Verizon Samsung Omnia II impressions by Engadget
When the Omnia II first appeared on our radar, two things caught our attention: TouchWiz 2.0 and Windows Mobile 6.5. To be honest, neither of these items really piqued our interest: we knew what to expect from WinMo and had serious reservations about Samsung’s latest and greatest UI. That said, we were more than willing to suspend judgement until we saw her in action. With bullet points that include a 3.7-inch AMOLED display, 800MHz processor, and 8GB storage (before you even get to your microSD card), one could honestly hold out hope for a pretty decent product. Did the handset make for a satisfying, well-rounded smartphone? Or did it just find new ways of repeating the same old errors? You’ll have to read on to find out.
Physical build
Opening the product box we’re greeted by an uncluttered, some might even say “stylish” (though not us) handset. A little taller than your iPhone 3GS, although a shade thinner and narrower, the plastic is solid (doesn’t feel like a toy), the silver running ’round the edges tasteful and understated, and the little bit of texture encompassing the handset buttons stands out and feels pleasant to the touch, unlike a similar (but less obvious) treatment on Sammy’s Behold II. Also unlike the Behold II, this guy gets away with three front facing buttons (two handset controls and a center button select) to the Behold II’s seven. Along the side lay the camera shutter button, lock / unlock button, and micro-USB port. On the backside we see an understated and easy to ignore red and black checkered finish, 5 megapixel camera, and a camera flash. Also included along the top, as one would expect, is a stylus.
