Full Omnia HD review

Thanks to samsung.hdblog.it. This is a translated version.

As you know we take 10 full days of hard use to review our phones. The same with the Omnia HD. After having shown some movies and video, today we want to share with you our views on the device, the pros, cons and provide you with an honest  review of this phone…

We wanted to do this review after 10 days for 2 main reasons:

• Although we had a “good experience” with the various handhelds operating systems, we have the habit to carefully try each phone. To do this, usually 1 or 2 days are not enough to be able to judge and provide a real review of a mobile phone. Because usually people have their phone for quite longer.
• This period of time has allowed us to understand the behavior of the battery, the system stability and a set of functions which in 2 days can be difficult to test thoroughly.

First we want to remind you that our version is a Pre-Release and that is certainly the worst of what will come out around May 25 in stores.Nevertheless, the device is already now in sharp competitive edge ….

PRESENTATION:

The package we had will not be the definitive one, but we can tell you that it will be similar to that of the ‘i900 and it will contain:

• Omnia HD
• Battery 1500 mAh
• Cd software manuals and quick start guide
• Data cable in form of Micro-USB
• In-ear earphones with 3.5mm jack
• Video cable RC
• A second version will have an 8gb memory with maps, car and office support car (yet to be confirmed as the bundle will be made with navigator)

BEAUTY & MATERIALS:

Now the front of the phone as you may all know. Shows the beautifully 3.7 in AMOLED  touch screen. On the front surface there are three keys to manage calls and access the main menu, the camera for video call, the light sensor and proximity that allows you to lock the screen when it’s close to your ear during a call (like the Iphone to save some juice).

On the right is the HOLD button which allows you to lock /unlock the device, the entrance to the data cable (which also recharges the battery) or the power cable, both using micro-USB to run the photo / video data across.

On the left side are the volume rocker switch and the entrance to the Micro-SD with a maximum capacity of 32GB.

In the upper and lower sides are two large boxes were the speakers are located. They let you listen to music and ringtones with a good and powerful sound. There location also makes it enjoyable when watching videos in landscape view.

The materials are excellent, although it is entirely of plastic, they don’t  feel badly built or assembled disimproperly. The plastic is shiny and the back is filled with marks after a day of use, not too visible though.

The phone is scratchable if you don’t take care of it. Keys and all sharp objects should cause some damage to it but they seem to be almost invisible but when taking a close look at the phone you will probably see them scratches. This is a problem with many common phones. The rear battery cover occupies 80% of the surface of the phone and can be easily opened, but closed it will ensure itself not to open accidentally. But if you scratch it you will just need to return the back cover and not the whole entire device. (not like the Iphone)

AS OF THE TOUCH SCREEN:

We have had a really long experiance with touch screens. We started with the Qteck 2020 and from there almost all the handhelds touch screen to date have passed between our hands with very few exceptions. So we have a clear idea how to use and review them.

When you first turn on your phone, what happens? The first time I used the Iphone my impression was: wow that screen! The curious thing is that now we have an Omnia HD that manages to impress more than an Iphone for the quality of the screen, the size, the definition of colors, the contrast and the blacker blacks. All under a glass touch screen!

The technology behind the Omnia HD’s screen is called AMOLED , which will certainly be the future of all flat screens or display of the next generation (in the blogaltadefinizione We have already reported numerous television screens with OLED), which gives the phone a higher quality compared to the other screens on the market.

In addition to this the screen is also a capacitive screen. This allows for the ‘Omnia HD to be the first mobile marketing screen AMOLED capacitive technology! A coupled to which, after 10 days of use, is impossible to resist!

Though unfortunately it does not support multitouch, using the device in all light conditions  gave us very satisfactory result. The sensitivity is high, the icons gave us no problems and the software makes everything very intuitive and easy to use.

In order to understand the potential of this screen we put our staff in the SIM phone for 10 days. In this period we received an average of 50 text messages a day and sent an average of 50 text messages a day. Up to now, except for the 4th month of use with the same SIM as the Iphone, we have always preferred phones with natural keyboard for our use with intensive texting and e-mailing, but we would have never thought that a full touch screen keyboard would be so pleasant to use with this full touch device!

