Samsung's new Ultra series handsets test the limits of design by being so thin you might even forget you're carrying one! With clamshell, slider and candybar styles available, there's something to suit everyone.

With a depth of a mere 6.9mm, the astonishingly thin Ultra Edition 6.9 (or X820) steals the honours in the world's thinnest phone contest from Motorola's now ubiquitous RAZR and SLVR, but Samsung hasn't skimped on features or build quality.

The company has used Smart Surface Mounting Technology (SSMT) to reduce the number of components necessary within the handset and to reduce the noise between them; basically meaning they can pack a heck of a lot into a tiny space.

According to the company's philosophy, the Ultra series' aim is to 'embody the perfect combination of comfort, simplicity and sophistication'. It looks the part, but let's see how well it lives up to such a bold statement.

Features

Front on, the design of the X820 isn't the type to set pulses racing. It has a pretty straightforward look in black that only really gets heads turning when it's seen from the side (though there is very little of the phone to see from the side, it's that thin!).

The front houses a 1.9 inch, 176x220 pixel TFT display capable of showing 262,114 colours. It is good quality, with images and video both looking clear and crisp. Keypads on such slim phones often let the side down by being impractical to use, but the X820 has comparatively large navigation keys and sensibly spaced numeric ones, thanks perhaps to its extra width (it has a few more millimetres than an average handset).

Not only does its wider body and bevelled surface make it a tactile phone to hold, but it also facilitates comfortable texting.

External details are few, with just a volume key on the left and the camera quick-launch button and headphone socket on the right. The 2-megapixel camera lens is built into the back of the X820's slightly raised top section and is covered to protect it from damage. The handset is made from fibreglass-infused plastic to make it extra durable as well as extremely light (it weighs just 66g).

The inside of the X820 is packed with all the features we expect of a top quality handset and has EDGE capability as well as being tri-band. This may not affect UK-centric users much, but it could have an impact if you need to access Wap services abroad, since it will increase 2.5G surfing speeds to something more like 3G.

Before moving on to essentials like the camera and music player, it's worth mentioning that this handset packs a hefty 80MB internal memory to store your files. You can't expand this though (there's no memory card slot) so if you intend to save lots of pictures or music you should use less memory-hungry formats and settings.

The 2-megapixel camera can function in still and video recording modes with a choice of quality and size settings. In stills mode, image size ranges from a maximum of 1600x1200 down to 220x176 pixel resolution and you have three shooting options: single shot, multi-shot and mosaic shot.

Various picture effects and frames are on offer to experiment with, along with a timer, viewfinder settings, brightness and zoom controls, white balance settings and a night mode (there is no flash).

For video recording many of the options are the same as for still images, including normal, fine and superfine quality settings, but there are only two recording modes: normal (352x288) and limit for MMS (176x144). The quality of both still and recorded images is impressive.