Meet my new favorite phone. The Samsung Blackjack from Cingular is a veritable wunderkind amongst the sea of comparatively ordinary competitors. Not only will it turn heads every time you whip it out, but it’ll outperform any other smart phone in the building, block, neighborhood, etc.
The most striking aspect of the Blackjack is its size, measuring just 4.45 x 2.32 x 0.46-inches, it’s only slightly larger than a Razr (2.08 x 3.85 x 0.5-inches) and smaller than its closest competitor the Moto Q (4.6 x 2.5 x 0.5-inches). Unlike other smart phones that I’ve used, it fits in my pocket quite happily, which is really huge boon.
But don’t think it’s just a pretty face. The Blackjack packs a punch like no other. Beneath its exterior lies some muscle in the form of a 220Mhz TI OMAP dual-core processor and and 64MB RAM/128MB ROM. Which works out to more than enough to get the job done.
After using a Cingular 8125 for about a year I had come to loathe Windows Mobile 5. It’s slow and clunky and almost always a hassle to work with. I had come to old the opinion that WinMo5 was to blame for the 8125 sucking. Wrong I was.
The Blackjack uses the same OS to much better precision. Screen swap quickly with no perceivable lag and applications present hardly any wait time at all. Agile Messenger, for instance, starts in seconds.
Out of the box it supports essentially every email platform imaginable, including push and POP3/IMAP4. I guess that’s sort of bittersweet. It’s nice being able to stay connected, but being connected all the time can be a bit tiresome. Can’t blame the Blackjack for that though, it’s just doing it’s job.
By far the biggest drawback of the Blackjack is its battery life, a problem that Samsung seems to have realized with the inclusion of two batteries and a standalone charger. The phone literature says it can get up to 5.5-hours of talk time but I’m exceedingly skeptical of this claim. It also claims the phone can standby for 11 days which is nowhere near possible. It goes through half a battery sitting on my desk idly for a day. I’m not sure what conditions it would require to achieve these claims, but I’m guessing neither conditions would be real world.
The other slight of the Blackjack actually stems from its small size. The keys are tiny, especially for someone with mammoth hands like myself. It takes some getting used to, but it’s doable.
Another great cosmetic draw is the SXGA screen that can project a 1280 x 960 (OK so really it’s a QVGA screen that can display 320×240. It’s not SXGA, but it looks damn good anyway. Thanks Richard for catching the oversight). It might not be the best phone screen I’ve encountered, but it’s definitely near the top.
There are a bunch of Cingular specific features, particularly some music related one. Aside from the XM radio streaming, there is one other function of debatable use, a Music ID service. Basically, when you hear a song that you like but are unable to name it, get your Blackjack out and have Music ID place the song for you. I tried it about five songs. It’s pretty accurate as far as popular and mainstream songs go (the stuff you can name easily), but it utterly fails at the harder stuff; the stuff you really need it for.
Phone reception is excellent. No dropped or missed calls yet. The dialing system works fine and you’re able to access the contacts list quickly through a dedicated main screen button.
Another nice touch is the scroll wheel that allows for quick browsing through windows. If you have a huge and sprawling contacts list like I do, then this will be a welcome feature.
Oh there is one other little thing that I guess maybe might be of some interest to possibly a few of you: The Blackjack supports UMTS/HSDPA wireless. It’s fast, fast, fast. Having used EDGE on my 8125 for awhile, I had begun to think that “wireless broadband” was just a PR term. Something publicists threw around to make mobile products sound fancy. I didn’t really consider the implications of true wireless broadband, but I stand corrected.
I tried the Blackjack in NYC, Chicago and New Orleans. NYC had the worst 3G access of the three. Chicago and New Orleans have equally awesome coverage, with my little 3G icon always there.
Given the Blackjack’s svelte exterior, fancy features and general cool factor, I think Samsung and Cingular have a real winner here. As far as smart phones go, I really don’t think anything better is currently available. I’m giving the Blackjack best bytes and am going to go out on a limb and say it’s the best all-around phone I’ve ever used.
It’s available now from Cingular for $199.99 with a two year contract or for $449.99 if you don’t want to sign your soul away.
Christine, yes you can buy a headset for the blackjack. It connects on the left side of the phone, under the volume control.
