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13-07-2009 01:33 PM

Marvin (phil)

Samsung Omnia HD & a Nokia Fan

The first time I saw the Series 60 5th Edition on its specs, my jaw dropped and somehow got insulted because I am a long time Nokia fan and I just can't believe that this latest and young Nokia OS that was just released last year w/ Nokia 5800 is here bragged by a Samsung phone...

I have nothing against Samsung. It's just I am not a fan of them since they have OS inconsistencies. They have phones w/ Symbian OS, some are not. I'm just confuse which leads me to comparing it to Nokia that is consistently producing phones with Symbian OS. Well, after all, they are long term partners. Right?

Actually, I love the fact that Samsung tweaked the Symbian OS. I love the the new layout of task manager which are now visually appealing and you can actually see the content of the applications running. They are not just icons. I want to see this on a Nokia phone which until now has a static look on task manager, just like the Alt-Tab dialog box on Desktop Windows XP.

Frankly, I really hate Samsung styling of phone, they really love black (and silver) and some of them are repeating and I'm really confused on their models. The front fascia of this Samsung Omnia HD phone reminds me of the Nokia N76 cover design (especially the black one). The metal strip is almost the same. Make the Cover Screen of the Nokia N76 3.7inches wide then you've got the design of Samsung Omnia HD. What I didn't like is the positioning of camera at the back. And I almost missed out the SINGLE LED flash that looked to be out of placed... The back is to spacious and the device really looks large when looking at it's back.

Also, I would like to inquire about AMOLED screen. As far as I know, they do well on normal conditions thinking that each pixel lits up which is contrary to LCD but they completely blanked out on direct sunshine. Right?

Also, I would like to clarify this. Resistive touch screens are more accurate but less sensitive. Capacitive touch screens are less accurate but more sensitive. Right?

07-07-2009 11:54 AM

Unregistered

I was looking to sim unlock my phone so i could use my T Mobile simcard and came across this website. http://www.debrandi8910.com/simunlock.php

They generate a unique code for your phone so no flashing is needed, just the input of a code.

18-06-2009 04:20 AM

BxRayRayNY

(DEBATE) Omnia HD Vs N97, Please Help Me Choose.

I already Pre-order both and I have to cancel one of them before June 25th at least, because it supposedly ships out, and I can't afford both to be charge on my debit.

For Now, My Vote Is The Omnia HD, why because it's something new to S60; 3D effects, TouchWiz Home screen, Camera Interface, Music player/ Album Covers, Menu Icons. Also the HD Video Recording Which I Know the audio sucks for now (I Hope), and The Oled Screen. (Think I'm Missing another New Feature). I'm tired of the plain old S60 to be honest with you, but at least Samsung Tweaked it a little. The N97 However has the same interface besides the N97 Live Widgets which was a good idea, and the web browsing which I now heard has Kinetic scrolling (I Now I'm really confuse which to pick.)
Also the N97 has the Full Hardware keyboard which was very smart, but everything else is basically the same. (Correct me if i'm wrong i Might have forgotten a New feature at the moment.

Overall You Get The Idea, so I'm confuse which to pick.

Pro's:

Omnia HD, Oled Screen, 720p HD Recording, Tweaked S60 Interface, Touchwiz, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound...etc

N97- Full Hardware Keyboard, Live Widgets, 48 GB Max Storage (32 GB Onboard memory, Kinetic Scrolling, and Nokias Full Software Support (Firmware Updates)

Con's:

Omnia HD- No Hardware Keyboard, Video Recording Audio Sucks (For Now I Hope), No Kinetic Scrolling, and Bad Samsung support for Firmware Updates.

Nokia N97- Low Processor, No HD Recording, Same S60 Interface.\

What do you guys think is the better go? Besides the Hardware keyboard If It's a Needed Feature To You. ( I don't mind Not having a hardware keyboard)
What do you think it's the better phone? Pro's & Con's Please.

Ps. Do you think Samsung will support the Omnia HD Via Firmwares as Much as Nokia Does? Be Honest. This is what I'm afraid of in terms of the audio from the Video recording, the feature of the Kinetic scrolling, and other added features to improve the device, or Any bugs the device might have when shipped?

Please be detailed; Thanks. I really Appreciate it.

06-04-2009 08:03 PM

Unregistered

is there anything to cover the camera?

01-04-2009 12:43 PM

Unregistered

oh..

the battery cover is a glossy plastic? i thought it is a metallic one..
oh.. a very big disappointment.

The first prototype has a metallic cover, while the second one has a glossy plastic? how about the final? i hope it is metallic.

30-03-2009 08:13 PM

royal_rich

networks

Great review rafe, real interesting read. Do you have any ideas at this stage what networks this phone is likely to be available on in the uk?

