Samsung SGH-T200

There's a strange preoccupation with automatic moving parts these days. The Nokia 8910 wowed us with its spring-loaded body which would slowly slide out from its titanium shell at a button press. Now Samsung's SGH-T200 (T208 in Hong Kong) goes a step further with a clamshell phone that opens and closes all by itself, at the touch of a button. The whole point of the SGH-T200 seems epitomized in that geeky little feature--it's all about looking cool.

Design
The slick SGH-T200 is a direct successor to Samsung's popular SGH-T100. Out of the box, the polished silver design looks similar but is less curvy than its predecessor. As mentioned before, the most noticeable addition here is the auto-folder mechanism. The practical--but seemingly secondary--result of this is you can operate the phone flip with just one hand. This invariably draws some gasps from onlookers.

The SGH-T200, tipping the scales at 104g, is on the heavy side. The weight, however, does lend a more solid feel to the phone. The overall build quality is excellent.

The handset also comes with a new scroll-based interface, somewhat resembling Nokia's heralded menu system which is both intuitive and responsive. Another improvement in the Samsung interface can be found in the messaging folder. Unlike some of the Korean maker's previous phones, messages in the SGH-T200 are sorted properly according to the date received. SMS storage capacity has also been expanded, so the handset can now store up to 20 text messages in the phone's internal memory.

Features
The SGH-T200 comes with a 65,000-color screen that utilizes Samsung's own UFB (Ultra Fine and Bright) technology. UFB displays appear much brighter than the passive versions used by other manufacturers. The former is also less power-hungry than TFT screens, such as that found on the SGH-T100. However, color photos on a UFB screen appear less sharp than on a TFT screen. With this innovation, Samsung cements its position as a forerunner in mobile phone LCD technology. The SGH-T100, as some may recall, had been one of the first phones in the market to offer 4,096 colors.

The SGH-T200 also features a 16-chord polyphonic ringer which is played through a speaker positioned at the back of the phone. Melodies come across sounding more lively and louder than the SGH-T100, which already offered admirable polyphonic capabilities.

Responding to a chief complaint of Samsung phones, the SGH-T200 comes with an infrared port. This greatly facilitates connection to a PC, notebook or handheld as a serial cable is not provided with the package. Through infrared, you can beam color pictures onto the phone for use as wallpapers. However, SGH-T200 users will not be able to exchange contacts with other phones as the vCard standard has not been implemented.

On the downside, the SGH-T200 is notably short on connectivity features. Even GPRS, which is present in most phones today, is lacking. Users will also bemoan the lack of MMS, which is glaring for a high-end color-screen mobile.

Reception, Battery Life And SAR Rating
During the course of usage, there were no problems with signal reception. The call quality was also good, with the conversing party's voice coming across loud and clear. Battery performance is rated at 190 minutes of talktime and 83 hours on standby. Using the extended battery included with the package, the phone managed an average of 60 hours on a single charge.

The SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) value, as indicated in the manual, is 0.434 W/kg. Based on the recommendations of the Council of the European Union, this is well below the limit of 2.0W/kg.

Conclusion
The SGH-T200 is currently available at about S$690 with a two-year plan, a price that includes a wearable earpiece, two batteries, a desktop charger and a travel adapter. The phone will certainly draw flak over its poor connectivity features. It is, however, an undeniable head-turner. If all you're looking for is a phone that's a joy to see and hear, check out the SGH-T200.

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