Samsung I8700 Omnia 7
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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.
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.
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
