Samsung I8700 Omnia 7 disadvantages

Introduction

Though it might seem like a chicken-and-egg situation, the question in our case never was which one came first: Windows Phone 7 or the Samsung I8700 Omnia 7. We know you’re all adding two and two together. Our Windows Phone 7 review was based on this Samsung Omnia 7 here. You can’t blame the OS for taking unfair advantage but you can’t deny the fact either that a Super AMOLED screen can make anything look good.

Not that we’re saying that Windows Phone 7 is just anything. And of course, it just can’t and won’t be anything you want it to be. But that’s not the whole story. Let’s just say Microsoft are in charge of the numerology and leaving it to manufacturers to do the math.

And it’s simple but expensive math. WVGA screens, 1 GHz processors and dedicated GPUs are the minimum requirements for any set to run the brand new OS. Let’s just repeat that – those are the MINIMUM requirements.

No wonder then, the Samsung I8700 Omnia 7 has no choice but to be the Galaxy S of the new Windows phones. It has the same 4 inches of a gorgeous Super AMOLED screen, a 1GHz Snapdragon powerplant and it captures 5 megapixel photos and records HD videos. If there was one thing to hold against the I9000 Galaxy S it had to be the plastic finish. But Samsung listened to their customers and gave the Omnia 7 the same get-up as the first Bada phone.

So, the Omnia 7 seems to have it all to make a grand entrance – premium build, powerful hardware and a brand new OS are all thrown into the mix. We can hardly think of any weak spots on the chassis.

Key features

·                 Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support

·                 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support

·                 4" 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel)

resolution, multi-touch input, scratch-resistant glass surface 

·                 Windows Phone 7 OS

·                 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8250 CPU

·                 5 MP autofocus camera with face, smile and blink detection, geotagging, LED flash

·                 720p HD video recording at 25fps

·                 Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g and n support

·                 GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass

·                 8/16GB internal storage

·                 Accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensor

·                 Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

·                 microUSB port (charging) 

·                 Bluetooth v2.1

·                 FM radio with RDS

·                 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery

·                 Good audio quality

·                 Microsoft Office Suite for Mobile

·                 Zune integration with wireless syncing

·                 Excellent cloud services integration (SkyDrive, Windows Live, Xbox Live) 

Main hardware disadvantages

·                 No stereo speakers

·                 No lens protection

·                 No memory card slot

WP7-specific limitations

·                 No system-wide file manager

·                 No Bluetooth file transfers

·                 No USB mass storage mode

·                 Limited third-party apps availability

·                 No Flash or Silverlight support in the browser

·                 Too dependent on Zune software for file management and syncing

·                 No video calls

·                 New ringtones available only through the Marketplace

·                 Music player lacks equalizer presets

·                 No multitasking

·                 No copy/paste 

·                 No DivX/XviD video support (automatic transcoding provided by Zune software)

·                 No sign of free Bing maps Navigation so far

·                 No internet tethering support

It’s no big secret Microsoft wants to sell Windows Phone 7 big time. The easiest route to success is to set out the blueprint and leave the rest to the manufacturers. It might even seem life in Redmond is easy and the makers are meeting a real challenge. To develop a phone that not only meets Microsoft’s strict requirements as a high-performance carrying vessel for the new OS, but one that also has its own spirit and identity. Samsung seem quite up to the task so far.

If you’re eyeing Microsoft's latest and greatest as a possible purchase, you’ll surely go through the pros and cons of the Omnia 7 carefully. Samsung is guilty of committing only a couple of them, while the rest are all Microsoft’s fault. But in the end, they will all be held against the phone in equal measure.

As many of our readers have already commented under our Windows Phone 7 OS review, the new OS is quite similar to Apple’s iOS in its strange limitations – stuff such as lack of a USB mass storage mode or no copy/paste, or even the lack of a memory card support – those are all quite inexplicable to the regular user.

Microsoft went the same way with the synchronization – you’ll need the latest Zune software (minimum ver. 4.7) and that’s the only way to access your phone – photos, music, videos and applications – all goes through Zune. Sounds familiar, right?

Still the Windows Phone 7 is designed as a premium OS and Microsoft has obviously managed to convince most major manufacturers to accept the strict hardware requirements. And despite the silly-looking limitations, it looks they may be all on to something great.

