The Samsung Q1EX is due to head on to its next review appointment so it’s time for me to round-up my coverage of it by giving you some performance test results and an overview. It should at least give a reference point for future VIA Nano-based products and an idea of where this device fits in. It’s a difficult device to position but when compared with peer devices, it offers improvements all round at a good value price.
Overall performance levels as measured by CrystalMark are in the netbook class which is good for a UMPC. I saw CPU results coming in at what I’d normally expect from a 1.3Ghz Atom Z-series CPU but similar clock-for-clock results when compared to, say, the older Pentium-M. It’s nearly twice as powerful as the VIA C7 at the same clock speed according to the results. The summary is shown below and the details can be seen here.
The Omnia HD is something that all MID fans should be taking a close look at. It highlights how close the ARM-based platforms are to Intel’s MID platforms. In fact, in many ways, the Omnia HD looks like one of the best MIDs so far with longer battery life, smaller form factor, 720p video recording and a mobile-focused software suite that addresses new mobile markets. It’s an incredibly converged product but at the same time, you could call it a tweener. Neither a 24/7 phone or high quality mobile internet device. I intend to re-visit the Omnia HD by testing it in full in the near future but in the meantime, take a look at the specifications when placed side-by-side with the most popular tablet MID of the day and lets think about how the Omnia HD highlights that there is no such thing as a tweener.
Omnia browsing will fall way short of a desktop experience.
3D graphics: Power VR SGX
3G Graphics: Power VR SGX
Snap!
Accelerometer
Good for navi, web, ereading
FM Radio
A useful, very low power information source. (Local Traffic, news, music, events)
Component, S-video out, VGA
HDMI Out
Digital output on Omnia turns it into a better set top box.
Best USB device support
Limited USB device support
If you have USB devices, they are likely to work better with the Viliv S5
Full desktop software capability
Mobile-focused software capability
Viliv S5 allows you to carry on using your desktop software. Desktop software is, however, expensive.
Availability: Limited roll-out
Availability: Global
Omnia HD will be widely available
Brand unknown outside Korea
Top-tier global branding.
Provides consumer confidence.
Clearly the Samsung Omnia HD has specifications that are very close to one of the best Intel-based MIDs on the market. You’re looking at an extremely capable hardware platform that provides consumer-focused MID, PMP, PVR and PND-like capabilities in a 24/7 voice-capable form factor. It’s also got mature, consumer-friendly mobile-focused software that tackles new mobile usage scnearios and it’s reached the market before anyone else could with Intel-based MIDs that are targeted at the same usage scenarios. For some it’s going to be seen as the ultimate converged device and one of the best ‘MIDs’ on the market.
Look at it from another angle though and you see a different story. If you want a 24/7 phone, the Omnia HD is very very expensive and for most people, too big. If you’re looking for the best quality mobile web browser, PND, PMP or microblogging device, it falls short on either screen size, keyboard or software. As with most converged devices, it takes new, exciting usage scenarios and lever’s them into compromised form factors.
What I see with the Samsung Omnia HD is a device that underscores exactly the emerging scenarios that MIDs are targeted at. It’s providing a taster of things to come. If these scenarios develop, the new ecosystems created could support dedicated devices that fit in the space between the smartphone and the netbook. With technology like the Texas Instruments OMAP 3 platform and Intel’s Moorestown available to OEMs, it will only be a matter of tweaking the design, the software and applying the right marketing to slot the variants into the new ecosystems.
How about dropping the Omni HD’s internals into a Nokia N810-like form factor and increasing the screen to 4.8 inch with 250 DPI to improve the focus on mobile geo-enabled social networking? How about adding a powerful photo flash and video editing software to enhance mobile photo capabilities and add how about adding a daylight-readable 6″ screen for a move into the ebook market? Think about an iPod Plus, a Kindle with a fast browser and think about the next Nokia Tablet. A Techcrunch Crunchpad or a Google Lattitude Social Tablet. A Canon/YouTube device or even a dedicated Vodafone/BBC iPlayer. I don’t propose that all of these are winning business opportunities but I bet there are a few opportunitues in that list for dedicated devices that people have called ‘tweeners’ in the past.
The real story here is three-fold. The Omnia HD highlights how advanced and flexible the latest smartphone platforms are. It highlights that new usage models are emerging and that if these ecosystems grow, there will be opportunities for dedicated devices. Thank-you Samsung for highlighting that the MID concept is on the right track and that the end of the Tweener-era is nigh.
Ever since we outed the Samsung Q1EX I’ve had trouble positioning it. After an unboxing (see below) a 4-hour live Q&A session (1hr video below) I still cant see why Samsung created the Q1EX. It’s a fine tabletPC but in the last 3 years they’ve learned a lot about the ultra mobile PC market and they know that Tablet PCs can be a hard sell. What made them go back to the no-keyboard form-factor?
From a TabletPC perspective, the Samsung is actually a very good all-rounder. I called it the ‘20% device’ in our live Ustream Q&A because that about sums up the improvements overall. 20% less weight, 20% less cost, 20% more GPU, 20% more battery life, 20% better looking!! All excellent incremental changes for the TabletPC market but there are silly things that appear to have been left out.
A 1.3mp cam on the rear means it’s no good for Skype video and not high enough quality for photography. The stylus slots into the lanyard which means you need to leave the lanyard attached, affecting the smooth looks of the device. The hard drive is neither fast (in comparison with some of the SSD’s we’re seeing now) nor does it have a very high capacity. The touchscreen doesnt run full tabletPC-compatible drivers meaning the input panel doesnt float and you get low sample-rate handwriting recognition. The organiser pack accessory bulks it out to a size that’s than most netbooks and finally, I managed to push the CPU/GPU combination so hard in a Cooliris test that I got the battery life meter down to 1.5hrs! It bounced back up to three when I stopped playing with Cooliris but it shows that the power envelope of the Q1EX is very very wide.
