Samsung BlackJack II (black, AT&T)

Pros: Attractive design, light weight, QEWRTY keypad, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, etc.

Cons: Windows Mobile 6, sluggish at times, hard to get fix on GPS, camera quality, etc.

Summary: PREFACE

About 2 months ago my friend dropped my iPhone, cracking the screen and making it difficult to use (unless I wanted cuts). I used the phone until about a week and a half ago, when the cracked glass actually started falling out. So, while waiting for my friend to pay me back to get a new iPhone (and waiting for the iPhone 3G due out in 2008), I ran to the nearest AT&T Corporate store to purchase a phone until the new iPhone comes out.

PRICING

The phone caught my eye was the Tilt, but the store said they were all out of it, and for it's price point I might as well get a new iPhone (which I loved). Now, I might get stricken down for being so in love with the iPhone, but read the full thing to get where i'm coming from.

I asked the sales representative about the Blackjack II, I was curious if it had been released yet. He told me it had not been officially released, but they were selling them. He brought one out, let me take a look at it, and then told me the price. The phone was $199 with a $100 dollar mail-in rebate, price after MIR being $99 (with a 2 YR contract, and data plan). After briefly using the phone in the store, I thought why not.

I purchased it, and took it home to begin playing with it.

DESIGN

Upon first impression, I loved the design. The keyboard was extremely easy to use (given i've never used a tactile QWERTY keyboard, and the small keys), the screen was beautiful, and the phone was extremely light! I'm not too big a fan of the plastic casing, seems kind of cheap. Also, it gets fingerprints like crazy!

SYNCHRONIZATION and BLUETOOTH

When I turned it on, the first thing I did was try to sync it through Bluetooth to my computer (being an Apple Powerbook G4). To my surprise, the phone did not support any services of syncing, file pushing / browsing, with my laptop. I was kind of disappointed considering the software cannot be installed on a Mac either. So, I have no way of really syncing my contacts, calendar, music, etc. The only possible way of doing this is to either purchase a separate program (Missing Sync for OSX for $39.99) or a MicroSD Card.

TETHERING

I wasn't too disappointed at this point, just a little let down, so I pushed forward. Windows Mobile 6 seems to have taken away the Internet Sharing application for tethering to a laptop, but with a little Google search I was able to tether my laptop through the USB cable that came with the phone. This was a definite plus, except that I don't want to pay the extra 10 - 20 bucks a month to get a tethering plan through AT&T, haha. =] But if this is something you might use, it was extremely fast with 3G, and was easy enough to set up.

CALL QUALITY

After charging the phone, it was time to go to work. My job has a lot of downtime and gives me a lot of opportunity to get to know my phones.

On my way to work I called a few people and the call quality was excellent. The phone as great call quality, very crisp and great volume. Getting to speakerphone, however, is a pain in the ass (more on this later) and not worth it. The quality is not the best with speakerphone. Often times it sounded like the person on the other end was loudly mumbling, if that makes sense, ha. But besides this, call quality was excellent.

MESSAGING

At work the first thing I did was start text messaging. The keyboard is extremely well for being a QWERTY keypad. The layout of the buttons and the use of the period, comma, and question mark keys came in very handy compared to the layout of the Blackberry Curve, which I also tried out and was terrible. Overall, text messaging was a good experience on the Blackjack. Sending MMS were easy enough, and fast. Setting up my GMail account was easy as well, and worked pretty good.

CAMERA

I started to take a few pictures at my work, and realized that the camera on this thing is by far one of the worst i've ever used on a phone. I usually LOVE Samsung's picture quality, but this phone is absolutely terrible. My previous phones include: Sony Ericcson W600i, Samsung Sync, Samsung D807, Blackberry Curve 8310, and the iPhone. All of these phones have exceptional photo quality, the Blackberry Curve and iPhone especially. Color on the Blackjack II's pictures are washed out and faded, and they often times are not sharp or crisp at all. Not to mention, you have to have an extremely steady hand to get it to be not completely blurry. I have a steady hand, but they still come out not sharp at all. Video quality, however, was extremely well for being a phone. Seems like it has a high FPS, good color, brightness, etc. Not as grainy as other phones.

INTERNET BROWSING

The next thing I did was use the internet. This phone is fast! Just like when I had tethered to my laptop, speeds were really incredible while using 3G. I'm used to EDGE on the Curve, or the iPhone, so this was pleasant. Although, browsing was no where near as enjoyable as the iPhone. I downloaded Google Maps, Windows Live Search, and a few other things directly to the phone at great speed and precision. Viewing mobile.myspace.com was good too, loaded quickly. But, the browser is what lacks in the phone (more on this in the Windows Mobile section..)

GPS

After downloaded Google Maps and Windows Live Search, I wanted to check out the GPS! Immediately ran into problems when the GPS could not get a fix, no matter where I was! I went outside, I went inside, I tried it at home, at work, in the car, etc. The GPS always said "Unable to find current location at this time." When it did find it, it was within 1200 - 1700 meters of where I was, which isn't a big deal to me. I mean, I loved Maps on the iPhone, it was simple, looked good, and got me where I wanted. So, Google Maps with no GPS will due just fine, but for people looking for a serious GPS, I wouldn't say this would be your best bet. Maybe with TeleNav Navigator and an extra 10 bucks a month, yes, but who wants that?

BATTERY LIFE

Battery life was pretty good. I didn't really time it, but the phone was at about 20% at the end of my work shift (intensive use of phone!). Which was a little better than my iPhone.

WINDOWS MOBILE 6

Now we go to the biggest disappointment on the phone.. Windows Mobile 6.

I know a lot of people are probably really into Windows Mobile 6, but I am definitely not a fan. It's not an Apple vs. PC thing, I just can't get into it. Coming from something as simple, and great working, as an iPhone, WM6 just doesn't deliver.

How I explain this is simple.. Everything on WM6 takes twice as many steps to do as on my iPhone. I like to be able to do things quickly, and with precision. WM6 is slow at times (could be the BJ II processor?) and it takes too many steps to do anything. Sending a text message on the iPhone was as simple as going to Text, and clicking new. With a touch screen, that's 2 taps of the finger! With WM6, you have to go to Messaging, Messages, press the Menu button, and go to new. That's 4 steps with a jog wheel, and it's kind of annoying. That's one example, but it's like that with a lot of things in the phone. Turning speakerphone on, holding a call, changing settings, etc.

Another big disappointment was the browser. Going from an iPhone full HTML browser to the IE on the BJ II was disappointment. I got annoyed with browsing websites like that at work. It just doesn't cut it for me.

However, I really do like that I can download 3rd party applications, themes, homescreens, MP3 ringtones, and edit a lot of stuff on the phone. But i'd rather have the ease of use and simplicity of my iPhone.

OVERVIEW

What I say to everyone is this.. the Blackjack II and WM6, although have a lot more features, customization, etc. than the iPhone, everything on my iPhone worked perfectly. The features it did have were perfected, simple, and stunning. The BJ II and WM6 have a lot of cool features and customization, but it's hard to use and the features are lackluster and sub-par.

This review was written with somewhat a comparison / bias, seeing as I loved my iPhone, and this phone is just a replacement until the 3G iPhone makes it's way onto the market. It's a good phone, it was the best option for me until the new iPhone comes out, but if this were my phone until my 2YR Contract was up, I would hate the thing.

I gave it a 6 because it's a good phone, but nothing more.

If you thought this was a helpful review, but I left something out, please let me know and i'll try to answer any questions that I can. =]

Peace!