Original URL: http://www.reghardware.com/2007/09/27/review_samsung_sgh_g600/
Samsung SGH-G600 mobile phone
All camera and no connectivity?
Review The latest handset to join Samsung's stylish sliderphone line-up is unashamedly image conscious. However, the G600 is all about its photographic features rather than its flash looks, being one of a few mobiles to boast a five-megapixel camera.
Samsung has decided to roll out its first European 5Mp mobile without 3G - it's a quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge phone, so there’s no video calling or high-speed surfing and downloads to waste the day with. As well as the headline-grabbing camera, there's a digital music player and FM radio to keep you entertained, and Samsung is throwing in a 1GB Micro SD memory card - to go with 55MB of built-in storage - along with a set of stereo headphones and a Samsung WEP 310 Bluetooth headset.
Samsung's G600: clearly part of the family
The G600 clearly looks like it's a member of the Samsung phone family, albeit in an understated, elegant kind of way. It has a similar feature set to the swanky Ultra II Series U600, but does away with the touch-sensitive controls that look great but can make handling awkward.
Not that the G600's design would immediately give you a clue to the camera power within. It's a fraction under 15mm thick, so no bulging camera biceps to give the game away. There's no Cyber-shot phone-cum-camera style tip-offs either. When shut, the G600 looks like a regular sliderphone with a reassuringly solid feel about it. The camera is only revealed when the slider is slipped open, with the 5Mp autofocus lens and LED flash rising from the rear casing.
Hiding it away is no doubt good for keeping the G600's lens free from wear and tear. It does mean though you have to slip open the phone any time you want to take a snap. A camera button on the side activates the shooter rapidly, and controls appear on the screen in landscape mode. With the keypad open, though, it's not quite as easy-snapping as some turn-and-shoot digital camera-style phones. Still, the G600 does have a stunning display as a viewfinder, with 2.2in of 320 x 240 resolution presenting up to 16m colours.
Anyone with a grasp of sliderphone basics will easily get to grips with the G600's controls. As well as the usual pattern of softkeys, call, end and cancel buttons, there's a large iPod-like disc at the front. Unlike Samsung's X830 music phone, this sadly doesn't spin you through the menus with iPod-like elan. It's simply a standard five-way navigation joypad, as found on plenty of other Samsungs. It can be used for shortcuts to key features, and users can reconfigure the default settings easily from within the phone's Settings sub-menu.
Slide down the... er... slider, and you find a keypad reassuringly professional feel. No cluttered, over-complicated layout here – the keys are large, easy to read and well-spaced, with two silver strips separating the columns with functional elegance. Even large fingered users will be pleased tapping out messages or numbers with the responsive keys.
Menu navigation is a pretty standard Samsung affair, though presented in an attractive interface with large, clear icons and labeling as you click through the settings. There are plenty of configuration options including several menu themes to choose from, and you can set your own shortcuts to favourite features for a My Menu option, accessed in one-click from the joypad.
Initially, when you switch on, you get a dynamic screen display that shows a regional landmark - Big Ben in London in our case - which gets cloudy if the signal is weak and switches to a nighttime shot in the evening. Of course, you can switch this to a selection of supplied wallpapers, download your own or use your own snaps.
Pressing the Menu option with the softkey, you're taken into a clearly labelled icon-based main menu selection. A choice of themes are available, to suit the way you want to view your options. One of them, Espresso, adds an icon carousel at the bottom of the list so the highlighted option is shown larger on the display. Using the navigation joypad to select and click an option and you're presented with a selection of options listed next to numbers. You can scroll up and down and select using the joypad, or simply select the appropriate number on the keypad for quicker access. It's straightforward, allowing you to make changes quickly and simply.
There are plenty of configuration options under each menu option, plus a tree of sub-menus. These allow you to customise the phone considerably, from the usual ringtones and displays to browser settings and slider options. The way menus are viewed - with or without drop down options displayed for instance - can be configured too, and you can set your own shortcuts to favourite features for a My Menu option, accessed in one-click form the joypad.
Samsung's G600: solid feel
Samsung is understandably making a big play of the imaging appeal of the G600 - five-megapixel mobiles are still extremely rare in Europe, albeit with new Sony Ericsson and LG models imminent - and the G600's maximum resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels puts it up there snaps-wise with the Nokia N95 - granted, without the N95's quality Carl Zeiss-sourced lens.
