I have been a Sony Ericsson fan since the T28 days when bluetooth was introduced. So I am a bit biased. My wife has had Samsungs in the past and I have to say they are pretty durable phones. As for the SE phones, they are a bit more "delicate" in a sense that they are less bulky, more opportune to sit on because of the small form factor. But the features on SE's are in my opinion the best on the market aside from Android. The SE's UI (user interface) is really easy to go through by just playing through the menus. Heck even my 18 month took a picture of her foot using the SE phone! As for the Samsung, I have not personally had one since I was with Sprint back in 2000. But as said before, they are very durable phones and both have their pros and cons. Your best bet is to go somewhere and "play" with the features of the phone and see which you like better.