Samsung SGH I607 BlackJack

I use a BlackBerry 8700G from T-Mobile and decided to try the Blackjack. While I like the compact design, rubberized back and easy-to-type keys, the phone has problems. Battery drain is like a teenager downing 20 ounces of Coke. Verizon's Moto Q requires daily charging while T-Mobile's Dash has better than average battery drain. The Blackjack, however, especially when using Cingular's 3G network, barely lasts a day under normal voice/data use. Samsung includes TWO batteries plus a separate charger in the box and it's no wonder why. The center navigation button is too close to the end key; so when you press the Nav button to the right barely touching the end key, you're back at the main menu. There's a return button above the end button, similar to Sony Ericsson phones, taking you back one screen to compensate. The side trackwheel and back button, employing RIM's technology, compensates for the Blackjack's poorly designed front navigation buttons. The Blackjack's speaker distorts as you raise the volume and is too low in noisy environments. Fortunately, Samsung installed a true volume toggle on the left side of the device unlike T-Mobile Dash's quirky volume strip. Screen fonts are too small. So get your reading glasses out when you surf the web. The zoom control increases font sizes only marginally larger. To Samsung's credit, the Blackjack's browser displays true XHTML text and graphics as does the Dash. I experienced multiple data connection and server errors on Cingular's 3G/EDGE network especially when using "Cinguar Video," a streaming video program on CNN, ESPN and other websites offering mobile streaming. The video frequently froze for several seconds until the data buffer caught up. (Note that Cingular's 3G network is slower than Verizon and Sprint's EVDO broadband service.) Windows Media Player, as with other Blackjack programs, loads slowly. A faster processor found on Palm Treos and newer BlackBerry's would improve quicker application loading program switching. MS Exchange/Lotus Notes connectivity is problematic. After attempting to set up a connection to my company's MS Exchange server and resetting the Blackjack three times, the device failed to recognize the server. (No problems with my BlackBerry 8700 or the Dash.) The Blackjack's back panel becomes warm on longer phone calls--not as warm as some CDMA LG phones--but unpleasant unless you're trying to warm your frozen Winter hand in Fargo. (Suggest you use your bluetooth headset for longer calls.) For email downloading and synching, Cingular recommends its Xpressmail program. Installing Xpressmail for POP3 or IMAP accounts is straightforward. However, if you want to synchronize your device with an MS Exchange or Lotus Notes server, check with your IT department first. The grey numeric keys are spaced apart with black alpha/symbol keys between them, unlike the Dash' separate keypad with easier to read white keys, the Nokia E62 and other smartphones containing a normal keypad. After making several phone calls, I adapted to the Blackjack's keypad. To end on a positive, I LIKE this phone. It's compact like the Dash and many Sony Ericsson phones, offers fast download speeds, boasts terrific earpiece sound quality, offers a decent 1.3mp camera and typing on the keys is fast. 2/18/08 update: Tried BJ2. Longer battery life but same complaints about user key placement. Keys are too stiff to press and screen is too small. Check out the BlackBerry Curve.

I have had my Blackjack for many months now. My last phone was the 1st gen full QWERTY Blackberry, and I can saw without a doubt this is a much better phone for my life, and there are only a few small issues I can complain about. First and foremost as I said, this phone is a Blackberry for the non-suit wearing younger business person. It has all the PDA functionality of my Blackberry, plus many useful features to a younger person including full XHTML web browsing, music player, video capability, camera and video camera function, 2gig microSD support, etc. My email set-up with no problems, synching with my computer has been a breeze. Pulling music files via Bluetooth, and USB both has been super simple. Some people complain about battery life, but with two batteries and a car charger, I never have an issue. I change or charge ever couple days. The phone is loaded with a lot of useless pay-per-use Cingular content like ringtones, but hey, who uses that stuff?

As for issues... after using my Blackberry, I do not like the shift/function/alternate characters on this keyboard. On the Blackberry, hold a key a second or two and you get a capital letter... on the Blackjack you get the alternate key. Capitals require a shift key. It does automatically capitalize the first word after a period, but not the letter "I" alone. The number shift key stays on, even after you hit the space bar. I liked that the Blackberry would enter the @ symbol and "." in web and email addresses (in context of course)when you hit the space bar, the Blackjack doesn't. These are not issues, just things I would change.

I miss the Blackberry and Yahoo messengers; they were both real-time and were like a real messaging program showing who was online and when you received a message. These are not available for the Blackjack. I do love the web browser and 3G speed which were not available the Blackberry. I do find fault in the fact that the Java is limited and not available to upgrade from Cingular; I could not real-time bid in a live auto auction because of the limited Java support on this phone (this can be corrected with much digging and non-supported installs off the web :) ). This is not and iphone I know, but it is a nice alternative without a crappy touch keyboard! I would rather have the lack of Java and a good keyboard instead of having Java and the touchscreen of the iphone. The only other iphone option the Blackjack lacks is the ubercool email style voicemail.

I did buy a Motorola Bluetooth speaker for my truck to go with the phone... what a waste! The Bluetooth works fine, the speaker is junk. I did spend $6 on a supposed Samsung stereo dual earbud plug-in headset from Taiwan and love it - much better than the supplied mono headset. 2G Memory cards are cheap and you can fill them full of music, pics, and videos... beware, you can only have so many files in the main directory however before the cards appear to be locked for saving (use folders!).

