10 things to like in the Samsung Galaxy i7500

6. It will attract a whole new breed of Android users

While we live in pretty network-agnostic times (just ask the legions of people who abandoned their current network just to pick up the iPhone on O2) there are still many people who like to stay with a certain manufacturer for their mobile phone.

Samsung has a very strong user base in the UK and worldwide at the moment, and that's going to be a big draw for those that don't really understand what Android is all about and only associate HTC with business phones.

The fact that the i7500 has an ugly button faceplate on the front that draws on designs from 2005 and the Samsung G- and D-series will be an attraction to some people who know how to move their fingers around such a thing, and others will just feel safe knowing that Samsung makes some pretty sound phones these days.

7. O2 could be bringing it to the UK

Speaking of the bubbly network, it's already confirmed it will be bringing the Samsung i7500 to the German markets, and now we're waiting to find out whether it will do the same in the UK.

Those that we've spoken to say that a deal to do such a thing is still up in the air, but we expect it to be settled soon. T-Mobile and Vodafone already have their own efforts to be worrying about, so it seems it's down to O2 and Orange to battle it out for the rights (with the latter having already claimed it will be bringing Android phones this year, including one from Samsung).

Of course, T-Mobile has already 'leaked' a slide that shows it will have the phone in the US, so at this point it's just best guess which one of the big four will be bringing us another slice of Android.

8. It has the best camera on an Android phone

It seems some people are divided on what we need in a cameraphone. Some say it needs to only be basic with a 3.2MP sensor being adequate for day to day snapping, whereas others want a full compact to be squished in there.

We think it needs to be something in the middle, and we've been spoilt in recent years. While we don't need something that will take award-winning shots, a decent camera that can work in the dark and provide a reasonable level of sharpness at all times is a must, and thankfully it seems the Samsung i7500, with LED flash and autofocus, will do just that.

9. It was going to be called the Capella 7200

When we saw a recent hands on video of the phone, a trip into the information section of the i7500 showed that the model name was the Capella 7200. While this may be nothing more than a simple internal codename, it could also mean that we're getting some variations on this phone from Samsung, which we've seen with the likes of the Tocco range.

Of course, it's more likely that the pre-production model is still showing original factory specs and the Capella was simply an internal name, but it's always strange when a company changes the model number before launch.

10. There's more Android to come from Samsung

One of the more surprising things about the recent Android launch was the fact it wasn't the phone we'd all spied in a recent photo at a Dutch trade show.

Well, it might actually be the same phone given how blurry the shot was, but word was that Samsung had thrown out a slider for its first Android handset, and we end up with the thinnest Android effort out there.

Only time will tell if they are one and the same thing, but given Samsung's penchant for releasing 100 a second we'd be very, very surprised if this was the only offering we get this year from the Koreans, and don't forget there's still more to come from Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson, so Samsung has done well to bring out the third Android phone.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.