Samsung ATIV Odyssey Review (Verizon)

Pros: Solid performance from dual-core processor and strong battery life

Cons: Low-res, pixelated display is distracting and unpleasant

Summary

One could easily make a joke about how fitting it is that a Window Phone 8 device known as the ATIV Odyssey arrived weeks later than it was scheduled. While Samsung's first Windows Phone 8 smartphone on Verizon didn't take quite the treacherous journey as the Greek epic poem, the handset did have a peculiar path to release. It was mentioned in passing by Microsoft at the Windows Phone 8 launch event at a time when people knew virtually nothing of the phone. Though Verizon promised to release the phone in December, the Samsung ATIV Odyssey didn't go on sale until late January 2013, after the gold rush of Windows Phone 8 devices launched during the 2012 holiday shopping season.

Hardware (3 / 5)

If you have seen or touched a Samsung device in the past 18 months, there's a good chance that you could easily trace the ATIV Odyssey's design lineage. The ATIV Odyssey has the same rear speaker grill design as the ATIV S, but the Odyssey produces a sound that reaches high volume but not high quality. It's passable but not remarkable. The almost-perfectly curved edges follow the Samsung Galaxy line, and the faux-chrome rim along the side of the phone is reminiscent of the Galaxy Note II. The back of the device has the glossy plastic feel that has come to define Samsung smartphones, and it even has the appearance of a brushed metal Pebble blue color that appeared in the Galaxy S III.

The phone borrows liberally from Samsung's 2012 line of Android phones, making this feel like an aesthetic after thought with a few twists. While the Samsung ATIV S used an aluminum body to feel like a conscious departure from the design choices utilized for its Android endeavors, the ATIV Odyssey and feels looks like something that made it only halfway through the process of conversion from Android to Windows Phone.

The key distinguishing factor of the ATIV Odyssey from the rest of its Samsung kin is its size. Each Samsung smartphone has a screen size bigger than its predecessor, suggesting users will eventually need gym memberships just to maintain the strength to lift their phones. The ATIV Odyssey has a more sensible and palm-friendly build, measuring 4.82in x 2.5in x .43in (122.43mm x 63.5mm x 10.9mm). It's slightly smaller than an iPhone but wider and thicker, and it's much easier to hold and operate with one hand than the usual Samsung device.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

The smaller size of the phone is possible because Samsung wisely opted for a 4-inch SuperAMOLED display, but the company foolishly made it a low-resolution 800x480 screen that lacks clarity. The PenTile display makes the screen dreadfully distracting, creating a pixelated appearance as if everything is viewed through an ultra-thin mesh. Though the NFL Mobile app touts that it displays higher quality video settings, video leaves much to be desired because of the pixel layout. Colors and brightness settings are decent, but the screen looks particularly bad when reading black text on a white background, which is how most websites are designed.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Usability (3 / 5)

Microsoft has taken great pains to ensure that its platform doesn't suffer from the wildly different experiences offered among Android phones. A stringent requirement of strong processors and basic hardware benchmarks all but guarantee that no smartphone is left behind when it comes to performance. That hardline stance has led to the Samsung ATIV Odyssey being unsurprisingly powerful despite what one might expect from a $50 device that's decidedly mid-tier.

The ATIV Odyssey has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, the same internal set-up found in the higher-end devices on Windows Phone 8. The Odyssey rates about as highly when it comes to performance, delivering quick transitions between apps and smooth scrolling throughout the user interface. WP Benchmark gives the CPU, GPU, and data of the phone a cumulative score of 251, which is on par with or better than every Windows Phone released to date.

The Samsung ATIV Odyssey runs Windows Phone 8, an operating system that is as unique as it is easy to embrace. The user interface is beautiful in its simplicity, and it doesn't need excessive primping and glossy finishes to mask its shortcomings. The interface relies on an ordered display of black text over a white background, or the inverse, and a customizable grid of content known as Live Tiles. The tiles are more than just app shortcuts because they can be used to show live information like the number of unread emails or the current temperature on a weather tile. Users can personalize the grid by using 1 of 3 different sizes, changing the color scheme, or choosing which apps are allowed to display tiles.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Windows Phone 8 also includes the handy Data Sense feature that tracks not only how much data the device uses, but also specifically points out which apps account for the most data. I found that Sense can be critically important to people who are on tiered data packages because it provides live updates on cellular and Wi-Fi data usage that can help users adjust their activities. After realizing that I'd consumed more than 85 MB of data in a single day while doing some light browsing and streaming music with Slacker Radio, I realized that I might want to connect to Wi-Fi data more often.

Calling / Data

Phone calls are solid on the ATIV Odyssey, though not as crystal clear as you'll get with phones of a higher quality. Indoor phone calls were conducted without issue, but outdoor conversations required a bit more effort. On the data front, the phone supports Verizon's 4G LTE network and consistently delivers data uploads of 28 to 32 Mbps and uploads of 10 Mbps. I was very pleased to see the Odyssey manage to quickly find and hold on to a 4G connection even in New York City, something my iPhone 5 struggled to do at the same time, so there shouldn't be any data-related issues.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Messaging (4 / 5)

Microsoft's standard messaging and calling apps are all present and very good. The Rooms feature enables group communication through live chat, synchronized calendars, shared notes with One Note, and private photo albums. Sadly, non-Windows Phone 8 users can't access live chat and can only see the other features through patchwork solutions of multiple apps on Android and iOS. Though not ideal for groups, one-on-one conversation is great because of excellent call quality, a swift contact manager, and a rich messaging client. Samsung also includes its ChatON app, which enables group communication for Android and iPhone users as well.

