I have had a Serene for some time now and I think it is the best phone I've ever had.  Alot of the critisism about Serene is related to lack of functions, poor camera and old technology.  In my opinion, the purpose of a phone is to talk to people.

All of the phones I have used previously have had very poor sound quality, the Serene delivers this excellently, I will accept that those of you that text alot might find the key configuration a little more testing but it is not impossible, I'm really not that good at texting anyway and much prefer to have a conversation.

The lack of mega pixel camera means nothing to me because I have a digital camera which I am very happy with, I have taken pictures with the Serene when I had to, to document a damaged delivery and it served its purpose pefectly.  The picture was absolutely fine when transfered on to the computer.

I don't see the point of adding technology for the sake of it, MP3 player and games for instance and don't get me started on downloading ring tones.

Serene is what I think is a 'grown ups' phone, it is simplicity, well designed, well built, easy to use, does the things I need it to do very well, I know that originally it did not sync with outlook contacts but now it does.  I do accept that some of you will need a phone to be a business device and phones like the Blackberry are hard to beat for that purpose.

So for me it is worth every penny, the latest fashion phone from Nokia, Samsung etc. sim free, can cost around £500-£600 anyway so £800 is not a huge difference for me.  

Interesting debate guys!

I have a Samsung Z560 3g HSDPA enabled mobile, which I use as a broadband connection at home as I do not have a landline. I am with T-Mobile and I have their WebNWalk package that allows me unlimited access to the internet when out and about as well as using the phone as a modem via my laptop (Handy when on a train for hours out of the office!) It works like a dream as it utilises 3.5g connection when in a good signal area, and then drops to 3g, or dial up speed in other areas.

One thing I noticed on the B&O website is it sates the Serene can be used to connect to the interent, using a network client, I assume that this means it would not work in the same way as my existing mobile through T-Mobile? The reason I ask is I am unhappy with the Samsung I haver as it has an annoying feature, it shuts down the screen after a few seconds when you close it ans as such if I need to see if anyone has called me, I have to open the phone as the front display does not show if I have a missed call, voicemail or a text! Also the battery life is appalling as they give you two batteries for it as Samsung now that it is bad! So I assume the Serene is similar? I also asked Samsung where I can get a desk docking station so I can charge my mobile whilst at work and they said they don't make them for my model! Hence I have to keep the spare battery with me in case I run out!

Are B&O & Samsung ever going to make the Serene 3g with HSDPA? If they do I will defiantly consider purchasing one, then I can get rid of my awful Samsung (my contract ruins out in Jan 08)

Hi Ricardo,

Your Samsung is a good cell phone in my opinion, however I'm suprised to hear what you said about the front display not informing you of any missed calls. Maybe it's worth have a peek in the settings because I know that previous Samsung clamshells could definitely do this.

The current Serene does not have 3G, but has something like WAP / GPRS I think, but don't quote me for certain. However my local dealer has hinted that Serene 2 is a long way off for now, so there's probably a good chance it will have 3G.

Thanks Henry

Unfortunately I think the issue with my Samsung, is it has been specifically designed for T-Mobile as it does not appear anywhere on the Samsung website (Although the Serene appears!), and when I asked Samsung why it did this, they couldn't tell me!  It also renders the MP3 player function on it useless as the touch sensitive buttons on the front also stop working!

It does the job I need it to do for now, but I will see what the Serene2 has when it comes out!

Richard

Richard,

Take a look at the Samsung U600 in the meantime, it's a little plasticy but still quite cuul.

Well i bought a Serene...brought it home...wife went mad...so i took it back to the dealer again for a full refund as i hadn't opened the box yet! I didn't even tell her the real price!!!

Anyway...i went looking at other mobiles...and the only two that i liked of the lot were the Samsung U600 and the Sony Ericson K800i which my wife already has. I picked up the May edition Carphone Warehouse mag and there is an upgraded version of the U600  coming out in July called the E840 with a 5 Megapixel camera instead of 3.2 and probably a few other bits. There is also a new Sony Ericson K810i coming out now which looks pretty much the same as my wifes' but with alloy buttons instead of plastic.

Truth is...i am not really that keen on any of them and i am considering going back to my dealer before he sells my mobile! The look and feel of the Serene is just so different to all the others that i looked at today. I know it doesn't do half as much as any of them but it oozes quality compared to any of them.

I've recently really wanted a Serene, but I don't know whether to wait for the Serene 2, find one second hand or just not bother and get a Samsung U600. I'm usually quite prepared with a costly price for any B&O item, but at £850, double that and I've almost got a BV8! That can't make sense can it?

I already have a pair of Lab 3s...my wife likes them because they get used by us so much. She even likes my Lab 2!

She doesn't think that i use a mobile enough to justify spending so much on one. However...i bet if i was buying it for her that would be a different matter!!!

I will have to take another look at the U600 and find out a bit more about the upgraded version. I don't want another mobile like my wifes' though...she would probably keep picking it up on the way out by mistake!