Samsung i600: Compact, feature-filled and stylish

Samsung isn't renowned for making BlackBerry-style, email-centric devices but its latest smart phone, the i600, definitely raised our eyebrows. This professional and stylish looking handset is not only relatively compact, but it comes with a fair few features that will keep you connected almost everywhere you go.

Connectivity options include Bluetooth, HSDPA (3.5G), Wi-Fi and tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900). It runs on Windows Mobile 5 (smart phone edition) and you can set it up to synchronise with your office's Microsoft Exchange Server so that you can access your emails on the go.

Typing emails out is relatively easy on the full Qwerty keypad, but the keys are a little more squashed together than we would like. One feature we really liked is the scroll wheel on the right side, which makes navigating through emails really easy. Samsung has even created a bespoke start page with a scroll-friendly menu system.

Underneath the bonnet you'll find 64MB RAM and 128MB ROM, which isn't masses of memory -- we would have preferred a little more. That said, in our initial hands-on we didn't notice any major lag while opening programs.

Other features include a document viewer but not an editor, a 1.3-megapixel camera and secondary camera for video calls, an expandable microSD card that's accessible from the outside, and a media player that supports a variety of formats, including MP3 and MPEG4.

The Samsung i600 is available SIM-free for about £290 from eXpansys and free on a monthly contract from certain networks. You can expect a full review lickety-split. -Andrew Lim