Samsung Omnia HD i8910 Cell Phone
Overview
What's good: the 3.7" AMOLED touch-screen at 360 x 640 pixels looks fantastic; the 8 MP cam is probably the best I've used on a phone - for still photos and video, which are easily shared; 3.5mm audio jack doubles as TV-out; comes with 8 or 16 GB of internal storage and supports microSD up to 32 GB; 1500 mAh battery and good sleep implementation mean it can go a very long while without recharging; TouchWiz makes Symbian much more usable.
What's bad: Symbian problems turn up at unfortunate times; simple actions take far too many taps; keyboard leaves much to be desired; I wish it had a Xenon flash, but LED is O.K..
Introduction
This GSM unlocked quad-band device turned heads from its first hands-on appearances in tradeshow videos from Barcelona last winter. And it was all about the screen, up front. The Omina HD's AMOLED display is gorgeous, and thankfully, capacitive. The next bullet point (arguably of only two) is the stellar camera that meets the latest MP standard for consumers and also shoots 1280 x 720 HD video. This device is sure to satisfy visual urges; from the design of the hardware, to the glow of the screen, to the photos you shoot, to the videos you can edit a bit right on the phone. Samsung's TouchWiz UI goes a long way to dress Symbian up and make it more usable than stock, but there are still some areas where annoying issues may pop up and remind you what you dislike about Symbian, if anything. Still, it's a usable phone for those willing to pony up the cash, and a great camera.
Design & Features
Talk about sexy. When lit up, the i8910 looks like it's made of screen, and people notice. Black metal might make this phone better match its price tag implies, but the silver and black plastic do work well together. A proximity sensor and secondary cam sit above the display. There are only three buttons on the face; send, end, and menu. The right side features a hold key, dedicated camera button, and microUSB port. The left, a volume rocker and microSD slot. on the top there is a 3.5 mm audio (and TV-out) jack and a centered lanyard clip point. On the back you'll find that 8 MP cam with LED flash. Under the cover is a 1500 mAh battery, which, along with the software, is all kinds of greatness. At least when you keep things simple.
Inside, the guts enable stereo bluetooth, Wi-Fi with DLNA, and assisted-GPS, which takes care of geo-tagging images. The saftware alos does smile, blink, and face-detection and WDR (wide dynamic range) images. Hard-core photographers may find the preset scenes (fireworks, candle light) a bit limiting, but I think even high-end consumer photographers will be more than satisfied with their options. Exposure value can take acute adjustments, but focus is auto, macro, and face-detect. Video options include slow-mo, and time lapse. TV-out makes this an easy winner for shooting sports, school plays, or a day at the beach.
The interface is TouchWiz on top of Symbian, which I'll get deeper into in the usability section. You have a decent number of fairly useful widgets when you first boot the device. And anyone familiar with another TouchWiz phone will be right at home. The music widget, while simple, does it's job and is usually enough for me. The photo frame widget is cool, as is the little control panel widget that lets you switch between screens - though I don't have enough widgets that I really use to make that necessary. Maybe I'd throw the birthday reminder widget into the mix if I knew I was keeping the phone.
Usability & Performance
As I said, the phone's most important features are looking right at you from the front and back of the device; the display and the camera. Neither disappoint. In fact, both are quite striking. The screen is sensitive and the software responsive. The camera is a pleasure to use, if a bit slow between still shots. Maybe 7 seconds, not a big deal considering the end result. Where I ran into trouble, as I often do if things aren't just right, was the virtual keyboard.
With so much space and such a beautiful screen, I just don't see how the state of the virtual qwerty can be justified. It's not that the keyboard is horribly unusable or anything, it just doesn't live up to the rest of the phone. It doesn't look very nice, it doesn't have any sort of auto-correct, suggest, or completion, and it requires extra taps for selecting a field and closing the kb. O.K., I may have been a bit picky regarding that last detail, but once you've used the Omnia HD for a bit, extra taps are a real issue.
TouchWiz does help this phone a great deal, but take, for instance, one of the web apps disguised as a widget on the home screen. Take Facebook. I tap the icon. I tap the user ID field. The kb comes up and I enter it, tapping a couple of buttons to switch between letters, numbers, and symbols. And despite going slowly and having plenty of space, I can't do this without making a few errors. That is not unusual in itself, but on the Omnia, I make errors every single time I type. That is not the norm for me.
