[gashead86]

Hi Guys,

My contract with orange is up for renewal shortly and with that in mind I have been looking at the latest phones to see what Orange can offer me.
I have now narrowed it down to one of the two bellow phones......

The Samsung Omnia HD or the I phone 3GS.....

Both clearly have there pros and cons with the Omnia having probably the better spec but the Iphone having the better UI! But I just cannot make my mind up one way or the other! If anyone out there can offer me an opinion or advice I would be incredibley appreciative!

Cheers guys.

[leeb-1977]

Might help if you list what your looking for in a phone matey - is the camera more important or the 'fun factor'?

For my money the iphone is still the best phone on the market at the moment - the app store offers loads of variety - the UI is superb and itunes integration is flawless.

[gashead86]

If I am being completley honest the camera element of the phone is fairly important to me as I do enjoy a the odd bit of basic photography. However... I don't know if it is important enough to overrule the pure ease and coolness of the iphone! If Samsung had a apps store to rival the Istore then it would probably be a clear choice for me, but they don't!

Its a really tricky one!

I cant help but feel that if I plump for the fancy omnia a few months down the line I may end up regreting the the decision!

[leeb-1977]

girl who works in the same office as me has the onmia 2 and tbh i dont like it. I dont like the interface and i dont like the screen. The camera is good but apart from that i couldnt say that it'd even be in my top 5.....

the iphone has a camera that easily good enough for quick snaps in the daylight - but certainly not good enough for a serious photographer (but would a serious photographer be happy with ANY mobile camera?!) .... and crap in low light.

the app store is a huge plus point for the iphone, and the only other phone i can see that might give you something close is an andriod based one. How about the Samsung i7500??

[NicolasB]

The Omnia HD's big selling point is its ability to capture video at 1280x720. It's nowhere near good as a dedicated video camera, of course, but probably better than any other phone. If taking still pictures is your priority then you might be better off with a Sony Ericsson Satio - the Omnia HD lacks a Xenon flash which is a problem for indoor photography. (Of course no camera phone even gets close to a dedicated digital camera).

If filming video clips is not a priority then the Omnia HD may not be a good choice. It's also good for video playback, of course, (fast CPU and very fast GPU, combined with an OLED display that has a higher resolution than the iPhone's, and a 16:9 screen ratio).

The iPhone has a nicer UI, and a far wider range of downloadable applications.

[RobM]

If you're a photographer, buy a camera as no phone on the market can truly replace a standalone camera. And there is nothing worse, as a 'tog, than not being happy with the photos you're taking.

[Alonso14]

I have the omnia hd (i8910). Out of the box, the phone is pretty awful. You need to spend time on samsungi8910omnia.com and install a different rom to bring it up to speed. Even then, though, there are many things left to be desired. Samsung's support for the phone is virtually non-existant, so you wont get those nokia-esque frequent updates.

Hardware-wise, it is quite simply the best phone on the market, even though frames are dropped when recording 720p. Software-wise, it isnt. If you are familiar with symbian, so know where to look for apps etc, then you may be ok, but you cannot rely on any app-store, quite simply because there isnt one for this phone. I got mine from ebay (basically swapped for my n97), and my contract is only 12 months. If you are entering into an 18mth+ contract, I'd look elsewhere, as lack of support for the phone means it will be obsolete fairly soon (the phone has already been out for 6 months on Orange).

There is, however, a big price difference between the 3gs and the omnia hd, so its not really fair to compare. I'd be tempted to wait for the motorola milestone which is due fairly soon - maybe even next month (its out in germany already). The Satio is a similar phone, but the bigger oled capacitive screen of the omnia edges it for me.

[gashead86]

Thanks guys for all your help.

I am seriously leaning towards the Iphone now after all of your advice. It will cost me £80 more then the Sammy but I seriosly think its a price worth paying!

Having said that I am still open to more advice....

[RobM]

Now that the Apple store, Phones4U, CPW, Orange and O2 all sell the iPhone, it should be easy enough to get your hands on one before you buy. See if you can find a local stockist and have a play