But let’s not waste any more time in introductions and go straight to the Omnia 7 hardware basics – right after the jump

Samsung I8000 Omnia II disadvantages

Introduction

Samsung's top tier of Omnia devices is populated by some seriously heavy-hitters - first the 720p video recording Omnia HD and now the Omnia II - with its best-in-the-business display, WM 6.5, zippy pro

ut the features of the Omnia II but here they are in a bullet list, which should be easier to readcessor and preloaded software galore, it will certainly win the hearts and minds of Windows Mobile fans.

It's no secret that the Samsung Omnia II has the HTC Touch Diamond2 in its sights. The Omnia II has several advantages, not the least of which is the amazing 3.7" AMOLED WVGA display. For the acronym-allergic - WVGA means 480 x 800 pixels resolution, which several years ago might have been considered acceptable for a computer monitor. That resolution is not so uncommon today, the exciting part here is "AMOLED" - active matrix organic LED. Or in plain English - brilliant picture quality.

It doesn't end there - the 800MHz CPU is one of the speediest around and the available capacities of up to 16GB built-in memory and up to 32GB external storage via microSD card offer more than enough memory expansion. There's Wi-Fi and GPS, the autofocus camera shoots 5MP stills and D1 video at 30fps and has dual-LED flash, there's DivX playback out of the box and HSDPA and HSUPA push the phone to great wireless speeds.

We can spend a lot of time talking abo. 

Key features:

• 3.7-inch 65K-color resistive AMOLED touchscreen, 480 x 800 pixels
• Windows Mobile 6.5 with TouchWiz UI 2.0 and Media Gate 3D
• Samsung S3C6410 800MHz processor; HW Graphic Accelerator
• 256MB RAM
• 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, geotagging, face detection, smile shot, image stabilizer, Wide Dynamic Range (WDR)
• Records video in D1@30fps, QVGA slow-mo video recording
• Tri-band 3G with HSDPA (7.2Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76 Mbps) support
• Quad-band GSM support
• Smart dialing
• Wi-Fi with DLNA technology
• Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality
• 2/8/16GB internal memory
• microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• FM radio with RDS
• Bluetooth and USB v2.0
• 3.5mm standard audio jack
• TV-out functionality
• DNSe audio technology and SRS sound effect
• DivX/XviD video playback
• Proximity sensor for screen auto turn-off and ambient light sensor
• Accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation, turn-to-mute and motion-based gaming
• Office document editor
• Full Flash support in the web browser

Main disadvantages:

• No xenon flash
• No camera lens cover
• 65K color limitation of display results in banding in color gradients
• microSD slot is under the back cover
• Browser has issues with Flash support

The Omnia II sample used for this review runs Windows Mobile 6.5, while the units that are currently available on the market run Windows Mobile 6.1. Those however will be eligible for a free upgrade to ver. 6.5 as soon as Micorsoft release the final build of the new OS (rumored late September or early October). All Omnia II units that will ship after that will run the Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box.

UPDATE 29 Aug: There seems to be a lot of commotion in various forums, our comments section included, about the actual CPU speed of the Omnia II - 667MHz or 800MHz. Samsung official specs seem to deliver some contradictory information and you should rest assured we will be contacting Samsung directly to clear up the issue.

All that being said, it’s just numbers we’re talking here. If you think that calling it 667MHz makes Omnia II a worse performer, you’re wrong. The clock rate of a processor is only useful for providing comparisons between computer chips in the same processor family and generation and is hardly useful for direct comparison between competing mobile platforms. But we digress.

Our point here is that no matter what the actual MHz number is, at no point did we judge the Samsung Omnia II by its pure clock rate. Instead we quite more value the real-life impressions of our experienced reviewers and we’ve hardly drawn any conclusions based on the pure processor spec sheet. And neither should you – no matter if it is 667MHz or 800MHz we’re talking about in this particular case, the Omnia II remains a leading performer among smartphones this year.

Now that we've taken that off our chest, jump to the next page while you catch your breath after reading that long specs list. We continue with the Omnia II doing a 360 pirouette and then look at the hardware side of this multimedia Goliath.

Samsung I7500 Galaxy disadvantages

Introduction

Android is set on grabbing the number two spot in the smartphone market by 2012 and the Samsung I7500 Galaxy might be the type of phone to get it there. Perhaps less for the Galaxy at this point, and more for the Samsung, but we'll see about that. 

The I7500 Galaxy is a "Google experience" phone, and has the intrinsic advantage of having the search giant's infrastructure behind its back. For one, YouTube and Picasa integration sure add value to the 5-megapixel camera.

