My next mobile phone

The Samsung SGH-i600 Ultra Messaging Phone.

Specs overview:

• Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone OS
• HSDPA (3.5G!) / GSM Triband
• GPRS/EDGE
• WiFi 802.11 b/g(!)
• Bluetooth v2.0 (with A2DP!)
• 128MB ROM, 64MB RAM
• microSD slot (rumors of a 1-GB card in the package)
• 1.3Mp camera; secondary VGA video-call camera
• document viewer (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)

I like the full QWERTY keyboard for faster typing, and the excellent connectivity features. A touchscreen would've been nice (as with the Sony Ericsson P990i and Palm Treo 750, my 2nd and 3rd choices, respectively), but the single-handed operation - as touted by Samsung - is even better. I like how the scroll wheel is on the right side, facilitating one-(right)handed operation as with a regular mobile phone. It would seem the placement of the keys would also be quite comfy for texting for my above average-sized hands.

Quite a few online reviews and previews have cropped up, including one from Malaysia, from the UK and another from the Czech Republic. All quite favorable, if I may add.

I like Ming Han's review, in particular, since it's from an actual user/consumer, and not some magazine hack.

I was wary of the i600's camera quality, seeing as how I'm coming from a SE K750i (2Mp, autofocus! One of the best in the biz). But the sample photos from PDAgold (scroll down the page) are not bad at all, especially considering the lack of a LED light.

I went window-shopping again yesterday, checking out new phones at the mall, and lo and behold, I find one shop has the i600 listed for quite a good price (comparable to the SRPs mentioned in Ming Han's review). Pricing is what basically sold me (pun intended) on the i600 versus the P990i and the Treo750. The former is about P5k more expensive, and the latter about P15K more than the i600! And to think, the Treo750 doesn't even have WiFi (but it does have a touch screen). I obsessed over the P990i for a while, especially when I found one shop that had it listed at only a couple PK more than the i600. But, as expected, it was too good to be true, as the shop didn't have them in stock =p

Then I saw the i600 at that one shop, and they said it was in stock! They just didn't have a display unit I could try out (typical). I hope their SRP is accurate, which means it can still go down some more a few months down the line ;-)

Now I really need to sell my bike...

Samsung i600 flash website here.
(i600 photo courtesy of gsmarena.com)