Review of the Samsung Omnia 2
Samsung is slowly building a power-house family of Omnia handsets, first we had the original Omnia; a full touch screen which offered Windows 6.1 OS and bundles of features, then came the Omnia Lite; a stripped out, more pocket-friendly priced Omnia. Then the Omnia Pro was rumoured, said to combine the best of both worlds, meaning the inclusion of touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard. Now we have the Samsung Omnia 2, sporting Windows Mobile 6.5, a truly incredible 3.7 inch AMOLED screen and a 5.0 megapixel camera, joining the family. The Omnia II actually looks more like it should be joining the Jet family, with its design heavily reminiscent of the Samsung Jet. The only real difference when looking quickly would be the dimensions, but it has to be said, it is still an incredibly good looking phone.
So, we’ve looked at where this handset fits within the Omnia family, but what about in terms of its rivals? Well, looking at the specifications and after having a good play with the handset, its quite clear that the Omnia 2 has phones such as the HTC Touch HD, the HTC Touch Diamond 2 and possibly even the iPhone firmly in its sights. The Omnia II has a clean and sleek looking design, of which the front is dominated by the 3.7 inch AMOLED screen, which we believe is one of the best we’ve ever seen and is only let down by the fact that it only supports 65k colours, which is a shame as the Samsungs own Jet supports 16m colours. The limitation actually lies with the Windows Mobile operating system but it doesn't detract from quality of quality of what is a staggering display.
Below this, three buttons identical in design and function to those found on the Jet. Make call, end call and a button to bring up Samsung’s four part menu, as oppose to the Cube menu which was more about looks than practical usage. As many others have mentioned, the pre-release photo’s showed a silver edging around the screen which gave the handset at least a slight sense of individuality which is not found on the actual release model, or at least not on the model we have. The build quality of the handset feels good and strong with a nice sense of durability. There is very little if any play in the buttons or covers (although we can’t say whether this would change over time) and the buttons feel solid; giving a satisfying feedback.
The 480 x 800 pixel resolution found on the 3.7 inch AMOLED screen is among the highest, if not the highest found on this type of screen, offering incredible picture clarity as well as unrivalled (non-HD) video playback. (AMOLED, like that found on the Omnia II, stands for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode, which, in simple terms, means incredible picture quality with less power consumption). On bright sunny days screen legibility does suffer slightly but this isn't a problem that's unique to the Omnia 2 so we can forgive this shortcoming.
A resistive touchscreen is often seen as a limitation in how sensitive a touchscreen can be, and, as is often the case, this is true to an extent. However lately, Samsung has stepped up and brought resistive up to par with capacitive touchscreen displays with the Samsung Jet’s incredible accuracy and usability. And, we’re happy to report, that the Omnia 2 benefits from a responsive and accurate screen on par with if not rivalling that found on the Jet. This coupled with Windows Mobile 6.5 (as oppose to Symbian found on the i8910 Omnia HD) offers an incredibly simple user interface which is complimented perfectly by the resistive touchscreen. The benefit of WinMo 6.5 over the Symbian OS adopted on the Omnia HD, is found primarily in the amount of personalisation and customisation possible in the user interface itself, with WinMo allowing you to choose exactly what information is to be displayed.
As with most Samsung’s, there is also the possibility to use Samsung’s own TouchWiz UI. This slightly re-vamped version utilises three home screens in which the user can place which ever widgets they like, any where they like. As with previous models, widgets range from clocks to stocks and shares and other internet feeds with the possibility to download more from the internet. The interface now includes an iPhone-esque main menu which is spread over four parts as previously mentioned, and is opened with a press of the Cube key. Switching between the four screens is instantaneous with a simple finger swipe revealing the next page. A relatively new inclusion, is something known as Media Gate 3D; which is responsible for controlling the Camera, Photo album, Music player, Video player, Games and web browser. It is an onscreen 3D, six-sided cube which is rotated with a swipe of the finger to the desired “face” which will then open the corresponding program. The cube moves smoothly and accurately thanks to the 800 MHz Qualcomm processor powering the Omnia 2.
What about the other features of the phone? Well, the Omnia 2 houses a 5.0 Megapixel unit which will capture an image at a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels. The inclusion of a Dual LED flash is a nice touch from Samsung, and compared with many other phones, provides satisfactory lighting in low-light levels. Although, we wouldn’t recommend comparing this with a flash found on a digital camera. The handset takes a good, clear photo with good sharp images and natural looking colours. This is complimented by a host of excellent camera features including autofocus, face and smile detection and geo-tagging. Video capture is equally impressive displaying 720 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second resulting in smooth, lag free playback. A premium camera is a nice touch and not something we're used to seeing in Windows Mobile smart phones.
In terms of connectivity, the i8000 Omnia 2 is far from lacking, with built in HSDPA (maxing out at 7.2 Mbps), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. This means that the Omnia II can rival almost any of its competitors in terms of web browsing and download speed. Internet browsing can be achieved using either Internet Explorer or Opera Mobile v9.5 Personally, we prefer the opera browser, which offers easier page browsing and navigation as well as one finger zooming. The built in accelerometer also works well to flip over the page which will then fit nicely width ways across the handset, eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling which is not a luxury included when using the built in Internet Explorer alternative. The beauty of a smart phone is that you can decide which web browser you use and if you don't like the two pre-installed, just download and install another one.
The Omnia 2 arrives with a lot of buzz surrounding it, in part due to the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system that is included, but it isn't without its flaws. When compared to its stable mate the Samsung Jet, the Omnia 2 can seem slightly bulky and those extra dimensions can make it difficult to operate one handed, especially for those with smaller hands. Another annoyance is that the microSD memory card slot is positioned under the back cover meaning swapping memory card's is a bit of a chore. The Windows Mobile limitations when it comes to on screen colours is also a shame as the Omnia 2 uses an AMOLED display with one of the best resolutions available but the OS is holding it back to a certain degree. Despite these flaws, the Omnia 2 still strikes an impressive pose. Windows Mobile 6.5 and TouchWiz are a match made in heaven. TouchWiz is perfect for keeping all your content at your fingertips whilst WinMo provides the muscle for when you want to unleash the phones smart phone potential. The newly revitalised Windows Mobile OS also benefits from a new app store in the form of Windows Market place providing access to thousands of applications all kept in one centralised location. Lastly, 65k colours or not, the 3.7 inch AMOLED display looks incredible and is also one of the best we've ever used easily putting to bed those capacitive over resistive arguments.
The Samsung Omnia 2 only serves as evidence that Samsung is once again building its portfolio as a force to be reckoned with, and if this handset becomes a popular as we expect, then it is sure to get right up the noses of HTC fans across the board; as this handset delivers usability, performance and features which is at the very least on a par with the likes of the HTC Touch HD and Touch Diamond 2.
Mark, Mobiles.co.uk
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