Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 Review

The Samsung SGH-i600, Ultra Messaging is very similar to the Samsung Blackjack (AKA SGH-i607). The differences of the two smart phones are the presence of a built-in Wi-Fi and a second VGA Video call camera on the SGH-i600. The SGH-i600 overcomes two of the major disadvantages of Samsung Blackjack, the lack of wi-fi and the absence of a Video Calling camera on the front (since both devices have support for 3G). Having these characteristics the Samsung Ultra Messaging SGH-i600 is one of the best smart phones we ever seen.

Samsung Ultra i600 Design

The design of the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 is similar to 3 other popular pocket pc phones in the market, the Motorola MotoQ, the T-Mobile Dash and the HP iPAQ hw6915. What is common about these 3 devices, in terms of design, is the built in QWERTY keyboard on the front. The dimensions of these pocket pcs and smart phones differ. The thinnest of all is the Motorola MotoQ but the most compact and small (both in height and weight) is the Samsung i600. The difference in thickness with the Motorola MotoQ is only a matter of 1.5 mm something which is not important at all. As you can see from the comparison table below the Samsung Blackjack has the same height as the T-Mobile Dash, has the smallest width (58 mm) and it is 5 mm thinner than the HP iPAQ hw6915 and only 1.5 mm thicker than the MotoQ.

In terms of weight, which is an important factor if you carry your mobile phone all the day with you, the Samsung SGH-i600 is the lightest of all. It weights just 99g while the Motorola MotoQ is 115g, the HP iPAQ hw6915 150g and the T-Mobile Dash is 120g.

	Motorola Q	Samsung SGH-i600	HP iPAQ hw6915	T-Mobile Dash
Dimensions	116 x 64 x 11.5mm	112 X 58 X 13 mm	118 x 71 x 18 mm	112 x 63 x 13 mm
Weight	115 g	99g	149.69 g	120g

The display of Samsung SGH-i600 is one of the disadvantages of this device. It is not a touch screen (the SGH-i600 is a smartphone and not a pocket pc phone – read below of the difference between the two versions) and its size is only 2.25 inches (diagonal). It can be consider a disadvantage because the other devices have a bigger display but this is the trade-off of having a small and compact device. The HP iPAQ hw6915 which is a huge device compared to the Samsung SGH-i600, has a diagonal display of 3.0 inches. The Motorola MotoQ has a 2.5 inch display and the T-Mobile Dash a 2.4 inch display. Nevertheless the quality of the display has nothing to be jealous off compared to the displays of the other devices. It has a resolution of 320x240 with 65k colors and it is bright enough both in text, images and videos.

The navigation controls of the Samsung i600 consist of a four way navigational control with an OK button in the middle of the wheel, two Windows Mobile 5.0 soft keys, the ‘Start Talk’ and ‘End Call’ buttons, the ‘Home’ button and the return button. What distinguishes Samsung i600 from the other devices in terms of navigation controls is the wheel type - 4 way navigation control that is located in the middle of the device just below the display and within the other buttons. This wheel type control is in the same level as the other buttons and this makes it sometimes difficult to use it without wrongly clicking on the other buttons. It is a feature that you need to get used to it. Compared to the other devices, the HP iPAQ hw6915, the Motorol MotoQ and the T-Mobile Dash have a joystick type control, which is better because it is clearly separated from the other navigation buttons. As mentioned above, we do not consider this a disadvantage of Samsung i600 because once you get used to the ‘wheel’ you can navigate through the menus without any particular problems. In addition the Samsung i600 has also a Jog Wheel on the right side of the device together with a button. This is a feature we have seen on the HTC TyTN and HTC P3600. It is a very nice feature that can enable one-handed use and navigation. The Jog Wheel can be used to navigate though the menu options and make a selection by pressing the wheel. To escape from a menu or go back you can click the button that is located under the wheel. These controls have also some other useful features. For example by pressing the Jog Wheel of a few seconds you get a ‘quick launch’ menu for opening the task manager or calendar. Likewise if you press the button (located behind the wheel) for a few seconds the camera will be activated.

The QWERTY keyboard of the Samsung i600 is laid out very nice with the number buttons having a different color (grey) so that they are easily distinguished from the letter buttons. The size of the buttons is small but with a little practice and effort you can type your text quickly with no particular problems.
Besides the keyboard and navigation controls the other buttons and features of the Samsung i600 are as follows:

on the right side of the Samsung, above the Jog Wheel, there is the MicroSD expansion slot; the volume control buttons and the headset jack is on the left side of the device and the 1.3 mega pixels camera is on the back of the device together with a mirror for taking self-portrait images.

Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 Features

The most important feature of Samsung SGH-i600 is that it supports UMTS/HSPDA i.e. 3G Technology. With 3G technology on your mobile device this essentially means that you can access high speed data transfer that can offer you a better experience while browsing the web, listening to streaming media and downloading. To be able though to take advantage of this technology your phone network provider should offer such a service.

Besides the 3G support the Samsung i600 also has a built in Bluetooth 2.0. You can use the Bluetooth to connect your device to other Bluetooth devices e.g. a Bluetooth wireless headset.

