The Samsung Omnia II smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.5 on Verizon Wireless is as dependable and exciting as a McDonald’s burger.
You know what you’re getting, it fills a need and it’s sort of tasty if you don’t expect too much.
But when you glance over and see your neighbor gorging on a Motorola Droid on the same network, you’re going to feel a rumble of indigestion.
Omnia II’s failings have nothing to do with its excellent hardware. Rather, the sour taste is due to the clunky and cumbersome Windows Mobile operating system that Samsung tries valiantly to conceal.
The most impressive feature of the Omnia II is the screen. At 3.7 inches, it’s a bit larger than the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen and equal in size to the Droid’s, and the resolution is just a hair below that of the Droid (800×480 vs. 854×480).
The Omnia II is bright, sharp and easy to look at. The large screen makes it simple to view expansive Web pages and scan numerous e-mails at a time (after you shrink down the oversize default font). The 5-megapixel camera is among the best you’ll find on a phone, and it even shoots passable video. From there, though, navigating the software is a chore.
The default Windows Mobile interface (even the latest 6.5 model) is an anachronism, aimed at the PDA market of five years ago, when a stylus was acceptable for interacting with a touch screen. But the iPhone made finger-based systems standard, and Samsung tried to give WinMo 6.5 a face lift with its proprietary TouchWiz 2.0 interface.
The upgrade mostly works, but it feels inconsistent and, in some cases, pointless. For example, to access various entertainment and media apps on the phone, Samsung has created a rotating 3D cube that you spin with your finger. Each side of the…