Nokia N82 or Samsung Omnia

[LancelotSA]

Elyaradine, it is nice to get someone else's point of view but again it does show how two people can view the same device differently.

I currently use the N95, so I use RotateMe for autorotation and not the built in app as with the N82, but I have a short cut on my active screen that allows me to access it in one click. The same goes for another 5 applications that I use regularly. Added to this the two soft keys can also be customised, so all in all I can have access to 8 regularly used applications by just clicking one button! Add to this the fact that the gallery has it's own dedicated button and the camera is opened with the lens cover and most things are accessible with very little effort.

Yes, you said you want this all to happen straight out of the box but is it really so much effort to set the phone up as you want it once only? At least this gives me the option to change any of these buttons when the novelty of that app wears off and another comes along.

On to your specific problems, even without creating a shortcut, how often would you be changing the auto rotation settings? Probably once only?

And in the camera interface, yes short cut buttons may be nice as an option but even decent digital cameras require you to scroll through options to change settings. It is also something you will not do often as the intention of a camera on a cellphone is pretty much to point and shoot.

Default email providers... well now you have just proved you are lazy! It only takes a few minutes to set up once and it is done. To say a phone is left wanting for the reasons stated seems a bit bizarre. It does make me wonder why you chose the N82 over a WM device however?

 

[Elyaradine]

You've misunderstood me. I'm not "attacking" the OS or anything. I'm simply stating some of the aspects where it falls short of other phones I've tried. I love the N82 feature set, and I enjoy customising my phone. But if someone asks me what phone I recommend, I want them to know not only what the phone does well (heck, it's been mentioned all over this thread), but what it does badly. If they want a phone that "just works" without having to play with it, I'd recommend an HTC or something similar, even though personally, as someone who likes customisation, I'd prefer an N82.

Again, I'm just stating the facts. Call me lazy if you want and make it personal, but that hardly helps any argument.

I see the implementation of default email settings on other phones (heck, even S40 devices offer Gmail settings built in!), so why should my high-end N82 not experience the same time-saving luxury? I wouldn't even have thought to complain about it had I not seen other (much cheaper) phones offering something so easy that was lacking in my phone, and it makes me feel a bit cheated.

I often change the auto-rotation setting, since there are certain times (like in the Gallery) where you do want the feature enabled, and times (like playing games that are built for only one screen resolution) where it becomes an annoyance, and although I've grown used to typing all of the 10-12 buttons that it takes me to change one little setting, I shouldn't have to.

The specific gripes with email? POP3 messages are deleted after you've retrieved and viewed them. Not instantly, but once you disconnect and reconnect, and retrieve your new list of messages, your retrieved ones simply disappear. And with IMAP, if you want to set your phone to "auto-retrieve" messages, you HAVE to (you don't have a choice) download ALL emails on your mail server. Considering I have thousands of emails in my Gmail account, this is very unreasonable. Sure, my N82 has enough memory to handle it, but it makes my phone lag. (There are work arounds, like archiving your entire Gmail inbox, but you shouldn't have to work around this kind of thing.)

Digital cameras are digital cameras. They don't want lots of buttons, as this clutters the interface. On a phone, however, you already have these extra twelve buttons on the phone. Why not make use of them? Sony Ericssons have crappy little 2Mpx cameras, but they get the interface right with all of their shortcut keys. Sure, the N82 has a far superior camera, but why offer just half a package? Why not spend an hour or so putting in shortcut keys, and improve the whole N82 experience? It's supposed to be their flagship camera phone, after all.

There's a lot that the phone does right, but most of them have been mentioned previously in this thread, and I just thought it a good idea to show people the other side of the coin. If you're happy living with the above (and the occasional random phone reboot) after weighing it against the phone's numerous positive aspects, then it's definitely for you.

But it could have been better, with minimal effort.

 

[LancelotSA]

Cool Elyaradine. Can you not create a shortcut to the auto rotate feature now that it is built in to prevent the 10 button presses?



