Omnia II Opinions - To Buy or Not to Buy

[Guest kersey]

Hello all

Am thinking of upgrading from my Touch HD to the Omnia II. I previously had the I900 Omnia and loved it, the only bad point was the screen resolution.

Have heard from a number of reviews that there is quite a bit of lag with the phone…is this true. Am curious as to what speed processor the phone has…reports vary between 800mhz or 667mhz.

The only other query is how good the sound is through headphones. I’m use to the Touch HD with it’s audio booster which gives the sound more ‘guts’. How does the Omnia compare?

Any opinions good and bad of what you think of your Omnia II is appreciated.

Cheers

Edited January 11, 2010 by kersey

[Guest sindark]

Hello all

Am thinking of upgrading from my Touch HD to the Omnia II. I previously had the I900 Omnia and loved it, the only bad point was the screen resolution.

Have heard from a number of reviews that there is quite a bit of lag with the phone…is this true. Am curious as to what speed processor the phone has…reports vary between 800mhz or 667mhz.

The only other query is how good the sound is through headphones. I’m use to the Touch HD with it’s audio booster which gives the sound more ‘guts’. How does the Omnia compare?

Any opinions good and bad of what you think of your Omnia II is appreciated.

Cheers

I suppose it really depends on what other phones you have available to you. For example (this is purely my opinion) if you have the option of the HD2, i'd suggest that over the Omnia 2 for 3 main reasons:

1 - 512mb of ram. though only about ~400mb is available for windows + all your running apps its ALOT better than the ~140mb that we have available

2 - Snapdragon kicks the crap out of the samsung processor AND it runs all the open GL apps natively

3 - Upgradable to Windows Mobile 7. I dont think we'll be able to upgrade our Omina2's to WM7 (at least not "Officially")

My 2c, and once again, all depends on what is available to you.

Hope it helps!!

[Guest kdkinc]

I suppose it really depends on what other phones you have available to you. For example (this is purely my opinion) if you have the option of the HD2, i'd suggest that over the Omnia 2 for 3 main reasons:

1 - 512mb of ram. though only about ~400mb is available for windows + all your running apps its ALOT better than the ~140mb that we have available

2 - Snapdragon kicks the crap out of the samsung processor AND it runs all the open GL apps natively

3 - Upgradable to Windows Mobile 7. I dont think we'll be able to upgrade our Omina2's to WM7 (at least not "Officially")

My 2c, and once again, all depends on what is available to you.

Hope it helps!!

+1 on above :)

also Samsung U/I "bites" B) .

O2 may (?) have less chefs for the future meaning less cooked roms.

;) ;)

[Guest kersey]

I suppose it really depends on what other phones you have available to you. For example (this is purely my opinion) if you have the option of the HD2, i'd suggest that over the Omnia 2 for 3 main reasons:

1 - 512mb of ram. though only about ~400mb is available for windows + all your running apps its ALOT better than the ~140mb that we have available

2 - Snapdragon kicks the crap out of the samsung processor AND it runs all the open GL apps natively

3 - Upgradable to Windows Mobile 7. I dont think we'll be able to upgrade our Omina2's to WM7 (at least not "Officially")

My 2c, and once again, all depends on what is available to you.

Hope it helps!!

Thanks for the feedback guys...was considering the HD2 but the size of it crosses the line for me, even though it has a 4.1" screen the dimensions are too big for day to day use for me...Also from the Touch HD experience the actual speaker sound quality on Samsungs are a lot superior for ring tones etc than HTC.

The processors that Samsung use are compatable with Core Player, video playback on my Omnia was smooth with no dropped frames but with the Qualcomm processor of the Touch HD playback is horrendous and videos are unwatchable so am a little reluctant to try.

For some reason the Omnia II seems more appealing to me :)

[Guest FerdiBorbon]

Get it its an awsome phone, ive had it since day 1 of release!

Edited January 11, 2010 by FerdiBorbon

[Guest tacchan23]

HD2 has many small (no tv out, shorter battrery life, worse HDSPA, worse camera) and some big (size/weight, no AMOLED screen) downsides which makes it on the same level of Omnia2 (which has lower speed and lower memory). So the choice depends on your preferences.

The main problem of Omnia2 is free RAM for multitasking.

If you disable the Samsung UI then there is NO lag at all.

[Guest sindark]

The main problem of Omnia2 is free RAM for multitasking.

If you disable the Samsung UI then there is NO lag at all.

Yeah the RAM thing really bothers me personally, but there are some definate upsides to the Omnia 2. AMOLED screen as you mentioned is great and the battery life is better than any smartphone i've ever used.

You should also consider an Android phone. The Motorola Droid (also known as the Motorola Moment) has had some great reviews, and the soon to be released Nexus One also looks like an excellent phone (Snapdragon cpu, AMOLED screen ect)

If applications are important to you, then i'd push you towards an Android handset as the Android app marketplace is FAR bigger than the Windows Mobile marketplace and its growing alot faster too. Plus the Android 2.0 version of Google maps has built in turn by turn navigation which people are raving about.

