SAMSUNG: Samsung E620

Sunday 15 July 2012

Samsung E620

Clamshell handsets don't get much smaller than the Samsung E720. At just 91 by 45 by 23mm and weighing a mere 90g, you'd be hard-pressed to find a smaller, lighter model. You can treat this as an any-time handset -- you don't have to have capacious pockets to have access to its punchy features.One of the great plus points of this phone is that it plays music and provides controls to do so without flipping open the clamshell. Beneath the screen are three buttons that look just like the standard play/pause, forward and back buttons on an MP3 player.Above the reasonably large TFT front screen sits a lens with LEDs on either side. Around the edges you'll find a shortcut button for the camera on the right and a volume rocker on the left, which is ergonomically placed. We liked not having to hunt around for it during calls.Also on the left, and protected by a cover, is a mini USB connector for linking by cable to your PC if you don't want to use the built-in Bluetooth and for connecting the supplied stereo headset. It doesn't have infrared capability or a standard headphone jack.The overall styling is not unlike that of a computer mouse, with the top end deeper than the bottom and a sharp curve towards the hinge of the clam. It's rather pretty and it's comfortable to hold in the hand when it's closed. It feels very solidly built.Open the clamshell and you see a large numberpad that uses most of the available space and offers large and well-spaced keys. The usual pair of softkey buttons and navigation pad sit above the numbers. For all its size, we found the numberpad unresponsive, and the navigation pad slightly fiddly to use.