This post was published 5 months 7 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.

Hey Mobilitysite, here is a long running review of Verizon’s Samsung Omnia. It’s better late than never right? I used the Omnia on and off for about a month and it was a love hate situation. Well, hate is such an ugly word, more like love dislike relationship. Don’t let that discourage you initially though.  I really don’t dislike the Omnia at all. There are some things about the Omnia that I don’t like, but there is more good than bad here.

This review is being written several months after it’s initial release and many devices have come onto the scene since it was made available by Verizon. Right now, the Omnia is a steal at Verizon for $99 with a contact, but there are more phones out there now that are just as good, if not better than the Omnia. When the Omnia was released, it was arguably the best Windows Mobile phone to date. Without a hardware keyboard, I couldn’t agree, but that’s what many were saying at that time.

Here is what Verizon has to say about this little beast…

The Samsung Omnia is the all–in–one mobile device that helps keep even the busiest life in balance. This advanced, touch screen smartphone offers the very best in features and functionality – all accessed through a full–sized, customizable touch display with drag and drop Widgets. The Omnia is like a PC in your pocket, fully loaded with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and Opera Mobile – a full HTML Web browser. It’s also part entertainment manager with a 5MP camera, a music player with FM radio and much more, all wrapped up in one sleek phone. It even has 8GB of internal memory available and support for up to a 16GB microSD card. VZ Navigator, VZAppZone and Mobile Broadband Connect round out the impressive list of services.

So, step in and lets take a look at this Windows Mobile phone from Verizon.

What’s in the Box?

• Samsung Omnia
• Charger
• USB Cable
• Stylus
• Headphone adapter
• Multi adapter
• Software
• Manual and other literature

Features

• Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Rev. A Capable
• Microsoft® Office Word Mobile, Excel® Mobile, and PowerPoint® Mobile; Adobe® Reader® LE PDF viewer
• View, edit, create Word and Excel files; view only PowerPoint and PDF files; view, extract, create ZIP files
• Opera™ Mobile browser
• Wi–Fi Capable
• Windows Media® Player Mobile
• Memory: 256MB Flash/128MB RAM
  (+ 8GB of additional internal memory)
• Bluetooth Wireless Technology (v2.0) including A2DP for Stereo
• 3.2″ Display: 240×400 pixel; 64K color TFT
• Optical Mouse Navigation
• Advanced touch screen with customizable Widgets
• 5.0 megapixel camera w/auto–focus, zoom and video capture
• microSD memory support (up to 16GB)
• Voice command capable
• Speakerphone
• Business Card Reader
• Security locking features
• Text, Picture and Video messaging (MMS)
• Wireless Sync capable
• ActiveSync (v4.5) and Windows Mobile Device Center®
• Mobile Broadband Connect capable
• Total Equipment Coverage is Available

The photos above show the accessories that come with the Verizon Samsung Omnia.  Samsung uses a proprietary connector on their phones and these accessories are the only way to interact with the phone, so don’t lose them. By now, I am sure you all have seen the stylus that the Omnia uses. It’s on the far right above. The Omnia has no stylus silo, instead it uses a method that has a cap attached to Omnia by a lanyard style loop. The stylus hangs from this cap and telescopes as you remove it from the cap. I really disliked this and removed it immediately.

There is not much happening on the top or bottom of the device really. The bottom only has the microphone and the top house the reset hole and the power button. The power button is flush withe the chassis and it’s not easily pushed when the phone is in your pocket of purse. In fact, it’s not too easy to press even when you want to.

On the right side of the Omnia, you have the the volume rocker and the camera key. They are lower down on the phone. The volume takes some getting used to since most devices seem to have volume on the left side towards the top.  The left side of Samsung Omnia houses the lanyard hole and the Samsung proprietary USB port. The cover on the USB port is a bear to get opened, even with fingernails. I also dislike the non standard connector, it makes me cringe. I just wish all phone makers would settle on one standard. Thankfully there is some movement happening in that area now.

On the back of the Omnia, you have a 5 Megapixel camera and a nice sized speaker port. The rear cover is easily removed to gain access to the MicroSD slot and the 1440mah battery.

Some comparison shots of the Samsung Omnia vs other hot devices

(For the photo above and below) From left to right – Samsung Ace, LG Incite, Samsung Omnia, iPhone, Samsung Propel Pro, HTC Fuze, and the Acer M900.

