Samsung has once again retained the honour of producing the “world’s slimmest phone” with its new Ultra Edition II, Ultra 5.9 U100 which is standing at an all time record of being only 5.9 mm thin.

Remember when the fever for the title of the “world’s slimmest phone” first started? The new phones that were launched during that period of time became slimmer by the day and many mobile phone companies bounced that prestigious title around, each holding the title for only short periods of time.

Back when Samsung’s first Ultra Edition Series was released in the third quarter of 2006, the electronics giant launched the SGH-X820, otherwise known as the 6.9, as the phone was only 6.9mm thin. Undoubtedly, it nabbed the title of the world’s slimmest phone then.

But in this world where phones can never be too thin, 6.9 mm has become not good enough.

When the Ultra 5.9 U100 made its debut appearance, the thinness of the phone was quite shocking. Stripping 1mm off its predecessor, the 5.9 not only retains everything that the 6.9 had, it also beats the 6.9 in more ways than 1.

Starting with the exterior, the 5.9 is a lightweight phone which feels almost nonexistent when placed in your pocket. Just like its predecessor, it’s completely flat on both the front and back surface, with the exception of the onboard camera, which juts out.

Many had marvelled at how Samsung engineers had managed to squeeze a 2-megapixel camera capable of taking photos up to 1600×1200 pixels into such a thin package when the phone was first launched. This time round, the 5.9 boasts of a 3.2-megapixel camera capable of taking photographs up to 2048×1536 pixels, a massive improvement considering the fact that the phone is now 1mm slimmer. Now, that’s what we call sheer engineering brilliance.

Juxtaposed to each other, there’s no difference between one and the other. The 5.9 has a 220x176pixel TFT screen capable of displaying 262k colours as with its predecessor.

The keypad however, is completely different. While the 6.9’s keypad is made up of individual buttons, the 5.9 is made of one complete sheet with each row of buttons separated from the next by a smooth, sloped ‘V’. It is reminiscent of the Motorola V3 Razr‘s keypad, but better.

The 5.9 also has 70mb of internal memory, and while it’s not expandable, it should be sufficient for the average user. Everything else works like the new range of Samsung phones. Clearly, there is no software differentiation among the phones. The 5.9 uses similar software that other Ultra Edition II phones have, such as Smart Search. It also has Bluetooth, a USB 2.0 port, GPRS Class 10, and a music player capable of playing formats such as MP3, AAC, eAAC+, and WMA.while the battery is able to withstand up to 2 hrs of talktime, and 250 hrs of standby time.

The perfect solution to chunky, annoying mobile phones, the 5.9 is great for short overseas trips. When UrbanWire brought the virtually weightless 5.9 out of the country, it proved to be a great companion which lasted the entire 3 days with moderate to heavy usage on a single charge. Quite certainly, the Samsung designers and engineers have created a technological miracle with the Samsung Ultra Edition II U100, the 5.9.

Go ahead, try holding one in your hand and you’ll know how powerful a punch it really packs in its super-slim frame.

The Samsung 5.9 is available at an recommended retail price of $498 without contract.