On the positive side, the push/scroll wheel is the best implementation I’ve seen yet for an on-screen control panel. Changing brightness, volume, rotation is a breeze. The weight is down to one-handed usage levels meaning you can flip this one into portrait ‘reading’ mode. I was seeing over 4hrs battery life in this, no-radio, quiescent state. Also, the touchscreen has some palm rejection capability. For my ‘pinky on the screen’ left-handed writing method, it didn’t work but it’s clearly a lot better than other touchscreens for handwriting. In fact, one-handed portrait mode usage with a stylus is probably the #1 ‘feature’ over other UMPCs.
Considering that this is entering the market at $750, I would expect to see this discounted like many other devices have been over the last two years. In fact, I think this is very likely. It looks to me like this was a project by Samsung to put a new tablet out there for a specific market, a market-research exercise or even an industry request. Resellers have decided to price-up the device (still below all the other Samsung ultra mobile PC offerings) in order to get the most out of the early, mostly commercial, buyers but based on the fact that a VIA-based Samsung NC20 can sell for 75% of the price, there must be room for a sub $500 or even sub $400 price point. That would be pretty close to that CrunchPad that Techcrunch are working on.
What do you think? Is there a usage model that jumps out at you or is this simply targeted as a good quality, well-priced, TabletPC? Here’s the unboxing video…
For a more detailed look at the Q1EX, check out the Ustream recording below. (If the video is not showing below, go to the Ustream page. I’ve been seeing some problems with the UStream embedded videos today.)
Thanks to VIA Technologies for sending the Samsung Q1EX over for a test.
Smaller than I thought it would be and looking well designed (as always with Samsung devices) it’s the Samsung Q1-EX being reviewed by VIA’s ‘How To Be Mobile’ crew.
LaptopMag reviewed this recently and weren’t too impressed that the split mini thumboard was missing but as I said before, I think this one is targeted at a specific industry segment where it will fit perfectly with dedicated software. It may not be the perfect consumer ultra mobile PC but I’m eager to test it out with my ‘business’ hat on and see how the VIA Nano and VX800 chipset perform.
Sad news (at least for me) has just come in via Jenn at Pocketables.
The Mondi is confirmed (reliable source Jenn tells me) that the Mondi [product details] will be powered by an ARM11 CPU at 800Mhz.
Its a good clock-rate and if Samsung have linked the software nicely into all the DSP’s and 3D capability on the device, it should be a good improvement over something like the N810 and better than most smartphones out there but it’s not quite the step to ARMv7 core that I was looking for.
Turning the tables on you this morning, I’m trying to find out what CPU/chipset Samsung are using in the Mondi. I’ve spent a lot of time searching but it seems that no-one at CTIA, so far, has popped the obvious question – “Hi Samsung. Is it correct that the Mondi is running an ARMv7 (E.g. Cortex) CPU and not the ARMv6 (E.g. ARM11) core that’s too under-powered for Internet browsing? inch If Samsung won’t say, just dive into the settings, please someone.
At the moment, all I can find is something that Qualcom leaked last year. At WITA, they said that Samsung would be producing a MID that would be based on ARM v7. I covered it in this article and I really hope it’s true because ’10 times the processing power of a Nokia N810′ would put this in a very special place on my wishlist.
There are a couple of new videos of the Mondi on YouTube this morning. I’ve linked them in at the bottom of the product page.
Looking like a set-play organised by Clearwire to promote WiMax is the official Samsung announcement of the Samsung Mondi Mobile Internet Device. The Mondi is the SWD-M100 mobile Internet device that we’ve reported on a few times. Despite the fact that it might be commissioned to promote WiMax, it’s looking very interesting indeed.
Specifications:
CPU type – Unknown
OS – Windows Mobile 6.1
Display Size – 4.3″ 800 X 480 (resolution not confirmed)
Welcome to this week’s netbook roundup. In this space every Monday I’ll highlight netbook news items that might not need their own individual posts but may still be interesting.
Meet Asus Eee PC 1002H — Jkk shows us the new Eee 1002H which has a slightly faster CPU than the 1002HA, (1.6GHz vs. 1.66) which probably won’t display any noticeable increase in performance. They also put a net chiclet style keyboard on the 1002H. Anything to release a new SKU, right?
Touching Windows 7 — Another video pointed out by the media master, jkk. This one shows how multi-touch support is coming along in Windows 7. It is looking a lot more impressive than what we’ve seen from Vista. Hopefully some of the upcoming capacitive touchscreen netbooks will be able to power these kinds of smooth interactions.
Samsung Netbook Offers Full-sized Keyboard — It looks like in addition to the N110 and N310, Samsung will also be coming out with the N120 which will provide a full sized laptop keyboard while retaining the standard 10.1 inch screen size. This seems counter-intuitive to the very well received keyboard on the Samsung NC10, and may be another blur to consumers who already might have trouble differentiating the difference between the N110 and N310.
The Samsung Q1EX is due to head on to its next review appointment so it’s time for me to round-up my coverage of it by giving you some performance test results and an overview. It should at least give a reference point for future VIA Nano-based products and an idea of where this device fits in. It’s a difficult device to position but when compared with peer devices, it offers improvements all round at a good value price.
