The Samsung Omnia HD: First Impressions and Unboxing Video


omniahd-unboxingJust a couple of days back I got a package from Samsung, a package that I have been eagerly waiting for. This package contained the Samsung i8910 aka Omnia HD.

The Samsung Omnia HD came in the smallest of packaging one can imagine for a high end phone. The whole package was so small, that it left me wondering, whether it wa a hoax or the real deal. Upon receipt, I quickly opened the package and there it was, the Omnia HD in all it’s glory. Let me tell you that this device is ‘huge’ from the word go. It makes the N97 look small. Anyways, I promptly fired her up to see if everything was in order. A few things that impressed me about this device are,

1. The capacitive touchscreen is really responsive, makes my N97 feel like an oldie already.

2. The S60 5th edition is different in terms of the transitions and icons than a Nokia rendition of the same. I must admit the transitions did wow me.

3. A 3.5mm audio plug and Micro USB charging means that I am not going to be hassled with ‘proprietary’ ports. Thank you Samsung.

4. The AMOLED screen looks wonderful with the blacks being really black. The N97’s screen did look faded in contrast.

A few of things that I did not like so much about the device –

1. The glossy plastic body is a fingerprint magnet of the highest order. It also looks like a cheap ‘chinese’ import.

2. Even though it is endowed with oodles or RAM and a new generation processor, there were moments when it momentarily froze. Something that I have not witnessed on the N97 as such.

3. The menu does not go into a ‘landscape’ mode when tilted and also one cannot have the phone change wallpapers automatically after a set interval.

Now since this was a Symbian device, I thought of firing up my ‘Switch’ application in my trusty N82 to transfer data, but it turns out that the OmniaHD could only ‘retrieve’ data from the N82. Which was a big let down. So I tried to figure out which application on the OmniaHD would let me retrieve the data, but with the jamboree of colourful icons, I could not find the application at all. So it was the Nokia PC Suite’s Content Copier which took a backup of the data. It created a ‘.nbu’ file which Samsung’s PC Suite (which looks amazingly like the Nokia PC Suite) recognized and started to transfer the data. I had only taken a backup of my contacts and my messages. While my contacts got transferred properly, my Inbox messages for some reason became ‘drafts’ in the OmniaHD. I don’t know what went wrong there, but that’s a bug for sure. Anyways with the phone being updated to the latest firmware the OmniaHD is currently my primary device, and I will bring you a detailed roundup of the OmniaHD here on FoneArena

Stay tuned to Fonearena as we bring you a detailed review of the OmniaHD. For now, here is a unboxing video of the OmniaHD, enjoy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWlhbfRZFAI