Camera Phones Plaza

Samsung i900 Omnia is one of the best smartphones currently available on the market. Samsung has come up with new features for a smartphone, such as cursor movement using the touchpad, a high-resolution camera and a fast processor. The phone can be used both for multimedia lovers, but also for business people.

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Samsung i900 Omnia's main competitor is HTC Touch Diamond. Even if it is slightly wider and taller than other smartphones, it is simultaneously very thin. It weighs 122 grams.

At a first look, the cover appears metallic, but it is actually plastic, a quality plastic. The phone has keys for answering and rejecting calls, an optical mouse cursor sensor. On the sides, it has the button for starting or shutting down the phone, the main menu key, the camera button and the volume control keys. On the back side of the phone, we find the 5 Megapixels camera.

The user interface is the same Windows Mobile 6.1 Interface. Samsung has made a special menu for this operating system that starts when you press the main menu button.

Unlike the HTC Diamond and other smartphones that use the stylus, Samsung Omnia 8GB has it on the outside. It can be hanged with a phone cord through a particular slot.

The keyboard can be seen in three different ways: a full QWERTY keyboard, the version with two letters per key and a version of the classical phones, three letters on each number key. The last version has the largest buttons. The QWERTY version is the most intuitive for those accustomed to the PC but has smaller keys.

The camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels. The pictures can be compared to those made with a Nokia N95 phone. They are very good both in natural light as well as in low light conditions, because of the flash. The phone can record a video at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels with 30 frames per second or at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels with 15 frames per second.

About the applications speed, Samsung Omnia 8GB has a good processor and enough memory to work quickly, without having any failures or without slowing down the applications.

The display is the weak link, because it has a non-standard resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. You may experience problems in some applications designed for 240 x 320 resolutions. In addition, there are problems in strong light.

The standard agenda from Windows Mobile is good and it easily synchronizes with Microsoft Outlook.

We only have one multimedia file browser, which manages the images, the music and the movies. The images are displayed very well on the big screen. To zoom in or out a picture, it is sufficient to only move up or down with your finger (like in the iPhone). The phone has an accelerometer, so it automatically switches to landscape mode if the phone is turned horizontal.

Samsung Omnia 8GB does not have a 3.5 mm audio jack directly on it, but it has a 3.5 mm audio jack adapter. Therefore, you can change without problems the original headphones found in the box, with some better headphones, if you use them together with the adapter.

The video files are played without interruptions due to the fast processor. The phone also has a pre-installed DivX codec.

The phone has the Windows Mobile 6.1 Operating System pre-installed. The calendar is similar to the Outlook one. You can easily define both the meeting events, and the to-do. It can easily synchronize with the Microsoft Outlook on your PC. The Mobile Office programs are also present. Those are Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Other useful programs that are preinstalled are the RSS Reader, the Podcast Manager, the Video Editor and some applications from Google (such as search engine, e-mail, Google Maps).

Samsung Omnia 8GB has a GPS system, but the navigation software is missing. There is the Google Maps application pre-installed though, but you can install the navigation software separately.

Samsung i900 Omnia is equipped with GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA, WiFi, with which you can connect to the Internet through a mobile operator or through a hotspot. The phone has two pre-installed browsers: Internet Explorer and Opera Mobile 9.5, the last one having a higher speed in loading web pages. One problem would be that the Flash player is pretty old. The protocols supported for sending emails are POP3, IMAP and SMTP. The phone does not have infrared port, but it has Bluetooth instead. The people from Samsung have chosen to use their own format for a USB port, so they are using a data cable different from the USB or USB 2 standards.

What we did like about this phone
- The CPU is fast, making applications run without interruptions
- The touchscreen has a high quality
- The camera takes very good pictures both in strong natural light and in low light conditions
- The large internal memory

What we did not like about this phone:
- The screen's resolution is average, and the non-standard screen size can lead to problems in some applications
- The phone does not have a place to hold the stylus.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD was one of the most expected phone of the year, continuing its success with i900 Omnia. The HD name comes from the ability to record videos at a resolution of 1280 x 720. The phone has the possibility to play 5.1-channel sound.

I was expecting to find more accessories in the box, like in any high-end phone. We only found the charger, the handsfree headphones, a microUSB cable, the CD software and the user manual. A cover would have been welcome, although you can buy one separately, at a decent price.

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The phone is quite big. Samsung i8910 Omnia HD has a length of 123 mm, a width of 58 mm and it is 12.9 mm thick. It weights 144 grams.

