[cruddasj]

Its proper review time!


Good evening all

Some of you may have noticed by now that I have been off the forum for a while. Ive not been doing any developing stuff for the omnia at all, as I have been trialling the omnia pro as my work phone.

Seeing as this would be the next logical step for omnia users to go to, I thought some of you may appreciate my thoughts on the phone, what you should look for and what you will get out of it. Im also going to weigh up my future choice of phone in comparison with the omnia pro model. Hopefully this will come in use to someone!

Okay, so the contenders in the review are obviously the original Omnia i9XX, the Omnia Pro (B7610 model), Omnia 2 (i8000) and my two front runners, the HTC Touch Pro 2 (Rhodium) and the much hyped HTC HD 2.

As a prenote, at my place of work, we are undertaking wireless research in education, needing a variety of mobile platforms for remote note taking on work experience (in health & social care). As part of this we had to choose 5 of the top mobile phones available, and being an omnia owner, I put forwards the Omnia Pro as my choice (along with the milestone).

So lets get into things!. My first comment is probably not what you guys are expecting, in short, I am dissapointed with the Omnia Pro. The processor clocked at 800mhz sounds great, and even SKTools gives benchmark figures to back this, but something is not quite right. Now to be fair, I am running the stock Samsung ROM, but it just seems terrible, maybe a custom ROM would improve on this, but it will need to be alot. The amount of crap samsung put into the ROM weighs it down so much that it has become unstable and laggy. But, I think that the real problem is routed in the quality of the processor and the drivers supporting it. I have been running the CPU on High under its speed settings (only available in the samsung UI) but it still seems slower than the original omnia i900 despite having a higher clock speed. The ROM will often freeze, especially when rotating the phone. Secondly, the graphics on the phone, to be frank are just poor. Having installed Sense 2.5 you can really tell that there is no graphics chip in the phone and everything grinds to a halt.

However, there are some nice features in the phone. The hardware keyboard is nice to have (I now really want a qwerty on my next phone, unless I go for the hd2). Although the keys are not raised and a little close together, it still speeds up typing tenfold to touch screen. Also the build feels rock solid. Its a very well built phone (but does make it a little chunky, but quality prevails)

Now, the big hype, AMOLED screens. I cant fault the screen quality, basically, its beautiful. A 480 x 800 resolution makes things look really crisp and the AMOLED colour display is absolutely spot on!

On the digitizer side, touch response has definately improved since the i900 but capacitive is the way forward people! Having used some of the latest capacitive screens (on the milestone and hd2), resistive just doesnt match up to the competition, but does the job.


Having used it for over a week now, I have just hard reset it and am now back on my omnia i900, with the omnia pro being put back in its box and into my desk in the morning. Maybe, some time in the future a ROM update will help things, but for now, I just can't settle with it. Others have felt the same, if you roll over to the B7610 forum on here you can read for yourself.

Now from what I understand, the omnia 2 is very very similar to the B7610 spare the hard keyboard. I cant be exactly sure on this one and there probably are some small differences but from what I have read, experiences are similar (but there are some good guys working on the phone, Rodrigo especially and Bruno has now got his hands on the device so he should be developing in the near future )



So where to go now?

My thoughts are to HTC. Im not a fanboy of them, as this would be my first HTC device. From what I have read and experienced, they are great for people that like a quality phone and love hacking the hell out of them. I have narrowed it down to 2 devices as my top two contenders. The Touch Pro 2 and the HD 2. The qwerty on the Touch Pro 2 is just jaw dropping. Its so so comfortable to use.....but, is it worth only having half the processing power? Last week I had both of the devices side by side to see how things performed. Running 6.1, the Touch Pro 2 was very smooth. I only got a small bit of lag when quickly running through TouchFlo (It was the vodafone branded 1.3 version). The screen seems quite responsive but nothing in comparison to the HD 2. As a further point, android runs well on the touch pro 2 with most features working.


And finally the Titan of the modern phone world. The HD 2. What can I say?...... Except what a phone! The screen is great (really responsive, even to the lightest of touches), the 1ghz processor is blisteringly fast, sense runs really well, and I couldnt get it to lag (and I was trying hard!) It comes with 6.5 as default but is impending a 6.5.3 update (but no WM7, for that research the HTC HD3).

