Samsung's new SGH-P300 credit card cameraphone

Samsung's typically used to being on the receiving end of the knock-off stick thanks to their South Korean pallies LG, but it looks like they took a page right out of NEC's N900 series book (specifically the N910 and the N923) with their credit card-sized superslim SGH-P300 cellphone. Don't expect a super-performer out of this thing, but the 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and 90MB of flash memory should do you well enough considering the thing's insanely diminutive size.

[Gleb Serbin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

i'd buy one of these if they were available for verizon at a decent price but i'm guessing they're gonna be something like $300 or something similarly insane.

[gregorsamsa @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Wow, that's a really big credit card. Look at it! Its the same size as that phone.

[Jason Windsor @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I'd buy one if the design didn't look like something straight out of 1986.

[foxone @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

too bad the phone looks like it's straight out of 1983 via the HP 12C calculator

[Lawyers @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Small, but ugly

[Pacey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Looks like a calculator from the 70's

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I wonder if you could fit that thing in your wallet. I would get one then.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I wonder if you could fit that thing in your wallet. I would get one then.

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I don't care how it looks as long as it has 850.

[xaulo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

straight out of 1986? of 1983? I give 1978

[zak @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

i wish they would realize i dont need a camera on my cell phone.

[Max @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Jeff: wouldn't you end up sitting on it by accident or missing calls because you couldn't hear the thing?

I like the retrolicious looks. Old calculators are better designed than new ones, anyway.

[Jimmy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"i wish they would realize i dont need a camera on my cell phone."

Sadly, I don't think the phone manufacturers are thinking of you specifically when they design their phones. They design for the mass market, not one person. ;)

[habitual @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I think i got one of these for free from my insurance salesman... oh wait that was a $2 solar calculator... but yeah it does look just like this thing. Im not digging the retro look here.

[douglas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

well... make it two then, cause i don't need a camera on my phone either. i already own a digital camera that fits just fine in my pocket thanks.

at the very least, stop putting cameras in phones until it's actually a decent camera. otherwise it's just a waste.

[AFD @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Nice. I want one. Small like the VK2000, but with camera and MP3 playback.

[morgan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I don't know, I'm kinda diggin the retro TI design cues. It reminds me of trying to cheat in chem class in the early 80's with my high powered calculator.

[p @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

It's unique, at least on this continent. I'll take one of these way before I buy another Motorola or LG cookie-cutter flip phone.

Put me down in the "no camera" category as well...why do I need to take crappy pictures using an awkward interface, again? It might be useful to some people, but largely cameras on cell phones are gimmicks. I'd rather have two devices that are awesome (tiny cell phone and small 5 MP camera) than one that is a generic cell phone (most flips) and a terrible camera (even when you get up to 2 MP, let's be real: it's not keeping most people from carrying a camera).

At this point, all I want is a tiny phone with Bluetooth and text messaging.

[rice @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Yep the interface is Little-Professor scary - but it is tiny.

Tiny = good?

Not when you lose as many sd cards as I have.

Many camera-phones are creaky - and although I carry around a Canon on the side - my camera phone has come in handy every now and then for capturing (no matter how dismally) what otherwise would be lost.

[Ed_NYC @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

LOL, if it was "iPod" white and had a click wheel many of you guys would be salivating all over i.

[matthias @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

That's a perfect size phone! Samsung phones are great to use, and they are coming out with some pretty cool phones. This will be in my wallet when it comes out

[Josh_Cali @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Is that "MP3" that I see on one of the buttons?

Interesting.

[WOV @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I still think it's hilarious that you get to ignore that third dimension when you say something's credit-card-sized. 3.5 inches by 2 inches by 9 inches? A strapping credit-card-sized.

[Zaid @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Any details about its... flexibility? I mean, this thing seems designed for a back pocket, isn't? Right next to my credit card (I now wonder how vibration sensitive this area is :-).

[Ryan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I am also one to agree with the stupidity of camera phones. I can understand an MP3 player on the phone because then I don't have to carry around an mp3 player all the time with the addition of my cell phone. I also get tired of people sticking a phone in my face to take a picture. I want to smack it and tell them to get a camera. The phone is uglier than a man's a$$ anyways.

[zak @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"They design for the mass market, not one person."

so i assume you use the camera on your phone daily? there is no need for a crappy pixelated camera to be put on every phone, it just takes up more room and makes the phone more bulky.

the only use i have ever had for the camera on my cell phone was to take a picture of a guy on a motorcycle with a mullet, while i was driving.

but i would love to see a survey of how many people actually use the camera on their phone.

[brownopher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

25. that's funny.. the only 2 pictures I've ever used on my cameraphone were both people with mullets..

agreed.. I'm in the no-cam camp

[Graeme @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

> At this point, all I want is a tiny phone with Bluetooth and text messaging.

Exactly. If it had buttons that are compact but remain useable, a halfway decent screen and data capeabilities that'd be my perfect phone. I'd prefer something that followed the form factor of the iPod nano (at least as far as width is concerned) but credit card sized would be just fine.

[Jimmy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"so i assume you use the camera on your phone daily? there is no need for a crappy pixelated camera to be put on every phone, it just takes up more room and makes the phone more bulky."

Not every day, but I do use it.

I still own a seperate camera but I don't carry it around with me everywhere. Sure, the 2MP camera on my phone isn't going to take as good a picture as my stand-alone camera but it's always in my pocket when I need it.

