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Samsung Wave Price and Launch Date

So I shared my first impressions of the upcoming Samsung Wave S8500 last week and gave a possible price-point. Turns out it’s cheaper than we’ve expected.

In a Developer Conference this afternoon, Samsung Philippines introduced their own home-grown operating system, Bada, and the first handset to run it — the Samsung Wave.

samsung s8500

Turns out my initial estimate was a bit off. The Wave will have a suggested retail price of Php19,900 (as opposed to the Php20k++ I posted before). The model will have a 2GB internal storage and comes with an additional 1GB via microSD card (max of 32GB).

samsung wave

The specs sheet looks pretty interesting:

Samsung Wave S8500
1.0GHz ARM Cortex A8 Processor
3.3″ Super AMOLED multi-touch display @ 480×800 pixels
2GB/8GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 2Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 w/ A2DP
5MP autofocus camera w/ LED flash
720p vidoe recording @ 30fps
FM radio with RDS and FM recording
GPS w/ aGPS support
1500mAh Li-Ion battery
TouchWiz UI 3.0 on Bada OS

s8500

Launch date is tentatively on June 2 (or was it 2nd week of June?) according to the Samsung Product Manager. We took this video demo of the Samsung Wave running a car racing game:

So far, my initial impressions remained the same — that Super AMOLED screen looked impressive and the Samsung App Store should deliver the much needed applications for the phone. See my initial impressions of the Samsung Wave here.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

79 Responses

  1. Avatar for kitxyz kitxyz says:

    selling samsung wave s8500 for 11k. 5mons old. pm me if you’re interested. 091854*****

  2. Avatar for princess princess says:

    ngek pinagiisipan pa ba yun.. mag wave ka nalang.. check mo specs nila.. -ip4 user-

  3. Avatar for Samsung Bada Apps Samsung Bada Apps says:

    People are desperately waiting for launch of bada 2.0 os. I think it will beat the android phones and samsung bada will be top os.

  4. Avatar for bryan bryan says:

    magkanu na po ngayun ung samsung wave II planning kc bumili!plzzz reply

  5. Avatar for von von says:

    nokia c7 oh samsung wave? O_O nu ba yan errrr
    pa help naman oh ano ba talaga mas maganda…same price lang sila

  6. Avatar for rez rez says:

    Hello. I just would like to ask kung meron na bang wave from the philippines na naupdate na to bada 1.2? Lagi na lang kasi akung nagchecheck sa Kies pero laging wala. When would this finally be out? The downside of my wave is it quickly runs out of memory every time a demanding application is opened. And my security lock on specific applications is easily overridden when there are too many applications running in the background. I hope that 1.2 will answer all my concerns.

  7. Avatar for muhyiddin muhyiddin says:

    Guys sana makapag bigay kayo ng info kung totoo talaga ang rumor na yun.

  8. Avatar for muhyiddin muhyiddin says:

    Is it true that samsung wave 1 is wiping out in the market and be replaced by wave 2? I read some comments about this rumor. How true is it? please share some info because I want to buy samsung s8500 sooner and i’m afraid that it will be out of stock because of the rumor.

  9. Avatar for XeneHim XeneHim says:

    @ariel

    Sa pagkakaalam ko kailangan mong ipadala sa samsung service center yan. Ipapaayos mo lang naman yung firmware. And from what I’ve heard, sandali lang naman yun :)

    So far, maganda naman yung Wave. Tons of nice apps now, good camera. May bagong application pa na nag-uutilize ng camera features.

  10. Avatar for ariel ariel says:

    Bought mine mid-August. No regret at all. Can compete (or even surpass) my previous omnia II phone pero this is P12,000 cheaper wen i bought my omnia II a yr ago. Fast, Best screen experience, and the music (specially on earphones) is really loud and clear. Downside is the limited apps althought its growing fast each day. Im not into that so its not a deal breaker for me. One prob nga pla (lately lang), it keeps on restarting khit wla ako pinipindot. Otherwise, love the phone.Feature wise, its on the league with best and expensive ones out there. Good buy!

