Check out our full review of the Samsung ATIV Odyssey Windows 8 phone.
Verizon has announced a deal with Samsung, whereby it will bring the Ativ Odyssey smartphone to its network very soon, making it the first Samsung Windows Phone 8 device to reach a network in the U.S., and Verizon’s third model in its Windows Phone range.
The arrival of the Ativ Odyssey isn’t really a surprise, as it first appeared on the roster during Microsoft’s Windows Phone launch in the middle of 2012. Little was heard after that though, perhaps due to Samsung reportedly running into a few problems with its Ativ S Windows Phone, which saw some delays before reaching stores in December.
Samsung’s Ativ Odyssey packs a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 5-megapixel camera which can also record 1080p video. There’s 8GB of internal memory with a microSD card slot ready to add another 64GB to that figure, plus a 2100mAh battery should keep it all up and running for the day.
Verizon and Samsung will add a few apps to Windows Phone 8 on the Ativ Odyssey, including a photo editor, a diary and the Now app, which contains a weather report, stocks and a news feed. The phone will also connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network, and it joins the HTC 8X and the Nokia Lumia 822 which are both already available.
The question neither party has answered though, is related to the Ativ Odyssey’s price. Before Christmas, a Verizon spokesperson said the company planned to introduce a free Windows Phone device before the end of 2012, so could the late-arriving Samsung phone be it?
Between then and now, Verizon has slashed the prices of its two existing phones, with the Lumia 820 currently costing just $50 with a two-year contract. Since it has an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of storage and a 4.3-inch screen, a close-to-free price point for Samsung’s lower-spec phone is possible.
Verizon hasn’t committed to a release date yet either, saying only that the Ativ Odyssey will go on sale in the coming weeks.
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