web browsing. It is all so easy and I slowly realize I enjoy the phone’s feedback (little vibrations) and super rapid response.

I get the free Netflix app and fire up a free streaming movie. It’s amazing. I will seriously be watching movies on this thing! The sound is great. My photos are available and well organized and look stunning. I get the free IMBD app and my local theatres show up with show times and easily accessible reviews etc. I input my WIFI password and it’s immediately accessible. Everything just works and it’s so rapid and I’m slowly starting to realize I have something special on my hands. I shoot a couple of picts with the wonderful camera function and mail and message them so easily!

I take some photos of my phone’s different screens to mail my girlfriend. It’s so easy to arrange everything on the phone practically and beautifully and I really enjoy showing her my new phone arranged just for me with my favorite images everywhere. (<Helle3)

The next couple of days I use the navigation (just works!), get the Adobe Reader and Kindle app (I will read books on this!), get the local weather for a couple of places, YouTube is running. Everything just works so easily! I talk to my phone and without fail it understands my heavy Norwegian accent and Norwegian names in my contacts list. I ask for directions in the navi app and browse the web with my voice. It all just works!

This Win7 phone is so far ahead that I think it will take a while before the critics catch up and realize how good this is. Apple would have wanted to be behind this experience. How Microsoft came up with this new way of interacting with your phone is truly surprising.

The Win7 way of smart phoning is transformative. This phone is so good you don’t even realize it in the beginning. The Win7 software and way of phoning is a truly stunning achievement. BTW I have a pittance of Microsoft stock, but they haven’t paid me to write this review. Who would have thought Microsoft could bring a product as good as this to the market?

In conclusion I’d like to point out that I’m aware that this is a very emotional review and it leaves out a lot of technical details. But this phone is two steps into the future and I’d like to call attention to that. I leave it to the many other great reviews to cover technical details.

Get this phone and be prepared to be stunned!

…………………………………………………………………..

Edit: With the Mango update, I enjoy the phone even more! :-)

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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the iPhone or Android, November 27, 2010
By 
David A. Cornelson (Chicago/IL/USA) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
  

This review is from: Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

I had an iPhone 3G for two years and it was a decent phone for awhile. I was never happy with the way it handled calls. It had a weak speaker, dropped calls, and was very flaky. Some of the apps were good, but as a phone, I never thought it was very good.

I’ve since upgraded to the new Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 and I love it. Just as a phone, it’s significantly better than any cellphone I’ve ever had. Calls come through clearly and I’ve never lost a call in the middle. Granted it’s only been a month so I haven’t tested this with AT&T’s suspect service in many places, but so far, the phone is great at phone calls.

The operating system is drop dead simple to use…in fact, it’s so simple, people might get confused. They’ll be done so quickly with checking things, they won’t realize they can put the phone away within seconds. I have 4 e-mail account tiles and I see updates on the wallpaper instantly. I can click the power button and see if I have any e-mail or messages without even unlocking or digging into any apps.

The integrated People hub is awesome. I can check Facebook in a second and comment or Like posts instantly.

The one major complaint I have is the lack of syncing local Outlook contacts with the phone like I could do with the iPhone, but I just migrated my contacts to Live.Com (Hotmail) and now they’re in my phone.

Overall, I love the phone and the new operating system.

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  1. Robert L. Stinnett // January 28th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
    166 of 175 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    A phone that lets you focus on your life, not the device, November 7, 2010
    By 
    Robert L. Stinnett (Boonville, MO) –
    (VINE VOICE)
      
    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
      
    (REAL NAME)
      

    This review is from: Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

    I’ve been a Windows Mobile user for years — partially because it was necessary to interact with various workplace based e-mail and networking programs, and partly because I always found them to be “boring, but dependable”. Windows Mobile never was the life of the party, but rather was always the responsible one that made sure that after the party was over that everything got cleaned up and everyone made it home safe. That was the past 10 years, but times, they are a changing… the Samsung Focus has taken the boring Windows Mobile interface, replaced it with the all new Windows Phone OS and turned a boring mobile smartphone into a serious player that all of a sudden may very well be the life of the party.

