[REVIEWS] Samsung i900 (a.k.a. Samsung Omnia)

SAMSUNG OMNIA
(REVIEWS)

Com o lançamento de uma nova versão da ROM do Samsung Omnia, diversos sites estão atualizando ou lançando novos reviews do aparelho.

Tendo em vista a grande melhoria que esta nova ROM trouxe ao Omnia (principalmente em relação a qualidade das fotos), resolvi agrupar nesse tópico a conclusão de 3 grandes sites de reviews:

(the::unwired - REVIEW)

Conclusão:

No, the SamsungSGH-i900 Omnia is neither an iPhone nor a iPhone wannabe but it's a typical Samsung smartphone. But unlike most other Samsung touchscreen phones, this one is running on Windows Mobile and Samsung did its best to enhance, tweak and improve Windows Mobile as much as possible. At the end it'S quite challenging to launch a phone with an operating system, which was design for a stylus-use, and leaving the stylus.
The design might reminds a little bit on the iPhone, on the other hand it also reminds on the Samsung SGH-F480/F490 or Qbowl and not everything is an iPhone copy-cat today. Other manufactures like Samsung have a way longer tradition in making great mobile phones.

And the SGH-i900 Omnia is a great mobile phone. It feels and looks rocking solid and the material mix of silver polished chrome on the front side and high quality black plastic on the backside makes it a good looking phone for everyone - for everyone who is used to use touchscreen phones. Maybe it's not the best messenger device since it's only featuring different soft-keyboards (from a standard QWERTY keyboard to a ShureType kind of keyboard to a phonepad) but as a phone and data device it works simply great. And even as a messenger device for SMS and MMS, the i900 sets new benchmarks with its unified SMS and MMS composer. This allows to write messages in a single interface and every message starts as a SMS text message. However, users are free to add multimedia content like photos or videos and the message composer recognizes that this message cannot be send as a SMS text message anymore but instantly changes to MMS. The user hasn't have to think first about which kind of message he/she wants to send. Everything is about the content, not about the type.

The sound quality is top as well and during some calls I even had to turn the volume to the minimum because the speaker is so loud and clear. With the support for HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps, the Omnia is also a great mobile data device, doesn't matter if the inbuilt Opera Mobile browser is used or if it's used as a modem for Notebooks.

It's also a great entertainment device and the camera, as mentioned above might be the best you can get with a Windows Mobile device. The 8 GB/16 GB inbuilt memory provides enough storage space for taking photos, recording videos or carrying media files. And if this isn't enough, the Omnia can eat another 16 GB. So basically it can hold quite a good amount of navigation maps plus a good amount of DiVX videos and leaves enough space to store photos and music as well. And as a navigator it's also unbeatable thanks to the inbuilt GPS receiver which isn't locked to a specific service but which can be used with any GPS application.

The screen is quite okay. It's not as sharp and crisp as smaller VGA screens might be and it's also not the brightest one. Nevertheless, it's bright enough to read SMS or E-Mails in direct sunlight or to find a contact. That's not a problem at all. Nevertheless, I wouldn't watch a video in direct sunlight.

Last but not least I'm quite happy and satisfied with the included software and applications. The SGH-i900 Omnia comes pretty complete and out of the box, it's hard to say which application is missing. As with all Windows Mobile phones, again Samsung spent a some time to think about which programs and applications should be either enhanced or added.

It's hard to talk about standby time or talk time but I barely got the phone to 50 % battery after a working day. This is an impressive value for a Windows Mobile device which constantly download E-Mails or is used for web access. No wonder that this time, Samsung doesn't gives a second battery with the Omnia (as Samsung did in the past). It looks like the 1440 mAh battery is strong enough to keep the device running a full day.

So is the Omnia the perfect Windows Mobile smartphone? Far from it, unfortunately. Thankfully Samsung now supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE which allows a better use in North America. But unfortunately it only supports singleband UMTS/HSDPA at 2100 MHz which doesn't makes it a true world phone at all. And while HSDPA 7.2 Mbps is great, it lacks HSUPA which is now rolled-out in more and more UMTS networks across the world.
And while I appreciate the whole software integration, the soft-keyboards aren't yet the best one I've seen so far. Sure, on the paper it supports all important soft-keyboard types and also features XT9 but I'm neither a big fan of XT9 nor I like the way the keyboards work. I've seen a better keyboard integration in competitor devices.
And while the touchscreen fulfils it work in 95 %, there are some Windows Mobile features which are better used with a D-Pad. Unfortunately the Omnia hasn't have a D-Pad but again this optical joystick which I'm still not such a big friend of. Indeed, I've heard other voices already from users which love the i780 optical joystick (the i900 optical joystick is the same) but personally I rather prefer traditions D-Pads.
Last but not least the connector for which I blame Samsung in every review. I definitely dislike propriety connecters but either prefer mini USB or - if necessary - micro USB but not Samsung's own connector which - bad enough - always changes between the different handsets. As far as I know the Omnia's connector is compatible to the i780's connector but it's incompatible to the i600/BlackJack connector. I know, there is a good amount of money in the hardware business but please Samsung - change you philosophy away from your connectors to USB.
But anyway - Samsung made the best out of this situation by providing a two parts headset which allows the user to replace the stereo headset part with something better.

All together I can say that I'm quite happy with the Samsung i900 Omnia and it made it to my every day phone now. However I will definitely try 3rd party keyboards to make it nearly the perfect device for me.

(GSMArena - REVIEW)

Conclusão:

The Samsung i900 Omnia has left us with nothing but good impressions. Everything about the device speaks "high-tech" - from the innovative touch interface through the rich connectivity and multimedia capabilities to the exclusive hardware characteristics such as the optical touchpad or the 5 megapixel camera.

It's probably the first time that a Windows Mobile PocketPC turns out as a fully-fledged multimedia device. Samsung have made sure that the i900 Omnia is equally fit for both business and entertainment.

Of course there are a few downers - some things are not up to the expected high standards (such as the display) while other stuff will benefit from some tweaking or software updating (such as the camera performance and the Flash support).

But overall the Samsung Omnia is a well-balanced product that seems in for some major success on the market. We think that "balanced" is the key word here as the major competitors - the HTC Touch Diamond and the iPhone 3G - seem to offer more in some respects but severely fall behind in others.

And what's more, at a startup price of 500 euro, the Samsung i900 Omnia is also a good value for money as this kind of cash would hardly buy you a more complete feature pack than that.

(Phone Arena - REVIEW)

Conclusão:

Samsung has done a wonderful job in creating an all-in-one device. OMNIA truly performed very well in every aspect and offers a wonderful combination of a 5-megapixel camera, media player, internet browser and GPS navigation. All that in an attractive package with quality sound during a talk, including the extensive organizing options characteristic for a smartphone.

The only more serious drawback is the interface, which should have been much easier to use for the mass consumer, and not only personalized Windows Mobile.

Nevertheless, the phone is one of the most interesting high-tech products on the market and is definitely worth the money.