Samsung Omnia II I8000 Review
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This is a global GSM phone and it can also be used with AT&T's 1900MHz 3G and T-Mobile USA's 2G network.
Introduction:
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Included in the box you’ll find:
• Li-Ion battery
• AC Adapter
• microUSB data cable
• Stylus pen
• Stereo headphones with microphone extension cord
• 1GB microSD card
• NAVFone Plus navigation software
• Carrying pouch
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The Samsung Omnia II I8000 is an elegantly crafted device | |||
Design:
The design of the Samsung Omnia II I8000 is simple and straightforward. It closely resembles the Jet, but is bigger and loses the touch of red on the back. The phone exists to show off the giant 3.7” display, and everything else is kept to a bare minimum. The front of the phone has a tiny front-facing camera at the top next to the speaker. On the bottom are the Send and End keys, as well as the Cube key. The left side has a volume rocker, the right a lock, OK and camera key. All of the keys have a good amount of travel and it’s clear when they have been activated. The microUSB port and 3.5mm headset jack are on the top of the device. The back simply houses the 5-megapixel camera and the Omnia II’s single speaker.
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Front side camera | Cube key, Send and End keys |
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Left side | Right side |
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Camera on the back | microSD slot | microUSB port and 3.5mm jack |
Really though, it’s all about the display. It dominates the phone in every way, which is a good thing. The AMOLED screen is brilliant, producing crisp and vibrant images. The haptic feedback is appreciated, though the phone does have the weird spring feeling when jostled, like the Instinct. It is plenty bright, but the plastic covering gets fairly washed out in direct light. The use of plastic is a shame; it is noticeable, produces unnecessary drag and gives the phone a cheaper feel than it deserves. Another thing holding it back from being the best display we’ve ever used is the use of 65k colors, instead of the 16m found on the Pre, iPhone and N97. We realize that as a Windows Mobile device it has to do this, but the possibility of an Android device with this screen at 16m colors is downright delicious. We have to mention that it fingerprints easily, but what doesn’t these days?
The Samsung Omnia II I8000 is a big phone, but it manages to pull it off well. It is very tall, 6mm more so than its predecessor, but it is narrow enough to fit comfortably into the hand and skinny enough (0.6mm less than the Omnia) to slide into your pocket mostly unnoticed.
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From left to right and bottom to top - Samsung Jet S8000, Samsung Omnia, Samsung Omnia II I8000, Apple iPhone 3GS | ||
You can compare the Samsung Omnia II I8000 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
The design is so simple there isn’t much to say about it. It is an elegantly crafted device, with gentle curves and top-notch build. Our only gripe is the plastic housing on the display, higher-quality materials or even glass would have been a much better choice. It’s still hard to find fault with this latest Omnia, it is a device we would definitely be comfortable carrying.
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46 Comments
1. rtimi26 posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:55 0 0
Okay you got certain things down right about the phone being a little laggy, but don't you think its because you had to re-skin windows ontop of windows. I would think that would be enough to slow any phone down, and yet according to all reviews, that I have read it seems to be doing well, so please why the 8 and not 9.5 or at least a 9. Well that's your opinion but all in all great review.
2. filteroff posted on 04 Aug 2009, 10:25 0 0
I wonder if you can disable the UI on this phone and use something like SPB Mobile Shell... SPB might just do the trick
4. hunter posted on 04 Aug 2009, 11:04 0 0
Just got mine for a week, don't like the touchwiz. I disabled it and replace its with spbshell 3... And its perfect, no lag. Anyone knows how to get mapking working on this set?
5. tshow84 posted on 04 Aug 2009, 11:04 0 0
where did they get 8 from? even if they're not basing it on the average (9.375)...if the everything else is so awesome, why not give it a 9.5, taking off .5 for one small flaw that im sure will be remedied in a future software release...or can they really not rate it higher than the iphone (the original iphone averaged rating: 3G: 8.5625, 3G s : 8.05625 - phonearena rating: 3G : 8.5, 3G s : 8.8)
8. drewsky posted on 04 Aug 2009, 15:00 0 0
You got it they can't rate it better than the Iphone.
10. tedkord posted on 04 Aug 2009, 22:04 0 0
That's how my old employer used to do our annual employee ratings - you'd get above average or excellent on each individual section, then get average as your overall grade. When I asked about that, I was told it was because everyone is expected to excel, so excellence is average. Or, it's my job to do more than my job. I no longer work there, and they got NO notice when I quit.