Now back to what I was going to post....

My update: I put in an order with MTN for the N82, however, I saw an Omnia advert tonight and started having second thoughts as it looked good (full marks to their advertisers! ). The camera is important to me on the phone so I thought let me just have another look online and see what is said. Unfortunately I was unable to find an N82/Omnia camera comparison but I found a review I had not seen before and this raised more concerns... so perhaps Omnia owners can comment on these.

This is the review : http://www.mobiletechaddicts.com/2008/08/21/samsung-i900-omnia-review/

This brings up a few concerns already like no feedback from the keyboard, but then the real worrying part is the comments at the end. Things like :

Great review, but you need to try living with one for a few days.

The camera - quality is poor indoors and has a long delay in taking the photos, which result in image blur. If you compare images to a viewty, it looks more like a 2 meg camera.

Build Quality - Looks nice, but very cheaply made. It won’t be long before its scratched and that little charging flap won’t last long.

Screen - Nice but the touch interface is not that accurate.

Signal - 3G when it feels like it, just drops for no reason

Battery - Died after 2 days, but I have been testing the phone out.

GPS - Works with Route66 but TOM TOM is a joke, the GPS receiver seems to be suffering with a com port problems. A fix has been found for TOM TOM 7, but so far I can’t get it to work (see - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=416564&page=3)

Widgets/Menus - They are a great idea, would be nice if you could customize them more.

On screen keypad - I’ve tried and tried to get to grips with this, but you can only see one line at a time when replying to texts. I still find it easier to use the stylus and original WinMobile keyboard. It’s just a shame the stylus is like an afterthought, as it hangs of the phone by a lanyard (more like a piece of cotton).

Screen lock - This is a pet hate of mine, why do companies supply phones that do not lock when the standby button is pressed. Easy fix, set the screen lock to 0 and your friends won’t get those strange pocket phone calls….

It’s a nice phone, even with its problems, but unless they sort out the GPS I can’t justify upgrading from my XDA Orbit.

The camera on the Omnia is a JOKE! These guys from Samsung must be living in another planet if they see fit to label the cam as a 5MP model. My old N6630 takes way better pictures than this and my N82 and P1i easily beats the trash taken from this phone. Im guessing the 2MP I phone camera takes superior pictures to this

Keyboard

As what was mentioned, forget comparing this to the I phone. The input method here sucks. I enable the mouse option to assist in tapping out the letters as you easily make mistakes with the little spacing of the virtual keys which you need to press hard. No haptics also for typing in which complicates matters more.

I’ve now been living with the Omnia for two weeks and it is a strange mix of very good bits and strange poor bits. If it’s designed for a business user it is again useful and annoying in equal measure.

The good bits:
It’s a very good phone. Reception is so clear that when the other person stops talking I often think I have been cut off. Screen is clear, bright and seems to handle external daylight conditions fairly well. Works as a hand held computer and has lots of storage. Radio is good and clear.

Bad Bits:
The external dangly stylus is utterly awful. You are meant to tie it to a loop on the side of the casing. I’ve dropped it three times now taking it out of my pocket. the stylus has caught on something and as the phone is very smooth down it goes. Every time it hits the floor it falls apart. The top end of the stylus has started to scratch an arc across the screen.

At least twice a day it simply turns off. It has to be reset to start working again.

There are no voicetags so hands free voice activated calls are not possible. I used this feature on my old phone all the time. Losing it is really annoying

Speed dial is only accessible after digging through layers of menu

Widgets may be a great idea but Samsung don’t have others available to buy, there are no instructions on how to add/change them.

None of my previously purchased Windows CE will work on CE6. I tried and it took 2 days to restore my phone.