It's great when I'm with my friends on a night out. No need to plan ahead and no need to carry another gadget on me - simple and easy to use. I can also send the results instantly to my friends.

Not only that but there's other uses for it too. I can do video telephony using it and some games even use it for controlling an on-screen cursor.

[raaaaaa @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

It's my DAD's Calculator! Give it Back

[Rusty Shackleford @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Take the camera out and I will buy this retro-beauty. Were any of you gadget-freaks even alive in 1978? 1983? 1986? I think not. You'd know there was no calculator anywhere like this in 1978, they all were 1" thick and had LED numerals and sucked batteries dry in about 2 hours. In 1983 there were casio LCD calculators about this size running off coin cells, they had BASIC language built in. There were no digital cameras in 1986. The HP-12C is a horizontal format calculator and looked nothing at all like this. And you call yourselves gadget freaks. You should be ashamed.

It's awesome. Build it in a CDMA format (sprint or verizon) and I'll buy it. Put a one-line LCD display on it for showing incoming caller ID and such. No graphics, no web. Better toss in a BASIC interpreter with an RPN mode calculator too, just for completeness' sake.

I'll give you no more than $59 for it though, it's just a freaking phone, the way it should be.

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I'd like to point out that the RAZR is also about the size of a credit card (actually a bit narrower). This is a cool phone though. I hate bulge in my pocket... er, wait...

[Seamus Phan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Very cool, great for traveling executives, and for guys who wouldn't want a large phone weighing down on shirt pockets and pants. I would want one!

[Kiaora @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Oh don't worry guys

these are not for people livin outside Korea

In Korea, saying "ooh..I don't need a camera on my cellphone" is like saying "I'm a dumbfuck"

so you don't need to say shit about this

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I actually think the 80's retro styling adds to the charm. Seriously!

[Staplebox @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I vote no camera. I've snapped a couple of pics with my phone and never used them for anything. It's all gimmick. And as far as taking pictures when out with fiends- things must be different nowadays. I don't remember ever taking a camera out with me, or ever wishing I had one. Consumer cameras are for baby photos, weddings, and kids birthday parties.

This phone looks great. I want something that fits in a pocket (not clipped on the outside). I need one line of display for caller ID and making sure I dial the right number and a speakerphone.

[http:financenstuff.blogspot.com @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Even if they brought it here the cell companies will butcher the bluetooth and camera to the point where they are not useable.

[Pal @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I like the design. Looks like it can handle a beating too. Go Samsung!

[Andrei I. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

This phone looks great to me! And it would match my 1988 TI pocket calculator perfectly! I wonder of the buttons feel like on the TI too... mmm...

[DAve @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I use my phone (Nokia 7610) camera every day and it's only 1MP. It says I've taken over 2100 photos (in about a year).

Phone cameras are useful for some people but not for others, just like bluetooth or anything else. Don't go complaining about having an extra feature.

This phone does look seriously cool, but I doubt it'd fit in my wallet.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

This phone looks pretty sweet, and I do dig the brushed aluminum retro stylings of the case. Why? It looks different than all the other newest phone offerings.


Why all the camera phone haters on this thread? Despite whether you bulging-pocketed dorks carry around your digicam with you wherever you go or not, most people don't. That's why camera phones are popular. If they sell, manufacturers will keep using it as a feature.

And well, they sell. Get over it.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

This phone looks pretty sweet, and I do dig the brushed aluminum retro stylings of the case. Why? It looks different than all the other newest phone offerings.


Why all the camera phone haters on this thread? Despite whether you bulging-pocketed dorks carry around your digicam with you wherever you go or not, most people don't. That's why camera phones are popular. If they sell, manufacturers will keep using it as a feature.

And well, they sell. Get over it.

[Timbo J @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Does this one at least come with a built in microphone.. The NEC didn't.. So I din't buy it! (:

[willstay @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

No camera please. I don't understand why all the phones come with useless camera attached somewhere.

[www.mobilais.lv @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Samsung sgh p300 size:85*51*6.5mm. But question for owners this site: We in Your site put in our photos without our agreement! Our photos is copyright protected! You comments?

[carter @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I love it. And with that flip-style leather pouch, it's gorgeous.

[karl88 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Remember the matchbook size phone in the Zoolander film? looks like they are getting there.

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

i think the phone looks cool. The design is very unique and clean. As for the camera, I think that having a camera integrated is great for shots that normally I would not have gotten because I didn't want to carry around a stand alone camera. Obviously, thats personal, but if the demand were there, companies would make the same model with, and without, camera, just look at the Treo line.

[RedbullNY @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

If the phone does not look so good, its coz that isn't a good picture. There are better pics available on the net. This phone is sweet. It's the lightest (i think) at 65g (thats right its not 96 or 98 >> 65g as mentioned on samsung.com and many other websites) and has great features. I'm definately getting one for christmas coz finally for a change this is one small phone that actually packs a punch unlike the crappy razrs and many others in the past that had no good features.

[BRANDON_UK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

The Samsung press release states this (along with some other slimmed down phones) will be out in Europe in Q4, however, I've yet to see any marketing about it and none of the phone shops have even heard of it!

I think it's good Samsung are taking the intiative and heading somewhere with design rather than sticking with boring designed phones. Yes, the D600 is a fantastic phone, but you'd think they'd make it look a little diff to the d500 wouldn't ya? and Black too? Gosh, was there only one choice of colour when designing and manufacturing?

If anyone knows when this is due to hit UK Shores, please post!!