Review: Samsung's U900 Soul - Ultra Slick

Samsung SGH-U900 Soul

Samsung SGH-U900 Soul

Samsung SGH-U900 Soul

Samsung SGH-U900 Soul

Samsung's new SGH-U900 Soul gets its name from Samsung calling the device the "Soul Of ULtra", a fitting name for what the company says is the last handset in its original Ultra line of thin profile feature phones. The Soul has a lot of high-tech goodies packed into its metal shell, including a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and a new OLED backed morphing touchpad controller where the d-pad would normally be. So what's the catch, you ask? Well, the Soul lacks 3G support for North America, and doesn't even work on the 850MHz GSM/EDGE frequency band that is so common on this side of the Atlantic. But while this beauty of a phone might best suit the European market, it still is worth taking an in-depth look at.

Physical Aspects

As the last member of Samsung's Ultra lineup of handsets, the SGH-U900 Soul has a fairly thin profile of only 13.5mm (.5"). The truth is that the rest of the phone is equally compact, considering all the technology it possesses. At 107mm x 49.5mm (4.2" x 1.9") in size when closed, the Soul fits comfortably in the hand as it does the back pocket of a pair of jeans. Of course you wouldn't want to put just any phone in your back pocket - not, at least, if you didn't want to break it. For its part, the Soul feels extremely solidly built thanks to a fair amount of metal in its construction. Solidness comes at the expense of some weight, though. 113g (4.0oz) is far from heavy, but there are many other devices on the market today that are far lighter. But that is OK because few of them can offer what the Soul can.

When closed, the front of the U900 is dominated by its dual displays. The main QVGA resolution TFT screen is incredibly sharp and colorful, looking for all the world like a 2.2" diagonal sheet of paper at times. It might be only passable in harsh, overhead sunlight, but it excels in just about any other situation. The OLED touchscreen that sits below the main display is one of the Soul's most interesting components. It offers amazing contrast and acceptable haptic vibration feedback that actually makes it a fine alternative to a hardware d-pad. In certain parts of the phone, such as camera application, it morphs to show icons for controls like macro mode and flash, which makes it even better than a d-pad.

Surrounding that touchpad controller are a set of fairly conventional softkeys and call control keys. While the buttons are all part of one solid piece of metal, they each offer great tactile feedback to users. The call keys and the softkeys all share the same white color scheme and backlighting. It would have messed with the Soul's style a bit, but perhaps red and green colors should have been used for the two call keys.

The keypad is revealed when the moderately sprung slider mechanism is opened up. The keypad is made of the same bronze-gray colored metal as the exterior of the phone, and the color coordination adds much to the Soul's overall good looks. The keyboard's keys have a fair number of raised finger guide ridges surrounding them, and they offer the perfect amount of click when pressed. The white backlighting on the keypad comes through superbly and has enough contrast to be easily read in both bright and dark environments. The top row of keys on the keypad include, from left to right, a video calling button, a clear key for editing, and a shortcut menu key.

Controls for the camera and volume are set on the side edges of the Soul, directly across from each other. While the position of the camera shutter button is fine, the volume keys would be better located closer to the top of the phone. This isn't really possible, though, since that is where the battery is located. Covered power/headset/USB (charger, headset, and cable included in the box) and microSD memory card ports sit below the volume and camera buttons, respectively. The main 5 megapixel, auto-focus camera, which is located behind the display on the top of the phone, can only be used when the slider is opened up. When closed, the camera lens, flash, and mirror are completely protected by the rear metal panel that covers the battery. There is a front facing camera located above the SGH-U900's main display that can be used for video calls, where available.

I spent a fair amount of time with prototypes of the Soul when the product was first announced earlier this year, but I am surprised by how much better the device seems now versus then. It is a beautiful looking device that is solidly built, has great ergonomics, and possesses some real nice high-tech bits in its clean looking design. 5 stars all the way.