Samsung U800 3G mobile phone

Bringing a little Soul to the mid-range market?

By Phil Lattimore • Get more from this author

25th September 2008 12:35 GMT

Samsung U800

Samsung’s U800 brings a bit of slimline Soul chic to a tidily-equipped 3G candybar.

Suggested Price:: Contract: from free - £100. Pre-pay: £140. SIM-free: £220
Online Price:: Click for details of prices and sellers
More info:: The U800 page on Samsung's website

Rating

Review It may have some elements of Samsung's Soul chic in its design, but the U800 is an altogether more straightforward affair than that touch-controlled sliderphone.

There’s no touch-sensitive pretensions on the U800 - instead it’s a smart-looking though conventionally buttoned candybar with an attractive brushed-steel casing that’s a shade under 10mm thick.

Samsung's U800: an altogether more straightforward affair than the Soul

Inside that slim but solid-feeling bodywork, the U800 is a decently-featured mid-tier 3G handset. It’s equipped for mobile multimedia, with HSDPA high-speed data connectivity at up to 3.6Mb/s, 1GB of internal storage and a three-megapixel camera. It’s fitted with music and video players, plus a full web browser.

It certainly has some first-sight appeal. The minimalist, curved-edge look invites comparison with the Nokia 6500 Classic - but with a spec list that trumps it.

Well-balanced in the hand, the U800 feels comfortable to hold and operate. Its numberpad gives a design wink to the Soul, with flush rows of keys nicely separated by sliver-thin curved ridges. Speed texters may find text-input action just a touch heavy, but otherwise it’s fine. The main navigation control and soft-menu keys are similarly low profile, with subtly-raised details as fingertip guides.