Samsung SGH-A777

In most respects the SGH-A777 doesn't strike new ground in cell phone design. It offers a thin profile (4 inches tall by 1.9 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep), clean lines, and a sliding face that hides the alphanumeric keypad. Yet, unlike many of its silver Samsung counterparts, the SGH-A777 comes in red and blue versions. We reviewed the blue handset, but the features are the same on both models.

The SGH-A777 has an average weight for its size (3.4 ounces), but it has a solid, comfortable feeling in the hand, despite the plastic battery cover. The slider mechanism was sturdy, as well, but we didn't like that the handset lacks a firm thumb grip for opening the phone. Unless we pushed on it in just the right place, our finger kept slipping to the navigation controls. We had issues with the SGH-A777's navigation array.

The controls are tactile, but with just a toggle, a central OK button, and two soft keys on the front slider, there are far too few of them. We suppose such an arrangement has a minimalist appeal, but we don't like having to open the phone to access a clear key and the Talk and End or power buttons. The toggle and OK button are large, but the soft keys are a tad thin. The keypad buttons are spacious, but they're completely flush and somewhat slick.

We could dial and text with relative ease, but we would have appreciated some tactile definition between the individual keys. As such, dialing by feel is difficult. The bright backlighting helps in dim situations. On the right spine you'll find the microSD card slot, a music player key, and a control that opens a pop up shortcut on the home screen. The toggle also gives one touch access to user defined functions.

A volume rocker and a proprietary headset jack or charger port sit on the left spine. The display measures 2 inches and supports 262,000 colors (220x176 pixels). It's a bit small for the phone's size but is serviceable in most respects. Colors are bright, and graphics and photos are sharp. You also can save MP3 files and voice clips as ringtones. You can change the brightness, the backlighting time, and dialing font size, type and color. The menus are available in grid or list styles.