Introduction

With Windows Mobile 6.1, the Omnia is a strong competitor in the touch screen smartphone market. Samsung's TouchWiz user interface makes it easier to navigate through applications. While other iPhone rivals fail to measure up to the iPhone's excellent camera, the Omnia's 5.0-megapixel lens produces beautiful photos with true color and light.

The iPhone has more applications than the Omnia, but Verizon does offer a watered-down applications market called VZAppZone market. The Omnia is a Windows Mobile device and most suited for business people who need the suite of Microsoft Office programs that comes preinstalled.

Consumers who want Microsoft Word and other such programs can find plenty to like in the Omnia, with its FM Radio player, music player and camera.

One of the biggest problems with the Omnia is the cramped touch keyboard, which made it very difficult to type. While this is bad enough for text messages and emails, it is even worse if a user attempts to type a document such as in Microsoft Word.

The Samsung Omnia supports Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A high-speed broadband network for faster file downloads, Web browsing and email. The Rev. A broadband network offers an extra boost over regular EV-DO, bringing download speeds up to five to six times faster, depending on the coverage area.

Design

The Omnia's appearance takes cues from the iPhone. But while many handets have similar sleek touch screens, the Omnia stands differentiates itself.

At 4.4 inches tall, 2.24 inches wide and 0.52 inch thick, the Omnia is smaller and not as wide as the iPhone 3G. A bit of girth from a slide-out keyboard would have been welcomed, as T-Mobile did with the G1 Google Phone, but Samsung stuck with the touch screen as the only way to navigate on the Omnia, save for a couple of buttons.

Its 3.2-inch display is the same size as the T-Mobile G1's screen, and only slightly smaller than the 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone 3G -- large enough to showcase the user interface and touch screen capabilities.

At the top right corner of the phone is the power key to turn the phone on and off, and a key on the upper right side of the phone brings up the main menu. A volume rocker key is located toward the bottom right side of the phone, and below it is the button to access the camera and video recorder.

In keeping with the Omnia's minimalist design, there are only two buttons on the face of the handset. They are located at the bottom, with a send button on the left and an end/lock button on the right. Between the two keys is an optical mouse, which can be used to scroll up and down through menus and widgets.

On the lower left side of the Omnia is a port for the phone charger and accessories. Since the port is a proprietary design, Verizon has supplied adapters that are necessary to connect a USB data cable to the phone. There is a spot to attach the cord on the stylus on the upper left corner of the handset (since there is no other place to stow the stylus). The camera and flash are located on the upper left side.

Overall, the hardware and user interface design of the Omnia is very competitive with the Apple iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1, at least for a Windows Mobile device.

Out of the box, the Samsung Omnia comes with a 1440 mAh Li-Ion battery, wall charger, stylus, 3.5mm headset adapter and FM radio antenna, USB data cable, companion CD, user manual CD, 2.5mm 3-way headset adapter, VZAccess Manager CD, Quick Reference Guide and Quick Start Guide.

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