The Samsung G600 is one of an increasing number of mobile phones muscling their way into the 5 megapixel camera phone market, whilst trying to put their own twist on what can be done.

Samsung’s G600 is arguably the best looking and is definitely the smallest 5MP camera phone on the market measuring in at just 14.9mm thick at the top, and marginally less at the bottom. Combining some great design touches and a perfectly proportioned screen, the G600 is more than likely to turn a few heads.

Build quality hasn’t always necessarily been Samsung’s strong point, but with the G600 they seem to have found the perfect balance between design, looks and durability with very little fingerprint susceptibility as is found in many other recent models.

With Samsung’s reputation for favoring the slide form handset above all others, they need to stay one step of the competition to prevent their designs from growing stale. In the G600, some well-thought out yet subtle design features ensure that this isn’t the case. The regular soft keys are in pretty much the same position that would be expected in your average Samsung with one difference. The two soft keys are located directly under the screen meaning that there’s a slight gap between each to place your finger or thumb when sliding the phone up, and with a circular D-pad taking centre stage the controls are simple enough to use immediately, and unique enough to ensure a few passing glances.

Directly to the left of the loudspeaker grill, there’s a small circular light sensor that adjusts the screen settings depending on the outdoor lighting. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a video calls camera, as the G600 isn’t 3G, but the impressive speed on standard data transfers over GPRS or EDGE is more than adequate.

As usual, Samsung's screens are up to the task, with the G600 now boasting 16M colours which complement their first 5MP offering perfectly. This coupled with the aforementioned light sensor makes the display quality by far and away one of Samsung’s best and also helps to make the most of the new & improved user interface.

Overall the Samsung G600 is a great-looking and snappy handset with the added bonus of a high-quality camera that reacts well to various lighting environments, helped no end by the addition of the light sensor. With almost perfect-proportions and great array of features, the G600 is more than likely to be on many people’s wish lists, and the inevitable demand will be more than justified by the wealth of functions that have been packed into such a neat little package.