In the early days of release, there were bugs with the phone. The camera was pink, the screens were faulty....theres no getting away from that. But.....it has all been fixed now and the new models are shipping with all the fixes making it a really nice experience

However.....although you may think I am raving for this phone, it does have some things that I find a little annoying. I am being picky here, but the truth is that its the little things that get to you after a while. Im not going to leave it out of a review otherwise it would just be biased. Okay so the first is, the new screens have small reflective dots all over the screen in a grid pattern. When caught in the light, it just looks a bit, well, messy. Secondly, a 4.3 inch screen is great, but it just didnt fit snug in my hand. I dont know about you guys, but sometimes I will text using the hand to hold the phone and my thumb to type. This doesnt seem like an option on the HD 2. This may just be the size of my hands, but I would check first before buying one. It would get to me if I had to type using my other hand!


Furthering HTC devices. They can be flashed from SD card and activesync. SD Card flashing after the omnia seems really attractive

So my conclusion:

If you are looking to buy a new WinMo phone, I wouldnt reccomend going bargain over quality. The quality of the processor is vital to the phone. The 624mhz omnia i900 processor kicks the crap out of 800mhz omnia pro simply due to the architecture. The touch pro 2 also performs better on the mere 528mhz.

If you are going to shell out for a new contract or just buy it flat out, I would think very very carefully about which handset you choose. The omnia i900 still fares up to some of the newer handsets so make sure you personally test them before making the jump. The omnia is still a good quality phone, but I am growing weary of it (my screen has a light spot, the digitizer is knackered etc etc)

Maybe you guys can help me decide my next device?!

Heres the choices,

The touch pro 2:

Great qwerty but may lag. Lots of custom roms and android available.

HD2:

Wont fit in hand and no qwerty
But twice the power although a little more expensive.
No android but custom roms available.



Let me hear your thoughts and I hope this makes some people take a second thought before jumping straight into a contract. Let me know what you guys think!

Also, guys who use the omnia pro and 2 are welcome to put their thoughts in! It would be nice to get a thread going highlighting in detail everything about the phones so that when people decide to upgrade from the omnia i900, they have a little more guidance in where to go (if they want to stay on WinMo)


Get posting guys!

Regards,

Jay

This post has been edited by cruddasj: 18 March 2010 - 10:17 AM

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[Billus]

Umm, you were gone?

Nice review there mate. I think I'm just gonna hold out for a Windows 7 Phone Series (jeeze, what a mouthful) device. Hopefully it won't be locked down down device like the iPhone or I'm heading straight to the Android scene. Hopefully 7 has copy and paste as well as multitasking otherwise Microsoft just is setting up for another disappointment, particularly those who stuck out with them to the very end.

Edit: Actually it's more of an awesome article. You write for any blog or 'zine?

This post has been edited by Billus: 18 March 2010 - 02:01 AM

[papaslime]

i think i will move to android phone because its much more cheaper in price like samsung spica or milestone

[LuckyTan]

I tried my friend's OmniaII, I don't quite like it, probably flashed to custom ROM would be much better. Still, would prefer to move on to HTC instead. Eyeing on HTC Diamond2 or HTC HD2... (if I ever decided to let go my Omnia)

Still pretty happy with my Omnia, thanks to all the tweaks and custom ROM available here. heehee...

[leap_ahead]

i still with Omnia i900

[justpratik]

Please..... Stop This kinda Thread... We Already Losing Many User of i900..
And if u do effort like that.. one day this omnia.modaco.com will be closed..
do u want it????

[cruddasj]

Billus, on Mar 18 2010, 02:00, said:

Umm, you were gone?

Nice review there mate. I think I'm just gonna hold out for a Windows 7 Phone Series (jeeze, what a mouthful) device. Hopefully it won't be locked down down device like the iPhone or I'm heading straight to the Android scene. Hopefully 7 has copy and paste as well as multitasking otherwise Microsoft just is setting up for another disappointment, particularly those who stuck out with them to the very end.