The manuals available on line, on provided CD and hardcopy are very poor. They don’t describe half the functions available on the phone.

samsung omnia (i900)

so i bought this phone a month ago. it arrived from hong kong very rapidly.
i read through the instructions, and installed a couple of apps online. i found that a lot of the windows mobile apps did not work with this phone

the blue tooth is appalling in comparison to other samsung devices like the yp-p2 and yp-s5, with the signal losing strength very easily, and cutting out a lot.

the phone oftens hangs once a day, and i have found that i have needed to remove the battery and switch it back on to use it again. which isn’t helped by the very long start up time. i’m not surprised by the lengthy start up time, but could do without it on a phone.

as with all samsung products, they do not provide software for use on a mac, which is troublesome having to find a windows machine to transfer data, sync the phone, or make any kind of back-up.

i have found the text input works well, but for me the only viable option of the 9 available is the samsung phonepad, meaning i’m no better off than using a traditional phone. but this works much better than an my dads iphone which i’ve played around with a bit.

the battery life is poor. i found i could completely run down a fully charged battery in 3 hours with wifi turned on. with 3g on it would be dead in under a day. otherwise the battery life is great when used as a plain phone.

the camera looks great when it works, which i have found to be infrequently. §1the normal response when trying to start the camera is a box saying that the program can not be run to to a lack of video memory. even after closing all running programs this is not remedied.

the screen looks great, and the accellorometer works great, and i have no problems with the 1-3seconds it takes to rotate. the problem is with video playback. not only does the phone not play back .svi (samsung video) but when the device plays a movie it tends to be quite laggy and unpleasant.

i haven’t tried using the phone with the headphone jack, so can’t judge the audio.

network strength is fine. i find the phone book great although the touch and drag scrolling can be annoying. when you touch to drag, sometimes this doesn’t scroll but opens the contact.

the menu system is great, simple, but the touch drag through programs proves problematic like with the phonebook.

adding further widgets does not work. so i couldn’t add any weather widgets like with the htc phones.

opera browser is lovely to use, and should be available on all phones. it works in every way that could be expected, and i found it much better than safari on mobile. copying and pasting is a big point that windows mobile has over apple mobile.

the phone looks cool, and i have kept it in a sock so have no scratches or finger prints which keeps it looking wow.

my bottom line is that i think the phone is wonderful but windows is slow and prone to crashing so i am selling the phone.
having played with an iphone this last week, and trying the nokia n96, htc touch diamond and black berry bold, i am most impressed by the black berry bold, and keeping a separate device for media playing.
the htc dream is out this week, and new blackberry thunder (touch screen) so for now i choose my samsun d900i.

I have had problems after buying this phone. I’m not really someone who is expert in phones so normally just simple basic phone applications are good enough for me. I don’t need to use the high-end appilcations like windows mobile, GPRS, GPS, windows messenger etc. However it still poses problems.

Cons:
The start up time is so slow, it almost took an entire minute
It hang a few times
The screen went black and doesn’t activate after sleep mode sometimes even though I press the power button, I changeed the firmware and so far it has been ok
Touch screen isn’t very sensitive
GPRS can turn on by itself- this is a major problem because sometimes it may be downloading stuff itself and charging me money at the same time- This is really a pain, I had to change the settings so that it doesn’t happen.
The camera flash isn’t very good
Battery life is very bad if you use the camera, watch movies, listen to the radio too much. The newer firmware DXHH3 eats up even more battery life.

Pros

The camera is 5 megapixel!
Mine is 16gb and plus the microSD- I can add another 4gb or more
There is wifi included which I like as I can tap my school’s internet
The bluetooth is not bad
The widgets are kinda cool
There is windows media player which I really like

Now this may seem like I have just pulled out all the bad ones but have a look at the review and you will see that what I have shown is a fair reflection of the comments. Now I realise these are opinions so perhaps someone can refute them? Or perhaps a ROM update has improved a lot of these issues? It is worrying....

 

[RogueTr00per]

@Lancelot: Yeah, those comments are worrying. Certainly I've seen some of the issues mentioned, but fixed with ROM updates. Strange thing is, all of the video reviews I have seen I have interpreted as recommending the Omnia.