The buttons on the front are a bit low, so they are difficult to press sometimes. The screen is surrounded by a stainless steel frame, which looks very good. The quality of the materials is very good. The front side is occupied almost entirely by a large 3.7 inch screen. Above, we find a secondary camera for video calls, the speakerphone and the ambient light sensor. Under the screen, we find three physical keys for the menu and for answering / rejecting calls. On the right side, the phone has a button that blocks the screen. Here we find the camera buttons and the microUSB port. The microUSB port can be used for charging the battery. It is covered with a rubber cap to prevent the dust from getting in. On the left side, Samsung i8910 Omnia HD has the volume control buttons and the microSD card slot. On the top side, the phone has the 3.5 mm audio jack. Near it, we find the first speaker for music. The audio jack is covered with a rubber cap, like the microUSB port. On the bottom side, we find the second speaker for music. In addition, here we find the microphone and the hand strap spot. The speakers are placed well, so you can listen to stereo music. On its backside, we find the 8 megapixel camera, with flash LED. The battery cover, with the Samsung logo, opens easily by pressing it and pulling it down. It is made of a glossy plastic, which easily attracts fingerprints. The lens has no protection, so it can scratch easily.

Under the battery cover, I found a Li-Ion 1500 mAh. The capacity is very good for such a multimedia device, whose consumption is higher than a normal phone. The AMOLED technology helps a lot to save energy, even if the screen is big enough. I managed to get 5 hours and 30 minutes of video playback, even more than you can get using a laptop. In addition, call times have also been good, up to 13 hours and 30 minutes. The phone also lasts up to 25 days in standby mode.

The phone has no stylus. The TouchWiz user interface is highly optimized for finger use. Samsung i8910 Omnia HD's major advantage is that it does not use Windows Mobile, but Symbian S60 5th Edition. The same operating system found on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia N97, and it is optimized for touchscreen, so you do not miss the stylus.

The widgets make your phone more enjoyable. Samsung i8910 Omnia HD comes with many widgets installed, but you can download new ones too.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD uses multiple menus, and each one is specialized for a certain function. If you "turn the page" to the left of the main screen, you find the address book. The calling is done by tapping the photo of the person you want to call. If you "turn the page" to the right, your phone displays the main menu. This one has no changes comparing to the standard TouchWiz interface. On the bottom side of the main screen, you have four buttons for quick access to certain functions.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD's touchscreen has 3.7 inches and a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels. The AMOLED technology reduces the screen's power consumption. It is resistant to scratches and the ambient light sensor automatically changes the brightness. The images have an excellent quality, the brightness is great, and the colors are vivid. Unfortunately, the screen is not that good in strong light.

The phone has two virtual keyboards, the alphanumeric in portrait mode and the full QWERTY in landscape mode. The QWERTY keyboard is good. The phone recognizes handwriting, but it is hard to write like that if you do not have a stylus. The SMS and MMS editor is common.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD is a phone made for multimedia. HD means that video recording is done at a high resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The phone has a 5.1-channel sound system, but it is a virtual system so that the 5.1 channels are played only by the two channels. You can use your headphones because the phone has a 3.5 mm audio jack. The music player looks quite nice. It has a nice interface, simple and intuitive. You can sort your music by artist, album, genre or composer. If you want to make a list of your favorite songs, and the player knows how to create playlists. In addition, you can use the equalizer presets to add bass or treble. If you want to listen to your favorite radio show, Samsung i8910 Omnia HD comes with an FM radio with RDS. The radio application is as easy to use as the music player is. You can even record a radio show and listen to it later. Both the FM radio and the music player can run in background.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD's camera has 8 megapixels, autofocus and LED flash. You can set up every detail option. You can change ISO sensitivity, which reaches up to 3200. The camera has Geotagging and image stabilization. The photos are done quite slowly. It takes about 7 to 8 seconds to make a picture. From the 7-8 seconds, 5 seconds are taken by saving the last photo on the memory card. The images are made very well in sunlight and at an average quality in other environments.

The image gallery can be accessed in two ways. The first option is similar to Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. To change from one picture to another, you "turn the page" with your finger. Changing between portrait and landscape modes is easy, thanks to the accelerometer. The second way to view photos is the dedicated media browser.

