Cingular appears to be grabbing the lion's share of smart phones. In the last few months, the carrier has stocked its lineup with the Nokia E62, the HP iPaq hw6925, and the 3G-enabled Cingular 8525. And today they've scored another win with the Samsung BlackJack (or Samsung SGH-i607).

With so many silver cell phones on the market, it's nice to see a handset that dips into another hue. Samsung's SGH-C417 for Cingular Wireless does come in basic gray for traditionalists, but it's also available in eye-catching, candy-apple red. And if you're into slim phones, the SGH-C417 has this dimension covered too. The phone's simple, attractive design echoes its feature set, which is basic but useful. Audio quality is decent, but can sound at times hollow.

The SGH-C417 doesn't try to hard to look pretty, but that's OK. We liked the phone's understated design, with its sleek lines. The SGH-C417 is relatively thin and compact, at 3.66 by 1.89 by 0.65 inches. It is, however, too small to cradle comfortably between your ear and shoulder. At 2.86 ounces, the SGH-C417 is also relatively light, but we couldn't help but notice that the flip mechanism and the stubby antenna felt flimsy. This isn't a phone for the adventure sports enthusiast.