Samsung Omnia 7 Review

Introduction:

Undoubtedly, one of the most remarkable Windows Mobile phones was the Samsung Omnia. The device came with a 3.2” resistive screen and combined the OS's usefulness with some pretty impressive entertainment features in order to become one of the best smartphones for its time. It was released in the summer of 2008. A year later aboard came its direct successor, the Omnia II, which was a significant upgrade, thanks to a larger 3.7” AMOLED display (again resistive) and a new user interface called TouchWiz 2.0 to mask Windows Mobile 6's visual imperfections.

It is now a year later, and the time has come for Samsung to introduce the next device in this high-end series. No, it is not the Omnia 3. It's the Samsung Omnia 7, paying tribute to the brand new operating system it runs on – Windows Phone 7.

The Samsung Omnia 7 is a phone that's surely worth our while for a couple more reasons. First off, it has gotten an even bigger display compared to its predecessor, measuring exactly 4 inches of capacitive goodness, and secondly – it looks and feels better than ever. Having that said, there's a lot more at stake with the Samsung Omnia 7 than convincing us of its own abilities. Being one of the first WP7 devices, it is actually on a mission to convince us that Microsoft's new mobile OS is neither a letdown, nor a waste of time, but an inseparable part of the smartphone industry's future.

Design:

The Samsung Omnia 7 is a handset of notable size, and notable weight. Pick it up and you'll immediately feel the high-end nature of it. The manufacturer has used quality materials in its making and the result is a smartphone of great workmanship. Due to its large screen, you cannot navigate it easily with one hand only. When it comes to dimensions, the Omnia 7 is almost as big as the HD7 (which actually has a 4.3” screen), about the same size as the Galaxy S, and fairly bigger than the iPhone 4.



You can compare the Samsung Omnia 7 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

As mentioned, the Samsung Omnia 7 features a great 4-inch capacitive touchscreen. It is protected by a very firm and smooth cover, and underneath it – a beautiful world of popping colors lives, courtesy of the Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels. The contrast is simply amazing and plays very well to the interface's color schemes. As usual with Super AMOLED, viewing angles are near perfect, while outside visibility is decent, although not really... good.


The pixel density on the Omnia 7 is neither impressively high, nor dangerously low. It's just fine to deliver a crisp image. The touchscreen's responsiveness is perfect and we have no complaints about it whatsoever. We would recommend this display specifically to heavy multimedia users who enjoy lots of video and images on their phones, due to its great size and rich colors.

Moving forward, or in this case downward, below the screen we find three keys – physical Home button and capacitive Back and Search. The Home one is very usable and did not cause us any trouble, but we sure did press the touch-sensitive keys a few times by accident, which is always annoying.


Since the Samsung Omnia 7 is such a premium device, it is only natural that all other keys are easy to use as well. The left hand side is where we find the volume rocker, while the right edge houses the power/lock key and the two-stop camera shutter. On the top side are located the 3.5mm headset jack, along with the standard microUSB port, hidden by an extremely convenient sliding cover.


The almost all-metal back side of the Samsung Omnia 7 owns a 5MP camera with LED flash, a loudspeaker and easy to remove (but not by accident) battery cover.


Samsung Omnia 7 is a dandy piece of hardware. Its design is very streamlined and functional at the same time. Build quality and style have obviously been top priorities for Samsung, and as it seems the company has met its goals.

Interface:

Well, the Samsung Omnia 7 may have convinced us that it excels in the design department, but this doesn't mean it's a winner yet. Nowadays increasingly important becomes the software that powers the phone. In the case of the Omnia 7, the software is no other but Microsoft's long-awaited Windows Phone 7 OS.

Basically, Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is centered around various hubs. Some examples of such hubs can be “People”, “Office”, “Games”, “Music and Videos”, etc. So, when you tap the “Music and Videos” button you won't be taken to a specific app, say, a multimedia player of some sort. Instead, you end up in an area where you can swipe left and right in order to reach different features (like the music controls) or content (like what's new in the Marketplace, or your song history).

At first, you may think that the home screen of the Samsung Omnia 7 is too simplistic, but it actually consists of the so called Live Tiles, which start to play image slideshows or display other relevant content as soon as you start using your phone. And this literally brings your home screen to life.