I bought the 2 gig memory card and I would have to say it might be too much. If you have the money you should get it, if not I would say go with the 1gig
Thanks Jonathan. I bought the headset and a 1 gig memory card today. Now I am trying to sync the songs in Media Player on my PC to the phone and I can’t get it to work. For some reason it seems like it’s not reading the card, because it keeps saying there isn’t enough space when I try to do like 6 songs. I also tested it by trying to take a picture with the camera and again it says not enough space. I know the card was put it correctly because they did it at the cingular store. I even turned the phone off and turned it back on.
OK I finally got it to work: I removed the card and put it back in and it picked it up.
i’ve noticed that a lot of dust has gotten inside the screen how would i go about removing / cleaning the dust. i tried using the cleaning duster but it does not work
I am suprising my wife with a blackjack so that she might be able to watch some downloaded movies/videos/mp3s on the go.
I was told that it could play the movies through WM 5.0 but is there anything I should know ahead of time as far as set up or converting the formats?
The phone is to be delivered this Monday, I want to sort out potentially complicated stuff so that when I give it to her on Thursday (early mother’s day gift) she wont have any issues with it. Any other pointers will be greatly appreciated!
I will eventually make the jump in late august…. how does this phone compare to the Palm Treo 750?
-joey
Is there a way to play mp3 as a ringtone? and! I have a 2gig card in mine and can save the music onto the card, then access it through accessing the card from my phone, but is there a way to access it directly from my media player? When I go to my music it only shows me the music directly on the phone (which is not big enough at all to actually hold mp3.)
Blackjack for sell broke lcd cost about $80.00 to fix….only selling for $50….Phone is in perfect condition…check it out
http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-Blackjack-SGH-I607-Needs-Fixing_W0QQitemZ250113021148QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250113021148
helloy
Anyone able to figure out how to put the phone on “true” silent so that nothing rings or vibrate? Text messages still vibrate in silent mode.
And when sending text messages to mulitple people, anyone figure out how to select mulitple people from the contact screen as opposed to going back to the contact list for each person?
Thanks
Can you make your recordings your ringtones?
you can get to “true” silent by going to settings, sounds, ringtone, none. If there’s an easier way than that I haven’t found it…
about the true silent. you are correct no easy way other than changing the profiles. There should be an easier method with all the whistles and bells but you can’t have everything!
There is An easy way..Js click on the ‘#’ botton and hold it for a lil long while till ur phone vibrates.. To take it out of silent..Jst do the same thing !!
I am having trouble receiving picture messages to my blackjack. I can send and receive normal text message, and I can even send pic messages, jsut can’t receive them. Is there a setting i need to change?
How do you get the phone off EDGE?
How do you get it off EDGE mode?
Is the phone still for sale?
If I don’t want to use Cingular wireless, want to connect say to a hotel’s wireless, how do I shut Cingular off?
Do you have to download virus protection on the BlackJack? If so are there any free ones available? When using internet explorer is there anyway to exit or just go back to the home screen? hope someone can help me
I acquired a Blackjack from a friend but he has misplaced the Software and user manual. Anyone know where I could acquire the software disc?
I have downloaded the manual to my computer but, it would be nice to have a user manual if anyone knows where I could obtain one.
I want to use the blackjack with a bluetooth adapter as my ISP on my laptop. Has anyone else done this? How is the speed? Are there any problems?
Ok, at the top on my blackjack it has at&t of course, then my message envelope of course, i have a message, then E, sometimes 3g, but it changes, and then my battery icon, and next to that where the signal antenna should be, it also has an E and then 4 bars, what is the E beside the battery mean?
Thanks!
The E means you’re in AT&T’s EDGE network, and when the 3G is showing, it means you’re in AT&T’s 3G network. The 3G is the faster, high-speed, network. You’re lucky, they haven’t rolled 3G into my town yet, supposed to be at the end of this year.
So….the large E at top center means AT&T’s EDGE network. That’s what the smaller E next to the signal antenna — it means EDGE also?
I got a blackjack yesterday. I got a 1 gig micro memory card today and put some music on it. I am having trouble getting my videos on it though.
I select my videos from my WM player library, then I sync them BUT AFTER I sync them it says that the videos are 00:00 seconds long, yet I KNOW they are at least 1 min long and they do work in my WM player. Can’t figure this out!?!?!
Any tips on how to put video’s on the blackjack?
-Brent
Hey, I just got my Blackjack today and was grateful to read all these cool tips, Thanks a million!!
