Cingular Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack Review

Samsung BlackJack (AKA SGH-i607) is a Smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0 and it is provided by Cingular. Cingular already had in its fleet of Windows Mobile powered phones the HP iPAQ hw6925 pocket pc and the 3G enabled pocket pc, the Cingular 8525 (similar to i-mate JASJAM). The Samsung BlackJack is a 3G enabled Smartphone (UMTS/HSPDA) with built-in Bluetooth 2.0, 1.3 mega-pixels camera but no built-in Wi-Fi. The Samsung BlackJack is sold for $199 with a two-year contract from Cingular.

Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack Review: Design

The design of the Samsung Blackjack is similar to 3 other popular pocket pc phones in the market, the Motorola MotoQ, the T-Mobile Dash (HTC S620) and the HP iPAQ hw6915. What is common about these 3 devices, in terms of design, is the built in QWERTY keyboard on the front. The dimensions of these pocket pcs and smart phones differ. The thinnest of all is the Motorola MotoQ but the most compact and small (both in height and weight) is the Samsung Blackjack. The difference in thickness with the Motorola MotoQ is only a matter of 1.5 mm something which is not important at all. As you can see from the comparison table below the Samsung Blackjack has the same height as the T-Mobile Dash, has the smallest width (58 mm) and it is 5 mm thinner than the HP iPAQ hw6915 and only 1.5 mm thicker than the MotoQ.

In terms of weight, which is an important factor if you carry your mobile phone all the day with you, the Samsung Blackjack is the lightest of all. It weights just 99g while the Motorola MotoQ is 115g, the HP iPAQ hw6915 150g and the T-Mobile Dash is 120g.

The display of Samsung Blackjack is one of the disadvantages of this device. It is not a touch screen (the Blackjack is a smartphone and not a pocket pc phone – read below of the difference between the two versions) and its size is only 2.25 inches (diagonal). It can be consider a disadvantage because the other devices have a bigger display but this is the trade-off of having a small and compact device. The HP iPAQ hw6915 which is a huge device compared to the Samsung Blackjack, has a diagonal display of 3.0 inches. The Motorola MotoQ has a 2.5 inch display and the T-Mobile Dash a 2.4 inch display. Nevertheless the quality of the display has nothing to be jealous off compared to the displays of the other devices. It has a resolution of 320x240 with 65k colors and it is bright enough both in text, images and videos.

The navigation controls of the Blackjack consist of a four way navigational control with an OK button in the middle of the wheel, two Windows Mobile 5.0 soft keys, the ‘Start Talk’ and ‘End Call’ buttons, the ‘Home’ button and the return button. What distinguishes Samsung Blackjack from the other devices in terms of navigation controls is the wheel type - 4 way navigation control that is located in the middle of the device just below the display and within the other buttons. This wheel type control is in the same level as the other buttons and this makes it sometimes difficult to use it without wrongly clicking on the other buttons. It is a feature that you need to get used to it. Compared to the other devices, the HP iPAQ hw6915, the Motorol MotoQ and the T-Mobile Dash have a joystick type control, which is better because it is clearly separated from the other navigation buttons. As mentioned above, we do not consider this a disadvantage of Samsung Blackjack because once you get used to the ‘wheel’ you can navigate through the menus with out any particular problems. In addition the Samsung Blackjack has also a Jog Wheel on the right side of the device together with a button. This is a feature we have seen on the HTC TyTN and HTC P3600. It is a very nice feature that can enable one-handed use and navigation. The Jog Wheel can be used to navigate though the menu options and make a selection by pressing the wheel. To escape from a menu or go back you can click the button that is located under the wheel. These controls have also some other useful features. For example by pressing the Jog Wheel of a few seconds you get a ‘quick launch’ menu for opening the task manager or calendar. Likewise if you press the button (located behind the wheel) for a few seconds the camera will be activated.

The QWERTY keyboard of the Samsung Blackjack is laid out very nice with the number buttons having a different color (grey) so that they are easily distinguished from the letter buttons. The size of the buttons is small but with a little practice and effort you can type your text quickly with no particular problems.

