Samsung SGH-i620

This particular i620 was built for Vodafone Italy, and sports the company's "mail & call" logo on its side. The i620 is similar to Samsung's other i6xx series messaging devices, such as the i617 BlackJack II, and runs the same Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard edition operating system. It is a tri-band GSM/EDGE cellphone that can get HSDPA 3G data speeds on 2100MHz networks, such as those in Europe.

Samsung's SGH-i620 is designed to be a messaging smartphone that has great style, but often fashion comes with a bit of a price. In the case of the i620, that price is Samsung's use of touch sensitive keys on the front of the cellphone. While they work pretty well, touch sensitive keys never work as well as real hardware buttons, even if they are prettier. They can sometimes be activated by accident, causing an unintended phone call or two, but they certainly make the device look more sexy - especially in our unit's white color scheme.

When the solidly sprung slider mechanism on the i620 is opened up, users get access to the nicely spaced out QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard on the i620 is almost 2mm narrower than the one found on the BlackJack II.

The SGH-i620's display is a decently nice 2.2" QVGA resolution unit that can render up to 65,000 color shades. The brightness level is adjustable so that users have the option of turning it down a bit to prolong the device's battery life. The battery itself is located behind an easily removed cover on the rear of the device. The main 2 megapixel camera remains hidden until the slider is opened up, but a forward facing camera for video calls is found on the front of the i620, above the display.

The overall build quality of the SGH-i620 seems quite good. The chrome trim on our review unit appears to have been minorly scratched at some point, but overall the device appears to wear well. On the left hand side of the phone are the volume control rocker switch and the covered microSD card slot. A covered power/headset/USB port is located on the right edge of the phone, next to a shortcut key that calls up the Windows Mobile Quick List or camera.

The i620 measures 95.5mm x 59.5mm x 17.5mm (3.8" x 2.3" x .7") in size, and wheights 129g (4.5oz), with both the microSD and SIM cards installed.

Samsung's SGH-i620 is a tri-band GSM/EDGE cellphone that also supports 3G UMTS connections on the 2100MHz band used in Europe and other parts of the world.

The SGH-i620 has a flexible speed dial system that lets a numbered speed dials be assigned to any contact or application found in the Start menu. Once assigned, a speed dial can be activated by long-pressing the associated key on the keypad.

The Samsung i620 supports traditional SMS and MMS messaging as well as email. The emai

l support on the i620 is very good, thanks to the inclusion of Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync system that can deliver push email as well

as synchronize appointments, contacts, and tasks over the air - though not notes. When the phone is paired with an Exchange 2007 server, users can even search for messages that are stored on the server, but not the phone, which can be tremendously handy. The solid messaging app on the i620 also supports regular IMAP and POP based email accounts, with all accounts of all types being handled by the main messaging application. Users can easily switch from one account to the next by pressing left or right on the d-pad. The i620 can also be synchronized with desktop apps like Outlook by using Bluetooth or a USB cable.

The HSDPA capable Samsung i620 should handle download speeds of over 1000Kbps in areas with strong 2100MHz UMTS signals. WiFi support would have been a real nice addition to the phone, but is not available (though it is on the newer i640). Like most WM6 devices, the i620 supports a wide array of Bluetooth profiles that include A2DP stereo and regular headset support. The Internet Sharing application is available on the phone, which makes the i620 a viable modem for laptops when on a 3G network.

Like many current messaging smartphones, the Samsung SGH-i620 features a fixed focus 2 megapixel camera. The camera still lacks the skills for photo fans, though. In terms of video, the i620 is capable of shooting at resolutions up to QVGA (240x320 pixels), which is adequate. Samsung really went over the top when it came to camera sound effects. Changing the digital zoom and brightness levels with the d-pad causes sounds reminiscent of Space Invaders to erupt from the phone's speakers.

Samsung provides its own skin for the Microsoft Windows Media Player that displays a graphical equalizer looking effect that is enjoyable, but is probably a waste of CPU resources.

The i620 comes with a fairly decent set of applications. All of the personal organizer type apps are accounted for, like the calendar, calculator, tasks, and notes apps. The included RSS feed reader is really excellent, and the copy of Opera 8.65 web browser is also useful since it does a fairly good job of rendering regular desktop websites on a small display. Google Maps also comes preloaded, though there is no built-in GPS, and users will also find a document viewer, a stopwatch, a unit converter, and a world clock inside. Noticeably missing are the various Microsoft Office apps normally seen on a Windows Mobile smartphone.

The built-in Pocket Internet Explorer web browser, standard equipment on a Windows Mobile devices, is also available, though most people will probably prefer the Opera browser. Pocket IE is not all that impressive by current smartphone standards, but it works well enough with sites formatted specifically for mobile phones. On the plus side, it's user interface is probably a bit more straightforward than Opera's. With either browser, though, the scrollable d-pad makes moving through long pages a breeze.