30-03-2009 04:54 AM

Maisics

Great work rafe love your reviews. You think you can send it to me for say, a couple of years? XD

29-03-2009 03:37 PM

Rafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The one thing i'm really annoyed about with the iphone is how good the development is for it, even though there are SO many phones out there that are better.
So many amazing apps and stunning/fun games for it.
My question is- does anyone know if games the likes of those on the iphone/ipod touch could be available for symbian phones?

The Omnia is capable of running more sophisticated games than the iPhone. However a lot depends on developers making those games. The iPhone gaming market has done well because of the distribution system (a single, closed, app store works particularly well for impulse buys like games).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am currently using a N95 8GB and really like the way I can customize it and put my own applications on, and have the phone the way i like it.
But in the summer I will be upgrading to a new phone, and wondered if anyone knew if another phone running symbian (albeit a newer version) would be able to accept the same symbian applications that I have on my N95?
I love the look of this phone!

It depends what application you use. The N95 runs S60 3.1, the Omnia runs 5.0. Some of the apps will work (even if they are the 3.1 version) and a lot of them will have 5.0 versions so the chances are good that the apps will run. Can't really say more than that without a list of the apps you use!

Quote:

Originally Posted by yash434

WHeres the second part coming of this review...

welll the first part was really good...

it covered the physical aspects...

i just wanna ask to this reviewer...

should i wait for the SOny ericsson IDOU or should i buy Omnia HD when it comes out in market!!!!!!!!

Part 2 will be out Tuesday, part 3 probably Friday.

The Idou is going to be at least six months behind the Omnia (probably more). We don't know enough about the Idou so its almost impossible to answer this question!

29-03-2009 10:56 AM

yash434

Second part

28-03-2009 07:37 PM

Unregistered

oh...and just one more thing

28-03-2009 06:32 PM

Unregistered

Any advice?

27-03-2009 11:14 PM

jcompagner

now only introduce an Omnia HD qwerty and i think i am a customer.

27-03-2009 09:17 PM

Rafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi Rafe,
Very nice review you say it will be available end April is this your own thoughts or has that come from Samsung ?

That was the date mentioned at MWC, but I think you could probably put that back to May for the first real availability with wider spread availability in June.

27-03-2009 05:54 PM

Unregistered

Hi Rafe,
Very nice review you say it will be available end April is this your own thoughts or has that come from Samsung ?

27-03-2009 05:29 PM

Rafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmasherAT

I'm really confused between the OmniaHD and N97. I keep changing my mind. I love the OmniaHD for its hardware (I mean, who wouldn't?) but I like Nokia's direction on the N97 and Ovi; that is, to provide service and an enhanced internet user experience. So the question goes, do I go for the service/user experience of the N97 or go for the awesome multimedia features of the OmniaHD? So confusing =(

That's up to you. Basically the Omnia HD is the ultimate multimedia phone (technically anyway). The N97 might be said to be more of a generalist. I'll address this further in part 3. They are both have the potential to be great devices, but, in my opinion, have different market niches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by viipottaja

It does look very tempting - although it's HUGE!

Symbian-Guru.com had an interesting article on how handy HD video may or may not actually be - depending on how you plan to use the video of course.

Yes if you want HD video you don't have a lot of choice of phones

But a lot of the time lower res video may be all you need.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnybruha

Seeing as you're planning on covering TouchWiz in part 3, can you find time to explore the TouchWiz settings menu as well? I noticed in another video that there is a specific menu under Settings>Personal>Widgets that shows the list of widgets allowing to be enabled or disabled. I'd like to know if the Options menu for these widgets allows any customization. I really hope you guys get a chance to explore that before part 3 and post your results.

I'm most interested in something like customizing the YouTube widget. Samsung apparently has it set to open youtube.com in the web browser and I'd like to be able to change that to make it open the new YouTube application (assuming a v5 version is available when the OmniaHD launches).

Excellent write-up, BTW.

Some of what you mentioned is addressed in part 3. There's no customisations of Widgets that I saw (didn't look at everything - this was based on limited hands on time). So your YouTube scenario is unlikely. However there should be a capacility to add more widgets from third parties.

Quote:

Originally Posted by junchao8

Would it be too much to ask for a part 4? HDD camera tests, etc, all well, but you can compare performance with existing devices?

E.g:say web loading speed vs, N95-2 (omap2)? or verser the iphone?

Cos I hardly see the point, if you say how great OMAP3 is on the one hand, but don't compare it to existing devices...

Also isn't reviewing prebuilt camera hardware nothing short of unfair for samsung.

Cos you know its not finished, retail one will most likely be different; until getting your hands on that, its meaningless pretty much...

We'll address many of those in a final review (this was based of pre-release software). We had limited time, but those sort of comparison benchmarks is certainly something I would want to look at.

Yes it is unfair reviewing pre-release camera / software - that's why we call it a preview and make it clear it is indicative only.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Rafe (or anyone who has had hands-on with Omnia HD), can you confirm if it has an FM transmitter? The specs at gsmarena.com says it does but the official Samsung website doesn't list it as one of the features.

No sign in the software versions I've seen.

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