5stars
102ratings4stars
59ratings3stars
9ratings2stars
2ratings1star
10ratings
Good value100% agree
Long battery life100% agree
Small form factor100% agree
182 Reviews
Great introductory Smartphone
After some research I decided to purchase a used Samsung Black Jack 2 for myself and a Samsung Propel for my Husband. Though the Propel isn't a smartphone, it is fun and easy to use for a person who loves to text. As for the Black Jack 2 - it is easy to use, moderately speedy and fits in my hand.
We purchased used phones but wanted to stay within a decent price range. These phones are a nice upgrade, but do not expect the Black Jack 2 to out-perform the IPhone. Black Jack 2 has many choices, but the operating system can be slow at times. If you are a multi-tasker, this phone has basic Windows mobile, but few apps. Works fine with basic functions, would not depend on this phone for heavy video usage. The camera is of good quality for a cell phone, again, it does not compare to a digital camera. Battery wears down on Propel much faster when watching video or internet use than the Black Jack 2. But both phones use battery heavily. Would recommend Black Jack 2 for anyone wanting a basic smartphone with mild music/video capabilities. Samsung Propel is a great for minimal internet/video and heavy text/talking use.Read full review...
Great Smartphone
I have dabbled in Motorolas and LGs but I will ALWAYS go back to Samsung. This phone is great. Fast loading and great reception and for how much it handles the battery life is pretty nice too (I can get about 3 days worth, I don't talk on it very much but I text alot and use the music player most of the day) I love how easy it is to share music, ringtones and pictures between the phone and my PC. It's true while texting there is a small fraction of a second of delay between pressing the buttons and the letters showing up on the screen but if you're looking at what your typing it shouldnt bother you, I text on it at full speed just fine. the ONLY reason i dont give it a 5 out of 5 is the camera. For some reason when using the single shot, normal camera feature it takes about 2 seconds between clicking the button and when the pic actually takes. I haven't been able to get a single good shot of my kids, since they're so squirmy. The multi shot and video features, however, work great.Read full review...
Under-rated phone for sure
This is a great phone. Most of the reviews don't give it its deserved praise. I've been a smartphone/Windows mobile customer for years (2 HP Ipaqs, LG Incite, Audiovox 2125, Cingular 8125, and the Blackjack II) and I must say that the Blackjack II has been the most stable. I would give it a 5 out of 5 but Windows operating systems are just too unstable.
The camera works fine. Its a phone so to compare the quality to a real camera is silly. Not sure why anyone would allow the camera quality of a phone to be a deal breaker. Bluetooth connected easily to my car, connecting to the internet was flawless. I probably sent more emails with my phone then texts. I purchased applications over the internet and had no problems. Third party applications installed easily and always worked.
Texting is easy, sending MMS messages is easy and the compact size makes it very portable. I've dropped this phone several times and never had any problems with it. I did drop it in a puddle of water once and ruined it but that was my fault not the phones.
In conclusion, I loved it. If you are use to touchscreens PDA's you may not like the non-touch screen functionality but if thats not a problem, you will love this phone.Read full review...
Samsung SGH-I617 BlackJack II review
The original Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack was a great phone that was hampered by pretty poor battery life, like many of the thin QWERTY equipped smartphones of the past. In spite of that issue, the BlackJack was still a very popular cell phone for AT&T (then Cingular). This time around, Samsung has addressed the battery issue and added a few new goodies to the mix, like a d-pad that serves double duty as a scroll wheel. The resulting device is a millimeter or two bigger in height and width, and an extra 10g heavier, but those minor tradeoffs are well worth the results.
The new SGH-i617 features the same basic form factor and design as the original BlackJack. The phone's flat block shape tapers down at the bottom, giving the phone a pleasing look and an equally pleasing feel in the hand. The lines used by Samsung's designers are all very clean and soft, with the only exceptions being the squared corners on the buttons found in the d-pad control cluster beneath the display. New for the BlackJack II is the piano black glossy finish on the cover, which makes the phone something that any CSI investigator would love to find at a crime scene. It is worth noting that the wine red version has a textured back cover that doesn't show fingerprints, but it still has a glossy front cover.