I tap the check box and the kb closes. Repeat for password. Oh, the shift key is locked whenever you press it. Annoying. I can't find an option to change this. I click "Log in." Save your login details? Sure. "Opening a secure connection. Content cannot be seen by anyone else. Continue?" Oh yeah. There you are, Symbian. Yes, continue. "Website has sent a certificate which is out of date. Accept anyway?" I can click "back" or "options." I got for options and am given: "Accept this time only," or "certificate details." Ugh. This time only then. "Website has sent a certificate which is out of date. Accept anyway?" I click on "options" and "accept this time only" (even though I'd love to say "never bother me again.") Woops, I got my password wrong.
Granted, that was after clearing private data, and there was an additional problem in this instance. But true to Symbian, the browser doesn't remember any of the stuff I wish it would. And forcing me to double-tap any selection gets to be torture. This is unfortunate because I like the way the software looks. I like the "Help, I'm stuck inside a cube!" navigation of the home screen. I really like that there are multiple home screen panels to drop your widgets on. It's cool to see the fairly new "widget downloader" widget, but the selection is pretty weak right now. Notes, Christmas Countdown; these are the options. Nothing for Twitter or most of the other stuff I like on my personal home screen.
I want to make a quick note about call quality. I had very, very good performance on calls. I have read several reviews that said voice quality was abysmal. Network is one of many crucial factors in this regard. I can say the i8910 out-performed most of the phones I've tested in my current residence in terms of call quality. Do your research, because your experience may vary.
Conclusion
I find myself complaining about many of the same things across multiple Symbian reviews and articles. I don't mean to nit pick or harp on them. I just find that the same hurdles continue to inhibit my use of Symbian phones, and I think they buyer should beware. Especially when you're looking to spend upwards of over seven bills. Nevertheless, this phone looks hot, and if you are big on talking and shooting, it will definitly satisfy. But if you are big on widgets, browsing, and that sort of use, you might feel that the software is getting in your way. I've had time to adapt to this phone, and I have to some extent. But the familiar protests remain. The net of it is this: If you want a decent phone with a killer cam and great screen, you'll love it. If you're a fan of Symbian, even more so. If you really need to type and navigate the OS a lot, try before you buy.
Check out Samsung's i8910 home page here. Read full review » Noah unboxes the phone that can record and playback 720p HD video. CRAZY! Hands-on with Samsung's i8910 HD - formerly known as Omnia HD. Noah gets some time with the junior member of Samsung's new Omnia Trio: Omnia Lite. Will it come to Verizon eventually? That'd be cool - Samsung Omnia 2, unlocked version, hands-on with Noah from PhoneDog dot com Seeing is believing - the AMOLED display on the Omnia HD is sick. Crazy good. And it supports 720p HD video playback - check out the demo. Overview
What's good: the 3.7" AMOLED touch-screen at 360 x 640 pixels looks fantastic; the 8 MP cam is probably the best I've used on a phone - for still photos and video, which are easily shared; 3.5mm audio jack doubles as TV-out; comes with 8 or 16 GB of internal storage and supports microSD up to 32 GB; 1500 mAh battery and good sleep implementation mean it can go a very long while without recharging; TouchWiz makes Symbian much more... All you touchscreen Sammy fans in the U.S. may not have to wait much longer. According to ElectronicPulp, the i8910 (née the OmniaHD), along with the S8300 Ultra Touch and two other Samsung phones (the B5210 and B189), just passed the FCC. That means the runways are finally all clear for these beauties to land on American soil. When you head out to buy yours, remember that the OmniaHD name has changed, says MobileCrunch. It’s now going solely by... A slide purportedly shown at a Samsung dealer meeting in Amsterdam looks to reveal the Korean telecom giant's 2009 European handset lineup, with no fewer than 10 touchscreen devices shown. Of most interest are Samsung's first Android-powered phone, an Omnia HD variant running Windows Mobile 6.5, and a 12 megapixel cameraphone assumed to be the successor to the Pixon (a version of which has been released as the Memoir on T-Mobile... Technologly: GSMLikely Carrier: UnknownExpected: 2Q 2009
