The U900 has soul. (Samsung SGH-U900 Soul)

Member Name: Xlixen

Product:	Samsung SGH-U900 Soul
Date:	20/06/09 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice Touchpad, Good Sound Quality, Fast Software

Disadvantages: Scratches Easily, Keypad fails sometimes

Introduction
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The Samsung U900 'Soul' is yet another slide phone produced by the huge electronics specialist Samsung. Its main standout feature is a small touch screen panel used to operate the main functions on the phone. I finally decided to upgrade to this phone after losing patience with the LG 'Viewty' touch screen phone I owned previously.

Aesthetics
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For me, how a phone looks is very important - they are seen as an accessory these days, and having a sleek looking phone is important to a lot of people. The U900 delivers on this front, much like most of the products Samsung produces. The 'Midnight' version is in a sleek shiny black colour throughout. The colours of the icons on the touch screen are customisable, and you can choose a colour from throughout the colour spectrum. The keypad looks good too, simply laid out and is easily hidden.
The U900 is a good size, roughly 3 inches in length, and around a centimetre deep. The sliding function is virtually perfected these days, especially after producing so many of these kinds of phones!
Overall, I can't fault how the mobile looks at all, which was one of the main reasons that I chose this phone in the first place.

Features
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The main features of the Samsung U900 include:
- Slide out Keypad.
- Touch Screen Navigation.
- Hidden 5MP Camera.
- Front Camera for Video Calling.

[Keypad]

The keypad is, in general very good. The buttons are very flat and the buttons all flow into each other. However, it is easy to select the button that you want to press. I did however have a faulty U900 first time round, and after around 5 days, most of the buttons stopped functioning properly. However, since Orange replaced my phone, the keypad has been fine.
[Touch Screen]


The touch screen is the most outstanding feature of this phone. There are 5 different places you can touch the screen to select the function that you need. Shortcuts are also available to be programmed into the touch screen, which is very useful. I really like this feature although it is difficult to get used to at first.

[Camera]

Of course, all mobile phones have cameras these days. The 5MP camera on the U900 is located behind the screen, and is hidden when the phone is closed. The camera can therefore only be used when the keypad is slid out. The camera itself is okay, although I don't think the quality of the shots is amazing - I have certainly seen better 5MP cameras on phones.

[Front Camera]

Once again, this camera isn't particularly fantastic - It is pretty well hidden at the top of the phone next to the Samsung branding. It's okay for video calling, but as I never use video calling, I'm not really qualified to comment on how good the camera is.

Functionality
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The U900 is pretty standard in terms of software and features on the phone and comes with all the regular functions such as Bluetooth, 3G, MP3 Player, FM Radio, Image and Video Editors, World Clock, Calculator and Converter and a timer.

[The Software]

I've always liked the software that Samsung have on their phones - It's fast and simple to use, and rarely has problems. The Main menu is split down into 12 different options - Applications, Address Book, Media Album, Downloads, Messaging, Internet, Settings, Call History, Music, Organiser, Camera and Profiles.
I use a few of the applications quite regularly, especially the calculator, which is fast and easy to type in the numbers (as it should be really). The Music Player is pretty good, and the headphones supplied with the phone are pretty good quality. The speakers can also kick out songs at a decent volume (although be careful not to annoy others in the street!). The Bluetooth works as required, and it is very easy to share files with other phones in the local area.

[Calling]

As its main function, the phone is pretty good at ringing others! The loudspeaker is well configured and the talking volume of the phone is good, and is not crackly at all as I have experienced with other phones. The clarity is top notch.

[Messaging]

The T9 Dictionary on the Samsung phones is okay, I prefer to use predictive text to normal texting as I can text much faster with it, especially when the dictionary is fully configured. The only annoying thing about it is when a word is entered, it is always the first one that comes up - This is annoying if there is another regular word that you use far more often.
The inbox isn't the largest ever, and usually only stores around 200 messages before they need to be deleted. If there is a way to allocate more memory to messaging, I haven't found it yet - This is another small problem that I have with the phone that I wish could be resolved.

Conclusion
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[Advantages]

There are many reasons that this is a great phone
- Looks great.
- Good features.
- Good software.
- Does its job as it should.
- Good Price.

[Disadvantages]

- Touch screen difficult to get used to.
- Can't hold many messages.
- Camera isn't that great.
- My keypad broke on the last one I had.
- Very easily scratched.

Overall I would recommend this phone although there are certain things that you have to look out for. The sleek black looks don't stay forever as it is very easily scratched - although every phone scratches, this one is particularly bad for it. The message deleting is annoying, but you get used to it after a while, so isn't a big problem.

Overall, I would give the U900 8/10.

Thanks for reading,
~Xlixen.

Summary: Overall a very good phone.

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