Samsung Omnia 2

Editor's Review of the Omnia 2

Widely known as the Samsung i8000, the Samsung Omnia 2 exudes outright glam and sophistication in its slick black casing. Weighing 117 grams and measures 118 x 59.6 x 11.9 millimetres, this handset hails from the same family as the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD and the Samsung i900 Omnia. A set of polyphonic, MP3 and WAV ringtones will give this handset a more distinct appeal.

As it is widely recognised for, this mobile phone flaunts one of the widest display screens in the mobile phone arena. Its AMOLED touch screen measures 93.98 millimetres and screen displays picture wallpapers in 65,000 colours on 480 x 800 pixels. This mobile phone also offers an interesting widget user interface and supports an on-screen handwriting recognition feature.

Despite its compact form factor, the Samsung Omnia 2 is loaded with multimedia capabilities that heed the call of the modern mobile phone user. This communication device is powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system 6.1. It makes an ideal travelling companion because of its wide network reach. It is a quad band handset that works on GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 1900, as well as HSDPA 900, 1900 and 2100 network bands.

This handset allows users to navigate the World Wide Web with its built-in Opera 9.5 HTML browser. It comes with WLAN Wi-Fi support which enables on-the-go users to conveniently proceed with their online engagements in certain designated hotspots. This handset is 3G enabled with HSDPA and HSUPA capabilities, ensuring users of speedy Internet connectivity.

Users may connect and share or transfer files with compatible devices including laptops, personal computers, printers, scanners and other mobile phones using the Samsung Omnia 2's USB option. For connectivity minus the often-entangled cables and wires, this handset offers the wireless Bluetooth support. This mobile phone is equipped with GPRS and EDGE technologies, which speeds up Internet downloading and file transfer rates.

This mobile phone supports SMS or text messaging with Predictive Text. It also enables users to communicate with their contacts through its MMS or multimedia messaging service. Moreover, it allows users to chat with their friends or family using the Instant Messaging option. This mobile phone also supports accessing of e-mails and sending or receiving e-mail messages. As a dependable virtual organiser, this handset offers aid to users' planning and scheduling needs. It comes with a phone book, an alarm clock, a calculator, a calendar, a to-do option and a document viewer for all widely accepted documents formats. It also comes with an A-GPS system which serves as users' locator in designated areas.

This handset also works as an instant moment-freezing device. It comes with an integrated 5-Megapixel photo snapping gadget with auto focus and dual power LED flash capacities. It is also well-endowed with imaging features including smile detection tool and camera settings which may be adjusted to create near-perfect shots. This camera also doubles as a reliable footage recorder with its video recording capacities, complete with video settings to tweak and edit final video outputs. Users may view their recorded videos on WMV, MPEG4, H263, H264, XviD and DivX formats on this handset's huge touchscreen. A second camera is also integrated in the Samsung Omnia 2 for 3G video calls. Users will also enjoy listening to their favourite music in MP3, WMA and eAAC+ formats with this handset's pre-installed music player. Game-crazed users will also find this mobile phone a handy gaming gadget with its pre-loaded 3D games and support for games that may be downloaded online.

This handset comes in 2-Gigabytes, 8-Gigabyte and 16-Gigabyte versions. It has a dedicated MicroSD memory card slot for users to expand the internal storage capacity to up to 32 Gigabytes. Users will enjoy a maximum of 10 hours talking with their contacts through this handset, which also stays on standby for 430 hours on a full battery.

This mobile phone gains criticism for its low image resolution of 65,000, which, according to users, is seemingly unfit for its wide TFT touch screen. Some users also find that this handset reportedly suffers from minor lags in its applications. Happy users of the Samsung Omnia 2, however, speak of this mobile phone's responsive touch-optimised user interface. Users are also pleased with this handset's good quality photo outputs.