The first Samsung Omnia phone was launched in mid June last year, and about a year later, the Korean manufacturer has come up with the new and improved Omnia II (i8000).

It was at their Unpacked event on 15 June this year that Samsung unveiled their flagship phone, Jet, as well as the range of Omnia phones which include the OmniaLITE (B7300), OmniaPRO series (OmniaPRO B7610, OmniaPRO B7320) and Omnia II (I8000).

Like its older sibling, the Omnia II is also running Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro OS, but with the option to use Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz UI. You may be wondering what would happen if the new Windows Mobile 6.5 OS becomes available in the near future.

Well, according to the manufacturer, when Windows Mobile 6.5 becomes available (scheduled for release by the end of the year), Omnia II owners will be entitled to the free OS upgrade. However, the upgrade mechanics has not yet been confirmed - whether the upgrade would be available for download from the web, or from the service provider etc.

So what's the difference between this Omnia II and the previous Omnia? Here's a brief comparison chart. 


Samsung Omnia Samsung Omnia II
Processor 624 Mhz 800 MHz
Internal Memory 16GB 8GB
External Memory supports MicroSD: up to 8GB supports MicroSD: up to 32GB
Display size 3.2-inch 3.7-inch
Resolution (pixels) 400 x 240 480 x 800
Camera 5.0-megapixels, 5.0-megapixels,

VGA CMOS front camera VGA CMOS front camera
Optical/Digital zoom 2x digital zoom 4x digital zoom
Connectivity Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, Wi-Fi Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, Wi-Fi

802.11b/g, TV-out 802.11b/g, TV-out
OS Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro
Dimension 112.0 x 56.9 x 12.5mm 118.0 x 59.6 x 11.9 mm
Weight 122g 129g