Samsung BlackJack II Smartphone

I should predicate this by sharing that I used to own the original Blackjack (SGH-I607), so you'll see me making lots of comparisons.

The Blackjack 2 is stylish. It's thin, it's got a shiny painted finish, and it has some great chrome accents. You'll get noticed with this phone whether you go for red or black. Samsung again hits a home run with the design, as it looks good and is easy to hold and use. The shiny painted finish does show lots of fingerprints and scratches, and isn't as good as the Blackjack 1's rubberized plastic. Overall build quality has suffered though, with the plastic feeling cheap and squeaky. The first time I grabbed the BJ2 I immediately thought, "this feels cheap."

The keyboard is an important feature for a smartphone and Samsung does not disappoint. The keys are not mushy and soft -- they're very firm and have a definite click when pressed. Spacing on those keys is tight, but their raised edges and good tactile feedback make typing very easy. A great revision made to the BJ2 is how the numbers for dialing have been moved closer together. The "phone" functionality is stressed much more with this. The buttons under the screen are nothing to write home about. The jog wheel/D-pad is interesting, though I don't really use the rotation feature much (it's much too slow). I think Samsung tried to take some cues from the iPod with that and failed miserably. At least the D-pad isn't soft like the original BJ.

The screen is standard fare, being 240x320. The Motorola Q9H has a brighter screen, though the BJ2's will suffice for most. It's tricky to read in direct sunlight, unlike the Q9H.

Windows Mobile 6.0 Smartphone Edition is the operating system, and I could probably write several pages about the OS alone. If you're familiar with WM5, WM PocketPC, or even Windows XP, most of the functions will feel familiar. There are of course some awkward menus and buried options, but people buying this phone are likely prepared for that. WM6 adds a Vista-like interface, a better version of Pocket Internet Explorer, and various other tweaks. Multi-taskers will appreciate the generous amount of memory. You can of course throw a cheap MicroSD card in (supports SDHC, so you can get 4GB or larger). The OMAP CPU isn't terribly fast, but is responsive enough for most and can handle full-screen YouTube playback.

This is of course a phone, so on to the most important part: how well does it make a phone call? The answer is "pretty well". The keypad has the numbers placed together, and clearly labeled. You can dial right from the home screen by entering the numbers or by typing out part of the name -- Windows Mobile Professional doesn't do this! The phonebook is a very straight-forward application, and doesn't confuse with dozens of weird menus and text fields.

RF performance (reception) is good, but not great. For something this thin and small, I'd say the reception is impressive. There is better out there, but you'll be sacrificing looks for performance at that point. The phone's data modem is HSDPA compatible, giving you room to grow as AT&T expands their 3G network. Theoretically you can get 3.6Mbps download speeds. I can routinely hit 800-900kbps in big cities. The HSDPA modem allows for real-time YouTube streaming, Skype, and speedy web browsing. If you are into tethering, you'll be happy to know that the 3G network is very capable.

Battery performance is leaps and bounds ahead of the original Blackjack. Heavy text messaging, browsing, and calling should give you about 2 days without needing a charge. I am a light user and make one or two calls a day; I find myself recharging it every 3 days or so. The 3G data modem will drain the battery fast, so those who surf/tether a lot will find battery life cut much shorter.

AT&T brands the device with some extra applications like Cellular Video, MusicID, MobiTV, and Telenav. Most of these are pretty cheesy and require subscriptions (read: more monthly fees on top of the data plan). I guess a person who is on the road A LOT might be interested in the mobile TV stuff. AT&T's craptastic XpressMail is of course present and very nagging.

Anyone will be able to appreciate the GPS chipset that was added to the BJ2. The GPS chipset does NOT require any subscription to Telenav, regardless of what AT&T may tell you. It works with the free Google Maps application, and gives an accuracy of about 3-5 meters! Note that this GPS receiver is A-GPS, or Assisted-GPS, meaning it relies on the cellular towers too. As long as you have a signal from AT&T, you should be able to get a GPS lock. Tall buildings, large metal objects, or even being inside will slow down the GPS lock speeds. In a car or outdoors I find it can lock on within 90 seconds.

A few other miscellaneous things -- the camera is garbage, like every other cell phone. There's no flash for it. The charging/data connector is yet again proprietary and not compatible with the original Blackjack. Time to buy all new accessories and adapters!

So there you have it. The Blackjack 2 is a modest improvement over the original Blackjack. Gone is the high build quality and rubberized plastic body, replaced with a fingerprint-magnet painted finish. The keyboard is roughly the same, but has been revised with better number placement. An awkward jog dial was added to the directional pad. Windows Mobile 6 does offer some modest improvements, though original Blackjack owners can install that upgrade for free. The biggest improvements though are under the hood: GPS, more memory, and better battery life. Samsung has managed to add this without increasing the size or weight much.

This phone isn't for the serious user -- go for the Motorola Q9H or a WM6 Professional device (HTC Touch, etc). It is a nice upgrade for someone wanting occasional web browsing, easier text messaging, and maybe some mobile multimedia. The phone feels a bit cheaper than the original, but the typical user won't really notice or care.

Right now you can grab one for $99, which is a good price for the features.