Long gone are the days when budget cellphones meant brick-like aesthetics and miserly talk-time. Since even the most casual of phone users are expecting style and some degree of substance, manufacturers are stepping up their assault on the market - after all, selling a few hundred basic handsets is better than just one super-complicated smartphone!

Sprint has had some success from its partnership with Samsung, and latest on the scene is a budget clamshell that distills the key points of low to mid-range phones and packages them in a lightweight and attractive shell.  The M300 is a compact, pocket-friendly 2.68oz and 0.7-inches thick, still managing a VGA camera with PictBridge, Bluetooth and internet access.

In the hand it's hard to believe the M300 is a real phone and not a fake shop demo unit; in fact at times it can feel a little too lightweight to give that all-important sense of being solid and durable.  Available in two colours - silver and red - there's a small CSTN external display for the usual bevy of time, signal strength, battery status and photo caller ID, and then a larger 128 x 160 pixel internal TFT measuring 1.2-inches by 1.5-inches.  Neither will win awards for resolution or clarity, but it's good to see two screens on an entry-level handset.

Photos taken with the camera are, understandably, pretty unimpressive, and it would've been nice to see Samsung leading rather than follwing the budget pack by including a far more reasonable 1.3-megapixel unit as found in the M300's big brother, the M510.  Nonetheless, they'll suffice for MMS purposes, though I can't see anyone choosing to print them out, PictBridge notwithstanding.

Should you be so inclined you can use the M300 as a tethered modem with your laptop, though given it lacks access to Sprint's Power Vision EV-DO network you'll be doing this as an exception rather than the rule.  If you're looking for a decent cellphone-modem you'd again be better off with the M510.

Despite any of those criticisms, the M300 is still a decent phone.  The battery is rated for up to 3.2hrs and our initial use would seem to support that, and the full range of SMS, little-used EMS and MMS messaging, together with email, is only spoilt by there not being an IM client.  The 299 entry phonebook can be backed-up remotely, and accessed via speaker-independent voice dialing.

If you're in the market for a straightforward, basic spec and above all affordable phone, the M300 may just fit the bill.  Anyone a little more demanding should weigh it up against the M510, also released today, and reviewed over at our sister-site SlashGear.