Tracking back through a Twitter search today I came across an interesting price drop in the UK. The Omnia Pro is now selling for 329 pounds including taxes which is excellent value for a 3.5” AMOLED WVGA smartphone with 5mp cam and 720×480 video recording. I also found a link to a full review from PocketNow which is worth checking out.
More images over at PocketNow
Like me, they’re not too impressed with the Samsung ‘life’ Today screen but are well impressed with the battery life; something I hadn’t really noticed myself. The review doesn’t go too deep, forgetting to mention some of the features that make the Omnia Pro unique (DNLA, DivX certification for example) but I do agree with their final summary and one point I want to highlight on the WM6.5 version is the low available RAM. A lot of programs fail to remain loaded in memory which really negates the advantage of a phone with relatively high processing power. It was better under WM6.1.
On a side note, isn’t it amazing that the B7610 still isn’t widely available and it’s taken this long for the first full reviews of the retail versions. I get the feeling that Samsung didn’t really put their heart into this one and, I’ll be honest, since playing with the Milestone recently, it’s clear that it won;t be long until the Omnia Pro is a second-tier phone; if it isn’t already.
#1 by Kantor on December 14th, 2009
The Android OS is still an exotic system that lacks a certain maturity in terms of credibility in front of business users. I see the Omnia Pro as a true challenger for any Blackberry device. It is definitely more productive and offers better multimedia by far. Do you really see an IT manager recommending yet the acquisition of Milestones in a company?…
#2 by Jacob on December 15th, 2009
I agree with pretty much all they say on that review. They’re right about the battery life, in my view. After using the i900 Omnia, I can’t even begin to say how much of an improvement this device is in that department. I agree with the inability to turn off the TouchWiz UI is a bit of an annoyance. Something tells me Samsung will correct this in an update, seeing as the Omnia II can already do this. Hopefully they’ll increase the available RAM in the process. Also, I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks the speakerphone is top-notch too.
I don’t agree with their view of the stylus. I mean… how good can an internal stylus be? Any stylus is better than none. They should have marked it up just for having one. More than a few devices that need them don’t have them. Also, I can’t understand why these reviews keep saying the B7610 is poor value! It’s over £100 cheaper than a HTC TouchPro2 for christs sake! Forget about ‘free on contract’. You always end up paying more that way anyway!
#3 by JeffS on December 15th, 2009
I’m pretty sure you can turn off the TouchWiz UI, I’ve done it myself twice, once accidentally when playing around with a widget. Go to your Display and Light settings, Items on Today and play around there, if you untick Samsung WidgetPlus it switches if off and you can select the Windows Default if you want.
#4 by curtis on December 15th, 2009
where did you see the £329 price?
#5 by chippy on December 16th, 2009
clove.co.uk
http://www.clove.co.uk/viewProduct.aspx?product=73759662-395B-46EB-8463-E2CFAF189D2A
my apologies. Its 339 now.
#6 by Italy on December 16th, 2009
I bought omnia pro b7610 from clove, and.. they sent me an OMNIA 2… what to do chippy??
#7 by samsung Spica on December 23rd, 2009
They indeed mentioned some severe drawbacks. The low ram memory being on of them. But do you mean the Motorola Milestone? Meaning you left the windows mobile system going for Android? Maybe you should try the Samsung Spica. Then you can go for ANdroid but staying with Samsung. But the Milestone is indeed a great phone being listed as the gadget of 2009 by Time magazine.
#8 by WindyWave on December 30th, 2009
Hi! I am interested in this phone but I saw several guys who think low of it. It is said that in this phone the RAM available is very low…is it true?How many MBs rest after booting the phone? And is it serious enough to slow down the reaction speed of the WM system?
I hear someone said there’s no GPS in this phone…is it true?
Merci beacoup pour votre reponse!!
#9 by curtis on December 30th, 2009
in samsung today is anyone have problems with the shortcut widget? i get an error every time i try to edit it:
‘a problem has occurred with ShortcutPicker.exe’.
is there any way to fix this?
#10 by irkan on January 9th, 2010
I am really having difficult time deciding on what to get, this or Touch Pro2.
Reading XDA Forums makes me want the Touch Pro2 so bad, … but when i read the specs of B7610, .. and compare it to TP2, .. i cry xD
Is the TouchWiz 2.0 sluggish with you?
what do you think i should get?
#11 by Aussiebp on January 9th, 2010
I would go for the HTC touch pro2. I bought the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 and it’s the worst windows mobile phone I’ve ever had, slower than my old HTC P3300 and my imate Ultimate 9502. TouchWiz is very slow! You have to switch it off. The screen is very fragile, it’s easily scratched by the stylus. The in call sound is not that loud, the keyboard is ok but not excellent, etc.
#12 by irkan on January 10th, 2010
Wow thanx mate for the input, .. your 5 lines of comments about the device made me make my decision, .. THANX!
#13 by Aussiebp on January 10th, 2010
No worries. I’m just being honest. Maybe other people have a better experience than me. The worst thing about the phone is that it isn’t very responsive. You have to tap everything at least twice to make it react. I’ve had much better experience with HTC so far. The software of Samsung is not very well developed and not very consistent. It could be a very good phone the Samsung B7610, but it isn’t because of all the little shortcomings.
#14 by Irkan on January 10th, 2010
I have read some other reviews, .. also pointed out that TouchWiz was not “the smoothest” UI. i just wanted to make sure from a real user, because this is where it counts, …. and yeah tell me about it, seeing the specs of B7610 and seeings its price would make anyone droll over it, but as always, .. there is always a catch, Lol … such a shame, the device had some great potentials with its specs