All About Symbian (AAS) spent a day with the Samsung Omnia HD and came back with impressions. They noted that the unit that played with was final hardware and recent (though not final) firmware. They plan to post a number of articles on different aspects of the phone in the coming days/weeks, however this time round they talk about the device itself, form-factor and interface. Having read the article there are a few things that really excite me but also a few things that have me concerned.

What am I excited about?

3.7-inch AMOLED Screen: The capacitive touchscreen has had positive remarks from all that have seen it. AAS refer to it as a “stunning experience” combining the biggest screen with best touch technology (capacitive rather than resistive) and the brightest display system. Having seen the pictures that AAS posted I’d tend to agree (included below). Obviously, OLED screens are not perfect and can be unreadable in full sunlight but that’s a minor negative given how gorgeous the screen looks otherwise.

Capacitive Touchscreen: AAS found that the screen was very responsive, without needing a firm press down. Overall they found it to be a superb user experience. “You touch the screen, something happens. Immediately.”

Video Playback: AAS found that it played every video file they threw at it (bodes very well). They were also pleasantly surprised by the sound output with strong sound coming from the Omnia HD’s two speakers.

Lots and lots of RAM: The unit that AAS tested had 256MB of dynamic RAM. Now we don’t know whether production units will have this, but we really hope they do as it will just add to a smoother user experience. Fingers crossed.

What has me concerned?

No Camera Cover: AAS claim that the Omnia HD will not come with any kind of lens cover or shutter. The reasons they attribute this to is that auto-shutters (like the INNOV8/i8510) have a tendency to jam. Now I can understand their point but there must be another way. After all Samsung are touting this as a high-end imaging device (well for a phone anyway) and to leave the shutter uncovered goes some way against its mantra of 8MP camera/720p HD video recording. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Samsung will introduce some kind of compromise at the last minute.

Audio Lag in HD 720p Video Recording: The Omnia HD can record video in a number of different resolutions. Whilst AAS found that 720 x 480 was generally fine (the captured audio wasn’t brilliant apparently), they found that recording in 1280 x 720 (HD 720p) led to noticeable audio lag. Now we know this isn’t the final firmware so hopefully this can be fixed, however given that this is one of their key marketing features it’s concerning that there are still niggles here. Strangely though, when downloading the sample 720p video on AAS’ site, it seemed to play with hardly any lag in Windows Media Player – which has me slightly perplexed?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 11:29 PM and is filed under Hands On. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.