After months of delay, the 'Ambassador' programme for the Samsung i8910 HD (used to be called the Omnia HD) has kicked off, with the production devices now delivered to contacts across the world. This means that SIM-free, unlocked phones are now in English reviewer hands for the first time. See below for some first impressions and, most importantly, sample HD video footage from the i8910 HD's camera.
Read on in the full article.
Steve, have they re-enabled the pre-focus in video mode?
That's an Italian one. People in the UK have been importing those for donkey's years!
That's a nice change.
It's so silly how a network are allowed to get exclusive on such handset, cos when they do, they charge extortionate prices.
I like the phone, but if Samsung really intended to actually sell them in mass, the price should be alot more affordable.
Orange currently offers this free, only to charge �40 per month on 24 month contract, making the cost of ownership rocket towards a thousand quid; by contrast an iPhone 3Gs on contract looks like a bargain. I was told by Orange stuff today that the handset itself costs over �700, seriously?!? this is a good phone with exceptional hardware, but the software and prices are far from reasonable.
Is the FM Transmitter enabled?
as I write (to counter previous post):
at Orange UK, choose the i8910, new customer, as pay monthly, then ask to 'Find a Plan' and you will see that there is a show 12 month contracts option in brackets after the 18/24 default options. Then, scroll down, and the handset is FREE with Dolphin 45 or Racoon 45 options. Online, the Total Cost of Ownership is thus 12x 42.09 = 505.08 gbp (3.99 delivery)
These tariffs may not suit your usage, E&OE. There are probably better deals somewhere... I don't work for Orange, but no-one seems to be picking up that Orange, online only, still seem to offer these 12 month contracts!!! Perhaps this is of interest to UK consumers...
NB Orange also do free 8mbps/10Gb capped for new customers, so if you are on another ISP, you might consider jumping and saving more (I did 2 months ago and have had no problems at all, so far so good).
Cheers!
of course, I am not endorsing the AWFUL firmware shipped with the Orange handsets to date... I debranded 2 weeks ago (again, warranty implication BEWARE) and have had no problems and also IG2 updated from Italy (Samsung official) - see the vibrant AAS i8910 forum for more details...
I think Unregistered is right. That power adapter doesn't look British to me...
Well, if it's the Italian one, you got lucky. Currently the Italian i8910 has the best firmware support. As you have seen, there's already an update available, and another is coming sometime in the next few weeks.
I was told by Orange stuff today that the handset itself costs over �700, seriously?!?
does anyone know where I can find a tv out cable for my hd? my italian unit came without it..
too bad the audio quality is still very poor. the same 8kbzp amr. in this case, the n86 still is a better choice. a very very bad thing to do to a phone that can record video in hd format.
Use a Nokia one - the one from my N95 works with my i8910.
When's Steve going to edit this article? It's clear that this isn't the first time an IMPORTED i8910 has landed in the hands of an English reviewer in the UK.
Use a Nokia one - the one from my N95 works with my i8910.
the last nokia I had was a 6630 xD
too bad the audio quality is still very poor. the same 8kbzp amr. in this case, the n86 still is a better choice. a very very bad thing to do to a phone that can record video in hd format.
are you serious? with the update it's 96kbps AAC which sounds very good!
Hi - just thought I'd mention for anyone downloading the above .mp4 - Steve has, as he mentions, encoded with the xxIF7 firmware, which uses a low quality AMR audio codec. The xxIG2 update (if you debrand, or Orange UK provide for this now (I don't know)) encodes using an AAC audio codec at 720p, which makes life a little bit easier. I found to quickly play the above file with Video & Audio, use Quicktime!
on my ccomputer,windows seven, windows media player withk-lite codec pack and also on vlc, there is no audio output =))
samsung is really throwing their phone to the garbage. 😊) very very stupid thing to do. use a non-standard audio codec. a really non-standard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4j4FgGXLLo
here's a video I took on the new ig2 firmware at 5 am
and some more:
http://samsungi8910omnia.com/hd-720p-sample-videos-from-i8910-omnia-hd-ig2-daytime/
edit, again the audio works fine on any program with the new firmware!!!
mCrem, mine also came w/o the video cable. However, the Nokia video cable (I had a couple of them, from previous phones) works fine.
Hold on guys, I'm going to do a new official clip with the IG2 firmware. Give me an hour or so to upload it!
Are you sure you want to call 15 secs on the AAS site fast? I just tried with my i8910 and I got the same result. Almost exactly 15 seconds. But so did my n95 8gb. I tried it several times, cleared cache and everything. 15 seconds. Have you tried it with an n86? According to rafe's story it should be 2-3x faster than the n95. I tried both on my reasonably fast wlan.
Edit: Tried it again with cache cleared on i8910: 11 seconds. Better I guess. But not what it should be, faster than the n86(same browser, twice the cpu speed).
Edit2: Could you try this out? When loading a page, press Stop. When I do this it crashes the browser every time and returns to the menu.
Are you HONESTLY trying to say that the i8910 is as buggy as the i8510 was on release? Wow. The i8910 is THE most stable S60 phone upon release, let alone Samsung S60 phone.
And what's this about the lack of UDP being a shame in 2009? Sure, that's true, but where are your comments on Nokia's lack of SEVERAL elements of what should be in a 2009 smartphone ?
