Screen

The Glyde's screen is large, bright and clear. The touch-screen responds well and there is no lag between pressing a touch-screen button and executing the command.

Its display backlight dims after either seven, 15 or 30 seconds. Users also have the option of setting the backlight as always on/always off. The keyboard backlight functions the same way and the screen features six brightness levels and two font sizes. After 35 seconds, the display turns off and the phone locks, or "sleeps," automatically.

Audio

The Glyde's sound quality leaves something to be desired, so users will be happiest if they already have a primary MP3 player and want to use the Glyde as a secondary player only.

The earphone sound is serviceable, but when listening to songs using the phone's speaker, the mono playback sounds tinny. The phone's single speaker is not externally visible, and the result is that the sound emanating from it is also muffled. It's hard to enjoy even high-quality recordings, let alone podcasts or lower-quality files. Of course, the phone will only play MP3 or WMA files - don't expect to be able to play iTunes files here.

Users upload files either by synching the Glyde with a PC music player, or by downloading from VCAST Music, or both. Users can take advantage of one great feature - simply plug the phone into a PC using the USB cable provided, and users can drag and drop songs from the playlist directly into the phone's music file. They won't need to install additional software.

VCAST Music offers pay per download, and once users transfer files to the phone, they are added to Verizon's standard My Music application, which organizes songs by genre, artist, album, song title, or playlist. As with other MP3-player-enabled Samsungs, a shuffle feature comes standard. Unfortunately, the Glyde's MP3 player does not continue to play music when the user switches to another screen to look up a number or write a text message, for example.

Users can also download additional pay-per-download ringtones to supplement the phone's preloaded offerings. The phone comes with only eight monophonic prerecorded ringtones, making it tempting to download extra bells and whistles.

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