So right after Christmas my 7 month old Motorola MPX220 decided it no longer wanted to recharge. Fortunately my contract with AT&T was about to expire so it was time to pick out a new phone. After a little bit of browsing and comparing, I picked the Samsung Blackjack 2 (SGH-i617) over the Moto Q Global because it was cheaper and had a comparable feature set. I also talked my Dad into getting this phone.

First Impressions

The Blackjack 2s arrived today in the mail. When I first looked at it I was really surprised by its size. It’s definitely the thinnest phone that I’ve owned. When I first picked the phone up, I nearly dropped it. The smooth body of the device is slick. I will definitely need to buy a rubber cover to protect it and give me some grip.

Activation

Activating the phone with AT&T was super easy. I dialed the activation number from another phone and answered a few questions. Supposedly, you have to wait 20 minutes after activation before powering on the phone. I got impatient after about 5 minutes and pressed the power button on the top of the device. I immediately had wireless service. Nice!

Snooping Around

I’m above reading user manuals, so I started pressing buttons and clicking through menus. The MPX had Windows Mobile 2003, which has a very similar interface to Windows Mobile 6. However, navigating on this WM6 device seemed much faster. The first thing I found was the built-in camera software. Camera phones have come a long way since the days of the Sidekick 2, but they’re still far from replacing even most basic digital cameras. The images I took were decent but not very clear. Also, there was a huge delay when taking a picture. It was very easy to miss a shot because of this. One other thing that I found annoying was that I couldn’t turn off the shutter sound even though other sounds such a zoom could be disabled.

GPS Me

The second thing I checked out on the blackjack was the GPS feature. The reviews I read mentioned that the receiver built into the phone wasn’t very strong and took too long to ‘lock’ satellites. I installed Google maps to investigate these claims. Much to my content, the GPS receiver locked my position within 30 seconds while indoors. Outdoors, the device worked just as well. Even on my trip to State College this evening the receiver continued to track my position up route 322.

I should mention that while the device came with GPS software, my understanding is that there is a monthly fee to use it. However, Google Maps is free to download and use at http://maps.google.com/gmm.

My Memory Runneth Over

 Although it’s not a lot compared to storage available on the iPhone, the Blackjack 2 has much more memory than any other phone I’ve owned. The MicroSD slot on the side of the device should support cards up to 4GB as well.

Internet Woes

If you’ve ever used Safari on the iPhone, you’ll be sorely disappointed by Internet Explorer on Windows  Mobile 6. Browsing to websites is cumbersome and generally feels unnatural. Several sites rendered poorly, which is to be expected on a mobile device. However, I still think there is a lot to be desired. It really doesn’t even compare to Opera Mini, which I’m having difficulty installing at this point.

 

Other Thoughts

The actual phone features of this device seem to work very well. The earpiece seems loud enough to talk with in a noisy environment. The speakerphone seems to be clear and loud enough as well. My next task for this phone is streaming TV recordings from my Media Center via WebGuide4. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to browse to the guide using this device. Internet Explorer keeps giving me a 502 proxy error. Perhaps this is an AT&T issue. I’ll have to try another browser to be sure and then go from there.

One thing that really pissed me off was Microsoft Office Mobile. I haven’t transferred any documents to it yet. However, when I tried to create a new Word document, I discovered that I couldn’t. Or maybe, I just wasn’t looking in the right place. Still, it’s something that should be possible and much easier to find. I’ll follow up on this in the next part.

 

2 Responses to “Samsung Blackjack 2 Review Part 1”

1. Adam says:

   February 17, 2008 at 11:20 pm

   I agree, the blackjack II is a good phone, the GPS is nice and the form-factor is a plus. I also agree that the camera is a disappointment and the video camera capabilities are even worse.

   But this phone has worked great for email and other communication needs (not including web browsing).

   Again, good review, very useful.

   I’ve got more sample pictures and videos from the phone here:
   http://www.4tay.com/blogs/Adam_Parker/Samsung_Blackjack_2_-_Review/1/1/688/

   It’s a shame they left some of those features in such a poor state.

   Reply
2. Christina says:

   April 4, 2008 at 12:02 am

   Did you ever resolve your 502 Proxy error? I have a Blackjack I and hubby just got a Blackjack II today. He’s having the same error, but only on a few websites in IE. I’ve been searching the net for an answer and so far, none.

   Reply