Samsung sneaks out snazzy 3G iPhone rival... the Omnia.

Raymond Lin · 31 Jul 2008 at 17:02

I had a play with a working one of the Samsung Tocco today in the orange shop.

Do not like it, it acts like a regular phone but touch screen (doh !) but the point of a touch screen on my iphone it feels i am moving the icons and its a lot more organic and because of the touch screen it is a lot quick to move around.

The responsiveness and the design of the OS in the samsung still feels like a kekpad phone despite of the touch screen, the fact that it has a "menu" system like a keypad phone and fixed icons in the menu feels really archaic to me. I also do not like the left widget thing where you scroll to find what you want and instead of touch it to open, you have to drag it to the main screen. The screen is also quite low res, it is obvious that my iphone screen is but bigger, and put them side by side the samsung's screen feels REALLY small.

Good points is that the thickness is about the same as an iphone, the built quality is good, metal. The camrea is good (5mp i think) and it feels good in the hand (weight), unlike the LG Viewty.

slipd · 31 Jul 2008 at 17:38

Bog said:
my vodafone contact says mid august but can't be any more specific than that

Has there been any indication that Vody will have the Omina as a regular contract phone?

I'm due an upgrade on the 10/8 and I've (so far) got my heart set on this model.

Any idea of the sort of costs involved, contract-wise? I'm paying £30 a month atm for a very nice 12 month contract and they usually do me the latest phone of my choosing for free! I'm a 'highly valued customer' etc

I can't see this one being a freebie tho (or a 12 month contract...) with that specification

SW.

neil3k · 1 Aug 2008 at 10:41

My contracts up on the 16th of August and i havent seen sight of this on vodafone yet. Might have to go for the htc phone that looks like a stealth bomber

SpeedFreak · 1 Aug 2008 at 13:32

Just read the full review on GSMArena and they think it's the best all rounder with touch screeen.

To summarise:

Camera- excellent
Video Rec- OK
Video Playback- Good
Browsing-Good, can be tweaked to be better with third party apps for Java
Touch screen- Good, suffers from glare, haptic feedback and accelerometer very good
UI- Good, responsive and easy to use, with the power of windows mobile 6.1 giving massive functionality.

The conclude that it is the best all round touch phone with no big flaws, unlike the iPhone and HTC Touch diamond.

Steedie · 1 Aug 2008 at 13:38

These phones are absolutley ghastly by the way

Had a look at one the other day and they really are nasty. I've had a few Samsung phones so even though I had an iPhone 3G already this caught my attention, yet upon closer inspection its just utter pants

Hutch · 1 Aug 2008 at 13:41

I know someone with the other one they make, tocco i think.. Apparently you cant see a thing if you are outside and its sunny.. Dont know how the omnia or even the iphone compare in this regard..

fini · 1 Aug 2008 at 13:45

Steedie said:
These phones are absolutley ghastly by the way

Where exactly did you see this phone given that it's not out in the UK yet?

Camalot · 1 Aug 2008 at 14:09

SpeedFreak said:
Just read the full review on GSMArena and they think it's the best all rounder with touch screeen.

To summarise:

Camera- excellent
Video Rec- OK
Video Playback- Good
Browsing-Good, can be tweaked to be better with third party apps for Java
Touch screen- Good, suffers from glare, haptic feedback and accelerometer very good
UI- Good, responsive and easy to use, with the power of windows mobile 6.1 giving massive functionality.

The conclude that it is the best all round touch phone with no big flaws, unlike the iPhone and HTC Touch diamond.

Nice, looking good. Does also look very nice from the pics i've seen

Raymond Lin · 1 Aug 2008 at 14:15

Hutch said:
I know someone with the other one they make, tocco i think.. Apparently you cant see a thing if you are outside and its sunny.. Dont know how the omnia or even the iphone compare in this regard..

Iphone auto adjust brightness to the environment, i have just used it outside in 1pm sun, its perfectly fine.

daveydave · 2 Aug 2008 at 14:47

Good video up

http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=5646

Izi · 2 Aug 2008 at 17:58

david.n.c said:
Good video up

http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=5646

looks good, certainly making me hold off getting the iphone.

SpeedFreak · 2 Aug 2008 at 18:56

August/Sept will be a great time to get a new handset. The following will all be available or imminent:

Iphone 3g
Samsung Omnia
Samsung Innov8
Nokia N96
HTC Touch Diamond (or XDA version of this)
Sony Experia X1
Sony C905

At the minute I pay £35 to O2 for 400 xnet and unlimited data* and am due an upgrade on 28th Sept. I may go for my tarrif on simplicty which is all the same features but £20 a month, no contract and no phone provided, but that will save me around £300 every 18 months so will have to judge the sim free costs of these handsets first.

SpeedFreak · 3 Aug 2008 at 11:02

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i8510_innov8-review-269p4.php

this looks very promising too

Camalot · 3 Aug 2008 at 11:39

SpeedFreak said:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i8510_innov8-review-269p4.php

this looks very promising too

I've been keeping my eye on this to, looks very good.

Bog · 5 Aug 2008 at 16:39

sam.wheale said:
Has there been any indication that Vody will have the Omina as a regular contract phone?

I'm due an upgrade on the 10/8 and I've (so far) got my heart set on this model.

Any idea of the sort of costs involved, contract-wise? I'm paying £30 a month atm for a very nice 12 month contract and they usually do me the latest phone of my choosing for free! I'm a 'highly valued customer' etc

I can't see this one being a freebie tho (or a 12 month contract...) with that specification

SW.

hey Sam,

sorry mate we're on a business contract with 8 phones so i dunno the details for individuals...i can ask though!

slipd · 5 Aug 2008 at 16:54

Bog said:
hey Sam,

sorry mate we're on a business contract with 8 phones so i dunno the details for individuals...i can ask though!

IF they do do it, I suspect it'll have a mental outright price tag or a very high monthly charge. I've got a feeling most uk networks will end up only doing the 8gb model

Hopefully we'll all be pleasantly surprised

There are a few us sellers on the Bay selling both variants as a last resort? Customs would probably hammer you tho

SW.

marscay · 5 Aug 2008 at 23:43

fini said:
Where exactly did you see this phone given that it's not out in the UK yet?

most likely just another apple glory boy, for strictly browsing purposes nothing can touch the iphone but it just falls short in too many areas for a phone.

looking forward to seeing the omnia in the flesh soon hopefully and the touch diamond, they both look good solid all rounder phones.....and not one-trick ponies.

Airax · 6 Aug 2008 at 07:03

Most networks will carry the 8GB version initially unless something changes. i900's are out now to buy BTW SIM free.

neil3k · 6 Aug 2008 at 12:52

sam.wheale said:
Has there been any indication that Vody will have the Omina as a regular contract phone?

I'm due an upgrade on the 10/8 and I've (so far) got my heart set on this model.

Any idea of the sort of costs involved, contract-wise? I'm paying £30 a month atm for a very nice 12 month contract and they usually do me the latest phone of my choosing for free! I'm a 'highly valued customer' etc

I can't see this one being a freebie tho (or a 12 month contract...) with that specification

SW.

Good news for you my friend!

Just popped into my voda store today and vodafone will carry the i900 from the 24th of August.

slipd · 6 Aug 2008 at 16:54

neil3k said:
Good news for you my friend!

Just popped into my voda store today and vodafone will carry the i900 from the 24th of August.

Great - do they have any further details? Cost/contract terms etc. I suspect we will just have to wait and see...

Cheers,

SW.