Orange’s updates to its SPV smartphone series are turning into an annual event. The SPV C550 is the latest kid on the block and arrives with a modified design and some new features, although it’s still a Windows-based smartphone, which means lots of Microsoft-specific applications.

To improve the multimedia side of the phone, the front fascia now has individual buttons for controlling video, audio and photos. Shortcut buttons for navigating the phone’s menus have also been included.

We’re not sure why Orange decided to revert to the smaller, more fiddly joystick (first seen on the SPV E100) as we preferred the larger, horizontal four-way button on the SPV C500. 

Digital photos are given a boost by the 1.3megapixel camera, but it’s still no replacement for a dedicated digital camera. Although the screen resolution hasn’t changed, the text is sharper and easier to read ­ when we switched back to the old SPV C500, we noticed the difference.

Bluetooth and infra-red are built in, while GPRS is used for connecting to the Internet or Orange’s online content through Orange World. The faster 3G service isn’t available on this phone.

Weighing 110g, this update is slightly heavier than the SPV C500 (albeit by only 10g) and a few millimetres bigger. It comes with a 128MB mini-SD card, an unusually large amount of storage for a mobile, but add a few mp3 or wmv files and you’ll soon be requiring a larger card.

There’s no denying the SPV 550 is a decent phone with lots of great applications and synchronisation features. But, like its predecessors, the interface is painfully slow and the battery life just doesn’t compare to non-Windows-based smartphones.