Top to bottom – Acer M900, HTC Fuze, Samsung Propel Pro, LG Incite, Samsung Omnia, iPhone, and the Samsung Ace.

Left to right – Omnia vs Ace, Omnia vs Fuze, and Omnia vs iPhone.

Left to right – Omnia vs LG Incite, Omnia vs Acer M900, and Omnia vs Samsung Propel Pro.

The Samsung Omnia seems to be Samsung’s answer to the iPhone as far as form factor is concerned.  Obviously the iPhone has fewer buttons, but the hardware design seems reminiscent of the iPhone.

At the top of the front, you find the speaker. At the bottom of the front are the Call and End keys, with the optical joystick/touchpad in the middle. The optical joystick/touchpad takes some getting used to, but it’s just like the one on the Samsung Ace.

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

Performance
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. I didn’t notice any extra lag in running apps on the Omnia.

Battery Life
I had no issues with battery life whatsoever. Even with constant network usage due to Microsoft Exchange server push email delivery, I still made it home after a work day with 1/2 charge or better. There were a couple times where I forgot to charge in the evening and the 2nd day found me dangerously close to having a dead battery by the end of the day.

Phone
The Omnia is a good phone, but I had some reception issues. I am not 100% sure if it was the network in my town or Samsung trying to conserve battery a bit. I had similar issues in Las Vegas too, so I am thinking the latter.  Either way, it was annoying to say the least. I have spoke to other Omnia owners that haven’t had quite as bad of a time with reception though. Samsung has done good things with the Phone operation on this phone. The phonebook and dialpad are a snap to use.

GPS
Here is a nasty aspect of the Verizon version of this phone.  You can only use the included VZ Navigator. I didn’t delve into this aspect and didn’t try to defeat Verizon’s greedy blockage.

Camera
The Omnia has a 5 Megapixel camera that is awesome. Great photo quality and the appication is easy to use and full of features. I am not much of a fan of cameras on a phone, but this one changes my mind a little. Unfortunately, I wiped the phone to send back before I got all my test photos off. I am sorry about that.

Software

The Verizon version of the Samsung Omnia comes with many enhancements to the vanilla Windows Mobile installation. The most notable addition is the today screen. It’s not a today screen anymore! You can still pop into familiar WinMo territory fast, but the main screen replaces what most know with a plug in called “Samsung Widget”.

I didn’t like these widgets personally. After using the Omnia for a couple days, I kind of ranted a bit on Mobilitysite. I chose to use the other option that Samsung offers for the today screen. This option is shown in the screenshot on the left,  a more iPhone’ish icon based solution. The other screenshots above show the widgets though. It’s pretty cool, but pretty trivial in my opinion.

Here are some stats for those that like these type screenies, I am just saying.

On the left, you will see the onscreen dialer than I mentioned earlier. It’s very friendly to use. On the right, you have the option for how the optical mouse works. I personally prefer the 4 way method. The mouse is nice, but not easy to use.

From left to right – Programs tab, Office sub tab, Visual voice mail application, and the Connected Home application.

From left to right – The media player menu, RSS reader application, FM radio app, and ShoZu.

Conclusion
As with any of my reviews, I judge the phone/device based on my personal preference and I don’t plan to change now. The Omnia is a stellar phone, but I don’t like it much. Just like my complaints about the HTC Touch Diamond last year and the Touch Diamond 2 this year, the lack of a keyboard really makes this phone unusable for me. I did try, I used the Omnia for a solid month. I just can’t get away from the slide out keyboard and front facing keyboard style phones and get with onscreen keyboards. This alone is a big deal for me.

The hardware is awesome and the software runs fast. Samsung has done a great job with the Omnia. They made Windows Mobile look fresh. When the Omnia initially came out, it was the bees knees, but now it’s not as impressive with the new phones hitting the streets today.

If you want a hot Windows Mobile phone at a bargain price and you are a) on Verizon or moving to Verizon b) able to get by with an onscreen keyboard, this is the phone for you. For $99, you cannot go wrong with the Omnia.

PROS

• Great performance
• Excellent camera
• Slim, lightweight, and fashionable
• Great enchancements to core Windows Mobile functions (Widget home screen, phone and camera software)

CONS

• GPS functionality locked to VZ Navigator
• Weak reception compared to other phones
• The Stylus

Chris Leckness (3527 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.