Samsung Omnia HD i8910 reviewed in the glow of the AMOLED screen
By Ross Miller 
posted May 2nd 2009 5:44AM
posted May 2nd 2009 5:44AM
posted May 2nd 2009 5:44AM
Samsung Omnia 1st-gen SCH-i910
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Oh, and one more thing 640x360 is nHD (ninth High Definition), 640x480 is VGA, and SD is anywhere from 704x480 to 720×576.
No, most phones will refuse to play any HD video on their screens because of the power it takes to down-scale it. And if you think that HD is worthwhile on a screen as small as that one, I have a bridge in Alaska I'd like to sell you...
I'd like to you see try to play a 720P file on any phone out on the market right now. Even the 1st gen Atom processors couldn't play a 720P file. I'd agree that there isn't much value in playing a 720P file on nHD screen, but that's why this thing comes with HDMI connection. The real value on this device is the 720P video camcorder. Even most cameras that say they are capable of HD recording only record at D1 resolution.
I am aware it has HDMI out, and I know it can play back HD to a HDTV, I was simply stating that the screen was not HD, as they made it out to be in their review.
I don't feel that I need to be called stupid, and that you all needed to Highest rank the person who felt it was nice to call me stupid.
I really don't appreciate this, as I feel my obtaining a bachelors in electronic engineering, (3.89GPA BTW) has proven I am not stupid.
As far as "HD playback" on a phone, I was assuming this,
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/13/texas-instruments-demos-first-720p-playback-from-a-mobile-phone/
had come to fruition, as it had stated early 2008 for capable handsets. Notice the date on the article.
I am also aware that having a screen with HD resolution is useless, as a human eye is unlikely to be able to tell the difference at normal distances on a screen this small. Did I ever once, say that this phone wouldn't look awesome? No, I did not. It will likely be one of the best looking phones out there as far as that goes. I do think 8MP is useless though on a sensor that size.
You should just bow out instead of trying to act like you're right and people didn't prove you wrong. It is capable of playing HD files, it's capable of HD playback with an HDMI cable and it's capable of HD recording. There's no lies or stretches here. If this doesn't deserve the HD branding than neither does your Blu Ray player.
I'd call it "Tim Tom", but only if it was murderously moppet-like.
-that or "Kevin"
"F-ing knife!"
That's one hell of a handset. Screw the fingerprints. No shame to whip that handset out and compare it to any other on the market. Anyone who's got a grievance against this baby is just nit-picking. It's a steal for $600.
When are they going to learn that any touchscreen device is going to be a finger print magnet! I really hate it when they make really dumb and stupid comments like this. It is like describing using car and complaining that its wheels will get dirty. WTF?!
Please use all your journalistic brain and tell me which touchscreen device isn't a fingerprint magnet? Or maybe everyone who owns one should use the device with a glove! Damn no-brainer!
A stylus-dependent device, like the Palm Centro, won't be a fingerprint magnet... but then they'd just whine about the stylus instead.
They need some point to nitpick on.. Don't they..
I think they're talking about the casing being a fingerprint magnet. The screen on my G1 gets fingerprints but the casing is matte and looks clean as a whistle at the end of the day.
His Voice Always Owns
why is it symbian?
Would be much better for me if it is with WinMo
+1
I used to like the symbian on the regular smartphones, but the touch version is very very inconsistent. Needs cart loads of improvement to bring it to smartphone UI levels. H/W is mindblowing though.
Well for 500 euros ($660) I think that this phone is the way to go if you want a new all in one smartphone.
Looks good, except for the OS. It should have been Android. I'd even prefer WM, where you have a large array of developer apps to add. But Symbian? Come on.
That's all I could think of, while watching him wade through that clunky UI. This should have been Samsung's Android phone. What a waste.
You guys have swallowed Android lure totally. It would have ruined the phone, it's by far inferior to Symbian in terms of features and amount of applications. WinMo? That crap does not even support capacitive screens nor 16M color displays plus the WinMo usability is just pure torture. I bet that you guys have never ever tried Symbian S60 phones or even seen S60 5th edition phone live.
Wait for the Android Tegra phone...
I will.
This cell phone looks really cool. I would buy it right now if i could. Does anybody know when it will be coming to the U.S.? How much it will coast? And which cell phone carrier will sell it? I am hoping for AT&T :) But if the next Iphone (3rd generation) is a lot better then Omnia HD. I will maybe buy the next Iphone over the Omnia HD :)
Look HTC!!! LOOK!! A 3.5mm audio jack!!!
Not fond of the idea of it being useless in sunlight, definitely not liking the very low screen resolution (compared to, say, the HTC Touch HD) and the Symbian OS looks pretty darn ugly and has the typical slowdowns that you so often see on Symbian (and on Windows Mobile too, of course, but that's another story.)
HD video capture is the only attractive thing with it, and the novelty of AMOLED.
If you need HD video capture it makes a lot more sense to buy a proper HD video camera and some other phone to do all the other stuff better, imho. Blah phone.
