Samsung BlackJack II SGH-i617
Average Ratings
Black Jack II - Much Better
I've owned WM platform phones for a number of years along with using BlackBerry's for work. The first BJ seemed a bit too primitive and not quite well thought out... Fast forward to BJ II, which I have owned for two days now.
Initial Impressions:
Pros
- WM6
- Keyboard - more refined with better location for the number keys.
- Predefined function keys for quick access to specific functions.
- Screen - seems brighter.
- Memory definitely a huge plus, along with the ability to assign where data is stored.
- Battery Life is much improved. I've a heavy data and voice user and the phone has actually lasted longer than my Pearl.
Cons
- Case, its so shiny that every finger print is visible. Not a big deal, as my Pearl has the same relative finish, just annoying.
- Proprietary USB connection which is a Samsung special... Marketing at its best!
- Slow charge time... The battery does have a long life, much longer than BJ, but charge time is horrible.
Well so far this phone is a keeper we'll see what the next 28 days hold.
My thoughts...
Ok, so I ordered the BlackJack II from AT&T and I've had it for 2 days. Here's my review of the phone so far.
Pros:
-Size: for a smartphone it is pretty small, although it's a little larger than the first BlackJack
-WM 6: the OS is very quick and easy to use
-Keyboard: definite upgrade over the first BJ. keys aren't angled and are very responsive to typing. better size and the grouping of the numbers is a plus
-Jog Wheel: really cool addition to the phone. works very well and is a lot better than pressing the directional keys all the time.
-Camera: 2.0 MP camera is nice, not much else to say
-Battery Life: this may surprise a lot of people who have read things about it. I've had it on for almost 2 days straight and have half of the charge left. I've been texting a lot and talking on it quite a bit.
-Call quality: I'm in Southeast Texas, and the call quality is perfect. Loud and clear, no distortion or anything.
Cons:
-Fingerprint magnet: this is my only real complaint...the entire phone is really shiny which attracts fingerprints easily. Not a problem for me, just a little annoying.
-Charge Time: seems like it takes a while to fully charge, but once it's charged it works for a good amount of time for a smartphone with moderately heavy usage.
As you can see, I really like the phone so far. I used my friends Q9 Global for a while and I like my phone better. The Q9 seems too wide.
Love the Phone But it needs more work!!!!
I love the phone it has some serious problems though. The glossy finish shows everything finger prints grrr. As for the serious problems the back light comes on every min I have called ATT they said it might be a software issue of a setting in the phone so we reset it still did the same thing took the phone back and exchanged it. Same problem right out of the box. Someone one needs to contact samsung about this issue. As for reception the signal sucks. Samsung lets get this fixed and ATT has some bad attitudes trying to fix it
WOW....A disappointment!!!!!
I am a huge Samsung fan and i always buy their products. I refuse to get Motorola, Nokia, LG, or any other brand. Samsung has always delivered the goods even though i feel like LG copies their designs heavily. Anyways i got this cause i was eligible for an upgrade and i thought for 149.99 its not a bad deal. Anyways i got home & was sooo disappointed. The 1st thing i noticed was that 1 battery bar disappeared after only fiddling with it for only 10 min, plus the blue tooth feature was turned off. I got home and fully charged it till the battery light was green. I then scrolled around & looked at the features etc and by the next morning the thing was dead & it needed to be recharged, AGAIN!!!!! I barely used it and i only made like 2 calls which lasted under 10 min & checked the features and the battery was DEAD ALREADY?? I decided to return this for the original Black Jack which was half the price & came with so much more. The original BJ came with so much more accessories such as a charger cradle and an extra extended battery. The new Black Jack is only a cosmetic upgrade and doesn't really offer anything new except a different exterior design, a 2.0 mega pixel camera, and a new shell that loves to attract finger prints. I could care less about the scroll wheel. I thought the original BJ's controls were fine & the scroll wheel seems very unresponsive. Also i couldn't charge the new Black Jack via USB cable, unless i need to activate that feature somehow. But i plugged in the USB cable & it didn't charge the device at all. Granted the battery life S*CKS at least let the customers utilize the USB cable as a spare charger. The original Black Jack had it, why cant this one? Once again i was so in SHOCK & DISAPPOINTED. I never experienced anything like this before. Here is to hoping that the Black Jack 3 will be everything the 1st one was & SOOO MUCH MORE!!!
