Samsung Wave 723 review

Samsung's first Bada-based device was a stunning top of the range device with one of the best screens we've seen on a device.

Now, the Korean manufacturer has introduced its fourth Bada handset in the form of the Samsung Wave 723, a better-priced device.

The Wave 723 feels a lot cheaper than the original Wave too. Although the rear is rounded and metallic, the device feels cheap and plasticky in the hand.

Gone is the stunning, bright and vibrant Super-AMOLED screen, and in comes a rather more budget 240x400pixels, 3.2-inch offering. Don't get us wrong, it's not the worst touchscreen we've seen, but when compared with the original Wave, it's pixelated and nothing special. Luckily, it's capacitive and on the mostly super-responsive.

One area where you can see the less impressive display is on the menu screen. The beige background is covered in rather pixelated icons. Although the corners of these icons are rounded, they still look pretty blocky.

The Wave 723 features the same Touchwiz 3.0 UI as the original Samsung Wave, but it doesn't feel as fluid.

There are seven homescreen pages, and although simple to navigate, it's not the most attractive skin out there, especially when compared with those on Android devices such as Sense on the HTC Desire Z.

Many of the widget icons are oversized when you drag and drop them on the screen, leaving space for only one or two on each screen. It's why you begin to appreciate the design of the iPhone's UI.

The Wave 723's interface is pretty similar to vanilla Android.

To unlock the screen, you have to swipe across. We had a couple of problems with this - you really have to swipe pretty firmly and slowly to activate the screen and that's not great if you need to access your phone quickly.

There's a pull down bar at the top of the screen that displays all your notifications and offers easy access to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the silent mode.

There are a number of preinstalled apps on the Samsung Wave 723, including a social hub for keeping your social networking accounts in check, a search tool that works similarly to RIM's Universal Search, Android's search tool and iPhone's Spotlight and access to Samsung's App store.

A limited number of widgets come preinstalled on the Samsung Wave, including a clock, shortcut to the Samsung App store, network info, calendar, most visited websites, a buddies widget that allows you to add your favourite contacts to the homescreen, a social networking feed and a wallpaper application allowing you to change the background image without entering the settings menu.

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