The task that smartphones face is a daunting one: managing an avalanche of functions while still being user friendly. Getting it right is what made the Blackberry a household name. Let’s just say the M600i is an example of how not to become a household name.

Although the phone provides you with several interfaces, none of them are terribly helpful. There’s a touch screen that you can use with the stylus that will recognise your handwriting, a scroll wheel on the side and a “keyboard”. There are only half the number of buttons that should make up the keyboard on the facia, because each one has two characters on it.

You’ll find yourself gingerly rocking on the side of a button to select the character you’re after, and missing half the time until you get used to it. Once you’re past this hurdle, you’ll be disheartened to find that it’s still not as fast as using standard predictive text on a normal phone’s keypad, which you can’t do on the M600i.

There’s a model number emblazoned underneath the screen, in the exact position where a joystick should be. Not having a joystick makes it hard for those who are used to regular handsets to come to terms with the interface of a smartphone.

Things don’t improve when it comes to the interface, either. It’s not only laggy, it’s cumbersome. For instance, it’ll take a good three seconds before your speed dial list pops up, unless it’s already been opened and cached into memory. Every program shares this caveat, and you can watch from the Task Manager as your everyday use abducts perfectly good memory.

Since it runs Symbian OS, you may be able to install third party applications to sidestep the limitations of the included software. Those limitations become apparent after you fire up the included Quickoffice suite, get sick of the bastardised keyboard, reach for the stylus, then realise you can’t use handwriting recognition.

The M600i supports all the connectivity options we’ve come to expect from modern phones, but doesn’t go above and beyond. Bluetooth with A2DP; IR; push email and remote synchronisation are supported, but Wi-Fi isn’t. There’s no camera, which means you can’t make voice calls or take photos from a site then send them back to the office.

It’s well built, surprisingly light, nicely proportioned for a smartphone and looks very nice. It’s just a pity there’s no function to follow its form.