The display on the BlackJack II has a 2.4" screen that can render 65,000 colors. This QVGA resolution screen is crisp and colorful, and can be set to any one of 5 brightness levels, all of which I found to be quite workable. It has an almost paper-like appearance to it that I just love. The aforementioned control keys and d-pad all work quite well and are attractively designed. The BlackJack II's d-pad scroll function works better than the one found on the T-Mobile Shadow that we recently reviewed, and proved itself to be quite useful. I do think that it would work even better if it had a more fingertip grabbing radial pattern on it instead of its concentric circles design, which doesn't provide enough grip for dry and cold wintertime fingers.
The d-pad isn't the only thing that lacks a bit of grip on the SGH-i617. The phone's otherwise stellar QWERTY keyboard's keys have the same glossy surface as the rest of the device, something that makes them a bit slick at times. The older BlackJack didn't have that problem, though it did suffer from a strange number key layout that has been fixed on the new model. The new BlackJack II also has a couple of additional shortcuts keys that I find quite handy. Overall, it is an exceedingly good keyboard, it just could have been a tad bit better if it had kept the old design's matte finish.
The remainder of the device is pretty simple. A nicely shaped volume rocker control is found at the top of the left edge of the phone, and the multi-purpose power/data/headset port is located directly beneath it. I would have preferred for this port to have been on the bottom of the device, though, as side-mounted headsets are a real problem in pockets. A power button is located on the top of the device, which I like since it also calls up the Quick List menu. A small multi-color status LED is located nearby. It provides information about charging and new events, like received messages. The right edge of the phone is bare except for the microSD slot, and the nicely sculpted back cover of the phone bulges out where the 2 megapixel camera is located. Otherwise, the rear cover is plain except for the subtle SamsungRead full review...
Great phone! For the price I give it an A!
This phone is a few years old. I bought it used off ebay because my phone died and I am due for a upgrade in a month. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the new phones that came out in the last year or two have but it does just about everything you need from a phone. Qwerty keyboard makes it really easy to text and email. Windows mobile is a pretty solid operating system for the PC user. The 2mp camera takes good photos. Its also light, fast, and user friendly. I have had been using it for about a week and its been great. Its definitely not a top of the line phone but if you are looking for a cheap replacement/upgrade for a smartphone its price point is great.Read full review...
Everything but Wi-Fi
I always wanted to get a Blackjack since they first came out. I had a Samsung sgh-a707 and I loved how easy it was to connect to my computer. From then on I swore by Samsung products.
This is a sleek, very aesthetically appealing phone. It doesn't have a lot of bulky buttons and is comfortable in the pocket and the hand. I haven't got to test it on AT&T's 3G network yet, but I will update when possible. It's actually a little slower (not by many kbps) than my AT&T Quickfire, possibly due to windows being a resource hog, but there's nothing that a good freeware utility can't solve, except why computers are becoming more of a toy now-a-days than a tool.
Moving on, the operating system is a little laggy when switching applications or pressing keys after a short idle period. Like I said, freeware utilities people. The features and PC compatibility are nice. The speaker sounds good when music is playing.
The keys are close together, which takes a little getting used to for you slider phone users. Even compared with the Blackberry Curve 8310 the spacing is narrow. I like the cursor control. It reminds me of the iPod cursor control, but the roller only moves up and down. In order to move the cursor left and right, you have to press in on the roller's left or right quadrants. This seems to eliminate using the roller 50% of the time.
I was able to install a few third party games and other apps from a great site called My Blackjack 2. Doom worked as if you were literally playing it from a computer. Not very graphics intensive, no, but very surprising with my past experiences with 3rd party gaming on mobile devices.
Syncing music with windows media player takes a while, but since you are syncing from a WMP to another WMP, it carries over all of your tag info (artist, album, song title, etc.). I believe there are also 3rd party media players available, but the included media player can play many formats, and there may be a codec pack available.
