S600 Quad Band QWERTY Keyboard Phone - Reviewed With Specs, Pros & Cons

If the myriad brands coming out with their own QWERTY keyboard designs are evidence, these phones have a definite following. Trying to tap into this trend, the makers of the S600 have developed a phone that they hope will perhaps draw your attention to it. With so much competition, does this phone have enough going for it to merit its purchase?

If any single adjective could be used to describe the S600, simple would be the one. Everything from its UI (icon based with very few submenus, extras and apps, and even its design (highly reminiscent of the Blackberry design with rounded edges and small screen) smacks of simplicity. Besides its simplicity, there actually isn't that much more to say about this phone. In the end it was made to be a solid, semi attractive, basic phone that can be very useful to people in need of a QWERTY phone at a very low price, and who don't need the latest and greatest in phone functions at a very low price.

A few of the specs for the S600 include:

The phone is primarily constructed from PCP plastic.
It is built with a QWERTY keyboard for writing text, but lacks a touchscreen.
Users must use the trackpad (similar to a trackball but touch based) to control menu navigation.
The phone's weight is 90 grams.
Measurements for the phone are (LxWxH) 103x56x13mm.
The screen size measures 2.0 inches and displays at 240x320 resolution.
It is carrier unlocked, an be used on any of the 4 GSM networks and is able to be used anywhere carrier worldwide that use the standard 4 GSM bands.
It has 2 SIM card ports that are set to dual standby.
The earphone jack that is used by the phone is a standard 3.5mm and will work with any non proprietary 3.5mm earphone.
Internet access is limited with access only using GPRS and WAP 2.0.
The battery life will average a user more than 70 hours on standby.
The phone's addons come via Java applets, an MP3 and MP4 player, an analog TV, a FM radio, PDA tools (to do list, calendar, etc) and a digital camera and camcorder.

People that use the S600 will probably notice these pros and cons:

Pros
This phone, as stated before, is very easy to use, and has very little about it that would confuse a user.
Every program and addon is very solid and useful.
At less than 75 dollars, the price is very low.

Cons
It would have been better if the makers had included a trackball rather than a trackpad, as the trackpad is a little hard to get used to at first.
Internet access on this phone is slow in comparison to what many people are used to with faster networks.
If you don't like your phones simple and with few extras, this phone won't do much for you.

There is definitely a market for a phone like that S600 that eschews features for simplicity and price. If that is not what you are looking for however, you are better off looking elsewhere for your QWERTY phone.

Price. $71.88