SGH-U600 (Eclair) mobile phone

red dot: best of the best
red dot award: product design 2007

Pleasing to the touch for a tangible communication
While until recently mobile telephones could still unmistakably be identified as being “telephones,” the trend is now for forms to change rapidly; phones have become fashion-oriented objects of communication – more than ever before the mobile phone is an indicator of a person’s lifestyle. Their language of form thus also redefines the essential qualities of an accessory while different product categories merge into new shapes. The SGH-U600 (Eclair) mobile phone is an ultra-slim semi-automatic slide-up phone that measures in at just 10 mm thick and which is closed and opened for use via a sliding mechanism. Its design concept is defined by modern minimalism that aimed to lend this mobile phone elegantly appealing lines on the front of the body and moderate lines on the back. One essential aspect of this mobile phone’s innovative design is that although it is very slim it manages to combine this reduction with a functionality that is self-explanatory and focused on the essentials. Departing from the image of other ultra-thin mobile phones with their sharp edges, this mobile phone features rounded off sides and curved edges, thus lending it a soft and smooth appearance that is pleasing to the touch, while its rhombic keys provide good usability. Another interesting aspect of the mobile phone is that it no longer reveals how the body is held together. It seems to have been made out of one piece: Through a new, pioneering construction technique all screw holes have been eliminated from the outer surface of the body, which lends this mobile phone a high degree of understatement. By using magnesium for the body, the phone is lightweight yet solid. Its features include many multimedia functions, a 2.2” LCD screen and a 3.2-megapixel auto-focus digital camera.