If mobile phones could go on a diet not in features but in size, the Samsung SGH X610 would be a benchmark.  All of 11.8 mm thick, it hardly made a bulge in my pants pocket although it’s a bit difficult to grope for inside a tote bag, which I have.

But this phone’s main feature did come in handy.  I really felt the Lord was looking after me because the phone came in time with my scheduled retreat.  The night before we were to leave, I got a text message reminding me that cell phones will not be allowed during the retreat.  I thought with the SGH X610 they would hardly notice I had a phone in my pocket for from afar the bulge looked just like a folded hanky.

So I did bring this phone along in violation of the request and true enough nobody noticed I had it but in keeping with the strict order of silence, I obliged and eventually turned it off when the sessions began.

At the end of the retreat, I so wanted to try the integrated camera with flash but two and half-days of complete silence greatly affected the enthusiasm I had before the start of the retreat.  There were however other instances I tried the camera. 

A unique feature of the X610’s camera found mostly in high-ends units is that it swivels 180 degrees from the top of the phone much like its predecessor the X600.  So whether you’re taking your own picture or that of others, you just simply turn the camera around and you’re ready to click, eliminating the need to turn the phone around to look at the captured images.

It also has the usual effects like sepia, gray, etc. and in addition to these Samsung added sketch and emboss effects on cam.  It is also capable of multishots of 6, 9, and 15 with a single click of the shutter.  It can take videos, too.

The phone comes in metallic silver and though it scores low in the looks department because it certainly lacks a flashy exterior and is very square, it can still manage to grab some attention owing to its size.  When I went to the salon to have my hair trimmed, the owner actually asked me how much the unit cost because she liked the way it looked.  I sheepishly admitted that I didn’t know how much it cost and explained that I was just reviewing the unit.  So there, it can even be a conversation piece for an entry level phone.

It weighs 80 grams and has 128x128 pixels, which may not be much for a camera phone but the display has 65k colors.  It has an internal antenna that passed the test of my office which has a lot of dead spots and has a storage capacity of 7.5MB, 4MB of which is allocated for photos.  It may not be much for storing photos so I suggest downloading images immediately to a computer through IR transmission.

This dual-band phone is WAP-enabled, has Java applications, polyphonic ringtones, organizer, and MMS.  You can do voice recording, too. 

The user interface is easy to use. There is however one submenu in Messages which I do not understand: Push messages.  Normally I would have checked the manual to clear this out but I didn’t have time so I beg your indulgence.

I’m getting to let you in on a little secret I discovered while reading a news article on the production of high-end phones with so much features it’ll take a lifetime for the owner to learn all of them.  It turns out that phone manufacturers roll out this high-tech models not because we the consumers demand it but because of the demands of service providers because all those extra services possible with high-ends and smartphones bring in the cash.

So if you’re need for a cellphone is simple and is not in response to a provider’s services, grab an X610 and save yourself the trouble of learning how to use a cellphone all over again.