And as to people who spend their time digging around the Internet for oft hard to find information, we really appreciate the improved search widget. And that thingy is about to get better - Android is a bit like Google's other projects, a perpetual work in progress that keeps getting new features and polishes the occasional rough edges.

The I7500 Galaxy is the company's first take on Android but if we put the OS aside, it should be a solid Samsung touchscreen with all the gadgetry we've got used to in smartphones. Of course, the Android platform still has a few issues to address and get 
some annoying limitations out of the way. Let's see what this here Android by Samsung can do for you and where it might fail. 

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76Mbps
• Android OS v1.5 (codenamed Cupcake) without customizations
• 3.2" capacitive AMOLED touchscreen of HVGA resolution
• Qualcomm MSM72000A 528MHz CPU, 128MB RAM
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, YouTube and Picasa integration
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
• Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and turn-to-mute
• Digital compass for automatic navigation of maps
• Standard microUSB port for charging and data
• microSD card slot with microSDHC support
• 8GB internal storage
• Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
• 3.5 mm audio jack

Main disadvantages

• No smart dialing
• Camera features are a bit outdated
• No videocalling
• No multi-touch gestures
• No Flash support in the web browser (coming soon via the open screen project
• No DivX/XviD video support or a third-party application to play that
• No FM radio
• No TV-out port
• No voice dialing
• Somewhat limited 3rd party software availability
• No Bluetooth file transfers (not without rooting)
• No tethering (not without a custom ROM)

Samsung have established a strong presence in the touchscreen market. Their usual weapon of choice is TouchWiz, which brings PocketPCs and feature phones closer together, projecting a consistent brand image.

With the Galaxy, they're stepping out of their comfort zone - a new OS and a new interface. TouchWiz for Android is yet to come (and in the case of I7500 never is more likely than later).

To make sure it does well, Samsung have equipped the Galaxy to match to specs of the top Android phones available on the market. And it sure needs every bit of ammo if it's going to challenge the well-entrenched HTC Hero. The I7500 Galaxy can take it on spec for spec and even win a few rounds.

But that's on paper, and we guess you're curious to see the real deal. Jump to the next page for this Einstein's worth of a question: what is the Galaxy made of?

Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica disadvantages

Introduction

Samsung had a slow start in Android but they are making up for it with some impressive high-tech devices. But the All-star team is certainly not leaving anyone behind and the Galaxy Spica just got its update to the latest Android 2.1. Now it's as ready as ever to hit the competition. And it hits hard.

Devices like the I9000 Galaxy S and the I8520 Beam certainly have the lead but it's down to the foot soldiers to clean up the mess when super AMOLEDs, Snapdragon and WVGA projectors leave the scene.

Speaking of those - you'll know that when it's Samsung and a Galaxy, the middle name is Android. It holds true for the I5700 Galaxy Spica much as it did for the first-born Samsung droid – the I7500 Galaxy.

The Spica goes by the name of Galaxy Lite in some markets, but this has nothing to do with processing power. It packs a faster CPU than the original Galaxy and, as a matter of fact, 800 MHz is better than most droids get.

The phone we’re reviewing is no news really, but Android 2.1 certainly is. Given the OS upgrade, the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica is obviously planning to stick around and turn the brightest star in this galaxy. Let’s see what it’s got under the belt.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
• Android OS v2.1 Eclair, upgraded from v1.5 Cupcake
• 3.2" capacitive touchscreen of HVGA resolution
• 800 MHz CPU
• 3.15 megapixel autofocus camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
• Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
• Standard microUSB port for charging and data
• Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
• microSD card slot, up to 32GB support
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Great DivX/XviD video player
• Limited smart dialing
• Voice dialing
• Equalizer presets are a first in the Android realm

Main disadvantages

• Inadequate sunlight legibility
• No ambient light and proximity sensors
• Erratic performance under Android 2.1 (noticeable lag in some apps)
• No Live Wallpapers
• No 3D view in the gallery
• No preloaded document viewer
• No multi-touch support
• CIF video recording is below par
• No Flash support for the web browser
• No two-position camera shutter key, slow autofocus
• Average loudspeaker performance

The Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica normally comes with the Android Cupcake (v1.5) but you can upgrade it to the new Éclair (v2.1). That’s exactly what we did. Anyway, the Spica is still a first-gen droid on the outside: plenty of buttons and an average touchscreen – in both size and resolution.

