Smartphones Review

Rivals: Samsung Omnia versus iPhone 3G

The Samung i900 Omnia is a valiant attempt at a touchscreen phone. Take a look at the adverts for the handset -- it's all about the touch. How does it stack up against the iPhone 3G? Read on to find out.

Look & Feel
The dimensions of Samsung's i900 Omnia are very similar to that of the iPhone 3G -- 112 x 56.9 x 12.5mm versus 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3mm -- and is slightly lighter at 125g versus 133g.
With most of the front of the handset given over to the touchscreen, it looks fairly similar to the iPhone, too.

Screen
Just a third of an inch separates the screen sizes, with the Omnia's 3.2-inch display being the smaller.
Samsung states the screen resolution as WQVGA, which could be 480×272 but is a rather vague description. At that resolution, it doesn't beat the 480x320 of the iPhone. C'mon Samsung, give us the pixel count.

Camera
It's not difficult to trump the iPhone's camera, and the Omnia does so with a five megapixel camera boasting 4x digital zoom, auto focus, LED flash, various shot modes, photo effects and quality settings.
The iPhone 3G, by comparison, is still stuck with a bog standard two megapixel camera without any fancy features.

Multimedia
The Omnia can play back most music formats including MP3, AAC, WMA and MIDI, can play MPEG4, WMV, DivX, and other format videos, and record video in the MPEG4 format.
The iPhone handles just MP3 and AAC formats, and can play back MPEG4 video. It won't shoot video out of the box.
The Samsung Omnia boasts "3D sound technology", whatever that is. The iPhone does what a Video iPod does.

Navigation
The Omnia features A-GPS which can be used for navigation. The iPhone also has A-GPS which links in with Google Maps.
As the software currently stands, the Omnia may be more usable as a dedicated sat-nav system, whereas the iPhone can't offer automated turn-by-turn directions at present.

Communications
Both phones are 3G-enabled, able to run on the fastest HSDPA networks where available.
Both feature Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Operating System
The Samsung Omnia uses Windows Mobile Professional 6.1. There's no mention of additional software on top of that.
The iPhone 3G uses a version of OS X.

Storage
Both the Omnia and the iPhone 3G come with either 8GB or 16GB of user memory, but the Omnia has the advantage of microSD expansion.

Applications
The Omnia will have access to third-party applications developed for the Windows Mobile operating system, generally without restriction.
The iPhone 3G officially has access to Apple-approved applications from the iTunes App Store. Additional apps can be added to individual iPhones on an ad-hoc basis, and of course the handset can be jailbroken.

Pricing & Networks
In the UK, the Samsung Omnia is currently available on contract on O2, Orange, Vodafone, generally on 12 or 18 month contracts, with prices varying according to contract.
The iPhone 3G is only available from O2, either pay-as-you go for £349 (8GB) or £399 (16GB), or at a range of price points when taken with a contract.

Conclusion
Samsung's Omnia handset offers many of the same features as the iPhone, at least superficially. It has similar look and feel, better camera functionality, and wider multimedia support.
However, in the end it still comes down to usability. If you can get on with a Windows Mobile handset, go for it, but I reckon the iPhone's user interface, built on OS X, still wins by a mile.