The Live Tiles are arranged in a vertical list, with scrolling up and down being is so responsive and fun, that you can even fail to notice the fact that about a fourth of your screen real estate is left empty. That's a fact that seemed very strange to us at first, but we assure you – it actually doesn't matter. All the needed information is displayed inside the Live Tiles. The sweet part is that you can customize your home screen so that it contains only what is important to you. Rearranging tiles is very intuitive - you only have to tap and hold a tile and then drag it to the desired position.


When you swipe to the left, or click on the arrow residing in the upper part of the said blank area, you get to what can be referred here as the Samsung Omnia 7's main menu. It consists of a vertical list of your apps and hubs. Although we rarely had to use it, this is the place where you'll find your third-party applications. Of course, you can choose whatever you want from this list and take it to the home screen.


The OS feels extremely polished when it comes to animated transitions and other eye-catching goodies. For example, almost all tiles you'll encounter (live and not live) act as 3D surfaces that tilt just slightly in the direction to the area in which you press them.

As a whole, we are pretty happy with the user interface. It has a great visual presentation (that may not appeal to everyone due to its over-simplistic nature), and runs so smoothly with the Samsung Omnia 7's 1GHz Snapdragon chipset that you immediately start to have confidence in it.

Phonebook, Messaging and Organizer:

The People Hub plays the role of a phonebook in the Samsung Omnia 7. First, you naturally have a list with your contacts. In addition to your SIM and phone contacts, here you can also integrate people from Facebook, Windows Live, Outlook or Google. Fortunately, Facebook contacts automatically get their profile pictures assigned to make your phonebook a bit more colorful and enjoyable.


Windows Phone 7's integration with Facebook continues as you select a certain contact. For instance, you can easily write on this person's wall or check what's new with them, including new images that they have uploaded, as well as the latest activity.

You can enter a lot of info about a contact, but the available options are not as great as they were in Windows Mobile. Anyway, we doubt that someone would actually miss the option of storing the names of the children of the neighbor of your contact's daughter-in-law.

Contacts, like most other things in WP7, can also be added directly to the home screen of the Samsung Omnia 7 for lightning quick access to them.

As a whole, we appreciate the integration with Facebook, as it provides the users with some deep functionality and at the same time doesn't clutter the interface. It also shows Microsoft's willingness to make a more consumer-oriented OS out of Windows Phone 7.

There's not much to say about regular messaging in Windows Phone 7. It is probably as good as it gets with your text correspondences displayed in threaded view, while options like adding additional recipients or media files are just a tap away.


The email client works great. As soon as you've entered your account details, your emails start to populate the app. Everything works buttery smooth. Unfortunately, you do not get a universal inbox like in bada or iOS, so your different inboxes are displayed as separate apps/tiles. However, this isn't much of an inconvenience with the Samsung Omnia 7's high-speed performance. Emails, of course, are visualized in HTML so that you don't miss any of the content.


The Calendar is completely in line with the overall clean look of the operating system. You can synchronize it with Windows Live, multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts and Google Calendar, with the latter having to go through an Exchange server as well. It is a good touch that you can color-code your different calendars for better organization. Adding an appointment while in Day view is very easy. Similarly to Android, you only have to select the desired hour, then input a subject, some other note if you wish, and you're all set.


Another basic, yet always crucial feature of every phone is the Alarm. Setting an alarm just couldn't be easier than what you get in Windows Phone 7, and thanks to the nicely animated interface it is also a fun thing to do.

The Samsung Omnia 7 is stuffed with other ordinary features like a calculator, but for additional productivity tools you'll have to check the Marketplace.



Internet and Connectivity:

The Samsung Omnia 7 is naturally loaded with the latest iteration of Internet Explorer Mobile, and we are happy to report that this time the guys from Redmond have done a terrific job with their mobile web browsing solution.

Completely in line with the latest and greatest achievements in the area, the new Internet Explorer delivers fast loading times and buttery smooth scrolling. The same goes for zooming, which you can do by either double-tapping or using pinch-to-zoom. Both options work flawlessly, with double-tap being very accurate, more so than on Android, and about equal to what you get on the iPhone.

