Size is EVERYTHING. Review on Siemens SL55

So I was desperately in need of upgrading my dinosaur phone, which had faithfully served my mobile communication needs for over three years. In a whim of spontenaeity, I rushed down to the local phone shop and immediately fell in love with the good looks and novelty appeal of the pro-slide option which came with the Siemens SL55 .

After a lengthy amount of time spent pouring over the instruction manual, I decided I was educated enough to operate this nifty new gadget of mine. How wrong I was. As a previous faithful Nokia supporter, the menus and categories of this new phone were completely unfamiliar to me. There seems to be a few too many buttons for ''yes'', ''no'', ''back'', ''save'' etc, to the point of me being flustered while trying to send group sms - something that has never happened before...

I found that this phone left a little to be desired in it's physical form. Sure, it looks amazing, and the size/weight proportions are very attractive to the technology buffs. However, the actual size of the keypad is quite minute, and the way in which the keys are raised in the middle does not seem to assist when keying in a number, or typing someone a text. It's actually a little difficult to operate this phone unless you have small hands, or some seriously strong, long nails.

The wonderful thing about this phone is that it's so small. For women, I think the convenience of not bringing a handbag out with you is a great plus, and being able to store your phone discreetly in your jeans pocket without it making you look like you've had a fat deposit put directly on your left hip is also something that makes this phone great for the girls.

The picture clarity is so-so. I've seen much better resolutions on various other phones, but for those of us not so concerned with megapixels, this Siemens phone does it's job well.

In a nut shell, I say go for it, but only if you can handle the size of the keypad. Be willing to read and then re-read the manual - I know I had to!