The Samsung Omnia HD i8910 joins the new 8MP cameraphone group. This device also houses a digital compass, stereo speakers, office document viewer functions, Xtragps with Navigation, and a video editor. Stay tuned as we will continue to update the specifications as they become available. Pros: Almost everything, namely touchscreen size(!), fast OS, friendly and good GUI. Fantastic video quality (I was sceptical...) Cons: Tad too large for even large phonecases. New ones coming out at manufacturers, though. Finger print and smudge lover. Protective screen helps. Summary: Moving from N95, with 2 teenage iPhoners in at home, this was one of the few phones that had all my requirements (Symbian, GPS, 3G, touchscreen and top usability.) Connectivity, design/ergonomics as well as the OS work together nicely. I must say I totally disagreed with above review until I saw that the review concerned another Omnia, for sure NOT the i8910. (Windows Mobile, as the reviewer himself states...) Too bad a wrongly placed review was helpful to so many people looking for review on a totally different phone. This Omnia i8910 on S60v5 is hopefully the start of a new line of superphones. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful Pros: Landscape, Portrait Mode, TOuchWIz Interface,Louder Than the BlackberryStorm (which i previously owned) Easy TO text definitely better than an iPhone Very SLim and Easy To use , Optical Mouse Cons: Finger Print Magnet (but use a screen protector clears that right up) A little slow at times Summary: I love this phone. Its very easy to use and communicate with others. Texting is a breeze compared to past Phones i have had. Would reccommend this phone to anyone who likes good texting loud clear easy phone 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful Pros: Small, light, stylish, good phone sound quality, video camera, business card scanner, pre-installed Opera browser and a excellent large screen! Cons: HORRIBLE Qwerty keyboard that is impossible to use in portrait mode and single digit possible in landscape mode. Stylus needs to have integrated storage instead of the lanyard. Non-responsive touch screen in certain modes. Summary: I had the Samsung Omnia i910 from Verizon for 30 days as a business test user. First reaction was that it was a very nice alternative to the Blackberry Storm and the Apple iPod. Clean and stylish looking, nice Samsung Widget or Today interface and some nice extra features like the 5.0 Mega-Pix camera and video camera with built-in flash, touch screen, and business card scanner. HOWEVER, the main purpose for most business users with a Windows Mobile Smartphone is the ability to keep connected with the office via your e-mail. I quickly found that I missed the physical Qwerty keyboard that I had with my Moto Q and Blackberry World Phone. The virtual touch screen Qwerty keyboard on the Omnia made typing simple e-mails and text messages a very slow and painful task. No point in trying to use the portrait mode keyboard (unless you use the stylus) and the landscape mode Qwerty keyboard is not designed for two-thumb typing. I found that you had to use either your index finger or my little pinky finger ONLY! (Or, use the stylus). Other poor design ideas where the location of the "SEND" button/key on the Qwerty keyboard in relationship to the "SHIFT" button/key. Many times when composing a message I accidentally sent the message incomplete because I was trying to hit the shift key to cap a letter! UGH! Also, you can tell they added the stylus to the design of this phone as an after-thought because of the quality of this touch screen Qwerty keyboard. Its apparent because they would have built an internal storage slot for the pencil-like stylus instead of the silly lanyard string loop cord. Summary: If you are a power e-mail user, then I do not recomend the Samsung Omnia until they improve the design of the Qwerty keyboard. I would stick with the new Samsung Saga (review to come soon as I just got this in replacement to test from the Verizon business rep), the Blackberry devices, the Moto Q9c or the bigger slide-bar devices like the HTC Touch Pro. 12 out of 32 people found this review helpful Pros: 1 Good Camera with mid end flash 2 Responsive Touchscreen 3 Very Good QWERTY keyboard 4 Haptic Feedback 5 Mouse is responsive 6 Good multimedia playback with DivX support 7 Very Large memory ( 16GB ) with microSD slot Cons: Screen is a bit slow resolution Fingerprint magnet No stylus slot Summary: The Samsung Omnia which I've used for 2 months unlocked GSM is overall a very good phone, all the specs and promises Samsung made were true and it is a very powerful device worth considering with great software packaging, stylish, very good battery, good camera and massive memory 10 out of 13 people found this review helpful I'm looking into buying a used Omnia HD on eBay from a person that previously used it with T-Mobile. For me to use it with AT&T does he have to get the unlock code and unlock it again? Also, does the Omnia HD's GPS and internet features work on USA carriers? This is the one of the main reasons I'd be buying this phone and it's really important.
