Samsung SGH-G600 Review

Design:

A single look is enough to notice that the G600 is a Samsung phone. It is designed in typical for the manufacturer manner and it is clearly a member of the family of Samsung sliders. While it is 2mm thicker than the D900 and whole 4mm than the U600, the G600 is still not a thick phone measuring at 14.9mm (0.6”). It fits easily into even tight pockets and with weight of 3 oz (85 grams) won’t feel like a stone.

Model	Dimension (Inches)	Dimension (mm)	Weight (oz)	Weight (Gramms)
Samsung SGH-G600	4.00" x 1.9" x 0.6"	101 x 47.8 x 14.9	3.0	85
Samsung SGH-D900	4.1" x 2.00" x 0.5"	103.5 x 51 x 13	3.3	93
Samsung SGH-U600	4.1" x 1.9" x 0.4"	103.2 x 49.3 x 10.9	2.9	81
LG-VX8550	3.90" x 1.9" x 0.70"	98 x 47.5 x 17	3.2	92

The hardware of the Samsung phone points to the high-end class, which it is in. The construction is solid and our only concern is that the plastic on the back feels rather cheap on touch. Opening or closing is very easy and the spring assisted mechanism is pretty robust, which results in lack of effort for the operation.

In the last few years, Samsung phone have always been known for their high-quality displays, and the G600 will not disappoint. Situated on the front side is the 2.2” QVGA unit with 16 million colors. Directly put next to a Nokia display with same resolution and colors, the G600 shows that it has affinity to yellow and all colors have slight such nuance. But don’t worry, it is very weak and if you do not compare it with other phones will hardly notice it. Thanks to a small sensor located in the speaker grid above, the display is dynamically changing its brightness which helps it to be well lit in the dark but remain readable in bright outdoor environment.

As we’ve mentioned above, the G600 has a typical design for such slider. As you can expect, below the display are situated the navigation keys while on the bottom slider is the numeric keyboard. We are happy that unlike the U-series, here the manufacturer has been able to fit standard buttons which require pressing, not only touch. The 5-way D-pad and the two software keys are raised and have good haptic feedback, while the other buttons are flat but big enough to be hit easily. The combination of big size, relief and tactile feedback result in easy to use keyboard and it is very rare to hit the wrong key. Only the clear button is small, but it is rarely used one.

While we are definitely positive about the navigation keys, the numeric ones doesn’t really impress us, at least not in the good way. The size is average, which is ok, but although it seems that they have some relief, the average customer won’t be able to feel one button from the other by touch. At least, they move when pressed, and you understand that it has happen, unlike the touch-sensitive keys which have null tactile feedback.



We’ve no concerns about the side keys, which consist of a volume rocker on the left and two-step camera shortcut on the right. They are located where they should be, feel easy and press in the same way. Samsung has done good job with this. In the bottom of the left and the right sides are also housed respectively the charging proprietary connector and the microSD slot. Both have covers, totally fusing with the phone’s design.



The only thing that left unmentioned in the design part is the 5-megapixel camera. Although this is the key feature of the phone, it is not an attraction design-wise. Located on the back of the upper slider it consists of small lens, “5.0 MEGA” label and an LED flash. When next to the K850 or the N95, it doesn’t really look professional. The other two have larger lenses and try to imitate the look of a stand-alone digital camera. The G600 on the other hand looks more elegant.