[edit]Phonedog.com did a comparison (iPhone 3g v HTC Touch Diamond v Samsung Omnia) in which these phones were all rated very closely. Despite him not being a fan of Windows Mobile[/edit] He said that depending on what one is looking for in a touch phone, that would determine which one to get.

Played around with dummy N82 today. Dummy phones suck... can't get a good idea at all of what the real thing is gonna be like.

EDIT: Hmm... some Omnia stuff i must have a look at on Phonedog: http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-reviews/samsung-i900-omnia/at-a-glance-198634.aspx

 

[scuzzy]

@LancelotSA: To answer some of your concerns about the Omnia.

I have owned one for a week now - very happy.
Comments I agree with:

Build quality:
The back panel is this thin piece of plastic - bit dissapointing.
What I am also a bit worried about is the front chrome lining - I remember the Samsung U700's just came off for nothing. Holding thumbs the Omnia wont.
Overall it feels solid though.

Bringing it back into comparison with the N82 - the N82 itself isn't built with the best materials ever, so I would score both phones the same on this front?

3G:
Haven't had problems - stays on 3G for as long as the signal is strong enough, else reverts back to GPRS (like most phones do, not true?)

Photos:
Could be better - a tad grainy. Although compared to my SE K800, they are def better than 3.2MP quality in good light, even indoors at day time. Night time shots cant compare though since my SE K800 also had a Xenon flash.

GPS:
Well, since the SA version comes with Garmin, I cant really comment on those peeps' problems.
The Garmin nav works like a charm - voice guided, multiple languages, camera alerts, geotagging, full Southern Africa maps etc etc.

Keyboard:
Will require some getting used to. keyboard feedback would've been great, although to me, not a trainsmash.

Overall, very satisfied to date.

 

[Shads]

I also used my phone for a while now.

I agree with most of the comments by Scuzzy. The camera is not the best on the market. But when taking it outside or inside during the day, the quality is 5MP quality. But it makes up for that with a whole lot of features. I find using the phone very easy. And the GPS is brilliant. I think if the reviewers had to mention comes with free Garmin GPS, the ratings would shoot up.

I am too holding thumbs that the screen would not peel. That would be a major drawback for me. But it looks brilliantly. And I just love the large screen. Photo's look better on it simply because u see it so much bigger.

The touchscreen to me is quite responsive with me rarely have to press the button twice. I do use the stylus though and this cut out the need for repetitive touching.

The built quality is very high. I think better then the N82 as I have heard the N82 gets scratches and the black shines through (which must look hideous).

Overall, very happy. Everyone I show the phone to just absolutely loves it. And I have shown it to quite a few N95 8GB owners!

 

[LancelotSA]

Thanks guys. This is what makes the forum great... we can all trade opinions, pool resources and get some feedback on the phones.

Yeah, Ryan, dummy phones suck. The N82 dummy is a shocker! Might as well give you a rectangular piece of plastic to look at. Pretty much only lets you see the size. I saw a woman with an N82 the other day and asked her to hold it, and yes I do agree the feel is a little cheap with it being all plastic. Seems to be the way the phone makers are going to keep down costs and weight. Also the N82 has a plastic screen I think and not glass.... not ideal for scratches!

 

[LancelotSA]

EDIT: Hmm... some Omnia stuff i must have a look at on Phonedog: http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-reviews/samsung-i900-omnia/at-a-glance-198634.aspx

That site has a review of the N82 too... and it does not rate it too high but then sums it up perfectly with this :

Nokia’s N82 may be the best camera phone on the market right now, but it’s a bulky, complicated, expensive device for geeks and not the average consumer. You want features? N82’s got ‘em and then some. You want a stylish phone that’s fun to use? Look elsewhere.

As an aside that sounds good to me as don't want to be an average user!

Some distinct bias though as the Omnia weighs 122g yet no mention of bulkiness is mentioned under "what's not hot" but for the N82 at 114g it is mentioned numerous times as a con.

