The Samsung U900 SOUL is a high-specification tri-band phone with an excellent 5 megapixel camera offering a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels autofocus face detection and image stabilisation. The face detection feature is even capable of recognizing several faces simultaneously while the image processing balances in-camera sharpening noise levels and scene detail with remarkable results not available in all but the most sophisticated cameraphone.

It boasts 3G with HSDPA support (fastest available at 7.2 Mbps - not that such speed is actually achievable but this will change in the years ahead) and GPRS for browsing the Internet on the move - although it lacks EDGE so no back-up browsing method in areas lacking a 3G network. It also supports USB and Bluetooth (for wireless data transfer) both version 2.0 and support for A2DP.

At 112g the tri-band U900 has a solid feel for its 105 x 49.5 x 12.9 mm dimensions and a text-friendly keypad. All the relevant applications are there including FM radio calendar organiser and an integrated document viewer. This latter supports viewing MS Word MS Excel and PDF files and handles them all well.

Battery life is rated at 300 hours with 3 hours of talk time.

• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and image stabilization.
• 2.2" 16M-color TFT LCD display with QVGA resolution
• 3G with HSDPA support
• Touchpad navigation
• Cool looks
• FM radio with RDS
• 128MB of shared memory and microSD slot
• Bluetooth and USB v2.0