Samsung E610 (SGH-E610)

Discontinued
18th November 2004

The Samsung E610 is pretty much a direct replacement for the Samsung E600, and although the model offers a few enhancements and new features, it's pretty clear that this is a case of more of the same from Samsung.

One noticeable change though is that this isn't a typical silver clamshell, finished in much darker, more contrasting colours. The change is design is more a reflection of an evolution in house style from Samsung, and possibly an attempt to differentiate their handsets more. However, we don't think the Samsung E610 is a particularly striking handset by any means.

Something that is noticeable though is that the E610 is wider and thinner than the old E600, giving it a slightly squashed look. The E600 measured 82x42x24mm, and the E610 85x50x20mm. The weight is about the same at 84-85 grams. Slimmer it may be, but the E610 certainly isn't as slim as a Motorola RAZR.

However, it's a little more special than your average clamshell. The Samsung SGH-E610 has a 176x220 pixel display in 262,000 colours (like the RAZR). This is much better than the standard 128x160 pixel 65,000 colour display in most Samsungs, and is much better than most clamshells of this type on the market. However, it's only really playing catch-up with Motorola who have been building clamshells with 176x220 pixels for some time.

The camera on the Samsung E610 is a straightforward VGA resolution unit with a flash, plus there are all the usual features such as GPRS, WAP, MMS and T9 predictive text. The E610 is a tri-band phone rather than the standard Samsung dual-band arrangement, but it doesn't support Bluetooth.

In our view, the Samsung E610 is an improvement over previous models, but overall it's a little bland. And although Samsung are trying hard to develop a visual identity with their products, the E610 isn't very striking. However, it's a pretty decent midrange clamshell, but the lack of Bluetooth makes it weak in comparison with the Motorola V500 series.

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