Samsung S5600 preview: First look

Samsung S5600 360-degree spin

The Samsung S5600 actually leaves an impression of a quite compact device - and light as well. The rounded edges add for a nice faux perception of slimmness.

Design and construction

The display of the Samsung S5600 is enclosed by a black plastic frame. Above the display there is a video call camera and the earpiece grill.

There's nothing special about the glossy black frame except perhaps the fact that it's pretty prone to attracting fingerprints.

There is no Back key among the three hardware buttons at the bottom. Instead, the S5600 is tuned to use the left direction of the D-pad for that purpose.

The center of the D-pad is quite strangely reminiscent of certain optical trackpads that we've seen Samsung use on other phones, but the manufacturer has not announced anything about this and it didn't seem to work as a trackpad on our unit.

The Samsung S5600 is modestly styled with the only exception being the brushed metal plate, which hosts the hardware keys.

Samsung S5600: a video call camera on top and the hardware keys on a brushed metal plate

On the left side of the Samsung S5600 there is a simple volume rocker and a lanyard eyelet. The right-hand side is just as simple with only two keys available here - the camera key and the HOLD key, which is used to lock and unlock the touchscreen.

The camera key can be set to either start the camera or a shortcuts tab.

At the top of the Samsung S5600 is a protective cap hiding the standard miscroUSB port that's used for connecting the charger, data cable and headset. We're really glad to see Samsung steadily incorporating the microUSB port on many of its latest phones - much like Nokia. The other manufacturers should follow suit.

Left side: volume rocker • right side: camera and HOLD key • top side: microUSB port

The back panel of the Samsung S5600 is quite modest - as is the whole phone. However it's made of some really nice plastic, which provides some extra finger grip and doesn't accumulate fingerprint smudges at all.

As you can see on the images, the 3 megapixel camera is equipped with a LED flash - quite unlike the slimmer LG Cookie. Unfortunately, there's still no auto focus. The camera our early pre-production unit was not operational, so unfortunately, we won't be posting sample camera images.

However Samsung are promising that the S5600 should come with smile detection plus that we found a GPS receiver on board so getotagging is pretty much sealed as a camera feature as well.

The only way to get access to the memory card slot is by removing the battery.

The 3 megapixel camera has a flash now, however still no auto focus

While the positive reaction of the LG Cookie styling and ergonomics seem more immediate, the Samsung S5600 is a great handset too. While it doesn't impress on first sight, it has an ability to slowly grow on you, and by the end of the day, it totally owns you.

Samsung S5600 held in hand

You are welcome to the next page as we explore some of the more interesting software applications.