Jan 06 2009
30m Review: Samsung Omnia
Thanks to a recommendation from our friends at pocketnow.com I’ve finally gotten rid of my long suffering Razr and replaced it with a Samsung Omnia. Here’s my immediate impression in today’s 30minute Review…First I’ll admit, as a die-hard BlackBerry user I feel a little dirty bringing home a Windows Mobile based smartphone. But that good kind of dirty…like in college…but I wont get into it. The Omnia is a touchscreen phone with a great design and a huge screen. My primary design requirement was thinness, and the Omnia delivered with a profile more than 1mm thinner than both my old Razr and my loyal BB 8830. With the svelte design I was willing to pop for one of those silicone cases. I’m notoriously tough on phones (read: the Chimp’s under-evolved motor skills lead to frequent drops) so I figured I’d make a concerted effort to keep this nice for the time being, and the phone remains comfortably thin in and out of your pocket. Definitely wont protrude under a sportcoat.
The First Call
Design aside, my primary functional requirement is call quality (GASP! Is THAT what a phone is for?) which makes a smartphone a bit of overkill, but I was assured sound quality and battery life were impressive with the Omnia. My first call proved that true with sound that was clear and concise. I’m not quite sure what the technical term is, but the phone has very pleasing user feedback, i.e., talking into the phone sounds nice. That probably doesn’t make sense, but hey, it’s my immediate reaction. The phone was comfortable to hold to my ear and signal strength was good.
A Smartphone for a Dumb User
Again, with a BlackBerry always by my side this phone will probably be under-exploited, but I will say I’m dying to find a single device option for some of my functional needs. Basically, my iPod is a royal pain in the rear and I’d love to use the Omnia for my Preston & Steve podcasts and Office episodes. I know, the 8830 can do all that, but I’ve had some software issues with that and damn if I don’t want to loose the work leash every now and then. The Samsung “widget” software that sits on the main screen by default is definitely entertainment-based as opposed to productivity, so there is good potential from that regard and that big beautiful screen is enticing for such purposes, but alas, it will take longer than 30 minutes to figure that all out. In the mean time, read the extensive review over at pocketnow.com and stay tuned for our 30hour Review in a few days…