Samsung Wave S8500 Now a Collector's Trophy?

At the end of September this year, it was reported that Samsung is running out of those ultra-cheerful Super AMOLED displays they had dazzled us with in the Samsung Wave. The Wave was Sammy's first phone to sport their Bada Operating System, and with the kind of features and performance it gave, it was surprising how the phone was sold at a reasonable Rs. 17,500. So, the buzz was that Samsung was running short of Super AMOLED displays - and we wouldn't really be skeptical of that. The variety of Samsung Galaxy S branded phones which have that type of displays have already sold over 3 million in the US itself. Second, all the Windows Phone 7 based offerings from Samsung will also have Super AMOLEDs on them. Lastly, and take this with a pinch of salt, Apple is purchasing Super AMOLED displays to put in their devices next year. 

Whatever the reason maybe, the effects are definitely showing. The Samsung Wave is nowhere to be seen on retail in India. We have been hearing from many people that they're not able to find one offline. While, a quick online search at popular resellers also suggests the same - it'll all out of stock. No wonder Samsung announced the Wave II just three months after the first one started selling. This one has the exact same feature set to the original, except for one change. The 3.3 inch Super AMOLED is now replaced with a Super-LCD panel. As a consolation, the screen size is bumped up to 3.7 inches. 

Now this is where the plot thickens. Mobile-review.com got hold of a Wave II and they compared it with a Super AMOLED-laden Galaxy S as well as a regular AMOLED based Nokia N8. I don't know about you, but to me the S-LCD display seems to be more vivid and bright than the latter two. Let's hope they have been entirely unbiased while they clicked those images. This makes me wonder, is the S-LCD on the Wave II not going to make you regret Samsung's inability to deliver on the Super AMOLED displays?

What ever the case, one thing seems to be sure - the original Wave S8500 headed for its grave too early. Converting the announced European price tag of the Wave II, it came up to Rs. 26,160. That's heck more expensive than the first one. I'll end with this - Samsung had given us a multi-media powerhouse that no other phone under Rs. 20,000 could match, and it makes me sad that it doesn't exist anymore.