The user interface is also an important part of a mobile internet browser though. There are good and bad things we can say about the one of the new Internet Explorer. First off, we don't like that there is no full-screen option in portrait mode. Fortunately, you can view web pages in full-screen when in landscape mode, but then another issue arises. There is no address bar at the top, meaning that you have to return to portrait mode to enter a new web address. This isn't a big deal, since switching orientations is very snappy, but still we cannot see a clear reason why they didn't put a simple address bar at the top of the page. However, Safari isn't without its issues either, as it lack a full-screen mode whatsoever.


Internet Explorer lacks Flash or Silverlight support, which is on one hand unpleasant, but on the other, it guarantees its flawless operation, so we can live without it. Android has the advantage here, but we shouldn't forget the fact that scrolling when a Flash element is present is far from smooth in Google's OS.

The Samsung Omnia 7 is of course full of radios, including quad-band 2G, tri-band 3G (900/1900/2100MHz), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth  2.1. It also sports a GPS with support for A-GPS.

Camera, Multimedia and GPS:

The Samsung Omnia 7 has a 5MP autofocus camera with an LED flash and support for HD 720p video recording, so naturally, its photo and video taking capabilities are of great interest. The camera interface is completely in line with the rest of the simplistic interface. It features a good number of settings such as white balance, contrast, saturation, different focus and metering modes, as well as anti-shake. It is also up to you whether or not to leave the flash on/off or in auto mode.


By the way, Windows Mobile 7 offers a great interface to quickly preview images, while in the camera app itself. You can simply swipe to the right and you're already scrolling through your images! Once you're ready, swipe your way to the rightmost part and you are back in the viewfinder, ready to take some more works of art.


Photo quality with the Samsung Omnia 7 is quite tolerable. We took our test samples in pretty unfavorable weather conditions and still managed to get some decent results. In terms of color reproduction and detail we think the Omnia 7 does a good job, with images turning out quite realistic. Objects are properly exposed for the most part, so there aren't such inaccuracies as something being too bright or too dark. Also, we like how the sky doesn't turn completely white, as the camera is trying to expose the darker objects of the scene properly, showing decent dynamic range capabilities. Still, bear in mind that all shots were taken in auto mode, so specific results may be achieved, should you play with the settings a bit.



We are also content with the macro mode of the Samsung Omnia 7, as we could capture some fine object detail, with the object being very close to the lens. Finally, noise isn't too much of an issue with this camera. In indoor situations, where light becomes a fairly rare commodity, the Omnia 7 is still capable of maintaining a proper focus, coupling it with some nice colors and details, as well as very tolerable noise levels. The LED flash does a great job when it has to illuminate a small room, though something bigger will pose a difficulty.

The Samsung Omnia 7 can record video in either VGA resolution at 30fps, or in HD 720p at 24 fps. While the quality of the produced HD video is pretty adequate, we really miss those 6 fps that can make all the difference. Sure, there isn't much stutter to it, but still, once you play the VGA sample in 30fps you immediately see how smooth a video should be.

Samsung Omnia 7 Sample Video 1 taken at 640x480 px:




Samsung Omnia 7 Sample Video 2 taken at 1280x720 px:



Multimedia on the Samsung Omnia 7 is handled by the Music + Videos Hub. It doesn't need much introduction though. This is where all the partying happens and we have to say that Windows Phone 7's way to get things done is very suitable for the job. It is really fun to see the artist you are listening to take up the background space with a panoramic image – it immediately makes the experience better than what you get on most of the competition.


Besides the playing track/video, in this hub you will also find some other data like a history of the media that you've consumed (gee, we hate the sound of that). From the menu you can jump to your music library, videos, podcasts, FM radio or the Zune Marketplace.

Overall, we are perfectly content with what we discovered within the Music + Videos hub, so we expect many hours of entertainment going on with the help of it. The loudspeaker of the Samsung Omnia 7 packs quite a punch, although not of the deepest nature possible. There are many loudness levels, so you'll be able to fine-tune your experience.

Of course the 4” Super AMOLED screen is outstanding for watching video. There is no problem whatsoever in watching 720p video files coded in MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and WMV.


The Samsung Omnia 7 is equipped with Bing Maps. Panning the map around in the app is very smooth, same as pinch zooming. The available options are pretty standard – you can search for a specific location, go to you position, and get directions from A to B. Unfortunately, there is no support for voice-guided directions so far.