Samsung Blackjack uses the Samsung 3gp video format. I used CloneDVD Mobile (http://www.slysoft.com/en/clonedvd-mobile.html) to convert DVD videos to Samsung 3gp video format and it works great on my Blackjack.
My phone keeps saying “not enough memory to run…” and I have a 1 gig storage card that I store everything on. How much memory does the phone have itself? Any ideas why or how to make this stop happening?
To make a recording your ringtone:
Start >
Organizer>
more>
VoiceNotes…then record the following, “pick up the phone bro!”
take Recording1..hit menu..and select “set as ringtone”
All done
how do you sync musin into the black jack i downloaded active sync but it i cant send music to it please help me!
i mean music
I just my BJ phone and I am trying to log into My Ebay with my username and password. Every time I type in my password the screen takes me back to the sign in page…super frustrating. Anyone else with this weird problem?
does anyone know how to set up different ringtones for different people. for example i want a certain song for a certain person and i dont want one song for everyone
I too am having the memory problem Joe is having. I have a 1 gig storage card as well. Is there a way to take any information of the machine’s memory and insure that it is only being stored on the card?
“not enough memory to run…”
i am trying to upload a video from my PC to my phone, what format does it have to be???
How do I find my text messages? People keep sending them, I check SMS/MMS under message and there is nothing there. I have good link to access my work email, and use the messaging for my gmail account, but cannot find texts.
Did anyone ever andswer John’s question? I too need to copy my contacts from my old sim card…
Has anyone heard anything recently about when Windows Mobile 6 will be released for this phone?
I hear that with Windows Mobile 6 you can trade online, it was not availabe in different versions of windows http://online-trading-center.blogspot.com so if you like to surf with you cell online you should try it, i tryed it lately and i liked it very much.
i just got a new blackjack and am wondering how to put in a password to get into my pictures and videos…how do i do that? or can i????
I can’t play youtube videos on my phone because it say I either have javascript turned off of I need to install Flash Macromedia. I tried downloading Flash but it doesn’t work. How do I get to view the videos?
Hey all… I was just wondering, I want to put some of my songs from my iTunes on my BlackJack but it says it does not work with the format of the phone… does anyone know a way around this or what i need to convert my iTunes files into to make them compatible with my BlackJack, HELPPP PLEEASSEE!!
The iTunes files are ACC Format but i am not sure what they need to be in order to be accessible and playable on my BlackJack
How do you send a photo that has been attached in an email? The steps are obviously not the same as if it was an MMS. HELP??
Chrissy… Im right there with you… I tried downloading something called Opera Mini because that is what the Radioshack guy told me to do but i still get the same thing when i try to view them… If you find out could you please post it cause its a nightmare trying to figure it out, thanks.
I have a 1Gb MicroSD card, and I was wondering how I can make my E-mail save there instead of the on board memory?
@ Joey– those music files need to be in .mp3 or .wav format for playback on the Blackjack. Media player doesn’t recognize .aac files. Perhaps there is a way to dwnld iTunes to the phone (I haven’t checked, but it’s possible). You’d need to convert those files using a third party software. Google “.aac .mp3 file conversion” and you should come up with something.
Hey when i assign a ringtone to my text message it will play the whole ringtone when i receive the text and will not stop even after i have answered it and everything what am i doing wrong?
i have the same problem. did you ever figure it out?
I found a software called “POCKET TV” and that allows me to view MPEG files on my Blackjack… Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Also for us MAC users, There is a software called “The Missing Link” that allows you to Sync to your MAC. It lets you choose which playlist from your ¡TUNES you want to upload to your phone.. Also syncs Entourage, Contacts, ¡Cal, photos, videos, etc.. I thought it was worth the $40… I mean, I wasn’t gonna let Windows stop me from having this Awesome phone!
Oh yeah, Did anyone figure out the memory issue? I have 1GIG storage card, all my personal (photos,videos,mp3) are on it. I’ve cleared the cache on IE and it still says it’s full, I know I am not the only one having this problem, It seems to be one of the biggest complaints I have been noticing about the Blackjack
.. Peace.
My company is upgrading us from the Treo 650 to a choice of the BlackJack (Cingular) or the Motorola Q (Verizon). The Jack seems to be get consistently better reviews, but does anybody have feedback on Cingular’s coverage in metro NYC area and all of NJ vs. Verizon?
Thanks