My Cingular bill with unlimited text and media is cheaper than my Nextel bill was with media (or lack thereof), but its not as cheap as my friends iphone on cingular... but its close.

Overall I love the phone: great music, easy email, nice camera and video (no flash however), you can fill an encyclopedia of info about a person in the contacts, unit converter, easy program installs (like Yahoo! Go 2.0), multiple alarms, nice PDA functionality, easy to synch, RSS reader, etc!

I bought it to replace my T-Mobile sidekick. The internet service is good, but I turned it off because it's $30.00 extra per month. It's great mostly for texting and for taking pics/video. What I don't like is the fact that I frequently get dropped calls through the device. If I lean to hard with my ear, it either disconnects the call, and alot of times it disconnects on it's own. This, coming from the company that touts fewest dropped calls, has so far given me more dropped calls than any other carrier.

The Good:

The 3G-enabled Samsung BlackJack is sleek, has a gorgeous screen, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Highlights include Bluetooth 2.0, push e-mail capabilities, and good call quality. This Windows Mobile smart phone also comes with support for Cingular Video and Cingular Music services.


The Bad:

Navigation controls are cramped, and there is no integrated Wi-Fi. Certain applications take some time to load.


The Bottom Line:

The Samsung BlackJack heralds another 3G-enabled smart phone to Cingular's lineup. While it supports the carrier's video and music service, some design and performance issues trip up this otherwise sexy device.

Overall, I am pleased with this phone. It didn't take long to learn most of the functions that it has and I've now had it since January. It's nice to see that the price has come down substantially on it as I'm not sure I would have said it was worth the $400 that I paid for it. The camera takes great pics and video clips with good audio for a phone. The lcd is very clear and the battery lasts for days and I'm on it all the time. The keypad works very well even with my larger fingers and I rarely have an issue with hitting the wrong button or the button not pressing in as it should. The glass on the screen is hard to keep clean though but it is also very durable so there are some trade offs. The menu is easy to go through and the scroll button on the side makes searching through lists much easier. Accessing your voice mails, texts, and pics are also very easy. I recommend this phone to others as it is very stylish, compact for a smart phone, gets good reception, is unique compared to many other smart phones, and is a great value for the price.

Nice size but the keys are too small and too cramp together. Not easy to type. Consider Nokia e61, much better screen and easier to use.

this product was pretty good. after it FINALLY arrived in the mail. everything works fine on it thoough

PRODUCT ROKS GUD STUFF THANX J.E. EXCELLANT COND GOOD SHIPPING ,,, JUST AS DESCRIBED ,,, HAPY HAPY HAPY CUSTOMER

I liked it a lot. and the seller was really helpful when it came to me asking a few questions before buying the item. Once i paid it seemed like no time the item was shipped to me. So all in all it was great!!

This is a well designed, easy to use, tough phone. I'm on my second one and love it. I've dropped it many times and it just keeps working. Its much lighter that other similar phones and packs easily in a purse.

i needed a qwerty phone i started textiing alot so i was looking for a cheap way to get 1...it is hard to learn something new without help but it all worked out fine....

This has the full qwerty keyboard which makes it easier to use for texting. It has been a challenge to get used to it after having the Pantech for so long. However, it is a light weight phone making it easy to carry.

I've been using this phone for a couple of months now & have really enjoyed it. The screen is a good size, so when I want to see photos they aren't tiny. The camera on there helps me upload pictures to my facebook & myspace which I really enjoy. I can share things faster that way. The full keyboard keypad is nice also, makes texting faster. Love the fact I can add a memory card and hold more photos & music. Music player will stop playing to answer a call and resume when you are done

what i like is the way seller discribe item,good price the free shipping, and the quality of item is like a brand new unit. will recomend to other buyer

thank you so much for this beautiful item i like it it works verygood easy to use it not complect i love new technology

I am a blackjack fan, but left mine in the rain and needed a low-cost replacement (since i already had batteries, chargers, accessories...). this turned out to be 1/3 the price of most others found online, and the condition was exactly the same as my previous one (though the seller rated it "very used", i would beg to differ. it was in pretty good shape). however, the phone does have a slight issue with dropping calls that my previous one did not -- not sure why, though it definitely could be my provider and not the phone.

love the phone!!! comes with alot of different features. Its not difficult to learn any of the features at all. It has a great camera on it. very light in terms of weight and not bulky looking at all.

It's a great phone, works well for what I need.

Pros - Great service, great light, easy texting.

Cons - Short battery life.

MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS VERY PLEASED WITH HER PHONE. THANK YOU. IT WAS SENT QUICKLY AND THEY WERE VERY CURTIOUS. IN THERE CORASPONDENCE. I GIVE THEM AN, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's an old style blackjack whichm is easy to operate. QWERTY keyboard with keys that are easy to press.

fast shipping.
Good description.
smooth transaction.
everything was as the description said.
thanks for the business.

I've always wanted this phone, but never had the money to pay full price for it. This phone was surprisingly easy to use and figure out. The QWERTY keyboard was one of the main reasons I bought it, since I text more than I talk on the phone.

I love everything about it, it is user friendly and fun to use and is sleek and in great condition. The phone is clear when you call on it and tells you exactly what to do when you navigate from the home screen. The screen is clear and the camera takes great pictures so, I assume the video quality will be good even though I have not used it yet.