Samsung Omnia will put the naïve buyer into a fix when it comes to first impressions. There’s both good and bad in there, though admittedly more good than bad. A bold attempt to fit into the smart phone market, the Omnia has considerable competition. “Omnia”, in Latin, means ‘everything’. That is precisely what Samsung has targeted at. Here are the good omens if you’re intending to buy, and the warnings too J

WHATS HOT:

• The Samsung Omnia is the best Windows Mobile phone to date. With Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional, even the most ignorant buyer can expect a complete package (given Windows reputation for having their stamp on every application that can possibly run in their OS ). Predictably , the phone comes with the built in applications of  Microsoft® Office Word Mobile, Excel® Mobile, and PowerPoint® Mobile; Adobe® Reader® LE PDF viewer ,with the utility of viewing, editing and  creating Word and Excel files; viewing only PowerPoint and PDF files; viewing, extracting and creating ZIP files.

• The Samsung Omnia is four and a half inches by just over two inches, and about a half inch thick. Slim, lightweight, and fashionable; it has a full plastic body, with metallic highlights on the sides. With a wide 3.2 inch screen, the colour and details are dazzling. What makes the Omnia unique, however, is Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface. TouchWiz lets you customize your Home screen with different “widgets.”

• The large 3.2″ 65K-color display with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels is attractive, but leaves a little to be desired.

• The only objects on the front are two large and relatively easy to press hardware buttons (Send/End keys) and an “optical” mouse. When the virtual cursor is not active, it the mouse has the role of a D-pad and you have to run your finger in the direction desired. Overall, this alternative input method is good, but you’ll never feel a need to use it while operating the phone. Plus it is Voice command enabled, so you can call out the number to dial as well.
• The Omnia comes with the Opera™ Mobile browser, a full HTML browser, which makes internet surfing an exuberant experience.

• VZ Navigator, VZAppZone and Mobile Broadband Connect round out the impressive list of services.

• On the back of the Omnia, you have a 5 Megapixel camera with an LED flash. The photo quality is excellent, with a bonus, very effective shock absorption feature along with the photo editing suite. The videos can be a bit pixelated, but the wide variety of video formats supported by the phone make up for the weak spot.

• The Samsung Omnia has a Marvell CPU clocked at 624MHZ and plenty of running and storage memory. (128MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, 8GB internal storage) The CPU is not anything revolutionary but it felt quite fast. It’s like a PC in your pocket.

• The hardware is awesome and the software runs fast. Samsung has done a great job with the Omnia. They made Windows Mobile look fresh.

• With a complete entertainment manager, the Omnia is equipped with the Windows Media® Player Mobile , FM radio and much more, all wrapped in sheer sleekness.

• When held, the button for entering the main menu activates the Task switcher. By using the key for turning the volume up, you can switch on the zoom, no matter which menu you are in. Pressing the camera “trigger” one time leads to the gallery. Even though it is not revolutionary, Multifunctional is surely the way!

WHATS NOT:

• The cover on the USB port is a feat to open, even with risking your fingernails in the process.
• The lack of a physical keyboard really makes this phone unusable for many users.
• GPS functionality locked to VZ Navigator .Nasty.
• The reception is weak as compared to other phones
• You’re still limited to the preloaded widgets. The onscreen keyboard is a bit cramped, too.
• We think that WVGA would suit it much better; compared to the 240х400 it has now. Nevertheless, the screen offers good image quality, but we have a few remarks regarding the colors, which have a light yellow hue. It is almost impossible to use it in direct sunlight, which is a big drawback.
• The use of plastic is a shame; it is noticeable, produces unnecessary drag and gives the phone a cheaper feel than it deserves.  Another thing holding it back from being the best display we’ve ever used is the use of 65k colors, instead of the 16m found on the Pre, iPhone and N97
• The biggest frustration by far was getting a simple double tap to be recognized. Kind of a lame thing to be left out.

FEATURES:

• The bottom only has the microphone and the top house the reset hole and the power button. On the right side of the Omnia, you have the volume rocker and the camera key. They are lower down on the phone. The left side of Samsung Omnia houses the lanyard hole and the Samsung proprietary USB port. On the back are the camera and a nice sized speaker port. The rear cover is removed to gain access to the MicroSD slot and the 1440mah battery.
• In addition, this is the first device with a built-in support of not only DivX, but XviD video.
• Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard for use with mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets as well as hands-free kits, object push for vCard, basic imaging, phonebook access profiles, and dial-up networking.
• In addition to the 3G capabilities, lo and behold, you also get integrated Wi-Fi.
• At launch Verizon offered a $70 mail-in rebate, making it a more reasonable $249.99, though it has at least equal or better contenders when it comes to the bucks in your pocket.
• Text, Picture and Video messaging (MMS)
• Wireless Sync capable
• ActiveSync (v4.5) and Windows Mobile Device Center®
• Mobile Broadband Connect capable
• The Samsung Omnia has a rated talk time of 5.7 hours and up to 19 days of standby time.

CONCLUSION:

• Though slightly more expensive, customers looking for a touch-screen Smartphone will get a better user experience and faster performance from the Samsung Omnia than the RIM BlackBerry Storm. With great enhancements to core Windows Mobile functions (Widget home screen, phone and camera software), the Omnia proves to be a good omen for the future of Samsung’s smart phones to come in the future.

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