The video recording is made at a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 24 fps. It is basically the 720p HD resolution. The videos come out very well, compared with a video camera from the average class. The video files are limited in size. You can save up to 30-40 minutes in 2 GB.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD looks good in terms of connectivity. You can surf on the Internet via WiFi, and via GPRS, EDGE, 3G and HSDPA. The phone has a microUSB port, and Bluetooth with A2DP, so you can connect your phone to a computer, or to some stereo Bluetooth headphones. Omnia HD has GPS, but does not come with any preinstalled application. You can put either Google Maps, which is free or Samsung Mobile Navigator, which costs.

The Quickoffice comes preinstalled. The version that comes with the phone only allows you to view Office files. If you want to edit them you must purchase a separate license.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD offers you from the first touch a pleasant impression. In the multimedia chapter, it handles very well. It captures photos / videos excellent and the audio quality is good. If you want to buy a camera that you use occasionally, Samsung Omnia HD is an option.

Samsung has already created a brand image and they pass the stage of making only cheap phones. They tried to enter the smartphones market gradually, and with i900 Omnia they really made it. A great phone with almost all functions that you could ever want from a phone, is has more than reasonable sizes and it looks good.

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The box looks good and it contains everything you need for such a phone. A charger, a USB cable, the headphones, a software CD, some manuals and the stylus. I was surprised to see the stylus because the phone does not have a special slot in which it can be stored.

Samsung i900 Omnia is a little big. Especially, the 122 grams weight might scare some people. It is very OK to use and to handle. Even if it is slightly wider and taller than other smartphones, is simultaneously very thin. Therefore, it is elegant. And it fits in your pocket. The material quality is very good. The case, that appears to be metal, is actually plastic. This plastic made me a positive impression. Samsung i900 Omnia has keys to answer and reject calls, optical sensor for the mouse cursor and the side button on / off, main menu key, camera button and volume keys. On the back is 5 megapixels camera. Samsung have made some effort to make the Omnia i900 phone easy to use. The touchpad that can replace the stylus is very smart, unfortunately I had to use the stylus when I needed to write a text that is more precise.

The interface is the usual Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. Samsung have made a special menu over the operating system that starts when you press the main menu button. It is easier to control with your finger over the normal menus in Windows Mobile. It cannot compare with the HTC TouchFLO 3D system and their super cool menu.

I know that you can hardly wait to find out how is the screen. Well, this is the weak spot of Samsung i900 Omnia. It is not a bad screen, do not get me wrong, but it is not up to the other facilities of the phone. Why say it is weak? First, it has a non-standard resolution, 240 x 400 pixels. You may experience problems in some applications designed for 240 x 320. Second, with the 3.2 inch size, he could have had a better resolution. To think that HTC Touch Diamond is only 2.8 inch and that it has a resolution of 480 x 640. And third, there are problems in strong light. It read hard, very hard. Maybe it seems overly critical, but I said why. In a phone this powerful, you expect to have a very good screen.

Omnia i900 is designed for multimedia. And we can see this; Samsung has worked on the applications that play files, music and movies to be more touch-friendly. i900 excels in each of these issues. Let us take them one at a time.

The multimedia file browser is the same one for images, music and movies. It is a good thing, with one program you can look for something very easy. The images look good on the big screen. Samsung came up with some ideas for handling the images that remind me of the iPhone. For example, in order to zoom in / zoom out, a finger movement (up or down) is enough. The phone has and accelerometer, so it will go to landscape mode automatically when you turn the phone in horizontal position.

The music player is also very good; it automatically organizes audio files by the artist, album, genre. I liked the sound quality; it is a bit beyond what current phones offer, even the multimedia phones. i900 Omnia does not have a 3.5 mm audio jack directly on it, but it has a headphone adapter. Therefore, you can change without problems the original headphones with some better headphones, if you use them together with the adapter.

Like any other multimedia phone, Samsung i900 Omnia has FM radio. It works only with the headphones plugged in, which serve as the antenna. It is a good radio, it has an easy to use interface and is adapted to use with your finger. You do not need the cursor or the stylus.

Well, let us take a look at the camera. From a 5 megapixel camera I had many expectations. And I was not wrong, it is excellent. Pictures are comparable with those made with a Nokia N95, which has one of the best cameras.

But let us get back to the camera on the i900 Omnia. The pictures are great for a phone, both in natural light, and in darker environments. Obviously in the natural light the pictures come out much better, this happens with ordinary cameras too. If we do not have enough light, the phone uses a LED flash.

