Typing out messages on the Omnia isn't too bad using the bespoke on-screen keypad that Samsung has added -- it's no BlackBerry, but you will be able to type a message out using just your hands, which is more than you can say for most touchscreen Windows Mobile phones.
If all of the above isn't enough to get you excited, you'll be pleased to know that there's GPS, so you can navigate around town using a free third-party mapping app such as Google Maps. It works pretty well, with no major faults to report. If you want voice navigation -- like a sat-nav -- you'll have to pay.
As expected, Samsung managed to cram in an impressive sounding 5-megapixel camera, but we're frankly disappointed with the picture quality. It wasn't as sharp as we expected. In low light it was even more disappointing, as there's only an LED photo light, not a xenon flash. We were impressed with the auto-panorama mode that, similar to the i8510, lets you take panoramic shots very easily. The smile-detection feature, which takes a picture as soon as someone smiles, is a fun gimmick too.
As for the media-playing capabilities, the Omnia comes fully loaded with support for all major audio formats -- even our beloved OGG -- and a finger-friendly music player so you don't need to spend to much time fiddling around. The video player supports MPEG-4, DivX and Xvid, impressively. There's also 8GB of on-board memory, which is plenty of space to store your music or a few movies -- and you can add an extra 8GB via the microSDHC slot. Alas, there's no standard headphone jack, so you're stuck having to use the bundled 3.5mm adaptor.
Performance
Battery life is quoted at up to 10 hours talk
time and 450 hours standby time. We found that with moderate use we got
around two days out of it, but this will differ depending on which
features you use thorughtout the day. Audio quality is loud and clear
during calls, as is the speakerphone.
Conclusion
Many bloggers who have briefly used the Samsung
Omnia immediately protested that it's not an iPhone killer. That's a
fair point, but having said that, it's not a bad smart phone at all. In
fact, we'd go as far as saying that it's one of our favourite
touchscreen Windows Mobile devices so far. We'd like it even more if it
had a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, but no doubt that version is around
the corner.
If you don't mind not being able to send MMS, shoot video or edit Microsoft documents, among other things, get an iPhone 3G. But if your heart is set on a Windows Mobile touchscreen phone with similar features to the iPhone, the Omnia should certainly be on your short list.
Edited by Nick Hide
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User reviews6
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bdgr 11 October 2009
Good: It looks good and 'should' be great...
Bad: not very responsive
Comment: I started off really liking this phone - not having had a touchscreen phone before I enjoyed the novelty. However....
The phone has stopped switching from portrait to landscape viewing unless its plugged into the mains.
The keyboard layout is clumsy. Letters on one page, numbers on the other - fair enough, but only the full stop and comma are set with the letters, with the apostrophe grouped (with other symbols) in with the numbers! This makes writing words like I'm, I'll that's etc a right chore (maybe I'm being picky?).
It takes an age to start up - over 1 minute from turning it on to getting to the front screen.
When the phone is locked, sometimes I can answer a call, while other times it wants me to unlock the phone to press the answer button. And doing this takes enough time for the call to go to voicemail which turns the phone into a fancy pager! I've lost count of the number calls I've missed because of this.
You get a stylus to use... with nowhere on the phone to store it! Because of this it's never used. I don't want to have to find the stylus before i can use the phone!!! Thankfully it works just as well with your finger (unless you want to use the scrolling bar on applications - its just too fiddly without the stylus).
It's a shame because the phone itself looks good, and with the windows system is easy to use due to familiarity. Plus with office included you can easily use word/excel/powerpoint and transfer to your pc.
tez12345 16 April 2009
Good: The best phone in the world
Bad: nothing to hate
Comment: It owns best phone until Microsoft phone
jampots2000 6 April 2009
Good: The Design
Bad: Software is a disaster!
Comment: Had this product for around 2weeks, on the first day camera wouldn't work and i had to reset the phone to use it, this problem still exists.Seccondly i have task manager set to open when i hold down the menu button, however this does not work. Sometimes when im trying to send texts or make phone calls the phone tells me it is not switched on (it clearly is as i am using it) this can take hours to sort out. Really not wort the money at all. i wish i never bothered to be honest.
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