  11. Avatar for hardrive28 hardrive28 says:

    P18,115 at Sm north last week.. y? bcoz dey have a samsung center exhibit. =)

  12. Avatar for Prinz cipher Prinz cipher says:

    guys check this out, a very cheap price for samsung wave for only 15,500 with free 16 gb micro sd. Oh my god kung nasa pinas lang ako, bilhin ko na to. http://listings.auction.ph/CellPhones/Phones/Samsung/Brand+New+Samsung+S8500+Wave+FREE++8GB+microSD/id-12464968

  13. Avatar for Prinz cipher Prinz cipher says:

    Guys, can you give me sites of online phone dealers here in Philippines? I want to compare their prices before I buy one.

  14. Avatar for leemar leemar says:

    i like wave… ill buy next month.

  15. Avatar for Shuriken Shuriken says:

    Hi. Iniisip ko kung bibili ako ng wave. Based on the c0mments of other people dito, ayos naman siya para sa akin..meron na bang new firmware?an0ng changes meron? At meron na bang app that can edit word d0cs? Meron din kayang chance to convert symbian app to bada app? Tan0ng lang naman…

  16. Avatar for sheila sheila says:

    I got mine about 19k or so from samsung store in trinoma… paid it whole in cash. Actually, they’re the cheapest kasi nagpunta na ako sa iba’t ibang samsung branch — most of them 20K and up kahit cash.

  17. Avatar for Francis.batangas Francis.batangas says:

    how much naba ngun samsung wave?

  18. Avatar for sheila sheila says:

    FINALLY!!! I bought WAVE na! It’s great! two weeks now and no problems so far. Bilis ng internet and the best ang screen. I downloaded good apps as well sa Samsung Apps store. The Kies software didn’t impress me though.

    Now the question, i inserted SUN BROADBAND SIM and i couldn’t get it to work… sayang naman. I tried to set the network settings to “UTMS” pero it didn’t work. and how do I set the APN to ffband???

    according to Sun’s FAQ: “..3G/UTMS and the APN to “fbband” and then your good to go.”

    PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS!!!I think may nagtanong na about this as well dito…

  19. Avatar for wavy wavy says:

    highly recommended. I like the camera it’s better than my digicam, responsive touchscreen na, multi-touch function pa on pics browsing and internet browsing like iphone. I love some games like basketball and need for speed, very addictive. It plays youtube faster than my dual core laptop (ideal if you have unli internet or for free thru wifi).

    If you want Kies(wave’s apps store) with paid apps, change the country from Philippines to let say, UK, you can find paid apps.

    And also don’t forget to update the phone firmware thru Kies for better performance. They just release one few days ago.

  20. Avatar for raffy raffy says:

    @ariel

    wak ka na mag galaxy s mag samsung wave ka na lng

    walng flash ang camera nang galaxy

    sobrang lupit nang wave.. design d halata sa bulsa scratch resistant sya…

    yung OS nya version 1 pa lng pero lumalaban na sa ISO4 at android

    yung video card nya swabeng swabe…,

    kahit warcraft 3 cs and other pc games kakayanin nang spec nya 1 gig procesor with grapics procesor for game.. super amoled — number 1 next is the retina tech by apple… and 512mb memory… at good news magkakaroon na sya nang swype sa november or december kasabay nang paid appstore… d na kau magtataka halus lahat na naka wave pede pa gawing router… at yung DLNA nya smooth…

    if you want more apps go kau sa apple or android…

    pero kung gusto mo makuha both… GO for samsung wave bada….

  21. Avatar for jomar marcelo jomar marcelo says:

    I bought samsung wave for my main phone and another samsung champ for my secondary phone. No problems . good user experience. and UI are almost the same. these phones are excellent

  22. Avatar for ariel ariel says:

    @ shiela and sam
    from the research i made, yes wave has a picsel file viewer for mobile office (doc,excel even pdf) but you cant edit them. Sana totoo coz its a deal breaker for me. I was so set in buying the galaxy s but i cant wait for the unlocked version anymore. i lost my omnia II last month and galaxy na sana preferred fon ko pero until now wla p din official release dito satin. Ive seen some wave specs saying there are units with 8g internal memory. Is it true? Can any1 confirm this. If true, sang outlets meron?

  23. Avatar for Sheila Sheila says:

    How about the Picsel File Viewer? meron b talaga ang wave na ganito? This allows you daw to view MS Office files? To those who bought wave, kindly confirm this pls.

    I was about to buy OMNIA II last week pero walang stock na 16g, they all recommended me sa WAVE. Looking at your posts, mukang ok nga ang WAVE, I just need to make sure it’s capabilities of viewing MS Office files.

    Thanks!

