As more fashion phones hit the market, it's only natural to see fashion houses throw their names behind specific brands. We've seen it before, with phones like the LG Prada. But now, another big name in the fashion world joins up with another Korean handset maker, to bring us the Samsung Armani. But is it any good?
What started out on the drawing board as the humble Samsung P520 was given a whole new lease of life, and a whole new face, when it became the Armani. Not least of the changes was to the look and feel of the handset's body, with exclusive materials used to make a stunning shell to house this little beauty. Combine that with the exclusive Armani carry case it comes with, and you have the recipe for a seriously good-looking phone. That same design ethos was carried through into the look and feel of the phone's interface.
Like its big brother, the F700, the Samsung Armani features a full touchscreen interface, with only a couple of buttons on the body of the phone itself. This is a glorious way to sue a phone, and something that is set to take off in a big way this year, with LG and Nokia also jumping on the touchscreen bandwagon, and Sony Ericsson, who've made touchscreen phones for years, erm, carrying on making them. So, touchscreens are obviously the way forward, and this is one of the smallest touchscreen phone ever seen. With the exclusive Armani theme running through all the software, as well, it also makes it one of the coolest. In terms of specs, the phone comes equipped with the decent specs you'd expect from a modern mobile phone. It has a 3 megapixel camera and built-in music player. Plus, with a host of media options, it really is a nice phone to use.
But is it enough? When you look round at the whole host of mobile phones in the market today, can the Samsung Armani cut it as a top-end handset for cool people everywhere? Well, the specs are good, so there's not doubt it is quite a powerful little phone. But the problem is, with all the Armani branding throughout the software, it seems to have made the phone a bit... sluggish. So, it's not as great a user experience as it should be. That said, though, for the market it's aimed at, it hits every single note, and let's be honest, if you're going to buy a phone on looks, this is the one to go for!
