The Samsung Omnia W price in India is around 15200 Rs.It is also called Samsung Focus Flash in the US market.
I was a windows mobile 5.0 user some 4yrs ago .It was a QTEK S200 then. I will give you a different perspective rather than comparing it with android which you would have done already and are wondering why there is no Bluetooth file transfer, file management etc etc. I am of the opinion windows phone shouldn't be compared with android. It may be compared with iPhone .
In this review please understand the two terms "windows mobile" is another old Microsoft product and "windows phone" is nothing but the Samsung Omnia w OS Windows 7.5 Mango.
Please also be aware windows mobile is being discontinued and Microsoft is shifting to windows phone.
Differences between Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Mobile
File Management is taken care by windows itself in windows phone and you cannot control it but this was available in windows mobile. Bluetooth file transfer is not available in windows phone but was available in windows mobile. Expandable memory not available this also existed in the windows mobile thus with windows phone you need to be happy with the 8Gb internal memory and store the rest on the 25 Gb SkyDrive .With windows mobile you could sync your email/files etc. with active sync but with windows phone you cant sync your email etc. with your desktop rather you can only sync it with the cloud SkyDrive, windows live, Gmail, outlook exchange. Windows phone syncs can sync only picture, videos, music files through Zune with your desktop.
It is pretty obvious from my experience this Windows Phone concept is innovative, fresh and a different concept . The old windows mobile resembled a mini windows desktop with the start button etc. The current windows phone is a new concept in itself which we must understand .
Live Tiles User Interface(The most intuitive interface yet!)
The user interface is blazing fast obviously due to the 1.4 GHZ processor. There is one point to note the Microsoft applications open with a snap whereas the third party apps have considerable load times.
The super amoled display is incredible and has the best contrast you will love it.You get to see the real black color with this display. The contrasts are excellent and the colors are vivid.
Apps and Games
Gaming is fantastic. I am kind of addicted to certain games life NFS Undercover(Paid game), Microsoft breeze(Free) etc.
There are enough apps in the marketplace to keep you occupied in a useful way. The marketplace is growing. It already has enough apps for me and I don't need the "million app" statistic to keep me happy.
Ensure you download the app called "Insider" from microsoft. It will provide you free ring tones, access to the BING background pictures to be used as your wall paper and very useful windows phone tips etc .
Free Games which you might get addicted too just like me Air Hockey, Funny Bounce, Roundy Dash, Save the Roundy, Microsoft Breeze, Microsoft Shuffle Party, Sky Striker HD, Clown College.
For cute and cuddly animals try Kinectimals.Also be sure to setup your XBOX live avatar and play with your avatar when you have time to kill!
Bugs/Quirks
Few SMS issues for which I expect an update soon to fix. You wont be able to send sms with 3G data connection on. You need to switch off the data connection to send an sms .When I send sms to multiple recipients it gets sent as MMS which is weird and get chareged heavily(To avoid this you must have the group text off under messaging setting).
The SMS bug has been fixed by SAMSUNG.Just update your device via Zune the issue will vanish!
To workaround the sms bug(Incase you didnt apply the above update yet).
Method 1:(More granular control for you)
dial ##3282# on your dial pad.It will bring up an app.
a) Click on the gripper "." on the bottom right corner click settings
b) Select 2g only profile.
Now you should be able to send sms.Later you can switch back to "Automatic" or "3G only"
Method 2:
Else you should switch off the data connection via settings under cellular to send SMS.Later turn it back on.
Microsoft Bing Search/Maps
It is nothing compared google.I was trying to get the live cricket scores for which bing returned 2007/2011 matches and for the same keywords google gave me the results in the first item itself.So usually I search only with google rather than bing so the dedicated bing search key is of no use for me.I just usually click the Bing search key and search for google then only in google I type my search.
Bing maps also not very detailed for India region.I prefer google maps:( total downer.
Social Integration(USP of Windows Phone Mango)
The windows phone has the best social integration which will outclass any other mobile in the market today. Its competitors are not even visible in the rear view mirror in this area, they are left far behind.
The "people hub" and "me tile" will expose you to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. all at once. The pictures tile also will blow you away you get a feed of pictures from all those accounts. You get reminders of all your friends, colleagues birthdays in advance due to the calendar synchronization with Facebook. You can easily update Facebook with pictures etc. very quickly.
Battery/Camera
Battery backup is as expected from any other very good smart phone. With more than average usage lasts 18Hrs .Heavy usage with continously watching videos and gaming for long hours will last 8 hrs.You may need to charge it every night depending on your usage(This is the issue with every smartphone in market).
Camera is very good with image stabilization. There is a flash which lets you take pictures in dark but causes an yellow haze on the pictures which can be corrected with an "auto fix" feature provided with the camera software in the mobile itself. The front facing VGA camera is also good.
Localization.
Hindi/Etc font support doesn't exist yet(You can only see square boxes). Bing maps do not cater to the India region it is very basic details and not useful. To put it correctly the windows phone has not yet been localized for India.
Security
This phone is pretty secure since it only has internal memory. Once your phone is password protected nobody can access its internal memory incase you lost it.Had it had an external card it could have easily been compromised since password protection is of no use in such a case. You photos etc. would be easily compromised. This is something I really require from my phones.
Build Quality
Feels like plastic on your hands but has a premium look to it. This mobile also feels very light in weight.
Others
Call quality is pretty ok. The GPS also complimented by GLONASS which is a very good thing with regards to accuracy and speed.
I would recommend this phone to you if you completely understand the differences and the reason why Microsoft chose to be different. It is part of their marketing strategy etc.
The "microsoft tango" update is expected to arrive soon which may take care of certain issues.
To sum it all up, this phone is a true beauty and you can feel it in every swipe of its silky smooth touch interface!
I hope all present owners of the Samsung Omnia W had an experience similar to mine .
For all those contemplating on a smartphone purchase, have fun while making the choice!
Cheers!