A tap of a softkey pulls up a decent spread of digital camera control options that are familiar from previous Samsung phones. These range from picture size to white balance and ISO settings. The G600 has a useful macro setting for close ups that works effectively. The camera can be set to take multiple shots in quick succession, panoramic views - stitching three consecutive images together - or mosaic shots. A selection of effects can also be added, plus a few gimmicky frames.
You can also toggle swiftly to the G600's camcorder option – which records video in maximum 0.3Mp VGA (640 x 480) quality. Samsung provides an image editor function too for post-photography tweaking - another bit of gadgetry to play with for those not familiar with Photoshop.
The G600's autofocus locks on quickly enough, and there's only a slight delay for the image to be captured and processed. An on-board digital image stabiliser helps steady shots during the image processing, so there's less of the infuriating wobble-as-you-wait problems seen on some other higher-res cameraphones.
Taken at the G600's maximum resolution, images are impressively detailed and well exposed. Close ups too provide fine results, the macro doing its job admirably. Colours are a touch more subdued, however, than they were in comparable shots taken with a Nokia N95. The Nokia's pictures also looked a little more precise and lighting adjustment seemed more responsive. Overall, the G600's images are pleasing though.
Video footage is recorded at higher resolution than many cameraphones, and is good enough for the likes of YouTube. It shoots at 30 frames per second (fps) to give a smoother performance. But like most cameraphones, it's not really up to camcorder quality.
The G600 does deliver on the audio front, however. With software that looks like it's come straight off a standalone Samsung MP3 player, the phone supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA files and can also sync easily with Windows Media Player on a PC by hooking up via the supplied USB cable.
Samsung's G600: provides all-round reliable performance
The music player arranges track options in familiar MP3 player territory, allowing you to organise and select tunes by artists, genres, albums, composers, playlists, podcasts and most played, as well as a shuffle option. Should you wish to, you can add - some dubious - sound effects to replicate various environments, such as concert hall, stadium and surround sound.
You can share your music/annoy fellow citizens on the bus with the speaker or opt for solitary listening via supplied stereo headphones. These plug in via the dual-purpose charger socket so there's no listening while charging - unless you choose the Bluetooth streaming option.
Usefully, though, Samsung has again supplied a two-piece headset with a 3.5mm jack socket mid-way for plugging in a standard pair of decent 'phones. We'd highly recommend fixing in your own as the supplied ones are very poor and do the music player no justice - they're tinny with a distinct lack of bass. A good set of 'phones reveals instead a more than acceptable mobile MP3 player. With 1GB of memory card available in-box, trying to get the best performance possible out of the music player seems a no-brainer.
The G600 allows you to share tunes via Bluetooth. You can stream sound in stereo to two sets of Bluetooth headphones or speakers simultaneously. The FM radio further adds to the audio attractions. You can also record tunes from the radio as MP3s.
Among the G600's other features, the NetFront Browser V3.4 offers options for full website viewing or Smart-Fit rendering of images in mobile screen-friendly columns. Other standard Samsung features include email support, calendar, voice recorder, world clock and memo pad and a selection of Java games.
Verdict
The Samsung’s G600's five-megapiaxel camera will be an attractive feature for some buyers. The quality snapper doesn't dominate the phone's design, though. The handet's slim, elegant, understated and solid in the hand. Taking and making calls, the quality of the G600 is top-class too. We experienced clear calls, good reception and an all-round very reliable performance. The on-board music player ticks the right boxes - as long as decent headphones are used - and Samsung provides a generous bundle.
If you're an attention seeker looking for a phone to spin heads your way, the G600 isn't it. But what you do get is a great quality cameraphone in a very pocketable, stylish package. It's a shame there's no 3G connectivity in this model – we like the idea of higher speed image uploading as well as all the other 3G multimedia gadgetry - but we're sure it will arrive presently in the usual rolling-upgrade Samsung kind of way.
Hard Facts
Samsung SGH-G600 mobile phone
All camera and no connectivity?
Five-megapixel camera? Great. No 3G? Not so great...
Suggested Price: Contract free-£100; handset only £300; pre-pay £260
More Info: Samsung's G600 page [1]
