Style Without Sacrifice

When my mobile phone went on the fritz I was faced with the unpleasant chore of shopping for a replacement.

I'm no luddite, but I dislike wading through the endless models with their endless features. No I don't want a camera. No, I don't need an MP3 player. No, I don't want to surf the web. No, I don't need 68 polyphonic ring tones.

And for the love of God, I don't want a Crackberry; e-mail can bloody wait until I get home, and the last thing I want to do is send someone a message and have the footer read: Sent by BWG's Blackberry.

I mean really, who gives a rip?

Sure, an iPhone would be nice; as a photographer I like the portable album feature, but not at HK$6,200 (about US$795). I'd rather pour that money into an iMac.

All I wanted was a stylish yet simple phone that did nothing more than make and receive calls and text messages, yet past experience led me to believe that all basic phones lacked even a modicum of esthetics.

I'm happy to report that Samsung has put this myth to rest. For HK$399 (about US$51, although the suggested retail is HK$599, which is criminal), a far cry from the thousands required for a phone full of toys I'll never use, I picked up the C268 (C260 elsewhere), a clamshell with class.

Samsung C268

The flip design protects the keypad and closes into a small, sleek shape (too sleek, I might add: the matte finish is a little slippery and I'd be wary of using it while standing next to the rail on the Star Ferry; kerplunk! is a sound I do not want to hear).

The best part is that I was spared a lot of running about. I happened upon it at the first phone shop I went into, but waited to purchase until I could compare pricing, which was worth the effort: I shaved off $200.

Thanks to Samsung, simple no longer equates with unsightly.

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