Besides the keyboard and navigation controls the other buttons and features of the Samsung Blackjack are as follows:
on the right side of the Blackjack, above the Jog Wheel, there is the MicroSD expansion slot; the volume control buttons and the headset jack is on the left side of the device and the 1.3 mega pixels camera is on the back of the device together with a mirror for taking self-portrait images.

Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack Review: Features and Connectivity

The most important feature of Samsung Blackjack is that it supports UMTS/HSPDA i.e. 3G Technology. With 3G technology on your mobile device this essentially means that you can access high speed data transfer that can offer you a better experience while browsing the web, listening to streaming media and downloading. To be able though to take advantage of this technology your phone network provider should offer such a service. In this case the Samsung Blackjack is provided by Cingular which offers 3G to various areas. You can check Cingular’s web site for more details about the coverage in your area. Fortunately Cingular has services like Cingular Video and Cingular Music which can really enhance your experience when working with 3G networks.

Besides the 3G support the Blackjack also has a built in Bluetooth 2.0. You can use the Bluetooth to connect your device to other Bluetooth devices e.g. a Bluetooth wireless headset.

For phone connectivity the Samsung is Quad-Band GSM. This means that you can operate your phone and talk to your friends from almost all the countries of the world.

One of the features missing from Samsung Blackjack that is also one of the biggest and the most important drawback of all is the lack of a built in Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi access points are very popular in our days, they are almost everywhere, and they are very useful. You can use your device with a built-in Wi-Fi to connect to an access point and access the web, check your email etc. This feature has become standard for new devices and it would be very nice if the Samsung Blackjack had a built-in Wi-Fi. Nevertheless you can purchase a MicroSd Card with WiFi and use it with the Samsung Blackjack to take advantage of Wi-Fi on your phone.

The camera of the Samsung Blackjack is at 1.3 mega pixels with support for video recording. There is no macro mode or flash but there are a number of options available for both image and video. The resolution of images can be up to 1280 X 960 and there is also a 2X digital zooming. The camera is another drawback of the device since we have seen devices with 2.0 mega pixels camera and even 4.0 mega pixels. The 1.3 mega pixels camera takes us back to the days of the i-mate JAM or other ‘older’ models.

For comparison purposes we should note that the HP iPAQ hw6915 and the T-Mobile Dash have a built-in Wi-Fi module. The Motorola MotoQ and the Samsung Blackjack, as we already stated do not. The camera of all four devices is at 1.3 mega-pixels.

Samsung Blackjack as a Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone

As mentioned already above the Samsung Blackjack is running Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition. The differences between a pocket pc phone and a smartphone can be viewed in our FAQ section in more detail, but we should mention here the main differences between the two. Let’s take for example a pocket pc phone, the HP iPAQ hw6915 and a Smartphone, the Samsung Blackjack. The iPAQ has a touch screen which you can make selections using the stylus while the screen of the Samsung is not a touch screen. Another difference besides the touch screen is the fact that the Windows Mobile Smartphone edition does not have the full version of Microsoft Office Mobile suite but instead you get a viewer for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In other words you cannot edit the Word and Excel documents on your device as you would normally do with a Pocket PC edition but you can only view them.

Other products of the Microsoft Office Family, such as Outlook mobile (contacts, calendar, tasks, e-mail, text messaging) are available on the Samsung blackjack and you can use them with out any problems. There is also a Microsoft Internet Explorer mobile, support for direct push e-mail, pocket MSN and windows media player support (WMA – WMV – MP3).

Besides the Windows Mobile 5.0 embedded applications in the Samsung Blackjack you can find the following applications:

File Explorer
The File Explorer program allows you to open an explorer window similar to a desktop Windows® based system. The explorer window allows you to navigate through your phone to locate the desired folders and files.You can also quickly manage, delete, copy, or edit any files and folders on your phone.

Java
Enables Java programs launch and run under the Windows Mobile Application.