Apps (3 / 5)

The Windows Phone 8 experience is fairly standard across devices because of Microsoft's obsession with consistency, but Samsung manages to offer some differentiation with a band of apps that make the Odyssey more useful. The Samsung Zone of the Windows Phone section highlights apps Samsung built exclusively for its devices. Now is the standout of those apps because it presents a well-manicured snapshot of what might be of interest to the user. Local temperatures and a weekly forecast are displayed, and a custom list of cities can be added. Now also includes a customizable section of stories from Yahoo! News, a live tracker for personal stocks or overall indices, and the most recent currency exchange rates.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Samsung also bundled Photo Editor to support users looking to give their smartphones a bit more pop. The app handles the basics of editing - resize, crop, or rotate - but it also includes clever sliding scales to adjust brightness, exposure, temperature, and contrast. The ATIV Odyssey also includes:

- RSS Times to link with Google Reader and manage your RSS feeds.

- MiniDiary to keep a daily journal with text notes, photos, and geocached location data.

- ChatON to enable group chats and media sharing among Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone users.

- Live Wallpaper to display one random photo every time the lock screen is accessed.

- Music Hub to listen to more than 17 million songs by streaming 7digital or downloading music.

- Beauty camera lens that automatically tries to minimize blemishes on a user's face when taking a photo

It's good that Samsung is trying to get more useful apps onto Windows Phone 8 because someone needs to. Two months after I first complained about the lack of key app options on Windows Phone 8, the same problem persists on the platform. Several popular apps that are available on Android and iOS are not available on Windows Phone 8, but an even bigger problem is that the ones that are available on all three platforms place Windows Phone 8 on the backburner and make it the last to get new features.

The ATIV Odyssey will be last to the party even within the confines of Windows Phone 8 because Nokia has been the most dedicated to convincing companies to bring their wares to Windows, and that gives its devices limited-time exclusives. The built-in applications are solid, but the expandability of choices afforded to other smartphones are not as readily available.

On the plus side, anyone who lives within the confines of Microsoft's ecosystem will have everything they need: Xbox integration, Xbox music streaming, a top-notch Office editor, and automatic photo storage on Skydrive.

Browser (3 / 5)

Internet Explorer does a solid job of loading content-rich pages and offers settings that can automatically set the browser to request a desktop or mobile version, though some websites struggle to fulfill that request. The browser performed admirably in benchmark tests for Browsermark and Sunspider, putting it at about the middle of the road for smartphone performance. Though there are not as many features or bells and whistles found in other platforms, Internet Explorer is an excellent browser.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Camera (2 / 5)

The Samsung ATIV Odyssey has a 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, neither of which take very good photos. The rear shooter takes decent enough photos with a strong amount of light, but it has a tendency to do a poor job of dealing with exposure in default settings, and is incredibly noisy in moderate lighting. Manual adjustments can deliver slight improvement, but images sometimes appear too dark or washed out because of the camera's limitations. The macro settings had persistent difficulty focusing on close-ups, so I found it best just to leave the settings on "Normal" and slowly hold down the dedicated camera button until the subject looked clear.

The ATIV Odyssey is able to record video 720p HD video. Videos I recorded faced the same exposure issues I had with photos, but it did a good enough job of catching moving subjects fluidly. Results were not as good when I moved if anti-shake is on because as it refocused, an uneasy wave appears over the images as the camera tries to right itself. Photo and video samples are available on the next page.

Music (4 / 5)

Music lovers will have a mixed bag when it comes time to listen to their favorite tunes on an ATIV Odyssey. The phone ships with the Xbox Music app that connects to a Microsoft ID and makes the same songs and playlists available on console, desktop, web, or mobile for a monthly fee. The app also serves as a media hub to access other music apps used like Slacker, so it can show a history of the last song played and return to that source. There's also Samsung's Music Hub, which can stream or download titles from the 7Digital soundtrack. While the two default choices are good, it's the expansion that suffers because the two most popular music apps in the world, Pandora and Spotify, still are not available on Windows Phone 8. Both have said they plan to support the platform, but users are still waiting.

Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Battery (4 / 5)

Windows Phone 8 uniformity also translates to the ATIV Odyssey being able to keep pace with other smartphones. I charged the 2,100 mAh battery on Friday afternoon, browsed the web and installed apps for a few hours, had a couple of brief conversations that evening, and then streamed music over LTE for two hours the following morning. The battery didn't fall below 20 percent until Saturday afternoon. The ATIV Odyssey may have the internal hardware of a sprinter, but it has the endurance of a marathon runner as well.

Reviewer Spin (2 / 5)

Samsung is the most successful smartphone producer, but the ATIV Odyssey does not feel like something that has the full weight of the company behind it. The internal specs of the device empower an agile, solid performer that defies the logic of midrange smartphones, but the lack of clarity in the display leaves much to be desired. That persistent external flaw unfortunately overshadows the goodwill fostered by the ATIV Odyssey's internal respectability.

It's difficult to recommend the ATIV Odyssey given that there is nothing particularly distinguishing or remarkable about the phone. It has the benefits of a stellar UI in Windows Phone 8 but doesn't have a first-rate app catalog, or even one that's as good as what's offered by Nokia. The HTC 8X is obviously superior, so the only benefit the ATIV Odyssey has is its $49.99 price. However, the extra $50 to purchase an 8X will pay off in the long run, and anyone who is budget conscious could just as easily get the Nokia Lumia 822 and enjoy a better phone for the same price. The Samsung ATIV Odyssey is a decent phone, but there's no reason to select this phone over the other options at Verizon. Sadly, the ATIV Odyssey lacks the staying power to warrant such an epic name.

By mobileburn.com