Samsung i600 review: Slim, smart, QWERTY

Samsung i600 degree spin - hover your mouse cursor over the image

Alarm extended

Since Samsung i320, the alarm became more sophisticated and functional, and a major improvement is the mp3 ringtone ability. It is possible to set up to 9 alarms with predefined alarm activation, tones, repeat, and snooze options. There is also Wake-up alarm piece of software with three functions for setting different alarm time for each day of the week.

9 Alarm sets and wake-up alarm • setting an alarm • wake-up alarm

D-Day application is software for creating events, which can be additionally accompanied by specific date and name. A D-Day event again lacks alert functionality, as in Samsung i320.

D-day main screen • new d-day • setting the icon

Nothing new in Picsel Viewer as well - it's still that sluggish software for browsing .doc, .xls, .pdf, or .ppt files. It takes good 18 seconds to start.

Picsel Viewer tree view • doc file • PDF file • excel file

The Windows Media player 10 is smooth and cool. However, a fresh, more-player-consistent skin is a necessity, oddly neglected by Microsoft developers. Samsung's developers have upgraded the player with their own nice skin, vaguely reminding the default skin of Winamp player. We are not sure whether the sound graphs actually correspond to the actual music, but that can't be of much significance since they look nice.

The up-to-date functionality, connectivity and innovative software solutions would allure Windows Mobile users to gladly shift to it. The innovative and competitive trait of "I" series of Samsung was marked since the introduction of i320 and users are pleased to notice ...

As of music quality and volume - we were rather pleased to find it at a very high level. The player balances well both the trebles and basses with no distortion even at max volume. The standard earphones, included in the retail package, are comfortable, ergonomic and firmly fit the ear. They have a remote control sporting volume control key and a key for accepting/ending a call. Compared to other Windows Mobile phones with special music-oriented functionality we rank the Samsung i600 among the best ones we've reviewed.

Classic view • Samsung skin • the same options menu

Contents Manager makes an effort in integrating and managing video, audio, photos and documents but its efficiency is dubious and it's not that better than the standard File explorer.

Main view • opening a folder

Fully-equipped for Podcasting, this mobile allows you to receive your favorite podcasts anytime and anywhere, while RSS Reader obtains RSS feeds of the latest news, blog updates, favorite shows, etc.

Main view • options • podcasts view • choosing audio

SmartSearch is software for complex search in the entire phone - each entry in the Smart Search field will look up for a mach in the available software applications and text inputs - messages, emails, contacts, notes, etc.

SmartSearch is helpful, indeed

Other standard software

Other applications worth mentioning are the Smart converter, Stopwatch, Task Manager and standard games (Bubble Breaker, Solitaire) but as they are standard and simple there is no need of in-depth explanation.

Smart converter • stopwatch • task manager

Final words…

The Samsung SGH-i600 is a slim, stylish and very compact smartphone. The up-to-date functionality, connectivity and innovative software solutions would allure Windows Mobile users to gladly shift to it. The innovative and competitive trait of "I" series of Samsung was marked since the introduction of i320 and users are pleased to notice the major improvements in this line in face of Samsung i600. As you read the review, extended unofficial information of Samsung i570 running on Symbian 9.1 OS snakes around the internet and it really looks promising. Let us remind you that Samsung has also officially announced the i600's successor, namely the Samsung i620 with slider form factor and killer functionality. All in all, at the current pricing, Samsung i600 is a true bargain.