Also unlike the Samsung BlackJack the Samsung SGH-i600 also has a built in Wi-Fi. This is a feature very important that is missing on the i607 (Cingular Blackjack version). Wi-Fi access points are very popular in our days, they are almost everywhere, and they are very useful. You can use your device with a built-in Wi-Fi to connect to an access point and access the web, check your email etc. This feature has become standard for new devices and it is very nice that the Samsung SGH-i600 has this feature built in.
For phone connectivity the Samsung is Quad-Band GSM. This means that you can operate your phone and talk to your friends from almost all the countries of the world.

The camera of the Samsung SGH-i600 is at 1.3 mega pixels with support for video recording. There is no macro mode or flash but there are a number of options available for both image and video. The resolution of images can be up to 1280 X 960 and there is also a 2X digital zooming. The camera is another drawback of the device since we have seen devices with 2.0 mega pixels camera and even 4.0 mega pixels. The 1.3 mega pixels camera takes us back to the days of the i-mate JAM or other ‘older’ models. There is also a secondary VGA camera located on the front of the device. This camera can be used for video calling and for taking self portrait images.

Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 Software

As mentioned already above the Samsung i600 is running Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition. The differences between a pocket pc phone and a smartphone can be viewed in our FAQ section in more detail, but we should mention here the main differences between the two. Let’s take for example a pocket pc phone, the HP iPAQ hw6915 and a Smartphone, the Samsung SGH-i600. The iPAQ has a touch screen which you can make selections using the stylus while the screen of the Samsung is not a touch screen. Another difference besides the touch screen is the fact that the Windows Mobile Smartphone edition does not have the full version of Microsoft Office Mobile suite but instead you get a viewer for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In other words you cannot edit the Word and Excel documents on your device as you would normally do with a Pocket PC edition but you can only view them. There are though third party applications which allow you to edit Microsoft mobile office documents on your smartphone.

Other products of the Microsoft Office Family, such as Outlook mobile (contacts, calendar, tasks, e-mail, text messaging) are available on the Samsung blackjack and you can use them with out any problems. There is also a Microsoft Internet Explorer mobile, support for direct push e-mail, pocket MSN and windows media player support (WMA – WMV – MP3).

Besides the Windows Mobile 5.0 embedded applications in the Samsung SGH-i600 you can find the following applications:

Bubble Braker (GAME)
Solitaire (GAME)
Calculator
Smart Converter (to perform unit conversions)
StopWatch
Voice Assist: Voice Assist is a speech recognition program that enables you to launch programs or dial contacts by speaking an associated command into the microphone.
File Explorer: The File Explorer program allows you to open an explorer window similar to a desktop Windows® based system. The explorer window allows you to navigate through your phone to locate the desired folders and files. You can also quickly manage, delete, copy, or edit any files and folders on your phone.
Picsel Viewer: Picsel Viewer allows you to view documents on your phone without any file-conversion or loss of content. To view a document, you must transfer documents from a PC. If you have installed the memory card, you can view the files stored in it. By default, Picsel Viewer supports the most common desktop document formats, such as,.doc,.xls, .ppt, .pdf, and .wmf.
Download Agent: A utility to help you update your phone’s OS images.
Task Manager: Your phone is a multi-tasking device. It can run more than one program at the same time. However, multitasking may cause hang-ups, freezing, memory problems, and additional power consumption. To avoid these problems, end unnecessary programs using Task Manager.

Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 Memory and Expansion

The memory the Samsung SGH-i600 is 128 MB ROM / 64 MB RAM, which is the same on all 4 devices. The memory expansion slot is a MicroSD slot, the same as the T-Mobile Dash, while the Motorola Moto Q and HP iPAQ hw6915 have a miniSD expansion slot. There are two points to note about the expansion slot of the SGH-i600. First is the fact that microSD cards costs more and have less capacity than MiniSD, so it would be better if the device had a miniSD slot and second the position of the MicroSD slot makes it a bit difficult to insert the microSD card in and out. It would be preferable is the expansion slot was located on the bottom or top of the device.

The battery life time of the Samsung SGH-i600 is 6.5 hours and the standby time can go up to 350 hours.

Samsung Ultra messaging i600: Conclusion

The Samsung SGH-i600 is a slim, compact and stylish smartphone. It is a very good choice for those who want a mobile device powered with Windows Mobile 5.0 that has a design similar to the normal cell phones. It has 3G support, built-in Bluetooth and built-in Wi-Fi.

Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 Specifications:

Network: HSDPA / UMTS, GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz)
Camera: 1.3 Megapixel Camera and VGA Camera for Video Telephony
Display: 65536 Color TFT Screen (2.3”,320×240)
Features: Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone, Multi-Format Music & Video Support
Bluetooth Stereo Music Profile (A2DP),
Connectivity: WLAN (802.11b/g), Bluetooth v2.0 EDR / USB
Memory: ROM 128MB / RAM 64MB
External Memory: microSD
Size:112 x 58 x 13mm

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