  24. Avatar for diane diane says:

    i bought yesterday..so nice…heheh..it’s like an iphone but much cheaper…

  25. Avatar for mark mark says:

    guys sa mga naka bili na tawag kau sa samsung customercare 5805777 ang number mag request kau nang new firmware sa samsung wave..kasi may mga bugs pa din.. at wag nyong kakalimutan mag request nang paid appstore .. para mapadali un paid appstore sa bansa natin thx saka yung firmware na bagu mas bibilis daw phone natin kasu tagal mag release saatin

  26. Avatar for sam sam says:

    hi sir yuga! i planning to buy one next week. but id like to ask first i can use my sun broadband sim? and is it possible for the wave to read or edit word or excel formats?? and also, possible ba talaga na maging wirless router ‘to? coz, ive serched for some portable 3g router it cost too much (mifi they called). please advise. mahina kase yung wi-fi sta lucia mall where i work. thanks in advance!!

  27. Avatar for Raizo Raizo says:

    Just canvassed at SM Fairview Samsung Mobile Store and they tagged it for 18,490php. No micro SD included. So good.

    Lowest so far is from this store and website pricelist, check it out: http://www.cmkcellphones.com/php18001-25000.html

    for 18,390php.

    I plan, hopefully, by the end of September.. but I’m so into this phone so it may be earlier. Fingers crossed.

  28. Avatar for Gary Gary says:

    Bought mine in Megamall yesterday. The price is 19,900 6 months to pay thru credit card. In greenhills viramall its P18,200 cash

  29. Avatar for ben david ben david says:

    canvassed price and location: trinoma the name of the store is 5th ave. the price is 18,500 with no memory cards but with shop warranty,. at SM baliuag [for bulacan area or near]i forgot the name of the store but they only sell it for 18,300 up to now,.

  30. Avatar for don don says:

    @yuga – thank you so much for confirming! more power to you! u’ve made my day :)

  31. Avatar for don don says:

    Hi Yuga, I just bought the Samsung wave and is very annoyed with the MENU button (diamond shape). It wobble – it feels like it was not fit in perfectly. Before I bought the phone, I’ve tested 5 units and they’re all the same. Did you experience also the same feeling/wobble to the unit you’ve tested? Please reply. I can’t sleep well because of this.lol :(

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      @don – yeah, it’s like that talaga. other similar Samsung handsets ganun din, like the Spica.

  32. Avatar for dhonzkie dhonzkie says:

    @pokoy

    Yeah, well that’s what the memo express lady told me yesterday. Maybe just scaring me to buy the wave outright. Hehehe…

    Anyway, thanks for the help man, I’ve been reading a lot of reviews about the wave and the downsides to me are just minimal and not much of a concern. Will be buying this phone soon…

    Really hope BADA developers start putting up more useful apps, and Samsung firmware updates fix the gliches. :)

  33. Avatar for pokoy pokoy says:

    @dhonzkie

    i recommend you read on to this thread. back read a few pages and you will see a list of people who bought their waves, from where they bought it and how much it is.. we’ve waited there at that thread for the wave to come here at the Philippines.. hehe..

    will they really bring up the SRP to P21,900? Samsung did not expect the demand for this phone, 1 million units in 1 month, so now they are doing opportunistic move? hehehe..

    http://tipidcp.com/viewtopic.php?tid=13248

  34. Avatar for dhonzkie dhonzkie says:

    @pokoy

    Thanks for the tip. Yeah, the P19,900 is from the bigger shops, and I think it’s only up to July 25. Then, they’ll ramp up the price to P21,900. I’ll go for the better deals, maybe Greenhills or try the online sellers… Does trinoma have good deals for Samsung wave too?

  35. Avatar for pokoy pokoy says:

    @dhonzkie

    well i’ve bought mine at P18,300 from an online seller, cash.. if you’re not comfortable buying on small shops or online seller, then you may buy it at P19,900 (cash) at Samsung concept store with freebies i think.. you may also look for stores at Cyberzone, i’ve heard some are also selling it below 18.5k.. the 19,9k are for installment basis i think..

