The i8910 has A-GPS and a virtual compass on board, though it seems a shame that Samsung didn't see fit to install Google Maps or similar – you'll have to do it yourself. Call quality is loud and clear, with the largish speaker delivering nicely rounded voice tones – the unusually close proximity of this outsize handset's microphone to our mouth didn't hurt either.
A-GPS and compass on-board, but no map applications provided
Setting up email isn't as straightforward as it is with Windows Mobile or Blackberry handsets, since you'll need your POP3 and IMAP4 settings from your network, rather than just your email address and password. Once set up, we had no trouble receiving messages from the phone's auto-update system. It's not as immediate as Blackberry's push email, but it'll do.
Samsung claims 13.5 hours of talk time and 600 hours of standby, and we managed a little under two days of moderate use, which wasn't bad since we did a fair bit of video watching and browsing over Wi-Fi in that time.
Verdict
It just about makes itself pocket-friendly by virtue of being fairly thin, but this is still a hefty handful of a handset. The screen is exceptional, clearly ahead of the iPhone, and does a terrific job of showing off both video downloads and 720p HD video recorded by its own camera. Indeed, the quality is arguably the best we've yet seen on a cameraphone, beating the likes of the LG Viewty Smart’s camera for detail and authentic colour representation.
On the downside, you’d expect a smoother, more intuitive browser experience these days and A-GPS isn't well supported as on most other smartphones out there. Also, it's not cheap, but if media playback is big on your agenda, then the Omnia HD is definitely worth a screening. ®
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Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
COMMENTS
original samsung firmware
You can however remove the orange firmware and put the origonal samsung firmware on, as if you was to purchase it sim free. You can also sim unlock the hadset now too using a code that you enter on the phone.
There is video tutorials on how to do both here : http://www.debrandi8910.com
Hope this helps.
media phone?
To echo a previous poster, that huge 8MP camera is just going to fill up the memory with cack overexposed shaky looking pictures. The aberration is terrible and a pointless waste of time. Plus if it is selling itself as a media phone then why no xenon flash? I dont think i'll be swapping my i900 for it.
Youtube app
There is only no YouTube application because you are using the Orange firmware, with the original samsung firmware (that's a doddle to flash), it's available.
@AC: Great phone #
Reg Readers might not blink at having to install Google Maps, but most people (normobs) wouldn't know that it exists, let alone how to download and install it (no fancy on-device app stores in sight for samsung).
So installing nice bits of software on devices before shipping them is actually very important in selling the idea of what a smartphone can do.
Horrendous Photo and Video Quality
It might have an 8MP camera, but those sample shots were horrendous - bad light balance and incredibly poor noise levels. It all goes to show that putting a big sensor behind a crap lens is a complete waste of time!
In addition, the video sample was a complete joke - jerky and poor quality
The screen might be gorgeous but anyone buying this hoping to actually make use of the video and camera beyond the normal crappy cell-phone use is going to be sorely disappointed
