When we first saw the Samsung SGH-X680, the first thought that came into our minds was this was a nugget. To be more specific, a prototype. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Samsung was very kind and cordial to have it reviewed.

Although the unit that was lent to us in the Technews Lab was just a mere prototype, the X680 created a good first impression among all of us. Out of the box, it contains the unit, travel adapter/charger, battery, and user’s guide.

With dimensions of 88 x 44 x 19 millimeters and weighing about 78 grams, the X680 has a simple yet smooth, black and silver profile, that is so small, many would never think it’s a clamshell type of mobile phone.

SGH-X680

The X680 is a tri-band phone (GSM900/GSM1800/GSM1900), and has an internal display screen size of 128 x 160 pixels, with a 65K color TFT screen. It also has an external 4-gray STN screen.

The nice thing about this mobile phone is that even though we find it a somewhat entry-level phone, Samsung was able to pack it with lots of special features which includes an MP3 player, Bluetooth, Web browser, MMS, Java games, voice recorder, alarm. We looked at some of them and here’s what we say about it.

As an MP3/AAC player, the X680 kicks butt even with its small size. The MP3 songs were quite loud and crisp on speaker. Listening to the music of Shamrock (Alipin - the OST of GMA-7’s Jewel in the Palace) and Daniel Powter (Bad Day - the OST of American Idol) was such a bliss to our ears and we enjoyed it a lot.

For the Bluetooth feature, pairing with most mobile devices was really so easy. We paired it with the Nokia 6600, Sony Ericsson K750i, Samsung SGH-E730C, and the Jabra BT330 Bluetooth Wireless Headset, and we had no trouble whatsoever, especially in the transferring of files, big or small.

Playing the three Java games on the X680 was cool, but the game Bobby Carrot was quite challenging. We couldn’t get off at Level 10 because there were many obstacles along the way. But nonetheless, we enjoyed it well.

The voice recorder/voice memo feature of the X680 was okay. But the one shortcoming we found is that it has to be placed close to the one who’s talking, in order for the AMR file to be clear during playback.

As for the alarm feature of the X680, we can somewhat set aside the bulky grandfather clock at home for the meantime. It did well waking us up at the desired wake-up time in the morning. A user can choose the different ringtones that are already pre-installed in the X680.

For the MMS and Web browser, well, we haven’t been able to test it because it’s network dependent. We leave that to the Big 3 (Smart, Globe, and Sun Cellular).

The X680 may be an entry-level phone, but its VGA camera (640 x 480 maximum) with 2x digital zoom was impressive. Compared to the competition, the picture is crisp and clear, and can be digitally printed in your favorite mall photo shops.

Other special functions of the X680 include USB, EDGE, GPRS, and WAP 2.0. It can also be uploaded with 40 polyphonic ringtones.

The X680 is equipped with a Lithium-Ion battery that has a stand-by time of five days, talk-time of six to seven hours, and a charging time of less than two hours.

The Samsung SGH-X680 has a lot of features that we find quite special. Although it’s considered an entry level phone, the 35MB internal memory capacity of the SGH-X680 packs a punch among.

Indeed, the Samsung SGH-X680 is a clamshell nugget with a big attitude.