Picsel Viewer
Picsel Viewer allows you to view documents on your phone without any file-conversion or loss of content. To view a document, you must transfer documents from a PC. If you have installed the memory card, you can view the files stored in it. By default, Picsel Viewer supports the most common desktop document formats, such as,.doc,.xls, .ppt, .pdf, and .wmf.

RSS Reader
RSS reader allows quick and easy syndication of news, headlines, and more. It will keep you up to date with the latest news, tools, resources and developments of this widely supported specification.

Smart Search
Your phone provides a search program, Smart Search, to allow you to search for data or media files in your phone with ease and quickly access them.

Speed Dial
You can assign a short cut number to a phone number for speed dialling or to an e-mail or URL address for quick access. This options shows you the Speed Dial entries you have added.

Task Manager
Your phone is a multi-tasking device. It can run more than one program at the same time. However, multitasking may cause hang-ups, freezing, memory problems, and additional power consumption. To avoid these problems, end unnecessary programs using Task Manager.

Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack Review: Processor, memory and Expansion

One of the things we are looking at when doing pocket pc and smartphone reviews is the processor of the device. This is important because the processor is one of the factors that determine the speed of the device. The Samsung Blackjack has a TI OMAP processor running at 220 MHZ. Compared to the other 3 devices we can see that the MotoQ has an Intel processor at 312 MHZ, the HP iPAQ hw6915 an INTEL PXA270 processor at 416 MHZ and the T-Mobile Dash a TI OMAP processor at 200 MHZ. From these devices the fastest is undoudly the HP IPAQ. The other devices, including the Samsung Blackjack have less powerful processors. Assuming that you plan to use your Blackjack as your regular phone with the PDA functions then you will be happy with the performance of this device. Extra processing power is needed in GPS navigation applications, Skype and Gaming.

In terms of memory the Samsung Blackjack has 128 MB ROM / 64 MB RAM, which is the same on all 4 devices. The memory expansion slot is a MicroSD slot, the same as the T-Mobile Dash, while the Motorola Moto Q and HP iPAQ hw6915 have a miniSD expansion slot. There are two points to note about the expansion slot of the Blackjack. First is the fact that microSD cards costs more and have less capacity than MiniSD, so it would be better if the device had a miniSD slot and second the position of the MicroSD slot makes it a bit difficult to insert the microSD card in and out. It would be preferable is the expansion slot was located on the bottom or top of the device.

The battery life time of the Samsung BlackJack is 5.5 hours and the standby time can go up to 11 days.

Samsung Blackjack Vs Cingular 8525

The Samsung BlackJack is the second Windows Mobile powered device with 3G capabilities offered by Cingular. The other device is the Cingular 8525, a totally different device. First of all the Cingular 8525 is a pocket pc and runs Windows Mobile 5.0 pocket pc edition. It has a bigger size, a larger screen (2.8 inches) and a built in – slide out QWERTY keyboard. The Cingular 8525 has also built in Wi-Fi and a 2 mega pixel camera. It is more powerful device than the Samsung Blackjack and it is targeted for the power pocket pc user. The Cingular 8525 is available at a price of $400 with a two year contract from Cingular.

Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack Review: Conclusion

The Samsung Blackjack is a slim, compact and stylish smartphone. It is a very good choice for those who want a mobile device powered with Windows Mobile 5.0 that has a design similar to the normal cell phones. It has 3G support and the user can experience the great advantages offered by Cingular’s 3G services like Cingular Video and Cingular music. The battery life can last for 5.5 hours talk time and 11 days standby. The price of $200 is very attractive.

On the negative side the Cingular Samsung Blackjack has not built-in Wi-Fi; the screen is small (2.2 inches), the expansion slot is a MicroSD, and the camera is only 1.3 mega pixels.

From the 4 devices we have seen in this review the Samsung has the smallest and lightest structure. The Motorola MotoQ has the most attractive design, the T-Mobile Dash has a built-in Wi-Fi but no 3G and the HP iPAQ hw6915 has a much more bulky design but with a complete set of connectivity options including a built in GPS receiver. The choice is up to the user.

Features Comparison Table: Samsung Blackjack - Motorola MotoQ - HP iPAQ hw6915 - Cingular 8525