Slim, Attractive Design

In terms of design, the looks a bit different than its . It is a bit narrower and longer, measuring 4.9-by-2.3-by-0.5-inches thick. It weighs a comfortable 4.4 ounces, yet feels solid in hand. It is very much in the Samsung design aesthetic with its piano-black finish, rounded edges and a subtly patterned battery cover. It's a bit plasticky feeling and definitely finger-print prone, but the Continuum is quite attractive overall. On the face of the phone, you'll find the typical Android softkeys: Menu, Home, Back and Search. These keys are sort of awkwardly placed, though, between the main display and the ticker display (more on that in a bit). On the top of the phone, you'll find the power button and the 3.5-mm headphone jack. On the right spine, there's the volume rocker and the micro-USB port and on the back you'll find the 5-megapixel camera and flash.

The main attraction of the Continuum, of course, is its dual displays. There's a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED display the small secondary display (also Super AMOLED) that lies below it. The main display is a bit smaller than what we're used to on Galaxy phones, but the Super AMOLED technology is really quite fantastic. Colors burst out of the display, and animations appear lively and smooth. Some reviewers have noted that colors look oversaturated, but I don't really mind the effect. The display also does quite well in bright outdoor light, too, though the phone's glossy hardware sometimes reflects a killer glare.

The smaller, narrower screen makes typing incredibly frustrating. The keyboard feels very cramped and we made more mistakes typing on the Continuum than on other Galaxy phones. You can switch to Swype (gesture-based keyboard), but even that was somewhat excruciating to use.

Ticker display