For recording movies, the phone is average. It can record at 320 x 240 pixels and 30 fps or 640 x 480 and 15 fps. There is no more, no less, if you want to put short films on YouTube.

On the connectivity, i900 Omnia is included in what should a smartphone offer: GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA, WiFi. All these technologies allow you to connect to the Internet through your mobile operator network or through a hotspot, with a speed higher or lower.

Web browsing is a pleasure thanks to the big screen. Landscape mode is the most appropriate here. The phone has two browsers installed, Internet Explorer and Opera Mobile 9.5. As usual, Opera beats its competition at the speed and the quality of rendering pages, and even the ease of use. Samsung have implemented even their own zoom in / zoom out system with your finger from the pictures, in Opera, so you can zoom in or shrink a page by moving your finger up or down. The only problem is that Flash player is rather old. It has Flash Lite 2.1, and the latest version is 3. Most Flash animations from web pages work only with version 3. The phone does not have an infrared port, but it supports Bluetooth instead.

Like any Windows Mobile phone, i900 Omnia has both a good organizer, and mobile office applications. The calendar is similar to Outlook. You can easily define both the meeting type events, and to-dos. It can synchronize with Outlook on your PC very easily. The Mobile Office Suite is preinstalled, and it consists of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. I tested some files, I could easily edit and then I sent the email without problems.

The phone has a lot of useful applications preinstalled. RSS Reader, Podcast Manager, Video Editor and some applications from Google (search, email, maps). You can install many other applications, developers have been hardworking and Windows Mobile is a platform with more available software, including games.

Samsung i900 Omnia has GPS too. It does not come with a preinstalled navigation software, but it has Google Maps. If you are a pedestrian or you just rarely need GPS, Google Maps is OK. You would probably have to install your software for GPS navigation. Such programs usually come on memory cards, already installed.

Samsung i900 Omnia is certainly one of the best smartphones on the market. Samsung come with several innovative features or rarely seen in a smartphone, such as the cursor movement using the touchpad, the camera quality and the powerful processor. It is almost complete in terms of functionality and can be used with the same pleasure by a multimedia passionate and even a businessman.

Samsung B7320 Omnia PRO and B7330 Omnia Pro, are not the only models, from Samsung's portfolio that are competing with the BlackBerry devices. These two models both include a QWERTY keyboard within a candy bar form factor. However, Samsung has planned to steal as many customers as they can from the Canadian manufacturer. This competition started two years ago when BlackBerry decided to create phones with more appealing features, but still sporting the QWERTY keyboard. Therefore, other manufacturers, such as Samsung decided to include QWERTY keyboards within its products.
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Even so, BlackBerry lacks a side slider QWERTY phone, while Samsung has at least two, one business orientated and the second one based on the business model, but equipped with a designer logo. Samsung B7610 Omnia PRO was first announced in June 2009 and released in September 2009. This phone sports a more HTC look, than BlackBerry look. However, the B7610 Omnia Pro looks great, conservative but stylish. It's conservative because the front, left and right sides are all black, while the back cover sports a patterned style (flame waves). The front cover sports a glossy black material around the huge display, while the front keys sport a metallic look, similar to the frame included on the sides. The materials used within this phone are extraordinary, and the build quality is flawless, worthy of Samsung logo.

On the front case, above the display you get beside the "Samsung" logo and the earpiece, the ambient light sensor, the proximity sensor, and the second video camera that enables video calling. Under the display you can find three keys, the back key, the call key, and the end call key. The full keyboard slides from the right to left. The QEWRTY keyboard includes good sized keys, but lacks space between them. However, Samsung successfully created a great keyboard, which delivers excellent feedback, which can easily be used when typing in a hurry. The keyboard sports a backlight so the typing process is very comfortable within any light environment conditions. With a height of 112.6 mm, wide of 57.8 mm, deep of 16.2 mm, the B7610 Omnia PRO weights about 159 grams.

The above values should make you understand that this Samsung phone is by far portable or light. Samsung included within the B7610 Omnia PRO a 3.5 inches AMOLED resistive touch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, capable of rendering 16 million (but the effective value doesn't exceed 65000 colors).  Beside the common by now accelerometer sensor for auto rotate, you also get an advanced R touch screen display. The performances delivered by this phone are almost similar to what an entry level netbook has to offer, with the Samsung S3C6410 processor with 800 MHz and a dedicated graphics accelerator, and 256 MB RAM. Therefore, the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5) will run smoothly on B7610 Omnia PRO.