A thing to definitely note is TouchWIZ. In their first go at Android, Samsung were not too keen perhaps on customization. Under Android 2.1 the Galaxy Spica is a different story. It has the company’s custom touch interface on top of Android and although it’s not a complete overhaul, the first impressions are quite positive.

The rest of the package is standard Android with some of the improvements ver. 2.1 implies. The Spica offers a wide range of connectivity options, including HSDPA support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. You can transfer files over Bluetooth as well. Another Éclair goodie is not there however – the Spica’s 3.2” capacitive screen does not support multi touch. The Live wallpapers feature is also not present.

Media have always been a Samsung forte and the 3.5mm audio jack and 3MP autofocus camera is the least the Spica can offer to assert this claim. What users will certainly cheer is the DivX/XviD video support right out of the box.

Now, joins us on the next page for the Galaxy Spica unboxing and hardware check u

Samsung Google Nexus S disadvantages

Introduction

Another year, another heir to the Droid throne – and Google are trying to be democratic about it. Which is a roundabout way of saying they’re not monogamous. For the Nexus One, Google teamed up with HTC. This time around, they trusted Samsung to do the job, using the Galaxy S as a base.

It’s only their second try and users are given a second chance to like the Royal Droid. A tall task it is – the very concept is fundamentally incompatible with the free and open source Android system. Royal blood is not a benefit in a free democracy. Google did learn it the hard way with the Nexus One.

Google’s second smartphone child has more than just an image problem to tackle. The Samsung Google Nexus S has to keep pace with the evolution of the platform. The “S” in the name may stand for many things – from second to superior. But with Android 2.3 Gingerbread inside, speed is not far from the truth either. Here’s what else the Nexus S has to offer in a nutshell.

Key features:

·                 Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support

·                 HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps

·                 4.0" WVGA (480x800) Super AMOLED Contour Display with curved glass screen 

·                 Android OS, v2.3 Gingerbread

·                 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 (Hummingbird) processor

·                 16GB storage, 512 MB RAM

·                 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging

·                 Front-facing VGA camera

·                 Wi-Fi b/g/n with DLNA

·                 GPS with A-GPS

·                 Portable Wi-Fi hotspot and stereo Bluetooth v2.1

·                 Near Field Communication chip

·                 Accelerometer, proximity and light sensors

·                 Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

·                 microUSB port (charging)

·                 Adobe Flash support out of the box

·                 Latest Google Mobile apps

Main disadvantages:

·                 No microSD slot

·                 No 720p video recording 

·                 All-plastic body, fingerprint magnet 

·                 No DivX and XviD support (no actual video player) out of the box

·                 No dedicated camera key and no lens cover

·                 No FM radio

·                 No smart dialing

·                 Overly expensive for its feature set

As you can see, the Nexus S shares a lot of the Samsung Galaxy S components. Powered by the very same 1Ghz Hummingbird processor and having the same 512MB of RAM, it feels a bit quicker probably thanks to Gingerbread.

The fact aside that our review isn’t exactly on time, this hardware is so 2010, while the imaging department is surely from 2009. We wouldn’t fuss about it was it not for the Tegra 2 SoC and its 1080p video recording, which has the power to be the next big thing in the industry. The emphasis here being on next. Maybe Google should’ve thought of that and instead of rushing to release the Nexus S.

If they chose to wait a couple of months, a dual-core CPU could’ve made a lot of difference – especially with Gingerbread. The Nexus S would have been a beast just like its predecessor was, with the first droid powered by a 1Ghz processor on the market. With this hardware, the Nexus S is no more than an overclocked Nexus One.

But wait a minute – maybe not all is lost and the Nexus S will be salvaged by the software. Not only is it the first Gingerbread-powered phone to the market – it can also count on special treatment in terms of getting updates on time.

Anyway, when you have a second try at something the results are supposed to be better. Just like when parents raise a second child differently having learned from their past experience. Stick around to find out if the Google Nexus S is the definitive, all-muscle replacement of the Nexus One we’ve all been waiting for

Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 disadvantages

Introduction

Samsung’s QWERTY messengers have not exactly been setting the world on fire. They have done well though to set the scene for this one. The Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 follows on the heels of Omnia and Corby. It puts Android in a time-tested form factor and is ready to entertain upgraders coming from dumbphones and PocketPCs alike.

