Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO preview: First look

Design and construction (continued)

The right side of Samsung B7610 hosts the screen lock button and the dedicated camera key. Those are both large and tactile enough to allow trouble-free operation.

The screen lock key and the camera button

The bottom is perfectly plain with no controls whatsoever.

There's nothing of interest at the bottom

The top of the B7610, in contrast, is rather crowded. This is where the 3.5mm standard audio jack, microUSB slot and the stylus compartment are placed. Both connection ports are covered with plastic lids.

Quite a lot is going on at the top

Sliding the phone open reveals the four-row QWERTY keyboard. We are pretty fond of the sliding mechanism as it locks firmly in both positions and slides in and out very smoothly. The spring-assisted slide responds readily to a gentle flick.

The keyboard is pretty comfortable to type on

The QWERTY keyboard itself is a real treat. The keys are large and provide decent feedback so you can type at enviable speed. In fact, just for the sake of experiment, a good part of this preview was written on the handset itself. It wasn't the quickest way to do it of course, but it surely doesn't get much better in mobile phone terms.

The back of Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO accommodates the 5 megapixel camera lens, dual LED flash and the loudspeaker grill. There is a slightly protruding frame around the camera lens to protect it from scratches but there is no protective cover so you still need to be pretty careful with it.

The 5 megapixel camera is joined by a dual LED flash and the loudspeaker grill at the back

The microSD card slot is hot-swappable but is located under the back panel, so you will have to remove the cover every time you change cards.

The 1500 mAh battery is the other noteworthy thing below the back panel. It is so powerful that it managed to get us going through more than two days of extensive usage of the handset.

The microSD card slot and the huge battery, lay beneath the cover

So the Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO fares pretty well as far as ergonomics are concerned but will it manage to impress as much software-wise.

The Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO held in hand