    I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Samsung Focus early on, and I have to say that I’ve had a very hard time putting this phone down. It’s absolutely nothing like I’ve used before when it comes to a Windows phone. The entire interface has changed, and the phone itself has went from business boring to social media connected powerhouse.

    One of the first things you will want to do when you get a Samsung Focus is to pop in a memory card. The Focus is the only U.S. based Windows Phone that currently supports expanding its memory via a MicroSD card. You’ll want to do this from the get go because otherwise you will need to do a master reset on the phone to get it to pick up later. This is because in the new Windows Phone OS the microSD is not removable — it actually becomes part of the overall system memory and is a permanent addition to the phone (which is why its located behind the battery). I highly recommend you pop in a 32GB card to give you a 40GB phone out of the box — it will let you really put the phone to use storing your media and other data while not having to worry about it down the road.

    Next, get ready to be connected to your family, friends and social networks like never before. One of the absolutely coolest things about this phone is how good the AMOLED screen looks. With a 480×800 display size, the display is very crisp and the colors are almost — well, almost true to life in many aspects. I really didn’t appreciate how well the display looked at first but once I started using the phone I was just constantly blown away at how darn well this screen on this guy looked. The Windows Phone OS uses what I like to call “squares” or “slides” to display information, and they are constantly updating and even changing color and pictures. Your friend just post something to Facebook? You’ll know in an instant without having to switch back and forth between a Facebook app. New email arrive from a friend? Boom – another square changes to reflect it. It’s really cool and you have to experience it firsthand to understand how revolutionary this type of interface is. It let’s you focus on the world around you, and not constantly have to be pecking away and fooling with the phone. On my old Samsung Jack I was constantly switching between apps and looking at the phone — with the Focus it’s like I’m just glancing to see whats going on in my social circles and at work. My only gripe? In direct sunlight the display is a bit bleached, but still holds its own. Much better than my old phone – though not as good as I think it could be or would like it to be.

    One thing you will want to make sure you have setup (and many of us already do) is a Windows Live or Xbox Live account. When you first power on the phone you will be prompted for your Windows Live ID. You don’t have to provide one, and the phone works just fine without it — but if you do provide one you are going to really unleash the power of this device. It’s what ties everything together — your social networks, email, photos, etc. I would highly recommend that if you are going to go the Windows Phone route you make sure that before the phone arrives you get a Windows Live account up and running if you don’t have one already.

    Battery life is good — not great — and holds up comparable well to other smartphones. The phone does a lot of synchronization via the Windows Live ID and such, so it is hitting the network a lot. I noticed that I could get through about 1.5 days of normal usage without a recharge. My best was 2.5 days when I wasn’t checking email or using apps too much. You’ll probably want to go ahead and pick up a spare charger for the office or the car.

    So this thing is a phone right? Let me tell you, the phone quality and sound through the earpiece was amazingly crisp and clear. I’ve struggled a lot with my old Samsung Jack find it difficult to hear, especially when outside. The Focus totally redefined for me what a good voice call is. I had no problems being outside with background noise and still being able to hear and hold a conversation over the phone. The speakerphone portion was equally crisp and loud without being tinny…

    Read more

    Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes
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  2. Geir Friis // January 28th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
    79 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    What Happened To Microsoft?, January 8, 2011
    By 
    Geir Friis (Nesconset, NY United States) –
    (REAL NAME)
      

    This review is from: Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

    What happened to Microsoft?

    I took a chance and ordered the Samsung Focus Win7 phone from Amazon. My current phone was the HTC Fuze and I liked it. It had so many capabilities, but was very cumbersome to learn how to use and using it was never easy. I got used to it after a while and really grew to enjoy and to depend on the whole smartphone experience.