With the excellent hardware specs, this phone can easily be considered a true business device. The onboard memory has a value of 1 GB, expandable if using the micro SD memory cards, or the Trans Flash memory cards, up to 32 GB tested. The connectivity department is ensured by the Class 10 GPRS (4+1 / 3+2 slots) with a varying speed from 32 Kb per second to 48 Kb per second, Class 10 EDGE with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, HSCSD, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, version 2.0 micro USB connection, HSDPA with a 3.6 Mb per second speed, and the Wi-Fi connection with 802.11 b/g profile.

Samsung also included within the B7610 Omnia PRO a 5 megapixel digital camera with a maximum photo resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels, featuring auto focus, dual LED flash, wide dynamic range, panorama shot, geo tagging, image stabilization, and face and smile detection. This digital camera is also capable of video recording within the VGA mode, 640 x 480 pixels with 30 frames per second. it is nedless to say that this phone with the latest Windows Mobile operating system packs all the possible applications, including an extended music player, an extended video player, a photo editor, pocket office - including editing and viewing Word documents, Excel documents, and view Power Points presentations and PDFs.

Samsung included in the B7610 Omnia PRO a lithium Ion battery with 1500 mAh, capable of 580 hours in standby in the 2G network (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and up to 480 hours of standby in 3G network (HSDPA 900 / 2100). In the talk time department, the B7610 will provide up to 12 hours in 2G network and almost 7 hours in 3G network. Overall, this product is certainly interesting to say at least, since Samsung delivers a complete business phone with a form factor that lacks in the BlackBerry's portfolio. The second Samsung phone to be presented in this article is based on the B7610 Omnia PRO. However, this phone is orientated to the business customers that demand the ultimate style within their devices. The latest Samsung phone released with the "Giorgio Armani" logo is not just a nice looking phone, but a rather powerful phone even for the business users. For the time being it was only announced in October this year. The release date is still unconfirmed.

The B7620 Giorgio Armani is the styled twin brother of the B7610 Omnia Pro. In the design department, Samsung improved this phone, with a stylish look. Even so, the overall look (by details) is similar to B7610. The only form factor difference is that if needed the B7620 can flip its display with a consistent angle (not more than 145 degrees). However, the details make the difference. Therefore, you will easily observe the gold frame that surrounds the upper case, and the gold looking panel on the back cover. This phone is certainly luxurious but I am not sure about the design at all. Maybe too much gold within an economic crisis might make you feel seek as well. However, the QWERTY keyboard can be opened from right to left.

This keyboard is thankfully not gold, but black, and not metallic but rather a rubbery material, with excellent sized keys, sufficient space between them. Even more, thanks to the material used within the keys, you get a good grip when typing improving the overall usability of this phone. The feedback and key layout are similar with what B7610 has to offer. In terms of design, this phone looks nice if you like opulence. The build quality is remarkable, but the handling has a minus from me, because all the metallic body makes this phone too slippery. On the front cover you can find above the display, beside the "Giorgio Armani" logo the second video camera, the proximity sensor, and the ambient light sensor. Under the display, Samsung included the call key, the end call key and the back key. With a height of 118.5 mm, wide of 58.3 mm, deep of 16.4 mm, this phone weights even more than B7610, 164 grams.

The above values (in terms of dimensions) show once again that this phone is build based from the B7610 Omnia PRO. Samsung included within the B7620 a 3.5 inches AMOLED resistive touch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, capable of rendering up to 16 million colors (but only 65000 effective colors). The same processor, Samsung S3C6410 800 MHz with dedicated graphics accelerator, and the same RAM value are included in the hardware specs of the latest Giorgio Armani phone. Even more, Samsung decided to add the same operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5).

As expected this means you will get excellent audio and video player, photo and video editing, and business applications, such as Pocket Office for viewing and editing (only a few documents formats) Office documents and PDFs. The onboard memory was improved from 1 GB found on the B7610 Omnia Pro to 8 GB found onboard the B7620, expandable value if using micro SD memory cards, or Trans Flash memory cards up to 32 GB. The connectivity department is ensured by the Class 10 GPRS, Class 10 EDGE, HSCSD, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g profile, Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP, micro US 2.0 connections, HSDPA with a maximum speed of 7.2 MB per second with the HSUPA sporting a maximum speed of 5.76 MB per second. the B7620 also sports an excellent digital camera with a 5 megapixel value, sporting a maximum photo resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels, including autofocus and LED flash. The same features found on the B7610 can be found on board the B7620. This camera can also record video within the VGA resolution, 640 x 480 pixels with 30 frames per second.

