Samsung SGH-D807 (black, AT&T)

Although Motorola grabbed the early lead with its popular Razr, Samsung has made a name for itself in the slim-phone market. What with thin, well-received models such as the Samsung MM-A900, the Samsung SGH-T809, and the Samsung SGH-T509, the company is certainly giving Motorola a run for its money. The latest slim phone in Samsung's arsenal is the Samsung SGH-D807 for Cingular, a slider phone that appears to be an update of the aforementioned SGH-T809. With its sleek design and ample features, the SGH-D807 should appeal to a broad audience. It retails for $179.99, but you can get it from Cingular for $129.99 after a mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement.

It's no secret that slim phones are in, and the Samsung SGH-D807 does not disappoint. It's a beautifully designed handset that hits a home run as far as first impressions go. Wrapped in a matte-black finish and silver border accents, its slim, lightweight form factor (3.98 by 2.09 by 0.61 inches; 3.3 ounces) makes it a joy to hold, both in the hand and next to the ear. Because it's so skinny, it also slips easily into a pocket and hardly takes up room in a purse. The SGH-D807 slider mechanism is easily operable with one hand, and it slides open in one swift motion.

The Samsung SGH-D807 is a beautifully designed phone.

Another design showstopper is the Samsung SGH-D807's gorgeous 262,000-color display, which measures an impressive 2 inches diagonally (176x220 pixels). The user interface on the SGH-D807 certainly takes advantage of the extra real estate with stunning, color-saturated graphics, as well as eye-catching animated menu icons. You can also change the backlight time of the display and select whether you want the LCD to turn all the way off or just have a dimmed effect. The screen's brightness is adjustable, as are the size and the color of the dialing display font.

Underneath the display are the navigational controls, which consist of two soft keys; a four-way toggle with a middle OK key (marked with the Cingular logo); the regular talk and End/power keys; and the cancel key in between them. The four-way toggle also acts as a shortcut to four user-defined functions, and the OK key in the middle defaults to the Media Net Web browser. While the keys are large enough, they are slippery and too flush to the surface of the phone. As a result, we had a few misdials, such as clicking two buttons at once or clicking the wrong button entirely, which sometimes resulted accidental deletions. This is a concern especially if you have large hands.

Slide the Samsung SGH-D807 upward, and you're presented with a slightly recessed keypad. The keypad is also slightly flush to the surface, but thanks to minor texture details, it's possible to dial by feel. It was nowhere as slippery as the navigation controls. Rounding out the phone's design are the charger/headset port and the volume rocker on the left spine, with a microSD card slot on the right spine. Sliding the phone upward, you'll note a 1.3-megapixel camera lens and a self-portrait mirror on the back. As a result, you can't take photos with the slider closed.

The Samsung SGH-D807 has a microSD card slot.