Samsung BlackJack-SGH-i607 Review - Messaging, Interent, & Connectivity

Messaging, Interent, & Connectivity

If Blackjack's keyboard suits your hands, it makes a quite nice messaging device, thanks to Outlook Mobile and Cingular's inclusion of the Oz Instant Messenger client.  Outlook handles POP and IMAP email with relative ease, including (manual) downloading of email attachments for viewing with Picsel.  Email can also be downloaded from and synched with Windows PCs via Active Sync. Windows Mobile users are looking forward to support - at long last - for HTML formatted Emails in WinMob 6.  Again, Samsung has said that Blackjack owners will be able to upgrade to WM 6 in the near future. 

SMS and MMS messaging is also supported on Blackjack.  Images and audio and video clips can be attached to MMS messages, provided that both sender and receiver have compatible cellular service.  Instant Messaging support is better than most Windows Mobile devices thanks to the included OZ application, which supports AIM, Yahoo, and MSN Messenger.

I won't repeat myself here by going into detail about Blackjack's QWERTY board.  Suffice it to say it was too small for my hands and fingers.  One nice feature, however, is single-click access to ALT keys by way of holding a button down for a second or so.  Emailing on a truncated smartphone keyboard means lots key combinations for punctuation and so forth, and Blackjack's system effectively eliminates the need for many of those two-thumb keystrokes.  If only they could build that into a slightly bigger keyboard, I'd be happy.

Blackjack is compatible with Cingular's 3G HSDPA network as well as their slower EDGE data services.   Web surfing and Email on Blackjack was quite speedy when I was within HSDPA coverage areas in the San Francisco Bay Area, and slowed noticeably when I moved into EDGE-only coverage.

Blackjack does not have an internal WiFi antenna, so Internet connectivity is limited to HSDPA cellular data (the rough equivalent of Sprint and Verizon's EV-DO protocol).  Note that Cingular's HSDPA coverage is not quite as prevalent throughout the US as Sprint or Verizon's EV-DO networks, though Cingular is catching up quickly.  EV-DO also tends to be just a bit faster than HSDPA, though the speed difference tends to be more noticeable when using a handset as a PC modem than when browsing the Web on the phone itself.

As mentioned, Blackjack comes with the standard install of Internet Explorer, which really left me wanting for an alternative.  Picsel's Web browser would be a welcome addition to this phone, as would Opera Mobile.  Sadly, neither is included out of the box.

Blackjack was designed to take full advantage of Cingular's HSDPA data network, and can be used on its own or as a cellular modem tethered to your PC.  That being said, if 802.11x connectivity is a "must-have" for you, you'll want to look elsewhere for your next phone.  Cingular's HSDPA network provides excellent data transfer speeds, but if you travel out of range you're stuck with the dial-up-esque performance of EDGE.

Being a Windows Mobile device, Blackjack relies on ActiveSync for syncing of organizer, contact, and email data with Windows PCs.  Syncing is supported over Bluetooth 2.0 and USB connections.  Bluetooth also supports mono and stereo audio devices and file transfer.

I tested the Q with a few Bluetooth headsets and it worked fine, pairing easily with both mono and stereo devices and delivering good sound quality.  Mono and stereo wired headsets are also available, though you are limited to those compatible with Samsung's proprietary accessory port.

Blackjack also has a microSD card slot which supports removable memory cards.  No memory card is included in the retail packaging, and you'll probably want to pick one up as the handset has only about 31MB of internal memory accessible for user storage. 

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