What makes the Omnia HD unique HD is its Capacitive Touch Screen, with is the same sensitivity of the Iphone, but with an alphanumeric keypad and T9. This mix, combines different ways to write which the Iphone and HTC Touch HD don’t allow you to manage. The size factor also makes it easy to write and read text messages or e-mail easily with one hand. This is the most difficult thing to do with the Iphone because of the greater width and the lack of an alphanumeric keyboard.

As you can see in previous videos, it’s very fast and precise and has nothing to envy to a physical alphanumeric keypad.

OPERATING SYSTEM, SOFTWARE & INTERFACE:

Based on the Symbian 5th Edition, the HD Omnia gives many software compatible interfaces and a well-designed and really good fell for a finger use OS . The device has both the new TouchWiz interface characterized by Widgets, and the classic display known today with the 4 customizable icons and information regarding agenda, mail, music player, placed just below.

Most of the programs that have come out for the Nokia 5800 are compatible with the Omnia HD. The Handy software suite, satellite navigators (7.71 Sygic Mobile in particular), no issues and many other applications run fine on the Samsung device.

The interface has surprised us. Those who think that the 5th edition symbian is only an evolution of the 3rd edition are wrong. Although the approach is very similar and therefore the internal structure and the menu is familiar with previous versions, the control you have on your device is truly perfect for use with fingers.

Certainly because of the’Omnia HD’s big screen, the menus are very large, and are well-clickable icons, options and selection of various shortcuts are well structured. What surprised us more was that the characters, readability software, the size of the clickable options and the whole system, are more easy to click and bigger then the ones on the Iphone. It seems incredible but it is virtually impossible to make an error on the screen when pressed.

You can also select different sizes for characters that will be used to enlarge the icons and menus, both of the same characters written (including in the reading of messages), allowing you to find the configuration size for everyone. The characters then set with maximum size will be finally readable even with all those people who are looking for a phone with great characters.

Finally, the speed of the software, the opening of applications, management of SMS is very high and can only increase with the final oucome of the device and with the next updates. Everything opens instantly, without hesitation and without slowdowns. The accelerometer works very well and is very fast in all the menus.

PHOTO, VIDEO & MULTIMEDIA:

One of the strengths of the Omnia HD is its multimedia side. The camera shots 8megapixel pictures that are crisp and bright in all conditions. There are lots of settings and settings for all light conditions and situations. The video recording quality (1280 × 720 pixels) and, although it is a pre-set on our own, the sound and the fluidity of the Video camera is great. Especially valuable is the focus of near objects even when in camera mode.

The video playback is assured by the complete support to the Divx codec, which allowed us to include whole movies without any problem and to display them in full screen with excellent quality and with a speed of play perfectly and without any kind of frame rate issue.

Finally, the audio is the best there offer on the market. The two stereo speakers are placed at the bottom and top of the phone, to get a clean and a very powerful sound. The music is perfect and is guaranteed to be plenty of EQ options. There is also an option for Dolby Surround 5.1, usable only with headphones or connected to a stereo, it ensures the highest performance levels.

The visualization of the album covers in landscape mode also allows you to select, manage, and then listen to our music with ease.

WEB, MAIL & CONNECTIVITY ‘:

The downside of the symbian platform, in our opinion, has always been on the use of internet in all its forms. Although there were no problems watching movie on youtube, we couldn’t find the best when handling mail and the Internet browser.

The browser is indeed in part with others, although allowing a all sites to show up, it didn’t render as quickly as we though it would. The options and navigation are good but certainly not to the levels of Iphone.

Time will change what, we think the best java software for browsing the web: Operamini. Although it is not yet fully compatible with the Omnia HD, it installed without any problems. Immediately you notice the unique features of this software: speed of loading pages, excellent viewing sites, zoom in immediateness information on the screen and compatibility with the landscape mode through the accelerometer. When using this we didn’t find any problems. We set the theme black and everything was configured properly.