Edit: Actually it's more of an awesome article. You write for any blog or 'zine?

Hey there. No, I dont write for any magazines or blogs To be honest, this is my first attempt at a full pledged review. I would also wait for the WM7 phone series, but I can warn you now it might be locked down. Head over to XDA and there is a Rollup of the first SYS/XIP leaked release. Also, as it is running a new kernel, the previous winmo stuff is not going to work :'( No more touchflo/sense :| BUT, microsofts minimum specs mean tha any device you choose will have at least 1ghz processing power! Say goodbye to lag

If you want my opinion, if you go android, get the Motorla milestone. It is the only android device that I would consider moving away from winmo for. The build quality is unbelievable and the capacitive screen is great. You can really feel the quality of the phone and I guarantee you will not be dissapointed in terms of build and responsiveness.

I dont think that Winmo7 will have multitasking by default, but WinCE is WinCE. The guys over at XDA will be all over it like a tramps coat, so it wont be too long until alot more features are hacked out of the devices (but no one can firmly say as it is still unreleased)

I can get my hands on the milestone if you would like a more in depth review at any point. Just PM me and i'll have nosey

papaslime, on Mar 18 2010, 05:13, said:

i think i will move to android phone because its much more cheaper in price like samsung spica or milestone

^^^^Read above matey ^^^^

LuckyTan, on Mar 18 2010, 05:35, said:

I tried my friend's OmniaII, I don't quite like it, probably flashed to custom ROM would be much better. Still, would prefer to move on to HTC instead. Eyeing on HTC Diamond2 or HTC HD2... (if I ever decided to let go my Omnia)

Still pretty happy with my Omnia, thanks to all the tweaks and custom ROM available here. heehee...

I agree with you on this one. The HTC HD 2 is great but I would reccomend getting a hands on feel for the device though. See how it feels in your hands. The screen is massive and it really is a beautiful device, but make sure you can hold it comfortably! As a heads up, research into the HTC Tera and Trophy if you havnt seen them before. They are the leaked upcoming HTC range. Now leaked brochures are never really that trust worthy, but the HTC Photon which was included in it, has materialised (HTC HD Mini). I would say that it is fairly safe to say that the release dates will be true. The whole series will be based on a 600mhz qualcomm processor, which should result in smooth performance. They look really cool too!, so it may be worth just hanging on for an extra few months.


I think I am going to try and get some users from the B7610 and i8000 thread to post in this thread to get some first hand reviews from them. It would be nice to know real feelings about the phone instead of generic reviews spewed out by magazines. Yes there will be some users who dont agree with me, but thats good. There will always be people who like a phone, and there a probably some parts I have not noticed about the phones that make it nice to use. It will be more useful to hear both stories.





Anyhow, I need to get some coffee and get back to work. I will be back later this afternoon (UK time)

Have a good day all and I look forwards to hearing your reviews.


Jay

This post has been edited by cruddasj: 18 March 2010 - 09:59 AM

[leap_ahead]

justpratik, on Mar 18 2010, 11:29, said:

Please..... Stop This kinda Thread... We Already Losing Many User of i900..
And if u do effort like that.. one day this omnia.modaco.com will be closed..
do u want it????

No ! ! !

[Petter88]

cruddasj, on Mar 17 2010, 23:51, said:

Its proper review time!



If you are looking to buy a new WinMo phone, I wouldnt reccomend going bargain over quality. The quality of the processor is vital to the phone. The 624mhz omnia i900 processor kicks the crap out of 800mhz omnia pro simply due to the architecture. The touch pro 2 also performs better on the mere 254mhz.

The touch pro 2 has a 528mhz CPU if I'm not mistaking (not 254mhz). At least the touch pro (1) has it, and a quick googling tells me this should be the same. Not that it makes a big difference... Didn't mean no disrespect... Great review! Thanks!

BTW When buying a phone with capacitive screen it might be a good idea to take a look at this: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=OI51Ub1TFts Not posting it because iPhone comes out on top, but to inform of that theres a big difference between touch-sensor and touch-sensor. This video shows a test of iPhone and some android phones (milestone, htc droid and nexus one) but the method is simple and can be done by yourself.

