14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung W leaked less than two weeks ago in South Korea, along with some of its unusual specs sheet. The device is one of the first phoneblets launched by the handset maker, but aside from the huge display, the rest of its features are pretty mid-range.
It looks like Samsung W is closer to a tablet than phablet or smartphone, and that’s because of the device’s huge size. The thing that puts it in the phoneblet category is its phone capability, though there are many tablets that come with this feature as well.
All in all, the handset has just been announced by Samsung and customers in South Korea will be able to purchase it for 499,400 won outright, which is about $490 or €360.
The device measures 178 x 99.6mm and weighs 245g (battery included). It will be available in three color options: black, white and red.
Obviously, the main selling point of the Samsung W is the huge 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution.
The bad news is that the phoneblet will ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, instead of KitKat. However, there’s a chance that Samsung will offer an upgrade to the latest version of Android by the end of the year.
Hardware-wise, Samsung W offers mid-range specs, so if you were looking for a top-notch device, this is not it. For example, the smartphone is equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 1.5GB of RAM.
The latter is above the average usually included in mid-range smartphones which come with only 1GB, but that’s one of the few features that would suggest a higher ranking for the Samsung W.
On the inside, Samsung W packs 16GB of internal memory, which would be enough for the average user. However, users will also be able to further expand storage up to 32GB via microSD memory card.
The phoneblet comes with an enhanced 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, which features autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording. In the front, there’s a secondary 2-megapixel camera for video calls and selfies.
When it comes to connectivity, Samsung W seems to offer above average specs, as the handset maker has confirmed that the phoneblet integrates LTE-A network support. That will offer users download speeds of up to 150Mbps.
It is also worth mentioning that Samsung W is powered by a high-capacity 3200 mAh battery, which has yet to be rated by the manufacturer.