Samsung i640 gets 3.6Mbps — still waiting for all the other upgrades it needs

Samsung’s elegant-looking i640 has been launched to replace the i620, available through Vodafone from yesterday. No sooner has it hit the market and Samsung improves the connectivity of the device upping the speed from 1.8Mbps to 3.6.

The i640 is a 3.5G HSDPA slider with a full QWERTY phone keypad and a 2.4 inch display and has the following specs (from the Vodafone site):

• 3G: Yes
• Weight: 126g
• Talk Time: up to 6h
• Standby time: up to 380h
• Dimensions: 95 x 61 x 16 mm (closed)
• Phone book capacity: Variable
• Video call time: 150mins
• SMS Storage: Variable
• Other features
  • Active Flip
  • Downloadable Realtones
  • Data Modem
  • Voice Memo Recorder
  • TriBand (900 / 1800 / 1900)

Unfortunately this still leaves the phone with:

• No WiFi
• A rather sad 2MP camera
• No GPS
• Over-sized for what it does
• 34mm x 45mm screen

So the keyboard seems to be the most compelling reason to buy this phon. The i640 measures 61mm wide which is OK for a QWERTY-equipped phone but 133mm long (open) is crazy for a phone with a screen only 34mm deep.

However, if you can see past the warts that this phone obviously has it may well be a great little machine for emailing and indeed it runs Windows Mobile 6 which seems to confirm it as an office device.

The i640 is available in the UK. Should be free with a contract.

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• Sony Ericsson releases phenominal Xperia X1
• 16GB iPhone is here at last
• Sony Ericsson T715 review

Tags: cell-phones, cellphones, i640, megapixel-camera, megapixel-camera-phones, megapixel-cameras, megapixel_camera_phones, mobile-phone, qwerty_keyboard, samsung, slider, smart-phone, smartphone, vodafone, windows-mobile,