 

[LancelotSA]

I checked this out for myself so thought I'd share it as I went along... (trying to convince myself about my imminent choice really! ). A comparison between the N82 and the Omnia on numerous review websites.

www.reviews.cnet.co.uk Editor's rating out of 10
Nokia N82 8.3
Omnia 7.9

www.phonearena.com Phone arena rating out of 10
Nokia N82 9.5
Omnia 9.0

www.reviewcentre.com User ratings out of 10, so a lot more subjective
Nokia N82 9.1
Omnia 5.9 (Not sure about this one...)

www.wirelessinfo.com
Nokia N82 46.2076
Omnia (not rated yet)

www.mobileburn.com No ratings specifically but a comment
Nokia N82 "Highly recommended"
Omnia "A solid Recommended"

www.stuff.tv Star ratings
Nokia N82 5 stars
Omnia 4 stars

www.zdnet.com.au Editor's rating out of 10
Nokia N82 7.7
Omnia 7.5

www.testfreaks.com/ Freak grades out of 10
Nokia N82 9.5
Omnia 9.1

 

[RogueTr00per]

I checked this out for myself so thought I'd share it as I went along... (trying to convince myself about my imminent choice really! ). A comparison between the N82 and the Omnia on numerous review websites.
<snip>

Thanks, might try to check some of those reviews out then.

I would say to u plz hurry up and get ur N82 to give us feedback, but I don't think it will help my decision as I'm sure u won't be dissapointed, as u kinda know what experience u r going to be getting when u get it

If the MTN store called me tomorrow and said my N82 has arrived, I honestly don't know what I am going to tell them. I think i want the Omnia, but the R319 p.m. price tag is making me pause.

Thanks Shads and scuzzy for the latest feedback. From your comments I think I would be happy with the Omnia, just pity about the LED flash.

Is the Omnia screen also plastic?

Is it easy to change from WiFi to 3G and vice versa, when surfing?

 

[RogueTr00per]

That site has a review of the N82 too... and it does not rate it too high but then sums it up perfectly with this :

As an aside that sounds good to me as don't want to be an average user!

Some distinct bias though as the Omnia weighs 122g yet no mention of bulkiness is mentioned under "what's not hot" but for the N82 at 114g it is mentioned numerous times as a con.

Yeah, i know what u r saying there. But perhaps because the Omnia is slimmer (IIRC) that is why they don't complain about it being bulky? I know the OMnia isn't the slimmest phone out there, but I imagine it causing my jean pant pocket to bulge less than the N82 or my fat N70

 

[LancelotSA]

OK I got the N82 a few hours ago.... very first impressions, and bear in mind that I had got to the point that I had accepted that it was not the prettiest, is that it is not at all bad looking! Further to this I immediately bought a silicon case for R150 to protect it from dings and scratches. so in hindsight looks are pretty meaningless when the phone is covered in a opaque silicon case. With it on the phone actually looks quite "active" as if it was a sporting phone. Perfect for me!

Something else to note is that the N95 does come with 2 years voice navigation included on Nokia maps (NM)! You activate it after purchase. so now I will see about making a call between using NM (never did on the N95 as I did not have voice navigation) or reloading Garmin. Garmin is on my MicroSD card that I had in my N95 so it should be a fairly easy process. I'll give NM a chance though.

The screen.... a lot of talk about this screen being smaller but I can tell you that my immediate reaction is that because it is the same resolution as the N95 on a smaller screen it is crystal clear. I am the kind that likes small icons on my laptop etc so things being smaller appeals to me anyway. Watched the preview movie on the phone and, as with any cellphone, you would not be able to sit across the room and watch it but it is perfect at a reasonable distance.