The Galaxy Pro has a clear objective – deliver the full Android experience, a good social package and hassle-free messaging. What does it need to meet those tasks? Well, a comfortable QWERTY keyboard obviously, possibly a touchscreen, enough processing power and at least some basic shooting skills to capture the important moments. Of course, a messenger is nothing without a proper OS and this is where the Android Froyo comes in. But let’s see what else the Galaxy Pro has to offer.

 

Key features

·                 2.8" 256K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) resolution

·                 Full four-row QWERTY keyboard

·                 ARMv6 800MHz CPU, 270MB RAM, 180MB of user-available storage

·                 Android 2.2.2 (Froyo) with TouchWiz 3.0 UI 

·                 Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support 

·                 7.2 Mbps HSDPA 

·                 Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n with hotspot functionality

·                 GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass 

·                 3.15 MP autofocus camera 

·                 QVGA video recording @30fps 

·                 microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0 

·                 microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)

·                 Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

·                 Accelerometer and proximity sensor

·                 Document viewer out of the box, paid editing

·                 Stereo FM radio with RDS 

·                 Light and compact 

·                 Smart dialing

Main disadvantages 

·                 The QVGA screen looks bad and limits the choice of apps

·                 Portrait homescreen ported to landscape takes some time getting used to

·                 QVGA-only video recording

·                 No shutter key 

·                 No Adobe Flash support in the browser 

·                 No secondary video-call camera

·                 No ambient light sensor 

·                 No dedicated video player app

·                 No multi-touch

·                 Android 2.2 Froyo, instead of latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread

It should be clear by now the Galaxy Pro B7510 isn’t your typical Android powerhouse for HD video, quality imaging or heavy-duty internet browsing. Gaming is out of the picture too. To be honest, the Galaxy Pro doesn’t quite make the grade as a BlackBerry competitor. To make up for it, it is social and friendly – and a great texter too. Virtual keyboards have been getting better but the Galaxy Pro’s superbly laid-out keypad is the prefect addition to Gmail.

So the Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 it is and, although this is not the typical Android package, let’s hope the experience is up to scratch. With a handful of Samsung Ch@ts, Corbies and Omnia messengers gone almost unnoticed, we’re about to see if our Galaxy Pro here has what it takes to leave a mark. Our traditional hardware check-up is due right after the break

Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 disadvantages

Introduction

Minis are supposed to be the cheaper, stripped down version of the bigger and superior gadgets. There’s a long list of bigger and superior siblings for the Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 to choose from but it has its own two feet to stand on.

So, the Galaxy Mini is the last shake of the bag. It will never get to rub shoulders with the big and scary smartphones. But it’s not all bad you know. Not bad at all actually for what basically is an entry level smartphone with complete connectivity, social networking, internet, Android apps and music. It’s the right kind of device for smartphone newbies. A good option if you just don’t want to spend a truck-load of money on a smartphone.

Key Features

·                 Quad-Band GSM and dual-band 3G support

·                 7.2 Mbps HSDPA

·                 3.14” 256K-color QVGA TFT touchscreen 

·                 ARMv6 600MHz processor, 384MB RAM 

·                 Android OS v2.2 (Froyo) with TouchWiz v3.0 UI

·                 160MB internal storage, hot-swappable MicroSD slot, 2GB card included

·                 3.15 MP fixed-focus camera with geotagging

·                 GPS receiver with A-GPS

·                 Stereo FM radio with RDS

·                 3.5mm audio jack

·                 Document editor

·                 Accelerometer and proximity sensor

·                 Swype text input 

·                 MicroUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth 2.1

·                 Social network integration

·                 Good build, youthful styling

Main disadvantages

·                 Low screen resolution limits choice of apps

·                 Fixed focus camera

·                 No secondary video-call camera

·                 No flash, no dedicated camera key

·                 Poor video recording QVGA @ 15fps

The Galaxy Mini was not made to impress. It was made to serve and be simple to use. It’s a solid little smartphone that has all the important ingredients. It can do most of the things your Galaxy S can, just without the stuff that pushes the price up.

With this one, Samsung look to encourage their loyal users to consider a smartphone. Versatility and friendliness make Android quite inviting. The Mini has the specs to back that up too.

Budget-conscious users are having a range of competing phones to choose from and the Samsung Galaxy Mini will have to work harder to get noticed. But the right price tag will put it on the radar of the young, novice smartphone users. That gives the Mini something to start with