Smartphones have taught us to get excited over software--apps and OSes--but Samsung's new Android phone, the Moment [2], is all about hardware.

The device is quite possibly the fastest smartphone on the market, with a screaming 800 MHz chip. The difference shows. Everything from multi-tasking to landscape view happens uber quick on the Moment. My test device feels at least comparable, if not superior to, my iPhone 3G S in snappiness. The iPhone and most other Android devices muddle along at just over 500 MHz.

The disappointing side of all that speed? It's being wasted on a slider phone with a keyboard. Samsung has setup their otherwise-unadorned version of the Google OS to spurn the on-screen keyboard, so you're expected to use the slider for textual input. After weeks spent using HTC's Hero, the slickest of the Android devices thus far, I was waiting for all that 800 MHz horsepower to make Android's on-screen keyboard fly. Alas, it never makes an appearance. At least the landscape mode is jerk-free, something that can't even be said for the iPhone 3G S.

Samsung has done the Moment justice, otherwise, with 32GB of available storage on an SD card, a gorgeous 3.2-inch AMOLED display, and Sprint's capable 3G network. Still, the Moment isn't as svelte as its keyboard-less competitors, which makes it beg for a larger (perhaps iPhone-sized) screen.

It will be available November 1 for $180 on a two-year contract after the obligatory rebate hassle.