Windows Phone 8: Samsung ATIV Preview

Samsung today announced the first Windows Phone 8 device, its ATIV S, a successor to the Samsung Focus S. As expected, it ticks all the Windows Phone 8 boxes, with a dual core processor, HD screen, and expandable storage. But it’s all wrapped in a fairly pedestrian form factor.

Microsoft is understandably more enthusiastic about the device.

“Samsung built the ATIV S with the latest and greatest technology, especially for anyone who want a superphone that’s equal parts powerhouse and head turner,” Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph writes in a post to the Windows Phone Blog. “The ATIV S is impossibly thin and extremely comfortable to hold.”

According to Rudolph, the ATIV S features a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display fashioned from Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and running at a resolution of 1280 x 720 (720p). It features a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, 1 GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel rear camera and 1.9 megapixel front camera, and features 16 GB or 32 GB of internal memory with a micro-SD slot for expansion. The battery is a large 2300mAh.

Rudolph notes that the massive size of the screen could be off-putting to some, but that a number of factors combine to make it feel less huge: The device’s thinness, a nicely tapered bezel, and a nice weight and balance. (As nice as Nokia’s Lumia 900 is, it’s just a big, heavy device. Going back to the Samsung Focus S is like picking up a feather by comparison.)

I don’t have one of these things in front of me, but it’s doesn’t look all that impressive. That’s not a huge criticism: None of Samsung’s previous Windows Phone handsets were exactly head-turners either, but two of them—the original Focus and the Focus S—are among my favorite Windows Phones of all time. I suspect this will be a great handset too, and I’m looking forward to using it.

Here are the photos Microsoft provided of the Samsung ATIV S.