I'm looking into buying a used Omnia HD on eBay from a person that previously used it with T-Mobile. For me to use it with AT&T does he have to get the unlock code and unlock it again? Also, does the Omnia HD's GPS and internet features work on USA carriers? This is the one of the main reasons I'd be buying this phone and it's really important.
I am thinking of buying a new phone, preferably the Samsung Omnia HD. The thing is that i travel to mexico and so i want to be able to use one phone rather than two. so i was wondering that if i bought a samsung omnia from mexico can i bring it over to the us? even if it isnt on verizon would be great. or is there any way that i could get my current omnia and take it to mexico and somehow conncet it to a carrier over there. its the omnia but... Hello,i can see that you are having trouble picking between two very good phones: theTG01 and the OMNIA HD. Here is the best imformation on what youre decision should be.
TOSHIBA TG01
The TG01 is very slim and thickness is not a problem.Although, the legnth of the phone makes it slightly longer than the 'iPhone'.This may be a problem to some people as it means it is a large phone and can not fit in your pocket.
The TG01 has a slight rubbery feel... [quote user="heckler"]Would love to see a dogfight between these 2 phones.But if you don't have the phones right now then can someone at least tell me what's the main differences and is it worth it getting the omnia HD over the jet?Thanks.[/quote]That would be a great dog fight!!! I am also stuck on which phone to get. The jet looks great for only 450 usd new, but i just love the omnia hd. well i would go for the Toshiba TGO1 because of 1GHZ qc snapdragon processor so you would be able to much more with it u idiot the OMNIA HD IS SYMBIAN NOT WINDOWS and i swear it is the best phone ive ever had i have had it for 4 days and it is excclent i had a iphone 3g the iphone was good but the omnia hd IS FANTABAULOUS, its the best phone on the marker that BIG BUTIFULL JUSICY AMOLED HD SCREEN IS GERGOUS i swear to god its 10 times better than the iphone 3gs, itd a wait of money for all the features it lacks, the N97 is also a great phone my bro got one and... How about a poll?
Who's all for the Samsung Omnia HD?
Who's all for the Toshiba TG01? As the title states, "Can't Decide Between Samsung Omnia HD and Toshiba TG01."
I know the differences between the 2 and have had phones with Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile. I have ton of likes and dislikes for all mobile OS. I just cant make up my mind. My only hang up with Toshiba is the experience in mobile phones. Samsung, I am afraid of being boring and not offering alot of support as the Winmo camp has.
Any suggestions anyone? Well in my opinion i dont like Windows Mobile, even Windows Mobile users says that WM is a bit dificult and if your old phone is not a WM phone it may be a little hard to get use to it.
iphone 3GS is a great phone, but AT&T is a bad carrier, you may wanna go for the 3G cuz u can use it with any carrier now.
Nokia n97 is a great phone but the same WM problem if you are not use to Symbian it may be a little hard to get use to it...
so have you... Buying choicesWith new service  This item is not being sold with a service plan by any online merchant. With pre-paid service This item is not being sold with a pre-paid service service plan by any online merchant. Purchase phone only Accessories Purchase compatible accessories for this phone Ringtones & MediaShop for compatible mobile content for this phone
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4.3 
4.5 out of 5
There is a newer "version" with a 12 mega pixel camera and 480x800 display capable of HD recording, albeit with a smaller screen, so no longer can it be proclaimed that the I8910 is the only cell phone capable of it, even if it is Samsung competing with itself.
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else, that Samsung has usurped Sony's position as the premiere innovator and marketer of new and improved electronics?
Check i8910hd.samsungmobile.com for the offical samsung site.
It's available in Europe.
read more on future-review.com
This phone, even though it is in the omnia family is very different from the first one, first off it uses a different OS (Symbian S60 v5) and it sports the pdated touchwiz interface which is pretty cool from what have seen, and it has 3g frequencies for data. the camera is 8mp and recording is at 720ppi. There is no pricing yet nor has there been an annoucment of a carrier or release date, so its pretty much a waiting game now.