It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks and for Samsung to introduce an innovative navigation user interface on the Ultra Messaging i600, which runs on a "has-been" Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition, we think it deserves a round of applause. That's on top of a wealth of connectivity features the i600 is equipped with, including HSDPA, 3G and Wi-Fi on a matte-black body that's irresistibly good looking. But the i600 is not alone in vying for a share of the pie in the smart phones with QWERTY keyboard arena. Find out how it stacks up against the competition.
Design
Picking up the Ultra Messaging i600 from its packaging morphs us into business executives in an instant, even when we aren't dressed like one. The matte-black i600 is sexy beyond doubt and, in some ways, remind us of a bar of Hershey's dark chocolate--irresistible and good enough to eat. In hand, this Samsung is a comfortable size and its slim profile of 11.8mm (the upcoming Motorola Q q9 measures 11.8m, too) gives the illusion that it is thinner than it really is. Even with the 1,200mAh Lithium-ion battery, the i600 stills weighs a feather-light 108g. It could just be us, but we're particularly fond of the soft-type plastic on the back of the handheld.
Two features are traded off for a more compact form factor: A smaller 2.3-inch screen compared with the larger 2.8-inch LCD on the Nokia E61 and a less spacious QWERTY keyboard. The individual keys resembling black tic tac mints organized fashionably, provide tactile feedback and are adequately backlit in dim environments. You'll know it when your thumb hovers over one. A nice touch are the numeric keys which are colored in grey so we could tell them apart from the rest of the letters in black. The immediate button to the right of each number works as a pair with the numeric key, so hitting on either gets us the same digit.
Navigating the phone's menu requires the use of the four-way directional toggle which is slightly elevated from the Call/End and soft-touch keys, as well as a center OK button. Despite various user reviews online regarding a flushed directional control which resulted in hitting the End key when we wanted to click right, we didn't encounter that on our test unit. So it's really up to you to check it out. Alternatively, there's a thumbwheel and a Back button on the right spine for a more BlackBerry-like experience.
The i600 uses a proprietary port for charging and synchronizing the handheld. The same port also connects the bundled stereo earphones, so that effectively makes obsolete both our mini-USB adapter and 2.5mm/3.5mm headset at the same time. Talk about a double-whammy. Fortunately, we could still pair our Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 stereo Bluetooth earphones for music playback on this Samsung.
A microSD expansion slot sits above the thumbwheel on the right edge of the i600 with support of up to 2GB. There are also two cameras: One on the front for video calls and a 1.3-megapixel shooter on the back flanked by a reflecting mirror and onboard speakers. More on the camera features later.
Features
At the time of writing, three Samsung HSDPA-enabled phones (SGH-Z560PerformanceWe tested the triband Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 and found the call quality decent. Surprisingly, audio output excelled beyond our expectations with the built-in speakerphone and our buddies weren't able to actually tell that we were on one. A pity, really, that the speaker is on the rear of the handset, which has the potential to muffle the sound when the phone is on its back. We loaded a 320 x 180-pixel video file at 24bits (116MB) for our tests. Video playback, too, was relatively pleasing, though we did encounter slight pixilation and occasional dropped frames during fast-moving action. Our only gripe was with the 2.3-inch LCD which was a tad too reflective for our liking and washed out slightly in harsh sunlight at default brightness. , Ultra Edition 13.8 and Ultra Messaging i600) were available in Singapore, with the i600 the Korean's first smart phone to tout high-speed data transfer faster than 3G. In short, faster data speeds would enhance the Web browsing experience, music streaming and reduce download times via the theoretical 1.8Mbps speed. Connectivity features on the triband (900/1,800/1,900MHz) i600 are aplenty. Besides leveraging on HSDPA and 3G networks, the handheld is also Wi-Fi-enabled (802.11b/g)--sorely missed on the earlier i320n--and can connect wirelessly to a PC via Bluetooth 2.0 (with support for A2DP). The i600 is missing an infrared port, though.