The OS suffers from bad mail services for the browser. The limited Symbian OS is the one to blame. There are problems when you need to configure, download, read and reply to your mail, but forget the support of HTML not like Windows Mobile or Iphone. We have tried to install Nokiamessaging, a software designed by Nokia to overcome these limitations of mail management. Installation unfortunately was without success (we also have the certificate but was not successful) for maybe an incompatibility with phones different brand. We know however that although this software functions very well, it does not guarantee a UI comparable to those on Windowmobile devices or Iphone.

A really positive note, however, has the data connection. The Omnia HD over all can download ‘HSPDA at 7.2 MB/s and is also’ HSUPA at 5.76 MB/s .This is the best there is for the moment. Tested with both Windows (Vista, Xp, and Seven), both with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6, speed navigation and  use as a modem was really good. The pages were loading instantly and there were some problems with drop connections. Furthermore, ‘upload at 150 Kb/s is finally possible to overcome most of the adsl lines on Italian soil (as tested with vodafone operator of Florence) and you can send data with ease at a faster rate.

Finally, Bluetooth and wi-fi both work supper. The bluetooth interface is very intuitive and simple to use. Data exchange is fast and the association with peripheral audio is perfect. With Motorola S9 bluetooth headphones, the music is sent in stereo with excellent quality.

The wi-fi has a good range and the signal is maintained without any problems.

GPS AND NAVIGATION:

We have already talked about the quality of GPS in this article so we do not want to repeat. If you don’t know already here are the links. … Read the aticolo

SIGNAL, CALL & BATTERY:

Let us remember that we are talking about a phone. And although fashion ultimately leads us to buy phones that are pretty, the Omnia HD surely takes both sides in consideration.

Signal strength, the coupling to the network, the exchange between GSM and UMTS, there have been no problem and certainly we are talking about very good performance from all points of view. Very positive is the keeping of UMTS in the presence of only one notch. This in contrast to other phones, which in the presence of low signal they to change to UMTS GSM.

The call audio is good, warm and very clear and above all the other person will feel fine without interference and hiss.

Ringtones feel very good and there is no risk of covering the speakers when putting the phone in your pocket. The ringing call is lowe the first half second and then gradually increases to the maximum. Unlike other phones, however, the increase of the maximum volume is more rapid.

Though a pre-production, battery performance we have satisfied enough. With heavy use you can easily make a full day. Consider that with the same use with Iphone hardly overcomes the 8 / 10 hours of battery life.What makes us optimistic, however, is that with the release of the final version, the battery will last certainly more due to optimizations made.

CONCLUSIONS:

A terminal that will surely be “the top” for many months. The potentials are really high. I made a list of pros and cons

Advantages:

• Screen AMOLED capacitive high-resolution
• Sensitivity to touch truly perfect
• Interface perfectly designed for exclusive use with your fingers
• Camera 8-megapixel performance is really super
• HD video camera with resolution 1280 × 720 pixels
• Compatible with Dvix without conversion
• Audio and power of truly great speakers
• Battery life good (in comparison to the competition)

Defects:

• Experience the internet and mail is not comparable to the competition date to Iphone and windowsmobile
• The materials are good even if you wanted to do something more (such as metal door Innov8 for example)
• Buttons front that if they had been back … was not bad
• Absence of the call (hopefully implemented by a future update because very comfortable)
• Absence of the optical mouse, not considered a defect but to which we were familiar with the latest Samsung

This is our analysis after 10 days of using the Omnia HD.

A phone to which we give a vote of 8 and 1 / 2 out of 10 overall compared to what the competition offers. If the Web and mail had what the other operating systems had it would probably would be in the top of the best phones out there (apart from personal tastes). Perhaps putting in the new Nvidia Tegra chip would be nice. Unfortunately, the absence of the voice call leaves a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth … but you know … the phone will never be perfect and still create the HD experience for all those who seek multimedia at  at its peak performance, incredible screen ; but will hurt those who will be seeking a complete Internet experience.

Please note that you can see the videos published in Italian of the Omnia HD HERE.

edited and translated by Tristan Lerisse