Samsung Omnia SGH-i900 (16GB)

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It didn't take very long from the time Samsung announced the Omnia to when it became commercially available. That's a good way of doing things as a long waiting time dilutes the excitement a company may have stirred up during the initial unveiling. So here we have it, the review of the Korean company's competitor to the HTC Touch Diamond.

Design

In true Samsung style, the Omnia has a very solid feel to it. It has a metallic bezel around the widescreen format display which is level with the screen--ideal for finger tapping and scrolling. Below the screen are two buttons, Call and End, with an optical directional pad between them which can also be depressed to select items. Beyond that, there are just a few more buttons on the right edge for the camera, volume control and one shortcut key.

The back of the SGH-i900.
(Click for larger)

Just one I/O port is available on the left edge, a Samsung proprietary connector for charging, syncing and connecting a wired headset. Though we usually don't like such an arrangement, the redeeming factor is that an adapter is included with the Omnia which allows you to plug in regular 3.5mm audio headphones, a good feature to have considering Samsung expects this device to be used as a media player.

Most of the back of the i900 is its battery cover. Though made of plastic, it has a brushed metal feel to it which is rather attractive. Also found round the back is the lens for this PDA-phone's 5-megapixel camera along with its LED light for photo-taking in dark situations. There is also a lower-resolution camera at the front for video calls.

Removing the back cover will reveal a small battery, a SIM card slot and a microSD card slot. The annoying thing is that you need to remove the battery to swap the microSD card, a minor inconvenience for those using more memory than the built-in 16GB storage.

One thing that's prominently missing is a stylus slot. Whether it's a space constraint or a deliberate exclusion, this won't go down well with some users. A stylus is included though, and this has a clip on the end which fits into an optional leather pouch but not anywhere on the device itself. For most users, this isn't a practical solution, so a third-party stylus pen may become part of the Omnia user's arsenal.

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