    I had wanted to get the iPhone, but after trouble with a new iPod (160GB, Gen 7), iTunes and having my otherwise perfect, best ever computer experience with the Win 7 Asus ROG G73J laptop tainted, I was reluctant about Apple. With the new iPod, my computer freezes every time: restart and everything is perfect except iTunes and iPod. So, I couldn’t get myself to order the iPhone.

    After two days the Samsung Focus Win7 phone arrives. A few minutes later the phone lights up. Hundreds of contacts are in. A few more minutes: numerous mail accounts are set up and running; Facebook as well. I get to put my favorite contact in the upper left hand corner with shuffling beautiful pictures. I put my favorite photo on the beautiful (!!!) 4 inch welcome screen and start messaging. And phoning and mailing and web browsing. It is all so easy and I slowly realize I enjoy the phone’s feedback (little vibrations) and super rapid response.

    I get the free Netflix app and fire up a free streaming movie. It’s amazing. I will seriously be watching movies on this thing! The sound is great. My photos are available and well organized and look stunning. I get the free IMBD app and my local theatres show up with show times and easily accessible reviews etc. I input my WIFI password and it’s immediately accessible. Everything just works and it’s so rapid and I’m slowly starting to realize I have something special on my hands. I shoot a couple of picts with the wonderful camera function and mail and message them so easily!
    I take some photos of my phone’s different screens to mail my girlfriend. It’s so easy to arrange everything on the phone practically and beautifully and I really enjoy showing her my new phone arranged just for me with my favorite images everywhere. (<Helle3)

    The next couple of days I use the navigation (just works!), get the Adobe Reader and Kindle app (I will read books on this!), get the local weather for a couple of places, YouTube is running. Everything just works so easily! I talk to my phone and without fail it understands my heavy Norwegian accent and Norwegian names in my contacts list. I ask for directions in the navi app and browse the web with my voice. It all just works!

    This Win7 phone is so far ahead that I think it will take a while before the critics catch up and realize how good this is. Apple would have wanted to be behind this experience. How Microsoft came up with this new way of interacting with your phone is truly surprising.

    The Win7 way of smart phoning is transformative. This phone is so good you don’t even realize it in the beginning. The Win7 software and way of phoning is a truly stunning achievement. BTW I have a pittance of Microsoft stock, but they haven’t paid me to write this review. Who would have thought Microsoft could bring a product as good as this to the market?

    In conclusion I’d like to point out that I’m aware that this is a very emotional review and it leaves out a lot of technical details. But this phone is two steps into the future and I’d like to call attention to that. I leave it to the many other great reviews to cover technical details.

    Get this phone and be prepared to be stunned!

    …………………………………………………………………..

    Edit: With the Mango update, I enjoy the phone even more! :-)

    Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes
    No

  3. David A. Cornelson // January 28th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
    44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Better than the iPhone or Android, November 27, 2010
    By 
    David A. Cornelson (Chicago/IL/USA) –
    (REAL NAME)
      

    This review is from: Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

    I had an iPhone 3G for two years and it was a decent phone for awhile. I was never happy with the way it handled calls. It had a weak speaker, dropped calls, and was very flaky. Some of the apps were good, but as a phone, I never thought it was very good.

    I’ve since upgraded to the new Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 and I love it. Just as a phone, it’s significantly better than any cellphone I’ve ever had. Calls come through clearly and I’ve never lost a call in the middle. Granted it’s only been a month so I haven’t tested this with AT&T’s suspect service in many places, but so far, the phone is great at phone calls.

    The operating system is drop dead simple to use…in fact, it’s so simple, people might get confused. They’ll be done so quickly with checking things, they won’t realize they can put the phone away within seconds. I have 4 e-mail account tiles and I see updates on the wallpaper instantly. I can click the power button and see if I have any e-mail or messages without even unlocking or digging into any apps.

    The integrated People hub is awesome. I can check Facebook in a second and comment or Like posts instantly.

    The one major complaint I have is the lack of syncing local Outlook contacts with the phone like I could do with the iPhone, but I just migrated my contacts to Live.Com (Hotmail) and now they’re in my phone.

    Overall, I love the phone and the new operating system.

    Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes
    No