Cheers!

[cruddasj]

justpratik, on Mar 18 2010, 09:29, said:

Please..... Stop This kinda Thread... We Already Losing Many User of i900..
And if u do effort like that.. one day this omnia.modaco.com will be closed..
do u want it????

I dont really know what to say to this one. I can see how much you care about the omnia i900 community. I must have missed all of the various ROMs and material you have learnt about and posted!

I am in no way wanting the omnia thread to close but you have to face fact that not everyone is going to have an omnia forever. And when it comes to the time to upgrade, it would be nice for people on the forum to have an insight on where to go next, with real experiences from various device threads. Or would you prefer to do your own searching from various scattered sources when you next want a phone?

[cruddasj]

Petter88, on Mar 18 2010, 10:06, said:

The touch pro 2 has a 528mhz CPU if I'm not mistaking (not 254mhz). At least the touch pro (1) has it, and a quick googling tells me this should be the same. Not that it makes a big difference... Didn't mean no disrespect... Great review! Thanks!

BTW When buying a phone with capacitive screen it might be a good idea to take a look at this: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=OI51Ub1TFts Not posting it because iPhone comes out on top, but to inform of that theres a big difference between touch-sensor and touch-sensor. This video shows a test of iPhone and some android phones (milestone, htc droid and nexus one) but the method is simple and can be done by yourself.

Cheers!

Hey, sorry yes it is 528! Id made a typo but thankyou for letting me know Updated the first post now.

The line test is a good way to check how true the screen is. Bare in mind though that earlier HTC HD 2 models had a big problem with misalignment, but has now been fixed. iPhone may still prevail but the software just doesnt cut it for my needs (and its buggy )

Thanks for the positive comments and its cool to see input from more and more users

This post has been edited by cruddasj: 18 March 2010 - 11:14 AM

[leap_ahead]

cruddasj, on Mar 18 2010, 12:08, said:

I dont really know what to say to this one. I can see how much you care about the omnia i900 community. I must have missed all of the various ROMs and material you have learnt about and posted!

I am in no way wanting the omnia thread to close but you have to face fact that not everyone is going to have an omnia forever. And when it comes to the time to upgrade, it would be nice for people on the forum to have an insight on where to go next, with real experiences from various device threads. Or would you prefer to do your own searching from various scattered sources when you next want a phone?

sure ,,, but after some months maybe new mob coming out

[cruddasj]

leap_ahead, on Mar 18 2010, 10:50, said:

sure ,,, but after some months maybe new mob coming out

Hey Leap. The review should get better after a few months, but its good to get the first impressions too Long time no speak, how have you been? Have you got any devices lined up for your next mobile? If so, what and why?

[LuckyTan]

cruddasj, on Mar 18 2010, 17:37, said:

As a heads up, research into the HTC Tera and Trophy if you havnt seen them before. They are the leaked upcoming HTC range. Now leaked brochures are never really that trust worthy, but the HTC Photon which was included in it, has materialised (HTC HD Mini). I would say that it is fairly safe to say that the release dates will be true. The whole series will be based on a 600mhz qualcomm processor, which should result in smooth performance. They look really cool too!, so it may be worth just hanging on for an extra few months.

Thanks alot, cruddasj. I would keep an eye on these.

[corpisa]

cruddasj, on Mar 17 2010, 16:51, said:

Its proper review time!

Good evening all
Regards,
Jay

Chef,
what will be your opinion on htc touch pro (not pro 2, just pro ). I´m fifteen days from being able to renew my contract and my only options with wm are omnia 2 and htc touch pro. Just looking at hardware specs the choice will be very simple for me but I don´t like the software that comes with o2 and what I would do will be to immediately try to flash a rom with touchflo but the options are not that many and they don't run 100% yet, there are other UI options like spb, wad, etc.. but I always get bored of them really quick and return to roms with touchflo in them on my omnia so why not get and htc that at least hast a newer version of the touchflo I love and that has infinite cooked roms (running sense 2.5 apparently very smooth and fast) I recently told a friend I will wait to see what other options my carrier brings but my hands are itching for a new toy
any advice for me? is the htc touch pro older than the omnia i900?
slds,

This post has been edited by corpisa: 19 March 2010 - 03:46 PM

[justpratik]

cruddasj, on Mar 18 2010, 15:38, said:

I dont really know what to say to this one. I can see how much you care about the omnia i900 community. I must have missed all of the various ROMs and material you have learnt about and posted!