Just over 10 seconds on my N86 just now, with a cleared cache.
I'm sitting here timing the 2 phones(n95 and i8910) on random web pages. The i8910 is somewhere between 10-30% faster(28seconds for n95 and 24 for i8910 on www.mpx.no). I am very dissapointed. At least I should be getting my 3gs next friday. I blame samsung for pushing me over to the enemy. I know I could get the n97. But 5th edition just isn't doing it for me. I love 3rd edition. But 240x320 is just so last year.
>>Are you sure you want to call 15 secs on the AAS site fast?
Maybe that was a bad example. And maybe I got hit by a big ad. But in generally feels nippy...
>>Edit2: Could you try this out? When loading a page, press Stop. When I do this it crashes the browser every time and returns to the menu.
Yep, confirmed. Yet another repeatable bug, I'm afraid.
>>release? Wow. The i8910 is THE most stable S60 phone upon release, let alone
No, it's pretty buggy. I'd rate it, on the N95 scale, as a v11 release 8-)
>>And what's this about the lack of UDP being a shame in 2009? Sure, that's true, but where are your comments on Nokia's lack of SEVERAL elements of what
Oh, I criticise both manufacturers, don't worry. I'm equally as much a pain to each. You do recall my fairly damning N97 review?
8-)
PS. I've replaced the video clip with one shot with the IG2 firmware. Yes, very nice sound now.
what's so buggy about it? so far I've only had that browser quitting bug..
The i8910 was very tempting to me, and still is, and I hope that all the firmware bugs get fixed as it is quite remarkable. It looks like the N86 beats it on release stability (damn that startup freeze!), but on camera quality it wins.
I have another bug/weakness you could try out. Related to the web again. Load up a site in portrait mode and scroll around it a little. Notice how "smooth" it is. Now turn it over to landscape, how "smooth" is it now? Mine loses a significant amount of frames per second. It goes from being good enough to being a strain.
most probably, the new firmware coming out soon fixes such performance..
rvirga wrote:mCrem, mine also came w/o the video cable. However, the Nokia video cable (I had a couple of them, from previous phones) works fine.
I have a 16 GB unit from Norway.
Here in Indonesia, running Opera Mini, it blows away my iPhone and E70.
Our networks are oversold and we don't get 3.5G speeds anymore.
We have eleven cellular providers servicing 260 million people.
Rampant, unchecked competition in GSM and CDMA. Contracts are a curiosity. Huge market, unchecked competition, relentless pressure towards zero.
People pay cash for an unlocked phone - often used - there are very few locked phones and they are typically soon unbranded.
A no-contract culture, typically because folks without money can't be taken for that sort of a ride. Here, the the revenue downline isn't there and does not get collected.
Cellular service prices for voice and data are much, much lower as a result.
AXIS provides 3G only, but at near theoretical speeds. And even via prepaid, it's still $5 per GB.
$.03 per calling minute, free after 6th minute. Caller-pays environment.
Just tested domestic sms from one carrier to another from AXIS:
Eight tenths of a US cent per sms
International SMS is five cents and all sms is free to receive in this country.
Indonesia is world's 4th most populous country; after USA and before Russia.
If you live in a western nation and feel you're unfairly overcharged by telecom oligopolies, I can only point to the data.
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The 'White Man Special' of a new, cool 'free phone' with a bracing twelve or twenty-four month ball and chain - nobody is that spendy and/or debt-seeking here.
Keep in mind I'm a white American...my unlocked iPhone eats $7/month prepaid for all I need.
The E70 $30/month postpaid as main comms platform handling all sms and ~500 minutes/month postpaid.
And the i8910 sucking plenty of 3G with Google Latitude always on, Qik uploads etc. - never more than $15/month.
Three smartphones, not a single contract.
Once you experience it, you can never go back to relationships with carriers in which they can write derogatory information in your credit record, demand $250 payments to break up, charge $.25 per incoming sms or other outrageous items.
No, they provide ala carte sms at less than a penny and outgoing calls at 3 cents, and ala carte data at $5/GB
sorry, I will end my rant against western telecom oligopolies, but reluctantly.
There is a far better way: COMPETITION with over ten significant players in the market.
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Yes, the Opera Mini 4.2x will eventually choke the Java memory stack or whatever and incur 10-second delays per-press. But until that happens it is so liquid and so readable.
I bought it with really quick Opera Mini performance via 3G or 3.5G in mind, and it has delivered.
As a Qik platform it also delivers.
Anyway, anyone have a link to a PC Studio download? Getting no love from the Samsung website and the DVD on one of my machines isn't taking CDs recently.
bawjkt
Cannot play the example video in Realplayer Nokia E90 . The Youtube video from mCreme does fine .
😊 Regards jApi NL
slitchfield wrote:There's also no Over The Air firmware update facility - a shame for a 2009 smartphone.
That is crazy. What k(I)nd of (P)at(H)etic, sh(O)rt sighted, (N)eolithic d(E)cision was that? R(3)ally (G)et(S) my goat. I mean, who else would be that backward thinking?....
😉 Seriously, I for one don't mind that i am unable to decide to run a firmware update while sitting in Costa Coffee. I'm quite happy to do it while at home via cable.
Nice write up Steve. Thanks.
Over the air updates is one thing. But no udp is really bad. Especially considering how many firmwares this thing has to got through before even being close to stable.