Samsung i900 Omnia review: The whole nine yards

Gsmarena have posted their review of the Samsung i900 Omnia. Here are the key features, main disadvantages and final words.

Key features:
Quad-band GSM support
3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS
624MHz Marvell PXA312 CPU and 128 MB RAM
3.2" 65K-color touchscreen with resolution of 240 x 400 pixels
5 megapixel autofocus camera with wide dynamic range mode, face tracking, smile detection, geotagging
8 to 16 GB of storage memory, microSD expansion
Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS
Wi-Fi
Stereo Bluetooth and USB connectivity
FM radio with RDS
Optical joystick with virtual mouse functionality
Built-in accelerometer for auto screen rotation and call muting
TV-out
Solid build and great finish
Slick design and slim body
Nice battery life
Fast response and performance
Excellent thumb-optimized software package
Thumbable virtual QWERTY keyboard with optional landscape mode
TouchWiz UI
DivX video support right out of the box
Above average audio quality
Headset comes with a 3.5mm audio jack

Main disadvantages:
No stylus slot
Poor sunlight legibility
Memory card not hot-swappable
Non-standard display resolution
No dedicated 3D accelerator
Non-standard USB port
Web browser lacks real Flash support

The Samsung i900 Omnia has left us with nothing but good impressions. Everything about the device speaks "high-tech" - from the innovative touch interface through the rich connectivity and multimedia capabilities to the exclusive hardware characteristics such as the optical touchpad or the 5 megapixel camera.

It's probably the first time that a Windows Mobile PocketPC turns out as a fully-fledged multimedia device. Samsung have made sure that the i900 Omnia is equally fit for both business and entertainment.

Of course there are a few downers - some things are not up to the expected high standards (such as the display) while other stuff will benefit from some tweaking or software updating (such as the camera performance and the Flash support).

But overall the Samsung Omnia is a well-balanced product that seems in for some major success on the market. We think that "balanced" is the key word here as the major competitors - the HTC Touch Diamond and the iPhone 3G - seem to offer more in some respects but severely fall behind in others.

And what's more, at a startup price of 500 euro, the Samsung i900 Omnia is also a good value for money as this kind of cash would hardly buy you a more complete feature pack than that.