Samsung’s latest top handset, the Soul SGH U900, follows on from its ‘Ultra’ series of ‘thin-as-they-can-make-’em’ handsets, is a slick slider in a metallic case that just screams classy cool.

Or at least conveys its message in moderated yet forceful tones in keeping with its smart but casual designer suit. This is a stylish handset that will grab the attention of the connoisseur, without troubling the flash man-boys of the wannabe brigade.

Two screens, twice as good?

Samsung has had the good sense to temper the coldness of the metal casing with non-slip rubberised black plastic on the sides, which makes for a pretty good combination of style and function.

At first glance it appears to have two screens – the first a large-ish 34x46mm TFT packing 16million colours. The second is a distinctly more modest 24x22mm screen in the place where you might expect the navigational D-pad to be.

But this screen has hidden depths, because it is the D-pad. It’s touch-sensitive, and displays different functions according to what’s on the main screen. The general menu for example gives you the option of messages, phone profiles, music, internet or menu.

Pressing the Magical Touch touch pad triggers a force feedback buzz, which can be a bit disconcerting at first but soon becomes rather comforting, as it confirms that buttons have been successfully pressed.

You can adjust the force of this haptic feedback and also change the colours of the touchpad screen via a sliding scale – a nice touch that effectively allows you to change the whole look of the phone.

5 megapixel camera

Usefully, the keypad automatically locks when you close the slider, though you can unlock it with a couple of key presses. You’ll need to open it anyway to use the five megapixel camera since the lens is hidden under the slide.

The camera’s activated by the shutter button on the side, though rather annoyingly the volume buttons are directly opposite on the other side and it’s easy to press them by mistake when you’re trying to take a snap. They operate the 4x zoom so it’s all too easy to get not quite the pic you were after.

When in camera mode the Magical Touch buttons are timer (up to ten seconds), flash, macro and exposure value (+ or -2) but there’s a wide range of additional features available with this well-specced camera. These include face detection software, an image stabiliser and WDR (wide dynamic range), all of which can be switched on or off though none of them seemed to have any great effect on the overall quality of the pictures.

Plenty of picture effects

Picture quality is however pretty good, with a fair amount of detail and depth for a cameraphone.

There are also plenty of options to keep photophiles busy, with a range of pic options including multi shot, mosaic shot, single shot and panorama shot, plus effects options including grey, sepia, negative, antique and watercolour. It also shoots video, which isn’t quite as good as the still shots.

You can also add effects to pictures after you’ve taken them, with settings like milky, lighting, crayon pastel and partial blur, plus you can resize, rotate or flip and insert frames and smilies.

Basic music player

While the Soul packs a fairly impressive camera, the music player covers the basics, but not much more. It does however include an onboard ICEpower amplifier provided by stylish Swedish AV specialist Bang & Olufsen.