Samsung SGH-i600 - $898 (without contract); $798 (with two-year contract) - Get it from at all authorised Samsung dealers
Dubbed ?the Ultra Messaging? phone by Samsung, it is pretty clear that the SGH-i600 is targeted at SMS and e-mail addicts.
I do not usually send SMS messages much as I hate typing on number pads. But over the course of testing this smartphone, I found myself sending at least twice as many SMS messages as usual ? and liking it. This testifies to the i600?s effectiveness as a messaging device.
Credit goes to the phone?s easy-to-use Qwerty keyboard that takes up major real estate on the front of the unit.
The screen rests on top of the keyboard, but alas, it is not a touch screen and small too at 5.8cm across.
The i600?s design is reminiscent of BlackBerries, except that the i600 ? very light at 105g ? is also slimmer (11.8mm) and more stylish.
It helps that the cellphone has Wi-Fi and HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) for broadband-like speeds, as well as Windows Mobile 5.0 with MS Direct Push Technology for instant updates on e-mail, calendar, contacts and tasks on Office Outlook.
Plus, it allows podcasting and supports RSS (Really Simple Syndication) for constant news updates of feeds from the likes of BBC or Yahoo News that you may choose to opt for.
The Office Mobile suite that lets you edit Word and Excel spreadsheets is not available on the i600, but you can view Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDFs with the included Piscel viewer. Storage space is 64MB and there is a microSD slot for cards up to 2GB and Bluetooth connectivity.
Two main reasons why I liked this phone: its oval-shaped Qwerty keys that are well-spaced out, and the V-shaped layout of the keyboard that makes it effortless to type with both thumbs.
For one-handed navigation, a scroll wheel and back button are provided, but typing with one hand is tough.
Still, nothing beats being able to jab directly at icons, compared with scrolling through menu selections. So, Samsung should consider a touch screen in its future models.
The phone, with a 65K colour screen is easy to hold, thanks to its girth and nice rubbery finish. And its matt body does not stain with greasy fingerprints, unlike other O2 and Dopod PDA phones that I reviewed recently.
As a regular phone, the i600?s voice quality was excellent over the handset. However, its speaker tended to crack when I pumped the volume up.
The 1.3-megapixel camera may lag behind competitors with higher megapixel counts, but its good photo quality more than makes up for it.
MP3 playback (MP3/WMA/AAC/AAC+ formats) over the included earphones sounded good too, almost on par with standalone MP3 players.
Samsung claims a 2G talk time of 4 hours 14 minutes and stand-by time of 190 hours on a single charge. I was not too impressed with real-life results though. With my regular usage, I found myself charging the phone every day.
With other PDA phones, I could usually squeeze in about 1.5 to two days of usage with a single charge.
Other minus points? I noticed lags when switching between menus, more so when compared to other Windows Mobile-based phones that I have tested. The number keys, though marked out in grey in a sea of black Qwerty buttons, were also tricky to use as they are positioned in alternate columns.
FINAL SAY
The i600 has one of the easiest to use Qwerty keyboards that I have come across. Highly recommended if you send SMS messages or e-mail frequently on your phone.
