After the latest postponement of the launch of Samsung Z, no official announcement has been made regarding its release date. We might not even see the Tizen-phone in the market in the third quarter of this year. As we await more updates from Samsung, a preview of the main features of the eagerly-anticipated handset would be in order.
It continues to be a tale of ‘so near yet so far’ for the world’s first Tizen OS-powered smartphone – Samsung Z. The Mobile World Congress (MWC) has come and gone, the Tizen Developers’ Conference is behind us, and the much-hyped competitor to Android is yet to hit the markets. It was announced that Samsung Z would finally make its debut during a Samsung event in Moscow, on July 11. Well, that has not happened either. Given that there are plenty of prototypes on show, it seems to be a matter of time though, before Z is officially launched. It has every chance of becoming popular too – thanks to these features:
- Display screen – Although the display of Samsung Z (at 4.8 inches) will not be the biggest, it will have several other factors going for it. For instance, it would have a resolution level of 1280×720 – ensuring a high degree of visual clarity. As many as 16M colors will be supported on the capacitive touchscreen of the phone. The pixel density, at over 300 ppi, is impressive too. The display will also have Super AMOLED properties.
- Internal memory – Analysts from mobile software and app development companies agree with the Samsung officials that Z would offer ‘efficient device memory management’. The handset has a default memory space of 16 GB. By using an external microSD card, the memory can be expanded to a maximum of 64 GB. What that means is, you can store games, songs and even movies on your handset – without having to worry about the device becoming slow. Samsung Z will have a 2 GB RAM.
- Data support – Samsung Z is billed as a high-speed handset by Samsung – and its data features seem to live up to the early promises. The phone would be operable in both EDGE and GPRS environments. With LTE and HSPA+ features, the phone has the potential to edge ahead of existing Nexus devices.
- Connectivity – Near-field communications is one of the high points of the soon-to-launch Samsung Z. It will have Wi-Fi Hotspot, with the WLAN support being of 802.11 a/b/g/n. The device has an infrared port, and comes with powerful Bluetooth connectivity options as well. You will also get microUSB 2.0 features on Samsung Z (the phone is chargeable via USB) too.
- Network Compatibility – 2G, 3G and 4G – the new Tizen-powered phone would deliver seamless performance in all telecom networks. 3G users, in particular, would be convenienced by the high-end HSDPA support. The LTE properties for 4G subscribers is also geared to compete with the best.
- Internet browsing – Top-notch mobile web browsing experience is what Samsung Z is expected to deliver to potential users. While specs regarding the built-in web browser (it will be HTML5) of the phone have not yet been confirmed, professional app developers feel that it would not be too resource-heavy. That way, the new phone would have minimal chances of crashing.
- Battery backup – No one expects a smartphone to provide excellent battery back-up – but Samsung Z won’t at least be a major disappointment in this regard. It will come with 2600 mAh battery, allowing users a more than average talk-time as well as standby period. You won’t have to tag along the phone charger along at all times – that much is pretty much certain.
- Operating system – This is easily the factor which brought Samsung Z in the news, in the first place. After successfully experimenting with the Gear 2 smartwatch, Samsung has finally brought the Tizen platform to this eagerly-anticipated smartphone. Z will run on Tizen v. 2.2.1, and will be further bolstered by full Java support.The only issue that the phone is likely to face is the paucity of mobile apps, particularly in comparison with the Android and iOS app stores.
- Camera features – The built-in rear camera of Samsung Z would be of 8MP (nothing remarkable, particularly when you consider that the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 16 MP camera), but there are other redeeming features. LED flash and geo-tagging are two properties that might be instrumental in helping users take steady, high-clarity photos. The images will be of 3264×2448 pixels. What’s more, the phone will also have a powerful rear camera (2.1 MP).
- Processor – The 2.3 GHz quad-core processor would be adding to both the speed and reliability aspects of Samsung Z. GLONASS-powered GPS support will also be available. The overall performance of the device is likely to be at par with any standard Snapdragon 800 handset.
- Sensors – iPhone 6, which would probably be launched in September, would have the dedicated Healthbook application. Samsung Z will be directly competing with it, through its default heart-tracking sensor. In fact, Samsung has gone really big with sensors in its first Tizen phone – with proximity, gyrometer, accelerometer and barometer sensors all being present on the device. For ensuring greater user-security, fingerprint-sensor features have also been implemented in Z.
- Body colors – You won’t, to start off with, have too many color options of Samsung Z to choose from. The gold-colored model has generated quite a bit of buzz among mobile enthusiasts across the world – but apart from that, Samsung Z will be available in black (and probably a brown) form. If the phone proves to be a success, Samsung might launch a few more color-variants.
- Additional features – If you have already used the Galaxy S5, these features won’t be anything new for you. However, for everyone else – the Download Booster of Samsung Z should prove to be a really handy option. In addition, there will be an Ultra Power-Saving Mode in the phone – which would let people get the maximum from the battery. The predictive text input feature would make typing on the device easy. The SNS integration and noise cancellation properties of Samsung Z are also worth a mention.
As is rather evident, Samsung Z won’t be short on advanced features and functionality. However, on the hardware front, it won’t bring anything really new to the table. Like iPhones, the HTML5 browser of Z will not support Flash either. A lot depends on how Samsung Z SM-Z910F is received – if is a success, Tizen might be on its way towards becoming a worthy challenger of Google Android. Let’s hope it is released soon though!
Hussain Fakhruddin
CEO at Teknowledge Software
Hussain Fakhruddin is the founder/CEO of Teknowledge mobile apps company. He heads a large team of app developers, and has overseen the creation of nearly 600 applications. Apart from app development, his interests include reading, traveling and online blogging.
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