Samsung at 3GSM World Congress 2006

Samsung Z710 (SGH-Z710)

This swivelling clamshell comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.2" 240x320 pixel display, Bluetooth, 128Mb of internal memory with microSD expansion, an MP3/multimedia player, FM radio and TV output. Being a "Z series" handset, this is also a 3G phone.

There are a few camera phones around like this - designed to look as much like a dedicated camera as well as a phone, and the Z710 certainly looks the part, although there's no optical zoom on this device. Physically, the SGH-Z710 measures 96x48x20mm and weighs 107 grams.

Samsung P900 (SGH-P900) / P910 (SGH-P910)

The SGH-P900 (pictured) is an unusual looking phone that is slightly reminiscent of the Samsung Z130, with an unusual rotating display. However, the display on the SGH-P900 is designed for digital TV rather than video calling.

The TV technology in the SGH-P900 uses the T-DMB ("Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting") system, which is a technology based on DAB digital terrestrial radio. This is a quite different system to the one used by Nokia in the N92, which is the DVB-H based on the DVB-T "Freeview" standard. Sony Ericsson are also committed to DVB-H. Cleverly, Samsung also have the SGH-P910 which is a handset that uses the DVB-H standard, so effectively Samsung have all the bases covered.

The Samsung SGH-P900 is a tri-band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE, a 2 megapixel digital camera, T-DMB receiver, 240x320 pixel display in 262,000 colours, 128Mb of internal memory plus microSD expansion, an MP3/AAC player, dual speakers and Bluetooth. It's a large device for a GSM phone, at 95x48x27mm and 124 grams, but substantially lighter than the Nokia N92.

On the other hand, the SGH-P910 is a 3G device with UMTS 2100, plus tri-band GSM and GPRS (but no EDGE), a 1.3 megapixel camera, DVB-H receiver, 240x320 pixel display in 262,000 colours, 32Mb of internal memory plus microSD expansion, MP3/AAC playback, dual speakers and Blueooth. Size and weight are identical to the P900.

We have to admit that we think the SGH-P900 does look a little silly, and the N92 is a better looking handset. However, the SGH-P900 and P910 are substantially lighter than the 191 gram Nokia. We still don't know if there's any market for this particular type of device though.

Samsung i320 (SGH-i320)

The Samsung i320 is a Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone with a BlackBerry 7100-style keypad, 320x240 pixel display, 1.3 megapixel camera, plus 120Mb internal memory plus microSD expansion and Bluetooth. It comes with all the usual software features you'd expect in a Windows device too.

At 95 grams, this is an impressively lightweight device, and the SGH-i320 measures only 111x59x12mm. It's a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 device with GPRS and EDGE, but there's no 3G or WiFi support here.

The Samsung i320 finds itself pitched against the Nokia E61, Sony Ericsson M600i and several other devices, although it is somewhat more limited in connectivity options than much of the competition. It's also an unattractive handset, and there has been no real effort put into styling - in our opinion the i320 is a mess in ergonomic terms too. However, if you're looking for a lightweight Windows-based alternative to a BlackBerry, then the Samsung i320 is probably worth considering.

Samsung Z330 (SGH-Z330)

This unassuming looking handset is, in fact, the smallest and lightest 3G phone that we've ever seen. Weighing just 85 grams, the SGH-Z330 comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, a secondary camera for video calling, 1.9" 176x220 pixel display, 140Mb of embedded non-expandable memory, Bluetooth, an MP3/multimedia player, email client and web browser. Although some features have been sacrificed to make the SGH-Z330 a lightweight device, it's still an impressive little handset, with a decent enough camera and plenty of memory to be useful.

In styling terms, it's a very conservative handset in a classic Samsung style. Unlike some other recent Samsung handsets, this retains the curves of earlier clamshell phones giving it a softer look. This light weight probably comes at the expense of battery life, although Samsung have not published figures for this phone (nor indeed most of their other handsets announced at 3GSM)

Samsung Z560 (SGH-Z560)

We previewed Samsung's first attempt at an HSDPA (3.5G) handset a few weeks ago - the SGH-Z560 appears to be a rather sleeker implementation of an HSDPA handset though.

Physically, the Samsung Z560 measures 97x51x16mm and weighs 98 grams, which is lightweight for a 3G phone. There's a large 2.3" 240X320 pixel display on the inside, plus a 128x128 pixel display and 2.0 megapixel primary camera on the outside. The SGH-Z560 supports Bluetooth, has 30Mb of internal memory plus a microSD slot. There's also a multimedia player, and the Z560 comes with external media controls.

Samsung say that the SGH-Z560 can reach download speeds of up to 1.8Mbps and it should be available in Q2 2006.

Samsung E870 (SGH-E870)

The Samsung SGH-E870 is a lightweight clamshell phone with a minimalist design that is actually quite well specified. The E870 features a 176x220 pixel display in 256k colours, has a 1.3 megapixel camera, 80Mb of internal memory plus microSD expansion, Bluetooth, an email client and web browser and a multimedia player. Samsung have managed to squeeze all of this into a phone weighing just 85 grams and measuring 92x42x16mm.

The SGH-E870 has fallen foul of Samsung's random naming convention - it's rather similar to the E530 in specification, but perhaps Samsung want to give the impression that this is a luxury device, rather than a midrange handset.

The uncluttered design is very elegant, however we feel that Samsung might have missed a trick by not including external media controls on the E870, which limits it somewhat as a multimedia device. Still, this is one of the most attractive handsets we've seen to date and it should sell well on looks alone.

Samsung D520 (SGH-D520)

In terms of specifications, the SGH-D520 is almost identical to the old Samsung D500, except with a smartened up design and much slimmer form factor. There's 80Mb of non-expandable memory, and MP3 player, 176x220 pixel display, Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The Samsung D520 weighs 99 grams and measures 101x46x16mm. There's a web browser and email client too.

Again, the D520 falls foul of Samsung's random naming convention, as there's also a D510 device with a slightly better specification than the D520 (the D510 has expandable memory). It's a nicer looking phone than the D600 in our opinion, and it's more compact too.

Samsung Z150 (SGH-Z150)

Slimmer and lighter than even the Motorola SLVR, the SGH-Z150 is less than 10mm thick and weighs just 89 grams. THe remarkable thing here is that the Samsung Z150 is actually a fully-featured 3G handset, with twin VGA resolution cameras, 176x220 pixel display, Bluetooth, an MP3 player and 50Mb of internal non-expandable memory. Certainly, the Samsung SGH-Z150 isn't the most advanced 3G phone we've seen, but it's substantially smaller and lighter than almost all other 3G handsets which is an impressive achievement.

Samsung Z310 (SGH-Z310)

A conventional 3G handset, the Samsung Z310 features a 176x220 pixel display, 1.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 30Mb of internal memory with microSD expansion, an MP3/multimedia player with external media controls and dual speakers. It measures 89x48x24mm and weighs a relatively lightweight 102 grams.

Samsung Z350 (SGH-Z350)

The SGH-Z350 is a 3G slider, physically similar to the Z320i and D500 devices, with a with QVGA (240x320 pixel) 2.0" display, 1.3 megapixel main camera, Bluetooth, 30Mb of internal memory with microSD expansion and an MP3/multimedia player. It weighs 107 grams and measures 97x48x18mm.

Samsung Z600 (SGH-Z600)

The Samsung SGH-Z600 is a 3G S60 Symbian smartphone, featuring a 2 megapixel camera, 2.1" 176x208 pixel display, MP3/multimedia playback, Bluetooth, 70Mb of internal memory (expandable