Verizon Wireless' next big Windows Mobile touchscreen might sport the coolest screen around. Want more? Check out our hands-on look at the Samsung Omnia 2.
Review summary of the Samsung Omnia 2:
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 The Samsung Omnia 2 is an impressive phone on paper. It packs some great features, so in theory it should be a top notch business phone with a lot of multimedia power thrown in. DiVX playback, for instance, is still unheard of on most phones, and movies looked great on the Omnia 2's AMOLED screen. But Samsung has gone so wrong with the interface that it's difficult and frustrating to use, and impossible to enjoy. The TouchWiz interface is just horrible, a hodgepodge of problems and ugly interface decisions that make the phone look unpolished and unprofessional. Plus, the Samsung Omnia 2 suffered from performance problems that made the interface sluggish, and the resistive touchscreen often failed to register our touch. It even had trouble when we broke out the included stylus. It isn't all bad. The Omnia 2 has fast networking and good call quality with a large battery. It uses Opera's Web browser, which is a capable client, and it’s the first phone we've used with a Swype keyboard, a surprisingly quick and fascinating keyboard design that we'd like to see on other (better) phones. But none of that matters because the interface design is ugly at best and unusable at worst. If you're a complete DiVX addict, the Samsung Omnia 2 can get the job done, but most buyers looking for a business tablet with a cool interface and good multimedia features would be much better served by the HTC Imagio, a phone that hits the target where the Samsung Omnia 2 misses the mark. Release: December 2009. Price: $50.
Pros: Solid features, including DiVX playback, 5-megapixel camera and more. Colorful AMOLED screen.
Cons: Unresponsive touchscreen coupled with a poorly designed interface make using the phone a hassle. Poor performance, even in High power CPU mode.
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Full Samsung Omnia 2 Review:
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We dropped by Samsung Mobile headquarters this week for a sneak peak at some of the new TouchWIZ phones that will be coming to market in the next few months. While Europeans might be drooling over the new Samsung Jet, Americans might be getting the better deal in the new Samsung Omnia 2. Verizon Wireless has been officially quiet on the new phone, but Samsung reps tell us we can expect to see the Samsung Omnia 2 available on The Network in the future. Like the original Samsung Omnia, the Samsung Omnia 2 will be a Windows Mobile phone running Samsung's own TouchWIZ interface, this time TouchWIZ version 2.0.
What a giant screen you have
When the Samsung Omnia 2 finally reaches the market, its massive, 3.7-inch, active matrix OLED (AMOLED) display will be the largest OLED screen available on a mobile device. In person, we enjoyed the large display, especially with Samsung's TouchWIZ interface, which needs a lot of room for its widgets and toolbars. We tried out the Samsung Omnia 2 side-by-side next to a new Samsung Jet, and it was easy to tell the difference between the much-larger American phone and the smaller international model. That AMOLED technology doesn't disappoint, either. The high-resolution, 800 by 480 pixel display was bright and crisp, with sharp colors and deep blacks providing a nice contrast.
During our hands-on time, we didn't see much in the new TouchWIZ 2.0 interface on the Samsung Omnia 2 to give us a good impression of how deep the new changes will go. We did see the improved, live-action icons on the TouchWIZ tool bar, and the few icons we dragged from the tray fit nicely on the Omnia 2's large display. The Samsung Omnia 2 can handle multiple home screens, and you can place widgets on separate screens in custom arrangements, just like on the T-Mobile G1 Google Android phone. The Samsung Omnia 2 seemed plenty responsive, and the interface is built almost entirely with large, finger-friendly buttons. Even the Windows Mobile features have been mostly retooled for touch.
Press the button
The key to the new interface will be the center menu cube. Press the giant cube button and you can back out to a 3D, cube-shaped menu system. The first time we tried it, we found the cube had been set for motion gestures. We flicked the phone to one side and the cube rotated that way, selecting the choice on that side of the 3D figure. You can also set the cube to rotate by touch.
In our time with the Samsung Omnia 2 and this cube interface element, we found the phone to be plenty responsive, but we didn't love the cube design. It required a level of precision that we don't want to deal with on our menu screens. We want menus to be quick and intuitive, while the cube seems to add an extra layer of gimmick to the phone.
Supersize the entire order?
In addition to the impressive new screen and the enhanced TouchWIZ 2.0 interface, the Samsung Omnia 2 will also get some other feature enhancements. The phone will get a camera boost to an 8-megapixel sensor, and the phone will now be able to record video up to WVGA resolution, to match the built-in 800 by 480 pixel screen.
Samsung has been bragging quite a bit about the high-end processor in the Samsung Jet, but has kept fairly mum on what's inside the Samsung Omnia 2. The original Verizon Wireless version came loaded with 8GB of internal storage, but there's been no word of whether the new Omnia 2 will get a capacity increase.
Price and release date
The Samsung Omnia 2 will be available for Verizon Wireless on December 2. It'll cost $300 with a two-year contract, and a $100 mail-in rebate will be given when signing up for a qualifying plan.
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