Samsung added the same Lithium Ion battery with 1500 mAh providing the same values of standby time and talk time, 580 hours in standby in 2G networks, 480 hours of standby in 3G networks, 12 hours of talk time in 2G network and 6 hours of talk time in 3G networks. For an average user these values mean at least 3 days of autonomy, depending on the usage. Overall, the Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani is the overpriced model of the B7610 Omnia PRO. If you need to make a statement you can buy the B7620. However, the B7620 is not better than B7610. Even more, the B7610 Omni PRO is a more balanced phone, sporting a conservative look, yet modern, and sufficient specs for any user, either business or multimedia fan.

Is that time of the year when all manufacturers are rolling out as many devices as they can in order to consolidate their portfolio before the shopping season. It seems like this year, mobile phones manufacturers are launching as many phones as they can to compete with BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry devices started to become one by one a market success. Therefore, the other manufacturers are trying to bring into their product the BlackBerry vibe, either for the business users or normal users who wants a top level (high end) phone. Samsung is one of the few manufacturers that are starting to release phones with full QWERTY keyboard, with both candy bar form factor and slide form factor.
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A Samsung phone that is attacking directly the BlackBerry share of the market is the B7330 Omnia PRO announced in September this year, with a release date of end of October 2009. This phone sports an excellent business design. Samsung successfully merged normal materials with nice finishes and created a conservative, yet styled design. The front case of the B7330 Omnia Pro includes a nice glossy frame that surrounds the display and a matte grey plastic frame with a full black keyboard (with ten red keys, the number keys).

Above the display you get beside the earpiece an ambient light sensor, and the second video camera that enables the video calling. Under the display you get the four way navigational key (up down, left and right) with the centered OK key. on the left side of the four way key you get one soft key, the home key, and the call key, while on the right side of the four way key you can find another soft key, the back key, and the end call key. All the navigational keys are well sized, easy to use, and made out of a nice material.

Under the navigational keys you can find the full QWERTY keyboard, with acceptable sized keys, made out of the same material, and that offers great feedback. However, unless you are really familiar with a QWERTY keyboard, don't try to type in a hurry because you just might write a completely different message. The top and bottom part of the B7330 Omnia PRO lack any ports, slots or buttons.

On the right side of this phone you can find the covered (with glossy black plastic) memory card slot and the dedicated camera key, while on the left side, Samsung included the volume controls and the combo port (or universal port) with the headset / charger / connectivity cable, also covered with the same glossy black plastic cap. The back cover of this phone sports a glossy black plastic finish, which makes the B7330 too slippery. Samsung included in the upper side, centered, the 3.2 megapixels digital camera lenses and the loudspeaker grill. Unfortunately the camera lacks LED or Xenon flash, but includes auto focus. Overall, the B7330 Omnia PRO sports a nice design with a good build quality.

The build quality is almost solid, but can't be considered flawless because of the back cover made out of a rather thin glossy plastic. With a height of 114.9 mm, wide of 59 mm, deep of 10.8 mm, the B7330 weights about 107 grams, making this phone easy to carry around. The B7330 Omnia PRO works in 2 G network - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, and 3 G network HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100. Samsung included a 2.62 inches TFT display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels, capable of rendering about 65000 colors. Thanks to the ambient light sensor, this display will provide sufficient brightness under any environment light conditions.

The 528 MHz processor and the 256 MB of RAM are more than sufficient to run the latest operating system, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 standard. It is needless to say that this operating system is flawless. Some people prefer S60 software for their business applications, but in the light of day, the Windows Mobile 6.5 standard is the best solution for a business orientated phone. Neither iPhone OS 3.0 or Android have successfully achieved the level of the Microsoft operating system for mobile phones.

Samsung added about 270 MB to the onboard memory value, expandable by using micro SD memory cards or Trans Flash memory cards up to 32 GB. The connectivity is well ensured by the Class 10 GPRS with 4+1 / 3+2 slots, with a varying speed from the lower 32 KB per second up to 48 Kb per second, HSDPA with the higher value of 7.2 MB per second, HSCSD, EDGE Class 10 with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, HSUPA with 2 MB per second, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g profile, Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP profile, and USB connectivity.

