Samsung Omnia Pro B7320

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Features

Running on the Windows Mobile 6.1 (WM6.1) Standard operating system means the B7320 doesn't come with a touchscreen. Like the i600 with its carousel, card-like custom interface, Samsung has introduced a new Wiz Pro software on top of the WM6.1. From the Home screen, you can access your favorite contacts, music player, photo gallery and frequently accessed applications. These are quick and easy to use but offer nothing beyond the first-tier experience. Once you get past this skin, the rest is standard Windows Mobile software. Naturally, you get all the features that come with the Microsoft OS including Exchange support, document handling and Windows Live Messenger.

According to Samsung, the Wiz Pro user interface will be available for future Samsung WM6.1 Standard devices. Additionally, once Microsoft makes the upcoming WM6.5 software available, Samsung will be providing a software upgrade for this model and all its other Omnia devices announced at CommunicAsia.

Connectivity-wise, the B7320 comes with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth which supports the A2DP profile for wireless stereo headsets. Aside from the camera on the back for snapshots, this smartphone also has with a secondary front-facing one for video calls. It doesn't have GPS built-in, so those who need that feature should look elsewhere.

Photos taken at their maximum resolution using the main 3.2-megapixel camera look fine for casual shots. Don't expect too much from it as the sensor is pretty rudimentary with no autofocus and LED for dark scenes.

For storage, you get 100MB on the device and up to 16GB if you buy an optional microSDHC card slot.

Performance

We were pretty impressed when we saw a 1,480mAh battery listed on the B7320's specifications sheet. Given its small screen (which usually means lower energy consumption), we expected good stamina from the high-capacity battery. Unfortunately, this was not to be. A single full charge gave us under two days of use. This included some Web surfing using HSDPA, light texting and making calls. Sad to say, the battery life of this smartphone wasn't any better than large touchscreen handsets and heavy users will probably end up charging it daily.

On the bright side, performance was snappy, thanks to its 528MHz Qualcomm processor and copious 256MB RAM. We did not notice any slowdowns during our review period. Memory management was also simple because pressing and holding the Home button would call up the Task Manager, letting you quit applications running in the background effortlessly.

Call quality was acceptable. We did not experience any dropped calls and on the occasions we had to use the speakerphone, it worked well enough in quiet locations.

Conclusion

All things considered, the B7320 isn't particularly exciting. Aside from the Wiz Pro layer which is merely skin-deep, this smartphone offers nothing innovative. Other handsets with similar form factors include the HTC Snap and upcoming Nokia E72, both of which offer more in terms of aesthetics and features.

That said, the price of this Omnia Pro is very enticing. Its full retail price is S$498 and it can be had for under S$200 when operator subsidies are factored in. If all you want is a no-nonsense messaging phone on a tight budget, the B7320 might just fit the bill.

Tags: Smart Phone, E-mail, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Keypad, BlackBerry Curve

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