Samsung i600 Comprehensive Review and Insights

Overview

The Samsung i600 is a smartphone that was launched in December 2006, and it quickly became known for its slim design and functionality, targeting business professionals. The device is compact yet offers a range of features typical for smartphones from the mid-2000s, combining communication, productivity, and multimedia tools.

Design and Build

The Samsung i600 measures 113 x 59 x 11.8 mm and weighs around 105 grams. Its dimensions make it a compact device that is easy to carry and handle. The phone has a QWERTY keyboard which stands out in its design, allowing for easy typing and efficient management of emails and messaging tasks. The device is equipped with a Mini-SIM slot and comes in a classic black color which adds to its professional appeal.

Display

The i600 features a 2.3-inch TFT display with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. This provides a pixel density of approximately 174 ppi, which was sufficient at the time to deliver clear and readable text on the screen. Despite being modest by today's standards, the display quality was suitable for the basic tasks and app usage available on this platform.

Hardware and Performance

Under the hood, the Samsung i600 is powered by a TI OMAP 1710 chipset with a 200 MHz ARM926EJ-S processor. Though basic, this setup provided adequate performance for running the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system that the device was shipped with. The phone includes 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM, which could be expanded using a microSD card, allowing users to store more files, music, and applications.

Operating System and Software

The Samsung i600 runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition, providing users with a range of productivity apps like Microsoft Office Mobile, which includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The OS also supports email synchronization, making it an ideal choice for business users at the time.

Connectivity

The i600 supports GSM and HSPA network technologies, with 2G bands covering GSM 900, 1800, and 1900 frequencies, and 3G capabilities on HSDPA 2100. It offers a maximum speed of 1.8 Mbps using HSPA. The phone also includes Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g for wireless connectivity and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP for connecting wireless peripherals. Notably, it lacks GPS and FM radio features, which were beginning to be included in some competing models during that period.

Camera

The device is equipped with a 1.3 MP main camera capable of shooting 320p video. While this may not be impressive by modern standards, it was adequate for casual photography and video recording at the time. Additionally, the phone includes a VGA camera on the front intended for video calls, aligning with its professional target market.

Battery Life

The Samsung i600 is powered by a removable Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery. This battery offered a standby time of up to 380 hours and a talk time of approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes, which was fairly decent for feature-rich phones of that era.

Sound and Alerts

The phone comes with a loudspeaker and supported various alert types, including vibration and downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones. However, it lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, which limited users to using Bluetooth for audio unless they utilized a USB-based adapter or dedicated headsets.

Additional Features

The Samsung i600 also brought some additional features, such as support for WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, and RSS feeds for web browsing, although the browsing experience was limited by modern standards. The device did not include sensors like accelerometers or gyroscopes, which were not commonly found in smartphones during its time.

Market Position and Legacy

At an initial price of about 220 EUR, the Samsung i600 was positioned as a mid-tier business phone. It was a step forward in combining smartphone functionality with a traditional mobile experience in an accessible manner. Although discontinued, it remains a part of Samsung's history in mobile communications, illustrating the evolution of smartphone designs towards the more powerful and feature-rich devices we see today.