Unlike touchscreen PDAs, the i600 runs on the Smartphone edition of Windows Mobile 5.0, powered by a 220MHz TI OMAP 1710 processor, so you don't get the full-fledged editing capabilities of Office Mobile. Memory-wise, there's 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM.
The preinstalled Piscel Viewer allows us to read only Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files and various image formats. The i600 also supports MS Direct Push Technology so you'd be able to have ready access to your email, calendar, contacts and tasks on Outlook. Synchronization with our PC was also a breeze except there wasn't an option to sync Notes on Outlook with the smart phone.
Multimedia-wise, the i600 supports formats such as MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA and WAV for music, and MPEG-4, WMV, H.263 and H.264 for videos. There's also an RSS feed reader (a rather basic one) and podcast application for you to catch up on the latest news or gossip.
Performance
We tested the triband Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 and found the call quality decent. Surprisingly, audio output excelled beyond our expectations with the built-in speakerphone and our buddies weren't able to actually tell that we were on one. A pity, really, that the speaker is on the rear of the handset, which has the potential to muffle the sound when the phone is on its back. We loaded a 320 x 180-pixel video file at 24bits (116MB) for our tests. Video playback, too, was relatively pleasing, though we did encounter slight pixilation and occasional dropped frames during fast-moving action. Our only gripe was with the 2.3-inch LCD which was a tad too reflective for our liking and washed out slightly in harsh sunlight at default brightness.
As far as data transfer rate was concerned, the theoretical 1.8Mbps speed sounds great but a lot of it depends on the network and your location. We took the i600 for an afternoon walk around the Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore along Shenton Way to find out if the speed was as claimed. Verdict? Well, we didn't need a bib to catch our drool. While surfing CNET Asia's Web page, the network alternates between 3 and 3.5G speeds and we weren't able to get a consistent HSDPA network to gauge download rates.
Camera performance was sub-par, which wasn't surprising. It took approximately 2.5 seconds for the shooter to load, and though there's autofocus, this doesn't work like the ones on dedicated digital cameras where you can half-press the shutter to prefocus. Again, we're nitpicking. Overall, image quality was Web-standard, but without a LED flash night shots weren't stellar.
When we were running multiple applications, it was noticeable that the processing speed took a beating. The i600 has 48.6MB of memory in total, of which 26MB is available to run your programs. Opened applications remained open although holding down the Home key brought up the task manager where you can close the programs. Onboard storage capacity is limited to 40MB to install additional programs such as Instant Messenger.
The i600 is rated for 4 hours of talktime and up to 190 hours (eight days) of standby. In our tests, we managed to get 2.5 days on regular usage, making calls, sending messages and occasional connections to Wi-Fi and 3G networks, without having to reach for the charger. Our test unit arrived with a second battery which will also be included in the commercial retail sets. The only problem we foresee is that because there's no standalone charger for the Lithium-ion cell, it won't be possible to charge one battery while using another concurrently.
Specification Of Samsung Ultra Messaging i600
Phone
Phone type :
Triband
Phone type :
Triband
Networks :
GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
Connectivity options :
3G, GPRS, HSDPA, Bluetooth, USB, WLAN
Physical design
Form factor :
Candy bar
Dimensions (W x D x H) :
113 x 59 x 11.8 mm
Weight w/battery :
105 g
Primary display type :
TFT
Secondary display resolution :
x pixels
Input method(s) :
QWERTY
Interchangeable covers :
No
Available colours :
Black
General
LCD display size :
2.3-inch
Color LCD :
Yes
Performance
Operating system :
Microsoft Smartphone OS
Max. talktime (in hours) :
4 hours
Max. standby time (in hours) :
190 hours
Internal memory :
64 MB
Expansion slot(s) :
TransFlash / microSD
Other Features
MMS :
Yes
Multimedia
Built-in digital camera :
Yes
Warranty
Base warranty :
1 year
