Immediate impressions are everything when it comes to fashion phones, and the Samsung Armani Night Effect has an overwhelmingly positive one.

Opening the slick packaging to discover a presentation bag emblazoned with the Armani logo proves that there was nothing subtle about the cross-branding of this device, building up anticipation to open it up and see what was inside!

Opening the wash-bag style zip revealed the Night Effect, a plain black monolith nestled inside the packaging very snugly. The Armani branding across the front is the immediately recognisable font and eagle insignia. Less the reserved glamour of the original Giorgio Armani phone, more in-your-face bling of the younger, hipper Emporio diffusion line, and the huge logo on the back cover cements this change in tack and target demographic.

Other items in the bag included the battery, a 1GB memory card, an Armani-branded wrist lanyard, software CD, charger, headphones, and a USB cable.

Popping the back of the phone, we noticed the microSD card could be put in without removing the battery also, which is a nice touch when switching between memory on the move! However, you do still need to remove the back cover, so the convenience is debatable!

The 2.2" OLED screen is flush and bright giving a surprisingly bright a clear display. Touches like the eagle insignia for your signal strength and the light dancing around the logo when making calls make it appealing to look at, as well as to navigate the menus. Beneath that are the selection keys, call/end buttons and a four way navi-pad.

The keypad itself is almost completely flat, with no distinction between the buttons. This weird design choice looks great, but makes texting and calling very difficult for anyone with less than dainty fingers. Quick texting was almost out of the question, as was texting without looking. Still, the backlight allows the keys to clearly be seen, and with a little practice, it became manageable.

A USB port is the only thing of note on the left side of the Night Effect, whilst the right has the media buttons, a camera switch and a volume rocker.

We can!t talk about the Night Effect without mentioning the phone!s unique selling point, the almost neon lighting the surrounds the edge of the entire handset. With the Emporio Armani logo glinting brightly along the left side of the phone, the piping extends around lighting the buttons whenever a call is made or received.

This is undoubtedly the phone!s big party piece, and there was no end of interest when whipping it out in public. Understated, it most certainly is not, but when it comes to turning heads, the "Night Effect" of the Night Effect does it effortlessly.

Changeable from blue to red and green, the lights make an otherwise unremarkable looking phone into an attention magnet.

Going into the phone proper, the Night Effect opts for a carousel menu interface, where pressing the navi-key allows you to scroll through the different options. The animation on it was a little bit poor however, so finding the page required was a little tougher than required on occasion. Nevertheless, a selection of game demos are present, as are the usual settings for ringtones and themes. There are plenty of Armani related logos to choose from, matching the colours of the piping as well as your mood.

The home screen is clean and clear, complete with messaging and alarm shortcuts as well as an easy way to change the phone's colour!

The Night Effect comes with a none-too-shabby 3 megapixel camera, sadly lacking a flash which contradicts the Night Effect!s after hours party persona. Nevertheless, the snapper takes some quality photos, and as soon as the camera button is pressed a wealth of settings and options are made available. Autofocus and smile detection are present, as well as the ability to take video. All very impressive in a fashion phone that could have gotten away with offering a lot less!

Call quality is not really an issue, the light show when receiving one makes even getting hassled about buying broadband a welcome experience! The video call camera is merely functional, whilst voice calls have clarity and crispness one would want, without dropouts in signal or the like. Only thing was that despite being matte, the phone does attract a fair few fingerprints and screen smudges when handled in daily usage.

The media player is above average, the quick buttons on the side allowing tunes to be skipped and paused without delving through tons of options and menus. That being said, the media player menus are still a breeze to use, and the MP3/e-AAC+/WMA audio and MPEG4/3GP video player as well as a stereo FM radio indicate no shortage of entertainment on the move with the Night Effect.

Web browsing? This is not what the Night Effect was made for. The Netfront browser was a little troublesome, and the lack of Wi-Fi mean each page took an age to load up even when HSDPA was chugging away in the background. If you want quick directions or football scores, the web is more than capable, but don't expect to be able to navigate your favourites with the greatest of ease, particularly the graphics-heavy ones.

All in all, the Night Effect is both a pleasant surprise and a guilty pleasure. Accept the initially intimidating stylings and there is a feature-rich, visually arresting handset which the younger generation of fashionista will have no problem being seen toting at 4am. The screen is vivid and bright, the camera is pretty good, and the robust media player is a reason to keep your MP3 player at home.

The "buttonless" keypad is our only reservation, as it took some real getting used to. As we all have to make sacrifices in the name of fashion, get past that setup and enjoy a vibrant and exciting phone, not afraid to be a bit different to get attention!