  36. Avatar for dhonzkie dhonzkie says:

    @pokoy
    Thanks for the reply. I’m not that quite into the SamsungApps thing as well, but it’s something to look forward to once it’s App numbers pick up. Been really thinking of buying the wave for me and my wife to finally retire our 3 year old (SE) phones. I do think it’s a great buy. For P19,900 a piece, it’s really something…

  37. Avatar for pokoy pokoy says:

    @dhonzkie

    i’ve already bought this phone and after two weeks of using it, i could say this is one of the best phone in the world.. even better than iphone 3gs for a cheap price.. i’m not an app geek or nerd, but i admit the available applications for Bada is the current downside for this phone, but i’ve checked their appstore, and there are already more than 300 apps, but i think its just useless apps..
    some are even comparing this phone to iphone 4, but that’s too much.. hehe..

    what i love about this phone is it’s built in wifi tethering, and it’s file sharing.. i can view and save photo’s, videos, music, etc., from my laptop to my phone, phone to laptop, and from other devices via wifi network.. i’ve tried 720p video of Avatar with size of 4 gig via streaming and plays nicely.. for me, it feels like it’s a media device and not a phone.. lol..

    if you buy this phone, i assure you, you won’t regret it..

  38. Avatar for sphynx sphynx says:

    hello yugatech, I would like to buy a new phone. my friend refer me to buy an android phone because it has the capability to remote on linux OS via VPN connection. samsung wave has a bada OS, is this capable for a linux remote connection?

  39. Avatar for dhonzkie dhonzkie says:

    Hey Guys, any comments, reviews, violent reactions from those who’ve bought Samsung Wave? I’m thinking of getting this phone. Super AMOLED screen looks great, and the OS feels superb. I just want to hear from those who’ve actually bought the unit if its a good buy. Thanks in advance.

  40. Avatar for neptune neptune says:

    18,500? is that with one year warranty? where in trinoma is that? what store?

    i know in planet gadget they sell it with memory card at 19k+ not so sure though what kind of memory card is that.

  41. Avatar for ben david ben david says:

    I would like to know were i could buy this phone, i mean the cheapest place and with additional memory card. i was at trinoma today, the price there is 18,500 but without add memory card, i heard one of the buyer that in munoz the price is much lower with free 8GB memory card…

  42. Avatar for Chris Chris says:

    @miamiko

    good for you, i was waiting for this phone for 2 months to come to here.. it was supposed to be here at 2nd week of June (dealers where committed for pre orders on May 28), but it was moved to 3rd week, and then now it will be moved to the 4th week.. Let’s see next week if it will be moved again..

  43. Avatar for miamiko miamiko says:

    I was in trinoma yesterday and was able to talk to a samsung rep. he was delivering dummies. I asked him when will the wave be release sa mga stores. sabi nya june 18 daw deliveries ng mga dummies and on june 25 the real unit na. kahit daw mag ikot ako wala pa talagang live unit akong makikita pero tumingin pa din ako baka makatisod. true enough wala pa talaga. pinagod ko lang sarili ko…..

  44. Avatar for Leo Leo says:

    been to samsung concept store in sm north (annex), and they said that the wave is an upcoming model, telling that it will be available either at the last week of june or early july, my phone is not doing good anymore and I need to replace it,

  45. Avatar for miamiko miamiko says:

    @Chris

    thanks for the info.. if ever you know of a legit store please let me know. i really have to buy a new phone coz my phone is giving up on me now…

  46. Avatar for Chris Chris says:

    @miamiko

    On greenhills, some stores are selling it on small volumes and with no warranty (black market) for PHP 18,800 with 8 gig SD card.. The same store that i’ve tried the demo unit on was one of the stores that are selling it. Do note that this is not Samsung dealers. I’ve emailed samsung if when will wave be available on the market, and they said that within this month, but no actual date. Some dealers said that there where some delays on the stocks for the Philippines..

  47. Avatar for miamiko miamiko says:

    @Chris

    is it already available in greenhills?

  48. Avatar for Chris Chris says:

    @rona

    i suggest you buy Samsung wave, it’s cheap and have great features, cheaper than X10..

    i’ve tried the demo unit of this at greenhills and i could say that it has the best screen i’ve ever seen from a phone, even my gf who’s totally discouraging me from buying it is now a believer lol.. You must see it by yourself..

    it also has a very nice video capturing capabilities.. do some research about it and i’m sure, you’ll buy it instead of X10..

  49. Avatar for joy joy says:

    It’s on youtube. I like it.