36. Schmao posted on 15 Nov 2009, 13:38 0 0
Saying they couldn't rate it better than the iphone, makes no sense whatsoever. Obviously you are lost. Go read up on your details before making a stupid comment. Look at all the phones that have higher rating than the iphone.
3. Pure Gold posted on 04 Aug 2009, 11:01 0 0
Can someone help me out with PA ratings? I don't get them. The Omnia II gets great individual scores, but gets an 8 overall compared to say the Samsung Jet which gets pretty good individual scores but a 9 overall. What am I missing? Does the overall rating depend on something different?
37. Schmao posted on 15 Nov 2009, 13:39 0 0
Go to the "HOW WE RATE" link and all your questions will be answered
6. Andrewtst posted on 04 Aug 2009, 12:38 0 0
Phone arena always have overall rating issue. I have this phone, it is smooth, the only place need to tune is during new sms, landscape mode of touch player and photo browser. Beside this, it is cool. I also install SPB mobile shell, as it made the phone more coolest. ;-)
7. rtimi26 posted on 04 Aug 2009, 13:16 0 0
well people you are right that is a little confusing when the jet got a 9 and O2 got an 8, lets just hope all read the full review. Like i said to a friend iphone should be a feature phone and not a smartphone while if you want full featured phone, lets see what 6.5 and 7 would look like.
9. tedkord posted on 04 Aug 2009, 21:54 0 0
Technically, resolution is quadrupled, not doubled. 384,000 pixels vs. 96,000. Or, of you're looking at ppi, it's about 252ppi vs. 146ppi., or about 1.73X more pixels per inch. I think the iPhone is something like 165 ppi, so this display should look NICE! But, I've been reading that the daylight visibility is poor. That's my number one complaint about my Omnia. It's a great phone which is virtually unuseable outdoors in daylight.
11. PhoneArena Team posted on 05 Aug 2009, 01:42 0 0
Thanks for the note! We had it fixed immediately.
12. behold--me posted on 05 Aug 2009, 15:43 0 0
like the jet better.....smaller and DOESNT have that p.o.s. winmo ui
13. mr. anderson posted on 06 Aug 2009, 00:05 0 0
do you people not actually read the reviews? everyone always gets so caught up in the numbers, averaging this and that. first off, read their link right under the ratings. secondly, if you actually read the review (or hell, even the conclusion...hell, even the cons) you'd see that the lag killed the phone, and then youd understand why it only got an 8.
14. Andrewtst posted on 06 Aug 2009, 00:43 0 0
It is not ready lag, I not sure why they mention cons as lag, lag, lag. I am using it now and I am happy with it.
15. rtimi26 posted on 06 Aug 2009, 10:00 0 0
speak about lag, just for you to know, what multi-tasking phone today doesn't have lag. Any phone that has to keep the memory used due to runing apps will eventually lag. According to pocketnow.com you can increase cpu performance and not affect battery, which means to me that it can get faster. Maybe when 6.5 comes out it would be less laggy. I am currently runing cooked rom on the original omnia and doesn't seem to be as laggy as the 6.1. Lets I remind you again that ontop of the wm applications already installed, there is also samsungs applications running. Keep that in mind folks. Just wait for a featured phone from samsung like the jet with multitasking which doesn't slow down like windows. Its all about windows, which has been clarified that wm7 won't have this problem. Windows mobile 7 is said to have certain hardware requirements which manufacturers have to stick to so therre won't be many variations of it and therefore would be easy to make things uniform and fast.
38. destardi posted on 02 Dec 2009, 08:45 0 0
My Droid is 5 weeks old..and doesn't lag between any screens at all.
16. ruggedruffian posted on 07 Aug 2009, 14:49 0 0
Honestly Phone Arena, please be more detailed about your reviews. You spend half your conclusion complaining about the lag, but the lag is mentioned in at most 1 line during your whole review. Why don't you go more into detail. The cube is choppy, the email takes 5 seconds to pop up, etc etc. You use a lot of slick salesman talk grazing over a lot of features, but please go into more detail and give us a better idea of the UI.
17. aulton85 posted on 11 Aug 2009, 09:04 0 0
I agree with most on this review. Its solid, to the point and shows all the greats about this new phone and the major fault it has that can be fixed with a firmware update or mobile shell. But the problem comes in the average score. Both the Hero and Iphone 3Gs received their average score. Well the Hero got rounded up, but the point is the average for the samsung, when all is added together and divided is a 9 at least. Why the 8 if you base your overall rating on average. Clarify your rating scheme please because you follow average for other devices EXCEPT this one.
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