i beg to differ
im sorry but i beg to differ. i have actually had a good experience with the black jack II. when i first bought it, i used it right out of the box and it had a battery of about half, and i probably talked for about 3 hours and it had about a day and a half of standby time...id think thats pretty good especially when it was on half of a battery. on the other hand, the first blsck jack was ok, but ironicly, the standard battery lasted 3x longer then the extended battery...lol it was weird, but in the end, in my opinion, this phone really rocks.
Better Followup on the Original, Though Marginally Better
I decided to give the Blackjack a 2nd try, but naturally waited till the next generation for the BJ2.
PROS:
-Keyboard is laid out much better than in the previous generation, but feels a bit lacking compared to other QWERTY phones; namely the Moto Q9h.
-Photo quality not too shabby for a phone.
-Display is nice and crisp. Was quite impressed with the main LCD.
CONS:
-Battery is still terrible, and no extended length is available. I'll be down to ONE bar within 24 hours, even with killing EVERYTHING in the task manager constantly throughout the day. I do attribute this to A LOT of texts/calls daily and ONLY have a cell to rely on.
-Keyboard not as friendly as other PDA/QWERTY phones though markedly improved from the original.
-Still problematic with signal. Been noticing a pattern with most Samsungs, whether it be a PDA or regular phone.
Overall its a more refined version of the Blackjack 1, but still a lot of room for improvement. "Decent" if you're looking to start in PDA/Smartphone territory, but serious users should look elsewhere...
Sexy, but...
I have had many smart-phones over the years...I have used and still occasionally use the OG Blackjack, however this BJII is the absolute worst I have had the displeasure of using. My OG Blackjack runs WM 6 and still blows this thing out of the water, and runs faster as well.
PROS:
-Extremely good looking (red one)
-Holds bigger battery without the bulge.
-Calls are clear
-????????????
CONS:
-2MP camera not as good as OG 1.3 camera.
-Screen flickers when texting fast, not a problem on the original.
-Speaker for listening to music and calls not as loud as the original at all, quality also is bad.
-Keypad a little stiffer than original, makes for more mistakes.
-Even though I live in strong 3G area, the phone constantly goes back to Edge or even GPRS. That is completely unacceptable. The OG held on to 3G signal all the time.
-Not as solid as the original.
If you want something great to look at and have people say, ooh that is a nice phone...go for it. If you need something reliable and sturdy for the long haul, look elsewhere. Even consider the original compared to this one. Also it is a lot less expensive, and if you upgrade to WM6 you essentially have the same phone with minimal differences.
Not Good
This phone looked like it would be great, but was very disappointing.
Pros:
Good keyboard layout
Bright clear screen
excellent audio
Cons:
The finish is a GREASE MAGNET! Fingerprints, etc.
You can't arrange the Today Screen to show what you want- except for some predefined templates, which may or may be what you want.
NO VOICE COMMAND - ARRRGH! This is horrible on a $400 phone!
D-Pad not that great-hurt my thumb to use it.
Phone doesn't come with a case.
Many third party apps for WM5/6 are not compatible with the phone.
All said, I wouldn't recommend this phone- the TREO 750 is better in a front keyboard style phone.
great phone!
the phone been awesome for what it can do for the price.
pros
windows mobile 6
able to expand with memory cards
great reception
good external speakers
easily customized to suit your needs and run a wide variety of apps
gps and 2mega pixel camera
cons
keys a little small
windows explorer mobile (lack of flash support)
the lack of flash support in mobile explorer is why it wont play you tube videos. i didn't dock points due to this is a issue with Microsoft not the phone. but it is easily over come by installing opera mobile browser and make it the default browser. then you can play you tube videos as opera supports flash.
if you really want to know what this phone is really capable of. i suggest going to www.blackjackusers.com .
so far the best phone i have bought
