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Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Preview
10 Nov 2009
Samsung's ever-growing Omnia range of smartphones welcomes a new addition once more with the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610. This Windows Mobile-based professional handset has plenty of features, but many will be watching carefully to see if this handset can make its way in a difficult, crowded smartphone market.
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 was codenamed the Louvre in development and it seems that this would have been a better choice of name given the confusing title it now enjoys. As with most of the new Omnia range, the B7610 has an AMOLED touch screen, in this instance measuring 3.5 inches. AMOLED is a new technology that in the coming years should creep into every new handset, but for the time being is limited mostly to Samsung's high-end handsets such as this one. It provides brighter, more vivid images at higher resolutions whilst consuming less battery than equivalent, older technologies.
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 is designed in typically austere, bland smartphone fashion. That means you get a weighty, black device, although the battery cover is at least improved with a touch of red. The B7610 is thick and feels well-made, although this size is partly down to the inclusion of the slide. One of the most interesting additions to the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610's capabilities is the full QWERTY keyboard, access to which is provided when you slide the top half upwards in order to reveal it. Samsung rarely uses this kind of gimmick and its inclusion suggests that the manufacturer has seen the success driven by this functionality in the business market and has jumped on the bandwagon. The keypad itself is relatively easy to use for a smartphone, although there are better examples out there.
The B7610 runs Windows Mobile 6.1, although most users will have to upgrade immediately to the newer 6.5. There are still a few issues with the Windows platform on mobile phones, mostly caused by static menu systems, a lack of customisation and indeed a lacklustre support for touch screen interfaces. Samsung has included its own Touch WIZ interface with the B7610 which should help your experience at least partially, although there is still a long way to go before mobile perfection is reached with this Microsoft-based product.
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 has a 5 megapixel camera which has built in autofocus, panorama and multi-shot modes. There is also a dual LED flash to light up darker shots and it can record high quality video with ease. Those who have used Samsung handsets before will know that they often put a lot into their on-board cameras and the B7610 is no exception. It offers far better photographic capabilities than the iPhone, for example. There is only 1GB of on board storage, but the B7610 is compatible with micro SD cards with up to 32GB of additional space.
In terms of connectivity, the B7610 offers pretty much that which you would expect from a phone of this type. Along with Wi-Fi and built in GPS there is also 3G for high speed mobile downloads and browsing. The touch screen works quite well with all of these features, although the lack of a truly intuitive interface may hamper your initial impression. Typing emails and messages is of course aided greatly by the QWERTY keypad, though there is an on-screen version should you prefer to use it.
The B7610 has high-powered hardware and a good feature set to get you started, so it could become a powerful mobile computing platform if it is properly supported. SIM free varieties will cost in excess of £350 when released.
Samsung's ever-growing Omnia range of smartphones welcomes a new addition once more with the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610. This Windows Mobile-based professional handset has plenty of features, but many will be watching carefully to see if this handset can make its way in a difficult, crowded smartphone market.
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 was codenamed the Louvre in development and it seems that this would have been a better choice of name given the confusing title it now enjoys. As with most of the new Omnia range, the B7610 has an AMOLED touch screen, in this instance measuring 3.5 inches. AMOLED is a new technology that in the coming years should creep into every new handset, but for the time being is limited mostly to Samsung's high-end handsets such as this one. It provides brighter, more vivid images at higher resolutions whilst consuming less battery than equivalent, older technologies.
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 is designed in typically austere, bland smartphone fashion. That means you get a weighty, black device, although the battery cover is at least improved with a touch of red. The B7610 is thick and feels well-made, although this size is partly down to the inclusion of the slide. One of the most interesting additions to the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610's capabilities is the full QWERTY keyboard, access to which is provided when you slide the top half upwards in order to reveal it. Samsung rarely uses this kind of gimmick and its inclusion suggests that the manufacturer has seen the success driven by this functionality in the business market and has jumped on the bandwagon. The keypad itself is relatively easy to use for a smartphone, although there are better examples out there.
The B7610 runs Windows Mobile 6.1, although most users will have to upgrade immediately to the newer 6.5. There are still a few issues with the Windows platform on mobile phones, mostly caused by static menu systems, a lack of customisation and indeed a lacklustre support for touch screen interfaces. Samsung has included its own Touch WIZ interface with the B7610 which should help your experience at least partially, although there is still a long way to go before mobile perfection is reached with this Microsoft-based product.
The Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 has a 5 megapixel camera which has built in autofocus, panorama and multi-shot modes. There is also a dual LED flash to light up darker shots and it can record high quality video with ease. Those who have used Samsung handsets before will know that they often put a lot into their on-board cameras and the B7610 is no exception. It offers far better photographic capabilities than the iPhone, for example. There is only 1GB of on board storage, but the B7610 is compatible with micro SD cards with up to 32GB of additional space.
In terms of connectivity, the B7610 offers pretty much that which you would expect from a phone of this type. Along with Wi-Fi and built in GPS there is also 3G for high speed mobile downloads and browsing. The touch screen works quite well with all of these features, although the lack of a truly intuitive interface may hamper your initial impression. Typing emails and messages is of course aided greatly by the QWERTY keypad, though there is an on-screen version should you prefer to use it.
The B7610 has high-powered hardware and a good feature set to get you started, so it could become a powerful mobile computing platform if it is properly supported. SIM free varieties will cost in excess of £350 when released.
