RegHardware takes a look at the Samsung SGH-Z560 'super 3G' phone, the first HSDPA (High-Speed Download Packet Access) model launched in Europe. HSDPA is a 3.5G technology that can transmit data at speeds up to six times faster than the 3G network, and its current top download speed of 1.8Mbps promises a meaningful mobile-based multimedia experience. Here's a bit:

This broadband experience is driven by T-Mobile's Web'n'Walk service, which gives unlimited web access on compatible mobiles. If you're worried that poor 3G/HSDPA network coverage may scupper your mobile broadband experience, then T-Mobile's "Street Check" service allows potential customers to check if signal strength in their postcode area is strong enough to warrant signing up. If coverage fails to meet your needs, T-Mobile will give you 14 days to return the phone.

With Web'n'Walk it took just over six seconds to launch the NetFront microbrowser and load the Google homepage. Mobile-optimised sites such as bbc.co.uk take around three seconds to load, but image-heavy non-optimised sites - and they are bountiful - can take ten times as long. They're not fun to navigate either - rather like reading a broadsheet through a letterbox. The result is you have to be very selective about which sites to visit, but once you've amassed a decent array of mobile-compliant sites then the experience becomes far less painful.

A second VGA camera below the main TFT screen allows for video telephony, something that's made possible by the HSDPA connection. The phone can also shoot up to an hour of video with sound in H.263 and MPEG4 formats but only two resolutions are available - 128 x 96 and 176-x-144. To store these and other files, the Z560 comes with 30MB of built-in memory (of which 17MB is free) and a microSD slot for future expansion. The fully charged Li-ion battery withstood just under four hours' intermittent web and camera use, so if you plan to fully exploit its broadband capabilities the spare battery will come in handy.