Samsung M300 (SGH-M300)

Available now
11th May 2007

You won't be alone if you just did a double-take at this picture - this is a new phone but it also very closely styled on the Samsung E700 from 2003.

It's not the first time the the E700's styling has been re-used like this - many people regard the original handset as a bit of a design classic and certainly Samsung use it as a reference for one of their "house styles". But what is remarkable about the Samsung SGH-M300 is just how closely it copies the E700.

It's not just about looks - the Samsung SGH-M300 (like the E700) has a basic 128 x 160 pixel TFT display and a VGA resolution camera. In common with the E700, there's no Bluetooth but the Samsung M300 does comes with an FM radio.

So.. at first glance the SGH-M300 looks rather like the E700 reissued.. but you probably wouldn't notice the biggest difference until you hold the Samsung M300 in your hand.. because this phone weighs just 63 grams making it one of the lightest phones on the market.

To put this in context, the old E700 was one of the lightest phones in its day and that weighs 86 grams, so it's about 25% lighter. The light weight is reflected in the SGH-M300's diminutive size, just 80 x 40 x 16.7mm. One of the trade-offs for the small size and light weight is battery life - the Samsung M300 has 3 hours talktime and 9.5 days standby time, which is identical to the old model.

There's no MP3 player here, nor does the Samsung M300 have expandable memory (and as we mentioned, no Bluetooth). But it does has GPRS, a web browser, MMS messaging and some personal information management tools. In fact, the specifications are so close to the E700 it's spooky.. it's just that the SGH-M300 has shrunk. Well, that and the fact that it will be available in a wide variety of colours (availability may vary by region).

The Samsung M300 is either available now or will be out shortly in Italy, France, Germany and Russia. Presumably other countries will follow. The price in Germany for a prepay Samsung SGH-M300 is a fairly steep €142, considering how basic the phone is. This indicates that Samsung are charging a premium for the M300 being a "fashion phone", and it certainly is a nice looking (if somewhat basic) handset.

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