[Guest tacchan23]

If applications are important to you, then i'd push you towards an Android handset as the Android app marketplace is FAR bigger than the Windows Mobile marketplace and its growing alot faster too. Plus the Android 2.0 version of Google maps has built in turn by turn navigation which people are raving about.

For sure the Nexus One could be the better phone specs/size/screenwise at the moment.

On the other hand, personally I'd have some problems switching to Android (available applications being the biggest one for me)

[Guest kersey]

The main problem of Omnia2 is free RAM for multitasking. If you disable the Samsung UI then there is NO lag at all.

I would probably disable the Touch Wiz UI and use the native WinMo or even SPB Mobile Shell

You should also consider an Android phone. The Motorola Droid (also known as the Motorola Moment) has had some great reviews, and the soon to be released Nexus One also looks like an excellent phone (Snapdragon cpu, AMOLED screen ect). If applications are important to you, then i'd push you towards an Android handset as the Android app marketplace is FAR bigger than the Windows Mobile marketplace and its growing alot faster too. Plus the Android 2.0 version of Google maps has built in turn by turn navigation which people are raving about.

I was considering the Xperia X10 but am not drawn towards Android due to the lack of applications that I require, e.g a decent Divx/Xvid player such as Core Player plus the great tools I have for WinMo that are not available for Android. I know Android apps are starting to become more popular but I don't see any equivalents to what I currently require on the WinMo front.

Hmm, decisions decisions :)

[Guest Smille123]

Hi,

since i own the i8000, i don´t followed this device, but you should take a closer look a the Acer neotouch

Acer Site

[Guest Delvius]

I can suggest the I8000 as long as you do not do insane multitaksing.

At the moment I'm using IL5 Official which gives you 72-74mb Ram free with Titanium enabled and this is still enough for me to run MSN, Navigion and S2P at the same time.

About audio through headphones. Native it is fine (at least I like it with good headphones), and if you want to custimize it you can use WOWHD.

The screen is very sensitive, battery life is very nice, speakers are OK and it is fast. Does its job. If you need a pure powerhouse go for HD2 :).

Edited January 11, 2010 by Delvius

[Guest qtilt]

for me, the Omnia II is a mediocre phone. OpenGL is sub-standard(almost no apps to take advantage of it), phone has serious memory problems, and has had a few build quality problems (dust under screen, easily scratchable screen). By today's standards of cortex-a8 and snapdragon, the Omnia II is outdated. However, it still does have great video/music capabilities with the amoled screen and GREAT battery life. If i had the choice now, i would go for something with a bit better specs (Acer F1, HD2, Nexus One(amoled, snapdragon, 512 RAM), xperia x10, or LG Expo (what?! a projector? coooool :) ).

[Guest chokia]

Omnia II is superior in few areas especially camera part which other phones really lack.

1. High Quality 5MP picture

2. 480p 30fps video recording (D1 720x480)

3. Double LED for night picture/video

4. Video call with front camera

5. Video Out

If one doesnt give a f**k the aforementioned features then get the Iphone, it handles the eye candy UI with multitouch better than any android

[Guest bobobird]

Its a great phone / pda / pmp etc

All the "problems" mentioned above are just nit-picking imho. I could demolish each of those comments.

NO phone is 100% perfect but O2 is pretty close.

[Guest kersey]

It seems like I've got a few things to think over before I purchase / upgrade.

One of the things I'm worried about is video playback on the Qualcomm processors, even though they are 1ghz is the playback still going to be poor via Coreplayer. My last two phone Xperia and Touch HD suffered from this and I don't want to re-encode each video to be able to watch them.

I also need to consider the audio quality both speaker and earphones, as once again the X1 and Touch HD are very poor for ring tone quality where as in the past the Samsungs have been very good.

Thanks again for all your input and opinions guys :)

[Guest tacchan23]

from the little I could understand about Android (difficult to get codec support) and other high spec WinMo phones (no Amoled)... I think Omnia2 is a little bit better than any of them in video/audio playback

[Guest kersey]

from the little I could understand about Android (difficult to get codec support) and other high spec WinMo phones (no Amoled)... I think Omnia2 is a little bit better than any of them in video/audio playback

I was leaning towards the Nexus One but have read a few reviews that the speaker sound isn't that great (which leaves me in the same position as now) and as you say codec support isn't that great so who knows about the video playback, which will leave me in the same situation as now.

I think for me it may be a little too soon to take the 'Android Experience' as I'm more than happy with WinMo and don't find the lag with WM phones that big an issue...

The only thing worrying me with the Omnia II is the low RAM...even though I find myself swaying towards the Omnia II :)

Edited January 12, 2010 by kersey

[Guest Tylwith]

if you use windows 6.1 you can easily have 95 mb free on boot.

some custom rom manage to have 110.

for me i had also a xperia x1 and i can say that omnia 2 is way better for multimedia.

the codec support did it for me. if the build in player doesn't work you can try tcmp phenom (you can find it in modaco) it has been optimize for omnia 1 but it's working also very wel on i2, even better than core player for me.