Browsers available range from a lot of popular browsers used on personal computers and laptops. Mozilla's now well-known Firefox has a port available that stores passwords, and Opera has a version available. Opera performs very well on this phone.
All in all, I'd have to say that even though I only gave this phone an average rating, I'm very glad I made this purchase. I went from the AT*T quickfire, which is a terrible phone, and I would recommend that no one get this phone unless you want something with a decent out of box experience that leads to nothing but problems.
In short, this was a good buy and I would recommend it to people seeking a good smart phone on a budget.Read full review...
Awesome Phone
I really like this phone, it's sleek and smart looking. It's a little complicated if you don't have the user guide to figure out what you are doing which is why I rated it good instead of excellent. Other than that all is well with the phone. Volume and clarity are great. I have had no problems and have been told I sound clear. It's pretty easy to text once you get used to the key board. The lettering is the same as a regular keyboard which makes for easy conversion. The keypad is a little cramped but no more so then the blackberry. Everyone who I talked with before purchasing this phone gave me great reviews as well. It may be the best phone I have had yet. Has everything I need from the organizer to the internet.Read full review...
Okay phone
I like that I can download, view and change my word documents on the go. I do not like the alarm settings since they are limited, compared to my older phones. I cannot use the alarm while the phone is off, nor can I change the volumes for various alarms. I also do not like that there is no flash on the camera, so taking pictures in dim lighting or of dark objects are not always clear. I also dislike the small buttons (My fingers are not huge but they are not average either) and the lack of preinstalled symbols for texts (like smiley faces). Otherwise this is a good phone and I do like it better than my former phone that I got in 2006.Read full review...
Can't handle texting
This phone is a good phone if you don't plan on using the QWERTY keyboard much. It couldn't handle my texting speed, and of course I use my phone for MAINLY that. It couldn't process one letter before I entered another, so typing in any other fashion besides hunt-and-peck is out of the question. I'm not all that fast at texting, so having to wait as long as I did before pressing another letter in order to have it register was quite a wait. Not only that but the T9 dictionary wasn't a big help either. I spell out entirely in english, rarely text-speak, so it wasn't confused by that in the least. If you enter a word and continue typing as if the T9 isn't there, it will automatically select a response for you, potentially misdirecting the entire text, and it rarely picks the right word. So before you can move on you must physically arrow over and click the word you want. Most annoying T9 I have ever used.
The phone has nothing but polyphonic ringtones. I'm big on ringtones, and setting specific ringtones for each option was a chore, and you better be sure to save or you're screwed.
Ironically, the phone could not and would not direct to ebay on the browser.
The email option is nice, however it will redirect you to a website if you use hotmail, yahoo, aim, google, or any of the most popular sites. In order to fix that you must use ATT's Express Mail option, which limits you to only one acount.
The lack of applications was also annoying, and the start menu is poorly organized.
To close a program you have to find the task manager (which is not listed in the start menu, you have to press the power button), but this is already one of the most common windows mobile flaws, so this is not a phone issue (the location of the task manager, however, is a phone issue).
The calendar system is nice! It was the only feature I didn't have issues with, alongside music and pictures. If you insert an expansion card into the slot, you can have MUCH more space for music and pictures, or what have you. I put a lot of music on it; the only downside was the tinny (yes, tinny, like the trebel was too high) speakers.
The camera was nice for a 2mp camera, and featured zoom and brightness control. However my Blackjack NEVER had enough running memory to rotate a picture. I think that is a system flaw.
All-in-all it is a good phone if you don't plan to use it religiously like a teenager.Read full review...
The Samsung BlackJack II (SGH I619)
This phone is really great! I just love all the features it has and the relatively simple menus it has. It doesn't take a Philadelphia lawyer to operate it easily!! It works great for a grandmother like myself yet it still sports all the modern-day features. The camera takes nice. sharp, clear pictures, too! the only thing I regret is that it does not come as eithe a flip or slider! That way I can drop it into my purse without having to lock the keypad.Read full review...