My new Samsung Omnia

Its always nice to receive a new phone especially when its the new Samsung Omnia. The first thing you notice is the size of the device, its a nice form factor which fits nicely in the palm of your hand or in your pocket. The Omnia has a nice black and slate silver casing which is sure to draw a crowd. It comes with a hands free adapter, Data Cable, Charger and Stylus. There is no slot for the stylus so you will have to hang it on the side (I don't use the stylus).

 
The welcoming Home Screen

The Omnia is running Windows Mobile 6.1 and there are some nice Samsung themes included with the phone. It has an internal storage capacity of 8GB and its expandable to 24GB with a 16GB MicroSD card. The display is 3.2 inches and has a resolution of 240x400. The device has a built in accelerometer which makes it easy to rotate the screen when your viewing media or browsing the web.  I actually used the GPS functionality the other day in the city when I needed to find a particular street.  It didn't take long to pick up the GPS satellite signals.

 
Gotta love Flight of the Conchords

A welcome feature is the DivX/XviD support along with MPEG4 h.264.  I used Windows Media Player to transfer my media across to the Omnia.  Windows Media Player will detect the Omnia and all you have to do is drag and drop the media into the Device.

 
Enjoying the 5MP Camera on the ferry, it was a scorcher of a day

I have been amazed at the 5MP camera on the Omnia.  I have always been a bit of a sceptic when it comes to camera phones but the Omnia takes some pretty good shots.  The responsiveness of the Camera is pretty good as it focuses and saves the shot in around 2 seconds.  You can also activate the GPS to have that information included in the image.  The max video capture resolution is 640x480 at 15fps.  I’m also on the Live Mesh for Mobile Beta which syncs files across various devices.  I can’t emphasise how cool it is to take a picture then head home or to work and have that image already sitting in my Pictures folder! 

 
I took this pic on the Omnia and did some editing on the PC

The Oprah browser is pretty much the same one I was using on my HTC Touch Diamond.  Viewing web pages on the device is fluid and supports tabbed browsing.  It supports GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA speeds up to 7.2Mbit/s.  I use the Wi-Fi connectivity at work (had to install a certificate) and at home which saves me using the Data Connection.

 
My favourite Website www.cricinfo.com

All in all I'm really happy with the Omnia.  It serves as a good all in one device for phone, camera, media and Internet Connectivity.  If you are in the market for a new device I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  @Michael Vodafone, 3 and Optus carry the phone so best to check the prices with those carriers.  If your with someone else you can always get the handset outright and just put your sim card in it.  Thats what I've done as I'm with Telstra.

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  @Phil Better - I find it faster, camera is 5MP vs 3.2MP on the touch, 8GB vs 4GB on the touch, DivX/XviD support, TV Out support Worse - Its bigger than the touch diamond, the touch diamond has a hi-res 640 x 480 display

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  @Michael - Not The First Michael LOL the keypad does take some time getting use to it, but if your not a fan of touch it probably isnt for you!

• Anonymous
  February 02, 2009
  How is it better/worse than the Touch Diamond?

• Anonymous
  February 03, 2009
  OOooooooooooo... I totally want one! How much do these cost?

• Anonymous
  February 05, 2009
  There is a guy in our office with one and he hates it with a passion. Typing a SMS is a new experience in its self.

• Anonymous
  February 13, 2009
  The comment has been removed