Mobile Phone Reviews

Samsung’s New Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack was a great phone that was hampered by pretty poor battery life, like many of the thin QWERTY equipped smartphones of the past. In spite of that issue, the BlackJack was still a very popular cell phone for AT&T

(then Cingular). This time around, Samsung has addressed the battery issue and added a few new goodies to the mix, like a d-pad that serves double duty as a scroll wheel. The resulting device is a millimeter or two bigger in height and width, and an extra 10g heavier, but those minor tradeoffs are well worth the results.

Samsung’s original BlackJack, the SGH-i607, was a great device with bad battery life. This time around, the new BlackJack II gets things right in a big way. Learn about all of the details in our in-depth review, which includes two videos of the BlackJack II in action.

The original Samsung BlackJack was one of our favorite Windows Mobile phones because of all the features it delivered for a low price, including 3G data and support for Cellular Video and XM radio. The Windows Mobile 6-powered sequel sports a sexier design and a lot of other improvements, including a beefier battery, more internal memory, and GPS navigation support. There’s really not much innovation going on here, but for $149, the BlackJack II has all the makings of a successful sequel.

Released for AT&T, the Samsung BlackJack II is the successor to the BlackJack, an thin and lightweight QWERTY smartphone. Delivering a Windows Mobile operating system, the BlackJack II offers a complete package of email, voice, and entertainment in one device. Flexible mobile email through Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software, advanced mobile phone technology, and rich multimedia capabilities, make the BlackJack II is a fully-loaded device designed for seamless connectivity.

gizmodo reviews There’s not much about this in terms of general speed and build that we haven’t said already in the first hands-on, but here are the things we didn’t cover. The 3G is super speedy and pulls down emails and web pages like a champ. Sound quality is on par with other Windows Mobile phones (namely, it’s good), and its battery is also much improved over the BJ1, lasting over the weekend on one charge—with us making a handful of calls and doing a little web browsing and Google mapping. The GPS is pretty awesome when used with the free Google Maps, but has a bit of trouble getting a signal around my apartment

The good:  The Samsung BlackJack II improves on its predecessor with Windows Mobile 6; GPS; a 2-megapixel camera; and more memory and better performance. The smartphone also features a larger display and enhanced full QWERTY keyboard as well as HSDPA support, Bluetooth, and AT&T Video Share support.

The bad: The front jog wheel feels loose and unresponsive, and the smartphone uses Samsung’s proprietary connector port for headsets and other accessories. The BlackJack II lacks Wi-Fi, and there’s also no support for voice dialing. We also had some ActiveSync connection problems.

The bottom line: Although the Samsung BlackJack II doesn’t bring any revolutionary upgrades, there are a number of welcome additions, including GPS and better performance, to make it a worthy successor and a good-value smartphone.

Specs: OS provided: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0; Band / mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900; Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0

Cnet Rating-  7.7/10