The best camera is the one you always have on you.
This would rock, if only it kept using WinMo. Why did they switch to Symbian?
Uh, so whats the battery life on this thing if you use it for anything other then a phone, which they skipped in the review... Wait it still lets me call people right?
Timmy Tim is catchin' on
This will probably be my next smartphone purchase. I'm using a Symbian S60 3rd Edition one right now - Samsung G810 - and really like it. It's feature rich, highly customizable and very well supported by third party developers.
I know Symbian isn't that popular in the US. However, in Europe, and Asia, it's very popular for the exact reasons I mentioned above.
Android is too new for a flagship device of the OmniaHD's nature. And, WinMo is too bloated and function-limited.
It's a nice phone but...
- Would like to see android on it.
- Would like to see a hardware keyboard, I have large fingers, and it's just so annoying to text on a soft keyboard.
- A little more curvature? It looks great from the top, but from the sides, it just looks too boxed.
Why isn't it Android? Because the OmniaHD is all about HD video recording and Android has only just added basic video recording support.
Why isn't it WinMo? Because it's a consumer phone and WinMo's built-in apps (WMP, IE) are all ass. Not every consumer knows or wants to install 3rd party apps.
Symbian is the obvious choice here. Symbian has a long track record of the best and most cutting edge multimedia features.
What about the WinMo phones that come with Opera pre-loaded? Look at the recent HTC devices - no need for third party apps for most consumers. Plus the interface looks much, much nicer than anything Samsung is offering on their S60 devices, Omnia HD included.
Samsung could replace PIE with Opera, WMP with TCPMP, add in all of the missing features, etc. but that's only going to add to the price of the phone.
Why not go with an OS that offers everything built-in?
waited for him to be like "say hello to my lil friend... the omnia hd"
I don't understand these manufacturers. Everyone's screaming for a decent Android phone and they keep paying to develop their own OSs. It's like they're spending money to turn off customers.
If this phone had android on it+high resolution, I would buy that shit in an instant
So its like a nokia but better, DO WANT , i shall own this phone if it kills me
im guessing it's going to verizon? ::fingers crossed::
...like the previous omnia
no its unlocked GSM
Actually, I don't think the general public is screaming for an Android phone. Ask your non-tech friends about android. You'll be explaining. Time will tell if Symbian was the right choice.
ya know i want it.
BUT I KNOW once i get it, i'll want more.
the dice app is cool, but i need more!!!!!
Here's what I want to know: You know on devices that try to look seamless, how even if the device is black, you can tell where the screen ends and the bezel begins? Not to bring up the love/hate iPhone, but you can totally see the screen when it's off, right? Well, does AMOLED provide the ability to put the same material behind the screen, so it looks a lot more like there's no screen until you turn it on? Or are these AMOLEDs used with phones and portable devices not clear when off?
It's obvious you can see LCD's when they are off, because they have a distinct color. I know this is a small anticipation, but I have been hoping for a device with one of these screens where the material behind the screen is the same as the outer casing, and is completely visible through the screen when it is off. I mean, how cool would it be if you really can't see the screen until you turn it on?? We could have displays that are basically invisible while they are off! :)
if i could run webOS on this Id be interested
Nice but I still want something like the HTC HD with Android on it..
What is up with no xenon flash? Damn! Almost 2 years ago Samsung bought out the G800 with 5mp, xenon flash and unbelievably a 3x optical zoom!!! This phone only has an LED camera light. LG Arena is also bad like this, their old Renoir phone has Xenon flash and same for the Nokia 5800, no reason why it could not have xenon like some other old Nokia's.
Why aren't phones coming out with optical zoom and zenon, pathetic cheap $hit. We want it all dammit and these phones cost enough, some people are making too much profit for too little features.
Because both Optical Zoom and Xenon Flash massively increase the thickness of phones.
Samsung learned from their "mistake", because the G800 didn't sell very well at all.
Sorry but i just have to go back to the whole "it's not an HD screen" argument, HD is not just the resolution, its the screen size, which translates into pixels-per-inch and the dot pitch (basically how big each pixel physically is. you can have a 1280x720 resolution but if its on a movie theater size screen and you sit too close you will see pixels. PPI plus proximity define what "resolution" you are seeing. so for idiot's sake take a 42" tv at 1280x720 has about 35 pixels per inch translating into a dot pitch of about 0.73 the omnia HD on the other hand, has nearly 198PPI and a dot pitch of about 0.128 .... the higher the PPI and the lower the pitch, the higher the perceived "resolution" is.
in simple terms, if you can't see pixels at your viewing distance, its perceptibly HD (assuming the source file is of equal or higher resolution)
i know this has been released already. but any idea when the unlocked version will be released? i see it here to come soon but no price uodated yet. http://www.puremobile.com/Samsung/Samsung-i8910-Omnia-HD-Black-GSM-Phone--/ please inform me on this.
thank you.