Samsung Ultra Edition 9.6 (U300)

Print

Email

Bookmark

Share

Samsung's Ultra Edition lineup has had a fair bit of success because its cutting-edge design and super-slim profiles have struck the right chord with the chic crowd. The new Ultra Edition II series aims to get even slimmer. But is being too thin really too much?

Design
You haven't seen flat yet until you hold this clamshell in your hands. The vertically brushed metallic chassis on the front fascia combined with a gun-metal shade and a secondary blue OLED screen make it seem like something out of the futuristic Star Trek set. Angular edges and sleek lines work to give the U300 an ultramodern look.

Slim is good, although we're not too sure if the U300 tips the scales in its favor. Firstly, the handset is rather long and wide, so we found it difficult to get enough leverage to pry open the clamshell. It doesn't help that because the phone is so thin, it's hard to get a grip on it. Secondly, although there's a groove between the two halves to assist in flipping the lid, it's almost non-existent.

The numeric keypad is completely flat on the U300.

Our nightmare didn't end there and Samsung hasn't apparently learnt its lesson from the Ultra Edition 9.9. The numeric keypad is completely flat. To put it into perspective, it's like having touch-sensitive controls, but you have to depress it like normal buttons to activate. If that isn't bad enough, there's near-zero feedback on the U300's keypad and, like the Ultra Edition 9.9, the two softkeys are also particularly unresponsive.

The saving grace comes when we put the phone in silent/vibration mode. Punching the keys will produce a haptic-like response similar to the Motorola Razr2 V8 so there's at least some form of feedback. If you're considering this phone, we'd seriously recommend that you try it out for yourself first.

One thing is clear. The U300 is very slim and chic for a clamshell phone, but the keypad is either a love-it or hate-it situation.

Next page »