Samsung Focus 2 4G LTE (AT&T) Review

Samsung Focus 2 4G LTE (AT&T) Review

Hardware and Design

The Samsung Focus 2 has a nice design considering it’s now become a budget device at 49.99 especially considering that the Original Focus was the Flagship Windows Phone 7 device in late 2010. It has a very nice feel in the hand and the screen is bright and colorful. This is a Super Amoled display with an 800×480 resolution like all Windows Phones. However there is no microSD support this time around and it only has 8GB of storage with around 6.5 being available to use. The phone is plastic but it feels nice and since it’s 4 inches colors and pictures look great.

My Score 7.5

Performance and Operating System

The performance on the Focus 2 is good especially since it’s powered by Windows Phone 7.5 Mango nothing is too different from other Mango phones but this phone does give you Visual Voicemail and Tethering and of course Samsung has the “Now” tile which has specific Samsung apps which adds a nice touch. Also in the marketplace you can find additional apps from Samsung just for their phones. The speed on the phone is good it runs on a 1.4 cpu which powers the phone quite nicely. The battery life is good at 1750mah and will last you through the day based on normal usage.

My Score 7.0

Camera

The Focus 2 has a 5 Megapixel camera and takes some above average pics. However due to the space limitation on the phone don’t get too snap happy without having some cloud storage or Skydrive account! I’ve included some sample shots below. It does have a single led flash and as with a lot of camera phones it doesn’t perform too well in low light.

My Score 6.0

Network and Radio Performance

The Focus 2 supports the latest 4G network LTE which gives it some great speeds! I’ve gotten 20Mbps down and everything seems to fly rather well the call quality was normal as nothing abnormal stood out. As will all speed and call tests everything is dependent on where your located and I’m in the DC/MD/VA area and everything here works just great.

My Score 8.0

Conclusion

Overall the Focus 2 is a nice budget device. I think it’s well suited for a first time smartphone owner and/or someone that only wants to spend $49.99 on their phone. Windows Phone 7.5 performs well enough to exceed your normal person’s expectation but I personally feel that spending another $50 for the Lumia 900 is a better buy.

Overall Snob Score 7.1