Verizon drops Omnia to $199, hopes you'll pay attention now

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 1st 2008 at 9:24AM

Samsung's Omnia is nice enough to find a good home in many a professional's pocket, but in terms of overall desirability it doesn't quite compare to the iPhone or G1. Why, then, did Verizon price the thing $50 higher than its alternate-platform competition? Your guess is as good as ours, but at least the company didn't take long to see the error of its ways, dropping the handset under the magic $200 mark just a few days after the early-adopters got done paying too much for theirs. We're thinking Verizon might have been targeting the $249 Touch Diamond, but really that could do with a price cut of its own. $199 seems about right for an Omnia, so you go right ahead and click on if you want; we'll wait for the higher-res one, thanks.

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Tags: omnia, samsung omnia, SamsungOmnia, smartphone, verizon, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.1, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.1

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Jacksplat @ Dec 1st 2008 11:03AM

Ask yourself this...why is the 6800 still priced over $200

Neutral

Drew @ Dec 1st 2008 11:52AM

Waiting for the T*Omnia to come to Verizon? Good luck with that one.

I actually purchased the Omnia in store on Friday night for $199 AR, and I love the thing so far. I'm a touchscreen n00b but I have absolutely no problems with typing; I was really pretty surprised at how great the keyboard was. Of course, I had to disable the auto-rotate (now I have it mapped to a hard button) because it seemed to have a mind of its own, and TouchWiz just really, really sucks. I already can't wait until WinMo 6.5 (meaning I'm already sick of the WM interface), but I actually preferred this one to the Touch Pro. I can't believe Verizon has to sell this thing at this pricepoint, but hey, it worked out for me.

Neutral

Joe @ Dec 1st 2008 12:12PM

I'd jump on this if it wasn't for the fact that Verizon charges an insane amount for its unlimited EVDO internet. I'm on Sprint using the Sprint Touch and I only pay $15/mo for unlimited internet, whereas Verizon charges $44!

Neutral

tracy @ Dec 1st 2008 12:31PM

Will this come out for sprint in the near future ?

Neutral

elgee02 @ Dec 1st 2008 12:51PM

VZW charges $29.99 for unl smartphone data, not 44.

Highly Ranked

backbeat @ Jan 1st 2009 11:56AM

^Only for BIS which includes a ZERO text messaging allowance. BES is 44.99.

Speak truth or do not speak.

Lowest Ranked

Virtuous @ Dec 1st 2008 1:50PM

Looks like Verizon is desperate. Instead of cutting the price Verizon forces you to send in a rebate.

Highest Ranked

tra la la @ Dec 1st 2008 3:03PM

um... Verizon isn't the only company that does rebates. so I guess ALL companies are desperate, and have been for MANY MANY years.

Neutral

BABS @ Dec 1st 2008 3:50PM

Does anyone know if you can get Pandora or Sirius internet radio on this? I was planning on jumping ship to ATT but might stay if this or touch pro is decent. It would save me a lot of money since I would only be paying for the phone and am already on a family plan that is pretty cheap. Jumping to ATT would cost me another 60 a month.

Highest Ranked

christexaport @ Dec 1st 2008 5:26PM

@ Tim Stevens,
I think you're being unfair and misinforming your readers a bit. The Samsung Omnia is a decent device, but why compare it to the G1 or iPhone? Ok, they all have a touchscreen control element, but after that, there's a big difference.

First off, despite WinMo's scattershot UI, the Omnia is intended to be a business productivity device that can replace the laptop at most instances. While the G1 is also positioned in the same vein, its far from stable or reliable enough for similar enterprise tasks. The iPhone is simply not even in the picture, lacking multitasking or dedicated data entry keys. Multitasking is the foundation for improving productivity, and why mobiles have reached desktop capabilities. It takes too long to accomplish business tasks in a one-task-at-a-time mode. Neither the G1 nor iPhone have the library of useful productivity tools and applications WinMo has, nor the image capture skills of the Omnia.

Please compare devices to their true competitors, which in this case are touchscreen content consumption/creation smartphones. The Blackberry Bold, Nokia 5800, Nokia Nseries models, Sony Ericsson XPeria1, and HTC Touch Diamond/Pro were more applicable comparisons.

The need to use the iPhone and G1 as reference points to everything is growing old. At least include the world's best selling smartphone device of recent, the N95 variants, in those comparison, as well as including a table of features for side by side comparison. You have no idea how Engadget affects sales.

Engadget's perceived bias has steered enough sales to Apple, and most of the readers speak as if they actually believe the iPhone and G1 have more features, capabilities, and sales than the N95 8gb, and represent the best in mobiles. Truth is, you can't even capture video on either one, the world hasn't agreed with its wallet that these devices are so superior, and if you mention the superphones so little and the pop phone so much, it amounts to unfair coverage.

Here's the facts:

The Omnia has these advantages:

1. Mature OS
2. Large app library
3. Robust multitasking and task management
4. Integrated Exchange support
5. Better media filetype compatibility
6. A real camera
7. Great MS Office support
8. Multiple choices of web browsers with Flash
9. Ability to install any user created code, even if malicious, without interference from the manufacturer
10. No login required to use it
11. Integrated motion picture capture
12. Tethers as a modem out of the box
13. No kill switch

Neutral

BABS @ Dec 1st 2008 5:59PM

I'm definitely a noob to WinMo, where do you find the apps that you talk about? I'd love to see what this phone could offer before walking into Verizon and talking to some Dolt who tells me how great it is but can't explain what I can add to or how to modify to my liking. Thanks

Neutral

alltouchdiamondcom @ Dec 4th 2008 11:51AM

I was actually deciding between the storm, touch pro and the omnia.

They all required an email and internet data plan, which runs at $30/per month, required for all smart phones and blackberries.. (How did you think verizon get their revenue increased so much this quarter?)

Back to the topic.

I was pretty hyped when i saw the storm commercial, but after playing with it in the store for 30 mins, I was very disappointed. I thought Rim would do a better job, but I guessed it wrong.

So, I am left with the omnia, I was watching a lot of youtube videos and http://www.Samsung-Omni.org

Neutral

funneverends @ Dec 14th 2008 5:28PM

I totally agree with christexaport. All of the information that you gave has put me on the trail of purchasing the omnia. I have never had a Samsung but I have been reviewing a lot of phones. It is true that everyone is comparing all phones to the iphone and I, too am tired of it. The omnia is a smartphone that I feel I can now get rid of carrying my PDA. I have had ATT T-mobile and Verizon and as far as customer service goes Verizon is the best. I have the voyager and it also has a touch screen. I have had no problems with it but like I said I am upgrading with a device that will let me get rid of my PDA. Thank you for your honest and informational input. It is truly appreciated. I just wish everyone else would be as honest.