Searching for POIs is very intuitive, of course, and once you open a POI in order to see more details, you are presented with the exact address, an option to get directions and a phone number. You can also pin a certain POI to the home screen, as well as share it via text or email.


Sure, the software might not be as mature as some other offerings like Google Maps, but the interface and visual presentation are good so we see no reasons why Microsoft wouldn't build on it in the future. The GPS managed to get our location fixed very quickly after a cold start, in about half a minute.

Software:

The Office Hub is probably a place where Windows Phone 7 users will spend quite a lot of time. And unlike what we experienced with Microsoft's great new browser, we were a bit underwhelmed by what we found in the Office Hub.

While the panoramic user interface is great for the purpose, we found Word Mobile's options to be quite limited. Stuff like word correction and find is present, plus there's even the option to place comments, but when it comes to formatting, available options are as scarce as hen's teeth. However, they should be enough if you just want to add some finishing touches to a document.


Of course, you can also create, view and edit Excel files (there's a fine selection of available functions to choose from) on the Samsung Omnia 7, as well as view and edit PowerPoint presentations. However, editing here comes down to just editing text. You can also take notes using the included OneNote software, or collaborate through SharePoint.


If you feel like downloading third-party apps to lend some variety to your mobile experience with the Samsung Omnia 7, you'll have to rely on the new Marketplace Hub. Right now, the selection of apps there should include about 1000 titles, which is a good start, but of course we expect that number to go higher quickly, since there's a lot of catching-up to be done in this department. However, we are positive towards Windows Phone 7's gaming capabilities as we tried a few of the available offerings, and have to admit that they looked very well. The Xbox Live integration in WP7 lets you do stuff like personalizing your avatar, track various achievements and scores, as well as see requests.

Performance:

We are not blown away by the Samsung Omnia 7's phone functionality. In fact, we don't like how voices sound in its earpiece – mostly thin and not very loud. You can have a normal conversation of course, but if you find yourself in a noisier environment you might have a bit of a hard time in hearing your caller. On the other end of the line the situation is better, with callers rating us about 8/10 and having no significant complaints towards the call quality.

The Samsung Omnia 7 drains power from a 1500mAh Li-Ion battery, which the manufacturer claims to be capable of providing about 6 hours of talk-time or 14 days in standby mode, when using a 3G network.

Conclusion:

All in all, the Samsung Omnia 7 is a very feature-rich smartphone, which also comes in a dandy casing. Its almost all-metal body exudes a premium feel, while the stylish looks automatically make it a tempting offer that can easily compete with the rest of the initial Windows Phone 7 squadron.

Hardware-wise, it is the same as any other WP7 device right now with a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset and a giant capacitive touchscreen. However, the display is of the Super AMOLED type, which helps it score some bonus points for having an incredibly high contrast and lush colors. And how can you take advantage of such a brilliant screen? Through (multi)media, of course! The display makes the Omnia 7 great for watching 720p videos, photos, explore websites, etc. On the other hand, bear in mind that smaller text is a bit harder to read than it is on an LCD screen, while the call quality is a disappointment.

As for the operating system the Samsung Omnia 7 runs, we are sure that it does have potential. It lacks some basic stuff like copy and paste, or true multitasking, but its fluidity and visual presentation make up for that for the most part, at least for the time being. Of course, there is a lot that can be done in order to make the overall experience better. For example, the Office capabilities should be much more advanced, while the available application base needs a significant boost, although we appreciate its decent start at 1000 titles. Support for turn-by-turn voice guidance is also needed.

With Microsoft setting some strict hardware rules, defining what a Windows Phone 7 should and should not be like, the Samsung Omnia 7 inevitably ends up being a top-shelf smartphone that sees competition only from the likes of the Apple iPhone 4, the Samsung Galaxy S line or HTC's EVO 4G (Desire HD for the EU). However, since these are all devices with similar capabilities, one will probably make a decision based on OS preference. As far as we are concerned, Windows Phone 7 is a market-ready OS, which has its pros and cons, but one thing is for sure – Microsoft will have a hard time popularizing it and making customers believe that it can be a worthy replacement of their iOS or Android phone. But then again, every beginning is hard.

Samsung Omnia 7 Video Review: