Samsung Solstice A887 Review

Introduction:

AT&T has been fortunate with being the first in the US to offer Samsung's TouchWiz UI in the form of the Eternity. To top that special recognition, they were also the first to get the AMOLED touch screen handset, the Impression, with its fancy widget driven interface. Now we enter the third round of TouchWiz goodness in the Samsung Solstice A887 – hopefully improving upon some of the builds of its predecessors. This mid-range handset may cement Samsung's prominence in the vastly crowded line of touch screen phones for AT&T.

The package contains:
Samsung Solstice
Charger
User Manual CD
Quick Start Guide

Design:

Before diving in, it's worth noting how the recently released Samsung Highlight pales in comparison to the previous TouchWiz devices for T-Mobile. Fortunately for AT&T customers, the Solstice beats out the Highlight with its slightly better looks and build quality. The slate look is the customary form factor we've seen from the manufacturer with its rounded edges. The front outer casing is a plastic material that has a metallic finish to it while the rear has that fake leather texture. That material provides for a decent grip thanks to the soft touch feel of it. We were careful in touching the screen because the plastic layer protecting it did not leave us with a sense of durability. It retains similar dimensions with the Eternity except that it's skinnier. You'll almost think you're touching air because it weighs (3.3 oz) like almost nothing in your hand. We definitely like how the workmanship is an improvement over the Eternity.




You can compare the Samsung Solstice A887 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Samsung reduced the size of the screen versus the two previous TouchWiz device on AT&T. It's not a bad thing to say, but the 3” LCD screen still managed to impress us with its luminance. The 262k colors it is able to display will easily provide some eye candy on its own. Reading text will be of no problem with its 240 x 400 pixel resolution – making it clear and legible, Just like the Highlight, it fails when viewing it in direct sunlight. It loses its sparkle and you'll find yourself having to use your other hand to shade it from sunlight.



The button placements are almost identical to what is found on the Highlight except for the lock/unlock key found by itself on the top edge. There are three buttons on the front which are the send, end, and back/clear keys. They are large enough for anyone to press and have that really good button feel. The volume rocker is on the left side with the camera button, quick menu key, and proprietary charging/USB port located on the right edge. The 2-megapixel camera with a self-portrait mirror is a step down from the Eternity and located in the rear along with the speaker phone. The spring loading microSD slot is accessed by removing the back cover – also revealing the battery and SIM card slot.