The forgotten phone: Samsung G600

December 26, 2021 Luisa Rey

Since February we have the section ‘The forgotten smartphone’ on DroidApp. In this, we put ‘from the past’ smartphones in the spotlight one more time. We are going to expand the section with non-smartphones and alternate the weekly section with ‘The forgotten phone’. This week we discuss the Samsung G600, which was released in 2007.

Samsung G600

In the editorial team, we started in February 2017 with the section ‘The forgotten smartphone’, in which we once again draw attention to smartphones that were released a few years ago. This could be because the device had something unique, was popular or stood out for some other reason. We share our passion for phones further and move away from Android in this section. We will also regularly publish ‘The forgotten phone’. This week the Samsung G600, or in full; Samsung SGH-G600.

The Samsung G600 was released in 2007 and was a so-called slider phone. By sliding open the top part, a call could be accepted or the telephone could be activated. The device did not have 3G, but only GSM and EDGE as connections. Samsung did put the emphasis on the camera. There was a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, 4x digital zoom and various modes such as panorama and effects. You could make movies in VGA quality at 15 frames per second.

On the front was a 2.2 inch TFT display with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. You could choose from different kinds of themes where numbers in the dialer were also shown in different ways. Below the screen were the navigation key, two option keys and the call buttons. There was also a button with which you could undo something. When the Samsung G600 was extended, the T9 keyboard appeared. On the back we saw the 5 megapixel camera, while on the front was a VGA camera. There was a physical shutter button for the photos.

Samsung G600 silver

What I can still remember well about the device was the special interactive wallpaper, which was called dynamic wallpaper. The photo was adjusted based on the country you were in, changing with the day and night. In the Netherlands you saw a windmill, in the United Kingdom the Big Ben, in France the Paris Arc de Triomphe and in Germany the Neuschwanstein Castle. I thought that was a really cool feature. The pictures below show these different wallpapers.

Samsung G600 Dynamic wallpaper

Furthermore, Samsung promised the best possibilities in the field of multimedia. In addition to an FM radio, there was an extensive music player that could handle Windows Media DRM. There was also a TV-out option and the internal memory was 55MB. You could expand this with a memory card that included a 512MB memory card.

I myself was in possession of a Samsung G600 in silver. It was the successor to my Nokia 6131 and offered many possibilities for the time. However, the device kind of rusted and functions stopped. After the device was offered for repair several times, I said goodbye to the G600 and opted for a Nokia 6210 Navigator. I took the photo below in Bremen with the G600.

Samsung G600 camera Bremen

The Samsung Galaxy G600 became available in the summer of 2007 for around 400 euros in black and silver. The device was very popular in terms of sales around that time.