The keypad.... the actual number buttons have not been a problem to me at all. As stated I put a silicon case on immediately and have been using it without issue. In fact I actually like them. With the case on it does make it slightly less easy to see the letters for each key but with it being a standard keypad i think most of us know where the buttons are anyway. The only button that could possibly be said to be a slight issue, if you really wanted to look for something to moan about, is that, as stated in some reviews, you can press the centre button when pressing a direction on occasion. It has happened to me once already but I can already tell I will get used to it over time.

Haven't played with too much else though but will be sure to give feedback as I go along. Oh by the way it does feel a lot quicker than the N95... oh and the switch to open the camera cover feels real high quality! In fact I am fairly happy with the overall feel but happy to have it in a silicon case.... feels a lot more protected!


EDIT : by the way I was also flip flopping until the last minute. In fact just earlier today I played with a friends Samsung F480 with similar interface (i assume) and touchscreen as the i900 and it was fun and different but i did wonder how long till that novelty wore off. The issues mentioned above with typing also came into it. And yes the extra cost of the i900 means it has to be a clear winner over the N82 to get the nod!

 

[Smooth Criminal]

Congrats! Now go back to this post and tell me if I've lied to you

BTW I think you mean that the N82 comes with a 2 year voice navigation license, and not the N95?

 

[cyberarmy]

Good for you Lance.

My friend who got a N82 told me if he can choose now he will get a Omnia, his friend got one and I am getting mine very soon.

I had a N6600 before I migrated to Windows Mobile, and I will not use any 'dumb' phone onwards (phones not running WM, Symbian.etc).

 

[sand_man]

OK I got the N82 a few hours ago....

oooh... congrats... please tell me you got it in black!!!

 

[LancelotSA]

Congrats! Now go back to this post and tell me if I've lied to you

BTW I think you mean that the N82 comes with a 2 year voice navigation license, and not the N95?

Yip, I did mean N82 sorry... need to get this right. The N95 is still lying here, backing up all the data so I can transfer it. Will leave the old MicroSD with games on it in the N95 for the little one (no not the newborn! ). By the way this is another plus with my move. Everything is fully compatible.

I'll be sure to reread your post once I have checked things out myself.

Good for you Lance.

My friend who got a N82 told me if he can choose now he will get a Omnia, his friend got one and I am getting mine very soon.

I had a N6600 before I migrated to Windows Mobile, and I will not use any 'dumb' phone onwards (phones not running WM, Symbian.etc).

As stated played with an F480 today and the touch screen was "fun" but not sure it was feasible over the longer term. Seemed more like a novelty to me. I've taken one photo with the flash already and that alone made me happy about my choice... I agree though that there is no way in hell I'd ever be able to go back to a "dumb" phone!

I still say the Omnia decision is influenced by looks. A female friend of mine today said the N82 is ugly... this would influence some people. With the protective covers on these phones the looks are "ruined" anyway. I'll take a pic of my N82 with the cover on later... I think it looks fine and will be pretty safe from damage in falls.

oooh... congrats... please tell me you got it in black!!!

I tried my best but MTN only had silver. I asked numerous times and they even seemed oblivious to it existing in black. They seem to just order in makes and not worry about colours. But in saying that the silver grows on you... I already think it looks cooler than in pics.

 

[Smooth Criminal]

Well have fun with the camera, it is going to burn a lot of your time There are a lot of settings to play with, especially in low light when you want to see what the flash can really do

And yeah it does look much better than the pics suggest. I've gotten over the fact that I couldn't have the black, because the chrome does grow on you.

 

[sand_man]

Yeah I here you guys but I saw a plastic replica in black and IMO it is so much more striking than silver but purely subjective I guess, not a deal breaker at all...

 

[LancelotSA]

Yeah, Smooth... also dying to get that situation arising, which I seem to often end up with, where the subject is up against the bright sky and all we end up with is a silhouette photo!! NO MORE! That's what people overlook, a flash is not just for night time images.

And Sand, I hear you too. I wanted the black based on pictures seen but I probably would have bought a cover for that too so it would have lost some of it's effect anyway.

 

[LancelotSA]

The photos of the N82 silicon cover as promised :