We didn't have much time with the Samsung Soul at Showstoppers, but based on our short experience, we believe we can describe it in four words: slightly better LG Venus. The d-pad had short animations as it transitioned from one interface to another, which was cute. The d-pad, though utilized slightly better, still suffered from the same lethargy the Venus's did. If you want to hit a button repeatedly, you're out of luck. Holding a direction for a bit longer than you'd think will initiate an auto-scroll. This still doesn't help general navigation, however. Also, the haptic feedback felt like it was coming from the center of the back of the phone. Perhaps we got spoiled by the Motorola ROKR E8 at CES, but even compared to the Chocolate VX8550 the feedback was subpar.
We did like Samsung's new interface, however. It looks somewhat similar to what Sony Ericsson is doing now, but it different enough to not raise any eyebrows. It certainly looks cool, but we didn't have enough time to gauge the overall quality of the software it offered.
The camera seems to be ridiculously good for such a small device. A 5-Megapixel lens and autofocus are a good start, but face detection is a ridiculously rare feature. We look forward to testing out these features.