  50. Avatar for rona rona says:

    hi sir yuga, im choosing between these 2 phones, Xperia X10 and the samsung wave S8500

    can u help me po to decide between these 2,im planning to buy a new phone by july, need your opinions (techie people also welcome to message me)

    thanks a lot po :)

  51. Avatar for Leo Leo says:

    is this phone available now??? i will check this out maybe tomorrow at samsung mobile concept shop in sm north… that is, if i have the time..

  52. Avatar for jay jay says:

    Wow, I want to have this. I am about to buy OMNIA II but when I saw this, this sounds promising. I will definitely wait for this. ^_^

  53. Avatar for Chris Chris says:

    @Ebengt0t

    uhhmm.. i think it’s samsung wave.. it has the ability to turn into a wifi router.. but limited only for 3 other connections.. and since it is hspda, it’s like a globe tattoo wifi (if you use a globe sim card)..

    anyway that’s what the reviews on youtube are saying..

    going to buy this phone on june, but i hope the 20k tag price was official..

  54. Avatar for Ebengt0t Ebengt0t says:

    @chris
    i think its n0t the samsung wave that y0u are talking ab0ut. Ph0nes with th0se features are htc mini and htc hd2. Galaxy s is better but a l0t m0re expensive 0f c0urse.

    I d0nt care ab0ut the screen, whats imp0rtant is the 0s f0r the applicati0ns t0 make the ph0ne m0re useful.

  55. Avatar for Nemo Trinidad Nemo Trinidad says:

    I hope it’s not killed by a poorly-written OS and crappy touch interface like what happened to Omnia. This Bada OS seems to be promising

  56. Avatar for Joe Joe says:

    How about the galaxy S?

    at least in android, you can change the interface.. =o

  57. Avatar for Dan Dan says:

    Looking forward to your review sir! I drool yet again now that it’s below 20k.

  58. Avatar for Chris Chris says:

    hello, is the 19k tag price final? also, i’ve heard that you can turn this phone into a wifi router or something like that? is it true? any phones do the same thing?

  59. Avatar for Miguel Miguel says:

    The Bada also supports BONDI widgets –
    http://bondi.omtp.org

    Build apps just like web programming.

  60. Avatar for kesterbt kesterbt says:

    http://www.bada.com/badadevices/#apps

  61. Avatar for berkano berkano says:

    Hey Yuga, any ideas when the Samsung Galaxy S will be released?

  62. Avatar for jhonwags jhonwags says:

    Yeah this is better, especially if samsung will launch their app store.. Hoping that they will have a beautiful aps like istore has, but I know for sure it will for the simple reason that it is just new in app developmnt..

    -Sent via YugaTech Mobile Ap

  63. Avatar for Calvin Calvin says:

    abe, 1st week of june ang release. i think june 2 is the app developer contest.

  64. Avatar for MobilePinas MobilePinas says:

    looks nice and the pictures are clear.

    http://www.wowhaxor.com

  65. Avatar for Gar Gar says:

    Oops I meant home brewed OS. Btw what would you think would be better a Samsung Wave or a HTC Legend? I haven’t seen the Legend yet in stores although it has been launched almost 2 weeks ago.

  66. Avatar for Gar Gar says:

    Wow. Below 20k? That’s really something. I wonder why the Omnias have a higher price than this one? Is it because of their home brewed UI?

  67. Avatar for mcast mcast says:

    that price point is interesting. very appealing value!

  68. Avatar for snpklsdmbldr snpklsdmbldr says:

    but the galaxy s looks like an iphone ripoff hehehe. i even heard someone saying that its a china phone LOL. anyway, no news about HTC Desire? i heard they will release it locally this month :D

  69. Avatar for Calvin Calvin says:

    don’t discount Bada. initial impression looks really promising. not your typical winmo with a Touch UI on top of it. of course if you’re after apps then android has the advantage being ahead of the game than bada.

  70. Avatar for snpklsdmbldr snpklsdmbldr says:

    i would buy this if this is Android.

  71. Avatar for abeolandres abeolandres says:

    Samsung Wave S8500 to be priced at Php19,900 and coming out this June: https://www.yugatech.com/blog/mobile/sams…

    • Avatar for enuhski enuhski says:

      Any word on the possible ipad 3G pricing in the philippines? thanks! :) @abeolandres

    • Avatar for abeolandres abeolandres says:

      @enuhski local pricing or gray market? It’s already being sold here for around 37k.

    • Avatar for enuhski enuhski says:

      Gray market – 37k for the 16GB 3G iPad? wow, that’s not bad! where? :D @abeolandres

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