[Guest wookash.p]

I have the O2 and it's a fantastic phone. It's not perfect, though.

1. I think the back cover is horrible. Smudgy, greasy, and at the same time - catches scrapes very easily, even when used only with the pouch.

2. Not enough RAM.

So if you don't mind carrying around some kind of degreasing spray and don't use multitasking a lot and don't mind giving it a soft reset every now

and then - in this case it's a device for you. I'm not being sarcastic. If you can live with these flaws, then it is a fantastic device, with

great quality/price ratio.

[Guest scubamike]

My biggest road-block with upgrading from my I910 to the I920 is the absence of a d-pad/mouse. I work with excel files a lot and the d-pad is invaluable for moving from cell-to-cell and the mouse is useful for quick access to the scroll bars. I also rely on the d-pad for editing text when you just need to jump back a letter or two. Do you guys miss it?

The other question I have is concerning the GPS. Is the aGPS truly enabled in all applications? My I910 can take forever to get a lock on occasion.

[Guest CSMR]

Have heard from a number of reviews that there is quite a bit of lag with the phone…is this true.

No lag for me, very snappy. Although I don't use any samsung apps and don't do much browsing on such a small screen.

The only other query is how good the sound is through headphones. I’m use to the Touch HD with it’s audio booster which gives the sound more ‘guts’. How does the Omnia compare?

Very suspicious of this booster. Maybe it is some sort of compression (in the dsp sense). Avoid!

I like the omnia 2 output although haven't tried with my best headphones which are awaiting repair.

There is no audible noise floor using fairly sensitive headphones.

Volume is deafening at max (only tried that once by accident). That depends on sensitivity of headphones so look up the voltage if you want to know.

General impression of quality is very good but that's no substitute for rightmark tests.

Sometimes I have to replug the headphones to get them recognized... trying to fix this.

Any opinions good and bad of what you think of your Omnia II is appreciated.

Communications: outstanding using MS exchange

Picture quality is outstanding, anyone who has not seen an OLED screen will be stunned

Very good for music (no software exists as good as rockbox but the O2 will still replace my dap when 32gb microsd cards come out; probably will use Pocket Music)

I haven't tried video, but it should be a great device for this; will have to work out software and best encoding settings

Usual mod cons like GPS

So it does pretty much everything I want in a small device, with a good interface (after customization) and long battery life.

The only thing I miss is a proper version of Onenote mobile; Onenote 2010 should fix that I think with a cloud solution.

I also need to consider the audio quality both speaker and earphones, as once again the X1 and Touch HD are very poor for ring tone quality where as in the past the Samsungs have been very good.

Speaker quality is never more good of course but it's much better than the HTC touch diamond and tytn. I think it's fine for ring tones :).

Edited January 14, 2010 by CSMR

[Guest BetterNot]

Get it its an awsome phone, ive had it since day 1 of release!

Agreed, I'm in my O2 now for 5 days. Upgraded from an O1 that's been flashed 20+ times. Battery is great, love the screen, very responsive. Now that I'm used to swype I actual text routinely now with complete words. The stock media player supports many video formats - I was surprised by this. The call quality seems better versus O1 but this may be a result of the phone being slightly bigger and fitting my ear better. It seem to get better coverage than the O1 but that could simply be the luck of the draw on the specs of the actual radio in the handset. I'm getting used to the samsung ui, it's not as bad as I feared or others say. A few tweaks here and there and this phone rocks. Well worth the money and I'm happy so far. We'll see in a few weeks. I'd love a rom to remove some of the verizon bloatware but it's not been a problem installing whatever I need. Suggestion: don't get a universal screen cover, leave the OEM plastic on the screen until you can get an actual cover designed for the phone. It's lasted 5 days so far and has covered me until I get home to install a real one. I've got to say that so far, this is the best PDA phone I've ever owned. Good luck.

[Guest kersey]

Very suspicious of this booster. Maybe it is some sort of compression (in the dsp sense). Avoid!

Do you mean the Touch HD booster??

Glad to hear the sound on the Omnia II is very good.

Am getting more and more tempted to get this phone rather than wait for the the new wave of Android phones which from the reports I've read don't offer anything better than this phone, epecially as I'm looking for a phone with good media facilities...although am very curious as to how the Xperia X10 will turn out.

Edited January 15, 2010 by kersey

[Guest CSMR]

Do you mean the Touch HD booster??

Yup, or any other "booster".

[Guest biggiesmalls]

Well other than the "memory leak" problem i'd say it's a great device. I've been using it for a couple of months now and really like it. Sure it can be a bit laggy at times, that's just windows mobile. If you can't live with that, don't buy a WM phone. I'm very impressed with the quality of the screen (not so good when viewing outside in direct sunlight though). But watching a movie on this thing is awesome.