My Samsung U6 preview

[lebellium]

My first impressions on the Samsung U6.
Please bear in mind it was a sample with a beta firmware. But it's close to the final version.

Slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/generat...92545629/show/



Design/finish
Samsung has made a big effort on that point. The U3 and the U5 looked rather "cheap". Here is a full aluminium finish. I love it: it has class and it's robust. It's available in 2 colors: Pink (not for me beurk Oo) and Black, full black. I would have prefered white or metal buttons like on the black U5 or pink U6
But well, there are tactile buttons and the USB slides. You won't loose the cap anymore


Interface

I'm a bit disappointed here. I like the interface of the U5, I've no problem with it but well...when you buy a new product, you like when it's different from the previous one. Samsung could have changed the interface a little bit! The screen is new: it's a color CSTN 1" (128 x 64). Now there are brightness, color and contrast settings. Oh and there are new popcons, that's important

Music/sound

It's the same now playing screen and audio support (MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC) as on the U5. But your album cover displays in color now!
I did not test the sound quality as the environment was noisy and I only had Creative EP630 with me.
There are new SoundAlive effects (voice, instrument, tweeter, big bass, concert hall) and a User SoundAlive. No more Rock, Jazz, classical, R&B EQ anymore. That's a bit weird^^
But the SoundAlive engine is not in its final version yet. That may still change.


Other features
There is RDS FM tuner, a fitness feature, a voice recorder and a Study Mode like on the U5. Nothing new here

Conclusion
The U6 is not a revolution but a good revolution that draws its inspiration from the previous "U" models but just keeps the best ideas (slide USB from the U3, tactile buttons from the U5 etc)
Because of the metallic design, the U6 is quite expensive: The 2GB versions costs €59 and the 4GB model costs €69. It will be available in October in France (I don't know for the other countries)