Beside the front cover camera for the video calling, B7330 Omnia PRO includes a 3.15 megapixel digital camera with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels including auto focus and geo tagging. This isn't the best camera ever embedded into a phone, but it is an average camera for a business phone model, since it is highly unlikely to see 8 megapixel cameras on business phones until the end of next year. By know you probably already realized that Windows Mobile 6.5 standard includes beside excellent audio and video player, Microsoft Outlook Mobile, Pocket Office, which enables you not only to view, but also to edit Word documents, Excel documents, and to strictly view Power Point documents, and PDFs.

By doing so, Samsung successfully completed the user experience. The on board Lithium Ion battery has a value of 1500 mAh. However, we must wait for the final version to hit the stores before jumping to conclusions regarding the offered battery. Overall, the B7330 Omnia PRO can be considered a good competitor against the BlackBerry, especially because it its line you can find more than one phone. The direct sibling of the B7330 Omnia PRO is the B7320 Omnia PRO. This Samsung model sports a better design, by all means. The B7320 Omnia Pro was first announced on May 2009, and released a few months later, in August 2009.

With a height of 111.8 mm, wide of 59.6 mm, deep of 12.6 mm, the B7320 weights more than B7330, 110 grams. Even so, it not a big phone, or impossible to carry around; more likely it's the other way around. The B7320 sports an excellent design, with a full brown metallic - plastic case. Samsung has successfully merged these two materials and created a beautiful look. The front cover sports around the display a glossy look, while the front frame is made out of brown metal. Above the display you get beside the "Samsung" logo, the ambient light sensor, and the second video camera for enabling the video calls.

Under the display you can easily find the navigational buttons, which look exquisite made out of a trans-lucid material (basically similar to plastic). However, the style overcomes functionality. Therefore, be prepared to press hard on those navigational keys in order to get a proper feedback. As you already imagined, the B7320 includes a four way key (up, down, left and right), with a centered Ok key made out of stainless steel. You get two more buttons in the navigational pad of the B7320 than in B7330.

Therefore, you can find two soft keys, the home key, the mute key, the call key, the lock switch, the back key and the end call key. Under the navigational keys you can find the same QWERTY keyboard from the B7330, with acceptable sized keys, including several empowering keys such as messaging, browser, sync, or even camera key. I suggest you take your time when typing a text for the first time with this keyboard, since you might need some adjusting time. You can find on the right side of this phone the micro SD memory card slot (covered with a nice brown plastic cap), while on the left side you can find the volume controls and the combo port, headset / connection / charger (covered with the same plastic brown cap).

On the back side of this phone you will get a 3.15 megapixel digital camera, and the loudspeaker grill. The B7320 Omnia PRO works in both 2G network (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G network (HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100). Samsung included in this model a 2.4 inches display with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution, capable of rendering up to 65000 colors. The available operating system is Windows Mobile 6.1 standard, upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5. Even more, you don't need to worry about hardware specifications, because this phone will run easily the latest operating system thanks to the Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz processor, with 256 MB of RAM.

The same business applications are also onboard, Pocket Office, Microsoft Outlook Mobile, Adobe Flash Lite, Windows Media Player 10, and others. The on board memory is only about 100 MB, expandable value using the micro SD memory cards or the Trans Flash memory cards, up to 16 GB.

The connectivity department is well ensured, but not as fast as the one found on the B7330, with Class 10 GPRS (4+1 / 3+2 slots) with a varying speed from 32 Kb per second and 48 Kb per second, HSCSD, HSDPA with a maximum speed of 3.6 MB per second, HSCSD, Class 10 EDGE with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, Wi-Fi with the 802.11 b/g profile, second version of Bluetooth including the A2DP profile, and second version of USB connection. The included camera on this model is a 3.15 megapixel camera with a top photo resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels including several features like auto focus, geo tagging, and face and smile detection. The Lithium Ion battery included within the B7320 Omnia PRO has a value of 1480 mAh, sufficient for 590 hours of standby time and up to 10 hours of talk time. For an average user these values mean about 3 days of autonomy.

Overall, the Omnia PRO B7320 is a more stylish competitor for the BlackBerry aiming the public that want the BlackBerry only for the connectivity, design, and QWERTY keyboard. The second phone, B7330 Omnia PRO is strictly aiming the business user who needs a business phone, with a conservative look, and a QWERTY keyboard. Even more, Samsung successfully delivers two candy form competitors for the BlackBerry devices.