The exterior of both phones look pretty similar to one another at first glance, but the Omnia HD not only takes on a slightly more organic look that freshens up the front, but it also gains a larger OLED screen because of it. Screen resolution for the Omnia HD comes in at 360 x 640 pixels, as opposed to the Omnia’s 240 x 400 pixel resolution. Colors also pop out more vividly thanks to the 16M display color, a large step up from the Omnia’s 256k color haptic feedback touch screen. Not only that, but this new screen uses capacitive touchscreen technology, meaning that it only takes the lightest touch to perform a command, with no pressure needed. In short, the refreshed looks of the Omnia HD already makes its predecessor look like just another old candy bar phone. The size does not change much between the phones, but the larger screen gives the Omnia HD the advantage.

The Omnia first came with Windows Mobile 6.1, but the Omnia HD dispenses with Microsoft’s OS for smartphones in favor of Symbian v9.4. This marks Samsung’s first attempt at getting the OS to work with a touchscreen phone. Windows Mobile 6.1 is a powerful and flexible OS in its own right, but Symbian is known for low energy consumption, an advantage that translates to longer battery life, especially with energy consuming features such as Bluetooth. The navigation receives a graphical refreshing, with TouchWiz added on the home screen, offering the ability to add widgets.

The Omnia HD now has a bigger 1500 mAh battery, enlarged from the 1250 mAh battery in the current Omnia. This bigger battery should be able to handle powering the Omnia HD, especially since the HD now has the larger screen that requires more juice to power it. The location of the memory card slot remains unchanged from the previous Omnia. Located under the battery cover, it does not allow for hot-swap capabilities, but at least the onboard storage capacity makes up for it somewhat.

Camera resolution makes a big jump from the Omnia’s original 5 megapixels to the Omnia HD’s 8 megapixels, resulting in better picture quality. Camera flash still remains available, but the biggest feature is the Omnia HD’s ability to record high definition video at 24 frames per second. The Omnia had choppy video playback issues, which is something you will not see with the Omnia HD. In fact, thanks to DivX and XviD video support and the 720p video resolution, the video recording and playback features of the Omnia HD puts it head and shoulders above its predecessor.

The Samsung Omnia is already has been available for some time now and can be found at most cell phone carriers for around $200 to $250. On the other hand, the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD is still pending release -- a tentative date of May 2009 has been set for the European market, for a price of $1000 if you wish to buy the phone outright. With luck, it should reach the U.S. market by late summer or fall of 2009.