Samsung SGH-D600 Mobile Phone.

The SGH-D600, Samsung's latest top-of-the range mobile telephone, is based around their highly successful SGH-D500 handset, which was released last year. The new model takes the existing handset and builds on it's features, adding a 2 megapixel camera, TransFlash memory card slot, Quad Band (GSM) capability and inbuilt, stereo speakers for MP3 playback.



High resolution
One of the first things that grabs your attention about the D600 is the screen. It's larger than that of it's predecessor and has a higher resolution. Samsung have, somehow, managed to shoe-horn a 240 x 320 pixel / 262k colour QVGA display into a tiny, two inch screen. This may not sound very high when compared to most monitors but squeezing that many pixels into that small a space is quite an impressive achievement. As a result, all images that are displayed on it look stunning and make most other mobile phone screens look outdated and blocky. From a general looks point of view, this handset is, quite simply, gorgeous.

Disappointing
The inbuilt camera, however, is a bit of a disappointment. Samsung have chosen to alter it's position from at the top of the slide, where it was on the D500, to on the rear of the phone body. This means that the lens is not as protected on the new model as it was on it's older brother. It also means that you're more likely to put your finger over it when trying to take a picture. The camera suffers from a rather annoying shutter lag, too, so don't expect to take any fast-moving action shots with it. These problems aside, however, the two megapixel capability means that it's maximum resolution is a very impressive 1,600 x 1,200 pixels.



Navigation
The menus are clear and easy to navigate with large icons representing each option and a large text label at the top of the display describing each one. The four way navigation pad beneath the screen is accompanied by two soft menu buttons, place and end calls buttons, 'clear' and 'OK' buttons. It's all a little crowded but not so much so that you find yourself pressing the wrong buttons all the time.

Closing the slide automatically locks the keypad, unlocking again once the slide is re-opened. You can also unlock the keypad using a standard two-button combination while the slide is closed but it's quicker and easier to simply open the slide again.

Features
Other features of the handset include an inbuilt MP3 player, which gives good quality output through both the inbuilt stereo speakers and the supplied headset. The headset also doubles as a simple, hands-free kit. The only problem with the MP3 player is that it disables all other functions on the phone when it's active, meaning you can't receive calls if you're listening to your music.

The 81 MB user memory and TransFlash external memory card option means that you can store plenty of MP3s, and other files, on the phone without worrying about running out of resources. Pictbridge capability and an Office Document viewer also add to it's list of goodies.

One of this handset's most impressive features, however, is it's ability to display it's output on your television. Supplied with the phone is cable that connects to the standard RCA ports on your television, allowing you to view your recorded videos, photographs, etc, on a big screen as well as the small one built into the handset. The high-resoltions available because of the two megapixel camera mean that these images remaing crisp and clear even when displayed on some of the larger TV sets out there.

The Business End
However, fancy features do not a good mobile make. The big question lies on it's reliabilty, battery life and call quality.

We tested this handset's call quality and reliability in a very remote area with poor signal coverage. We had, at most, only one 'bar' of service and managed to receive a call with no problems. At no point in the conversation, which lasted about twenty minutes, did we loose the connection. The call quality remained audible and clear and only occasionally was the odd word or two lost. This, we felt, was pretty impressive considering the location we chose to perform this test.

Battery life is impressive too. We charged the phone to capacity on Sunday and ran the phone continuously for a week, performing usual tasks each day such as using the phone's alarm in the morning, SMS messaging friends and relations at various times throughout the day and even making and receiving short calls. At no point in time during this week was the handset switched off and, by the end of the week, it still had roughly a quarter of it's battery life remaining.

Obviously, using the inbuilt camera, playing Java Games, using the WAP Browser, etc, all take a toll on the length of time the handset can go between charging periods but, on the whole, we found the battery life to be more than adequate for just general, day to day light usage.

Conclusion
Overall, this is a pretty impressive handset. It has a wide range of features that will probably prove too much for your typical user. Samsung have made a few changes from the successful D500 handset that probably would've been better off left as they were, the position of the camera, for one, and the lack of the 'status' screen when the slide is closed is another.

Having said that, though, they have delivered another top-notch product and are rapidly proving themselves to be head and shoulders over Nokia, who previously produced some of the more desirable handsets available. There aren't many other mobile phones out there at the moment that have the storage space and features that the newer range of Samsung's are coming equipped with.



Finally, out of ten, we rate this product a good 9. It's impressive feature list, overall good-looks and reliability more than make up for it's few shortcomings.