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I'll be frank. I like this phone. Sliders have really begun to appeal to me, and the Glimmer is a prime example of how to do a slider right. High-quality materials abound and everything about it simply feels good.

When closed, the Glimmer is nice and compact. Holding it in your hand is comfortable, and the brushed metal backplate has a nice, cool feel to it. There's just something about metal surfaces that turn me on, what can I say. The Glimmer is perhaps a little bit heavier then other phones of similar size, but the craftsmanship in its design erases that concern.

The front of the Glimmer is consumed by a generous touch screen. Though the chrome and black fascia steals some design elements from you-know-what, it still looks elegant and classy. This is the type of phone you'd expect to see in the hands of someone wearing a tux or other evening wear. It just speaks "night" to me.

On the left side of the phone is one button, the hold button. It locks and unlocks the touch screen. It is a little on the small side, and is positioned at the very top corner of the phone, but it stands out just enough that you can find and use it without issue. Feedback is excellent, with nice travel and click.

The right side, in comparison, is near to bursting with buttons and hatches. near the top is the hatch covering the non-standard 2.5mm headset jack. It is easily opened, even if you have no thumb nails as I do. Below it is the hatch for the microUSB charge/data port. Same deal, even nubby fingernails can access it. Next down is the volume/zoom toggle key. This key is near to perfect. Its just the right size and shape. When your thumb slides over it, there's no question what it is touching. Travel and feedback are superb. Last is the camera key. It is also well sized, shaped, and offers similar feedback to the volume toggle.

There's no ledge to catch your thumb on when you choose to open the Glimmer, but the spring-assisted slide pops it up with a nice, solid thunk. When open, the Glimmer is very well balanced and still remains compact.

There is no D-pad to serve as back up and there are no soft keys. All on-screen navigation must be done with your fingers by pressing what you want. To me, this is a natural way to interact with a phone, and causes less stress on my thumb.

My only real complaints about the hardware come from the Glimmer's keypad. The problem it experiences is not unique, but it's still annoying. Because of the way the two halves of the phone were made, the chin along the bottom of the phone, and the bottom edge of the top half of the phone crowd the keypad a bit. The top row of keys falls very close to the top edge, and I found my thumb brushing up against it quite regularly. Same goes for the bottom row of keys, which are placed very close to the chin. Aside from this, however, the buttons on the keypad (which are flat) offer decent travel and feedback. I generally dislike keypad designs that have thin lines of plastic running all over the keypad, but with the Glimmer, they help differentiate each key a little bit better than they otherwise might be.

The microSD slot is located under the battery hatch, which comes off easily. Thankfully, it is not under the battery itself, so you can swap cards in and out without powering off the phone.

Overall, however, there's not much I can say against the Glimmer's body. It makes me want to dress up and take it for a night out on the town.

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