Samsung Blackjack-2-SGH-617 Black Review - Design & Features

Design & Features

BlackJack II is sleek in a business-class sort of way.  I don’t know that I could ever call a smart phone “sexy,” but the burgundy-finish review sample Samsung sent me certainly is handsome, anyway.  The handset fits easily in one of my hands, and its center-mounted nav dial makes for easy left or right-handed operation  Some folks have bemoaned Samsung’s decision to replace BJ1’s side-mounted scroll wheel with this new front panel dial, but I like it.  The wheel’s similar to those found on iPods, if not quite as smooth and responsive - you can use it to scroll through selections or as a four-way directional pad with a center select key.  A standard layout of softkeys flank the wheel on either side, and I found these plenty spacious - though some might scoff at the slick plastic finish that adorns the buttons.

The QWERTY keys on the lower half of the phone’s front panel are on the smaller side, but the oval shaped keys are set on a slight diagonal and well spaced, which makes them pretty easy to use, even with my big thumbs.  Samsung also grouped the dialing buttons together (they were oddly spread out on the original) and added some shortcut keys to the bottom row of the keypad, which are handy.  My burgundy BlackJack II also featured a textured back panel that made for easier gripping; the black version of the handset has a smooth plastic back instead.  Speaking of the back panel, here you’ll find the sensor for BJ2’s two megapixel camera which can also capture video.

A Windows Mobile device, BlackJack 2 can handle your contacts and email and messaging needs, including support for Exchange Server and POP3 and IMAP email accounts.  Windows Mobile 6 supports full HTML email, and the device ships with support for AIM, Yahoo, and Windows Live instant messaging.  BlackJack II also comes with Microsoft Direct Push, which supports real-time “push” email delivery as well as automatic Outlook syncing.  The handset can be synched to a PC via USB cable using ActiveSync.

On the AT&T side, there’s support for the new Video Share service so you can make video calls if you and your recipient are both on compatible devices, within 3G network coverage, and willing to pay $5/month for 25 minutes of video calling bliss.  There’s also support for AT&T Music and Video, which stream a/v content to your handset for additional costs.  I tried out the XM Radio and ESPN video highlights services and was impressed with how quickly the applications loaded and the content started playing.  For my money streaming music is still much more useful on a mobile phone than streaming video, but the quality of both services was on par with anything I’ve tried on a Sprint or Verizon Wireless device.

 

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