It was only after two days later when I finally got to sit down and have a closer look at the phone. No thanks to the Sunday’s assignment at A Famosa Golf Resort and assignment due on the following Monday.

This is Samsung SGH-i550.

Samsumg Mobile has targeted the phone for design seekers, efficiency seekers, fun seekers and also price seekers. I only agree with three out of the four, as the recommended retail price of the phone is currently at RM1,599. With such hefty price tag, that’s definitely not a phone for a budget user, if you ask me.

The phone, albeit is for both male and female city dwellers, it is the males who might be interested with the phone due to the its shape and colour. Unlike the usual designs of most Samsung phone, the SGH-i550 doesn’t have the sexy curves or shinny silver coating. Instead, it is generally black in colour with brown on the sides and keypads. It is simple yet has a sophisticated look and at the same time, oozing out charisma and class of its own.

At 53mm wide, 13.8mm thick and 115mm long, the phone is reasonably sized and would fit most palms without much problem. Most importantly, it doesn’t weigh a tonne. In fact, it might be even lighter than my current phone as it is only 109g. Looking at the size of the phone, it is quite impressive that they managed to pack in a 2.6″ TFT display for maximum viewing pleasure.

At the back is the 3.0 mega pixel camera with auto focus feature. There’s a little shinny plate to see your reflection for your own cam-whoring convenience. It has a built in flash, definitely not a Xenon flash, but I assume it should be powerful enough (than a conventional LED light) to light up dim lit areas for picture takings. I shall explore the camera feature at a later time.

On the left side, you have the micro SD slot, which is expandable up to 4GB. For your information, it also has 150MB internal memory. You also have the volume bottom, sligthly above the micro SD slot. The camera shortcut key and the charger / USB port are both on the right hand side of the phone. For those who demands better sound quality for their earphones, you have a 3.5mm jack on the top of the phone, next to the power button as well. That’s definitely a bonus!

A 3G video call mini camera resides on the front panel, right next to the speaker. The keypad, thin rectangular shaped, is very responsive and doesn’t require much force to press. The shape makes text messaging a breeze as you punch away the alphanumeric quickly.

Right in the middle of the keypad / phone is a track ball, emitting a really cool looking blue light, as if its the heart of the phone (like IronMan’s). When it’s charging, it’s red in colour.

Instead of the ever problematic joy stick and the flat surfaced joy pad, Samsumg Mobile has decided to put in track ball for easier navigation and scrolling. Rather than pressing or pushing, all you have to do is glide your fingers across the track ball and your cursor would move accordingly. Like our computer’s mouse, you can set the sensitivity of the track ball.

Outlook wise, I would say its pretty safe. Nothing too funky, nothing too old school, nothing too drastic, nothing too boring, it has struck a balance between all the elements to appeal potential users from all range. Moreover, the fact that I dislike the idea of flipping, twisting, rotating, shaking or whatever-ing the phone just to reach the key pad and other functions, this phone has stood out in terms of design. It looks plain and simple, but for a guy, it is definitely appealing.

The Samsung SGH-i550 series :
The Kick Off

P/S : To get amazing deals on cheap cell phone plans, the Internet can be a valuable resource. A cell phone company often has a lot of various plans and phones to choose from, so read very carefully before you sign up for prepaid cell phones or contacts!

Related posts:

1. Samsung SGH-i550 - The Summary
2. Samsung SGH-i550 - The Closing Ceremony
3. Samsung SGH-i550 - The GPS
4. Samsung SGH-i550 - Specifications & Symbian Series 60
5. Samsung SGH-i550 - The 3.0 Mega Pixel Camera

Tags: Appearance, Design, Hand Phones, Mobile Phones, Mobile World, Outlook, Samsung, Samsung Mobile, SGH-i550, Symbian