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| Samsung SGH-A777 |
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 The Samsung SGH-A777 is the perfect example of today's mid-range feature phone. The phone packs almost all of the features we like to see on a 3G phone, but none of them are terribly exciting. There's a few bells and whistles, but no real innovation here. In fact, in terms of hardware design, this is one of our least favorite Samsung sliders, as the company has produced some slick models in the past. For the price with a contract, we're not sure the SGH-A777 is worth the upgrade over the Samsung SGH-A737, as GPS navigation is just about all you're getting for $80 (at launch), but if that price drops to nil, this would be a better choice for someone who wants a basic, easy slider to just barely keep up with the Joneses. Release: December 2008. Price: $80.
Pros: Feature-rich slider with all of AT&T's standard 3G multimedia apps. Nice paint job.
Cons: Boring menus and interface design. Hardware didn't appeal to us as much as other Samsung sliders. Nothing exciting here, just the standard carrier stuff.
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55%
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| LG Incite |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 LG has mostly missed the target so far with touchscreen phones, never coming close to what Apple has achieved on the iPhone, and even lagging behind native rival Samsung on all-touch devices. Is it a coincidence that in the same week Samsung brought their all-touch, Windows Mobile-powered Samsung Omnia to Verizon Wireless, LG dropped the LG Incite on AT&T? Who knows. But even with all the problems we had with Samsung's device, the LG Incite suffers even more under the crushing weight of Windows Mobile, an interface that was not remotely designed for touch. LG has added a menu atop the professional interface, but hasn't extended any style or ease-of-use beyond the menu screens. This would be injury enough, but to add insult, the LG Incite is just not a responsive touchscreen device, and that's what's most important to us. Throw in the boxy styling and cheap build quality, and it's easy to see how LG missed again with this device. Release: November 2008. Price: $200.
Pros: Good connectivity, with 3G networking and Wi-Fi. Web browser does an acceptable job.
Cons: Cheap design and build. Unresponsive touchscreen. Sluggish performance. No improvements to Windows Mobile beyond the main menu screens.
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61%
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| Samsung Saga |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Samsung Saga may not be the powerhouse update to the Samung BlackJack II that we saw in the Samsung Epix on AT&T, but its still a likeable phone nonetheless, and in a couple surprising ways it actually trumps its GSM brethren. The Saga is actually larger than the Epix, but it's styled better, with a nicer paint job, a wider, circular optical mouse and a great QWERTY keyboard. We were especially fond of the messaging features, though some of these come at a premium. The Samsung Saga is one of the few dual-mode phones on Verizon, so if you must use The Network, with the Saga you can use it abroad. It's also one of the few Verizon Wireless phones with Wi-Fi, which it uses well with the Opera mobile browser. There wasn't much to alleviate the pains of Windows Mobile on this phone, but for WinMo fans, this phone is a-ok. Release: November 2008. Price: $200.
Pros: Nice design, with a larger optical mouse than other Samsung phones. Great keyboard. Opera mobile browser is top-notch.
Cons: Nothing added to make Windows mobile easier to use. Web browser is nice, but why no add-on media player, or Instant Messaging apps?
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67%
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| Samsung Omnia |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Samsung Omnia is the latest in Samsung's TouchWIZ phones for the U.S. market, and also the most advanced, as that TouchWIZ interface here runs atop Windows Mobile 6.1 instead of a standard carrier OS. This idea of creating an overlay to improve Windows Mobile is all the rage right now, but instead of making things easier, the Samsung Omnia is more confusing and difficult to use. There are a few things this phone does well, including DivX movie playback and Web browsing, courtesy of Opera. But for the most part, there are better all-touch smartphone options for Verizon Wireless. All in all, we think the concept of TouchWIZ on multimedia phones works better than using the widget-based UI to turn a Windows Mobile phone into a multimedia powerhouse. There's no doubt about its potential, but eventually the overall experience left us feeling seriously annoyed. Release: November 2008. Price: $200.
Pros: Good Opera Web browser with cool 'upshifted' navigation. Fine camera with auto focus and loads of pixels.
Cons: TouchWIZ experience disappoints when running atop Windows Mobile. Confusing redundancies in the interface.
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64%
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| Samsung Behold |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Samsung Behold reminds us quite a bit of the Samsung Instinct. It's not quite smart enough to be an iPhone clone, but it's still a good phone in its own right. In fact, in terms of call quality and calling features, it's a great phone. But Samsung still hasn't nailed the touchscreen interface. In some areas, like the QWERTY keyboard, they've done a great job, and it works well. In others, like the home page widgets and the problems we had with scrolling and moving through lists, the problems make using the phone a real chore. The phone has a very nice music player, but lacks a standard headphone jack, which seriously hobbles its potential. It uses fast networking on T-Mobile's new 3G network, but the Web browser lacks the deeper options needed to unleash its full potential. It's a flawed device, but not fatally flawed, and hopefully Samsung will work out most of these TouchWiz UI kinks as more of these phones come to market. Release: November 2008. Price: $80.
Pros: Responsive screen. Great call quality and calling features. Fine music player.
Cons: Scrolling issues hurt using the interface. Widgets might not work at this size. Web browsing and video player both mediocre.
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63%
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