I am in no way wanting the omnia thread to close but you have to face fact that not everyone is going to have an omnia forever. And when it comes to the time to upgrade, it would be nice for people on the forum to have an insight on where to go next, with real experiences from various device threads. Or would you prefer to do your own searching from various scattered sources when you next want a phone?

thanks cruddasj for reply...

all i want to do is save this community....

we all people are impatient. we all want something new everyday.

but the fact is some can afford changes some won't

and u cant see some thing grown in front u and then slowly slowly dieing...

thats wat i want to say...

nyway thanks sir...

[cruddasj]

corpisa, on Mar 19 2010, 15:44, said:

Chef,
what will be your opinion on htc touch pro (not pro 2, just pro ). I´m fifteen days from being able to renew my contract and my only options with wm are omnia 2 and htc touch pro. Just looking at hardware specs the choice will be very simple for me but I don´t like the software that comes with o2 and what I would do will be to immediately try to flash a rom with touchflo but the options are not that many and they don't run 100% yet, there are other UI options like spb, wad, etc.. but I always get bored of them really quick and return to roms with touchflo in them on my omnia so why not get and htc that at least hast a newer version of the touchflo I love and that has infinite cooked roms (running sense 2.5 apparently very smooth and fast) I recently told a friend I will wait to see what other options my carrier brings but my hands are itching for a new toy
any advice for me? is the htc touch pro older than the omnia i900?
slds,

Hey there. From what I have read, the touch pro has some good reviews, but I wouldnt get it myself as it will fall behind the rest of the pack. 'Dutty' from XDA makes ROMs for the device, which apparently make the experience alot nicer, but i just dont think it will match.

Who is your mobile operator and how long have you been with them? You may be able to negotiate a much better phone as part of a 'retention' deal. There is no strict rule stating that they cannot offer you a phone from their business shop. It is risky, but if you tell them that you are considering another provider (dont say your definately swapping) they may either 1) offer you a better handset or 2) reduce the cost of your contract. My mums boyfriend has managed to reduce his contract from £30 a month, to £16, and gets alot of extras like 'stop the clock', 'passport' and also gets the top of the range handsets! (this is where im looking at getting my htc touch pro 2 or hd2 from!)

The Touch Pro (1) is older than the omnia and the processor is clocked lower. I dont think you will feel a great difference in speed, but you will gain the qwerty keyboard. I dont think this would be enough of a jump for me personally to sign into another contract.

If you are not able to negotiate a better handset with your provider, heres my advice that you probably dont want to hear .............. wait.
It is hard once you get the itching for a new phone to have to wait, but I think that you will be able to get a better handset, so play it cool and see how your provider responds

[kantu70]

Hello there: i´m very happy whit my omnia i900. Is the first phone that aloud me to play, change the ROM and change the digital scream and still working. It´s very comfortable in my pocket and think have the perfect side for a phone. I really like the HTC H2D but it´s very big to me. don´t know if the size of the milestone, but do you recomended?
Tks, and sorry for my bad english

[jms2367]

I'm thinking of getting a new sim free phone myself. I think I don't want another winmo device and am looking at the Samsung Spica. The deal breaker at the moment is I need to root the phone in order to install programs in the storage card (from what I read in which I might be wrong though) and the RAM is only 128Mb.

[Billus]

So ummm, we still talking about Symbian devices or have we all moved on to our Androids, WinMo's and iPhones?

Which phone should I get do you guys and/or girls reckon?



Joking aside, my personal opinion is that everyone waits till November or December to pick out there awesomest phone. New Windows Phones and Androids and Symbians should make it interesting. For my next phone I'm definitely picking one with a proper physical keyboard.

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