Samsung Ultra Messaging i600

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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.

	Tic tac galore.

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.

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