Digital Trends

Samsung BlackJack December 19th, 2006 | by Stewart Wolpin

Features and Design Cont'd

Some punctuation keys also are confusing. Activating the quotes mark on the period/quote mark key and the question mark on the comma/question mark key are Function rather than Shift functions. Shifting still gives you the bottom mark. But the pound key on the "vibrate mode" is activated via the Shift key. And the Space key is less than half the length as those on the Blackberry and Q; we often accidentally hit the adjacent #/vibrate key instead.

Also suffering from Blackjack's constriction is its circular navigation pad. Nearly flush with the surface, action activation requires a dainty exactitude. But combined with the navigation pad's snug proximity to surrounding keys, there'll be accidental function launches despite your best efforts. Because the spine scroll wheel on Windows' Smartphones isn't as smart as the Blackberry's (for instance, you can't use the wheel to scroll across the top row of applications that headline the Windows Mobile 5 home screen), you'll need the navigation pad more often than you'd like.

Otherwise, the Blackjack offers the usual array of high-end Smartphone phone features -- push/pull personal and corporate email, instant (AOL, MSN, Yahoo!) and text messaging capabilities, a 1.3 MP camera/camcorder, MP3 player that can play back MP3, AAC and WMA tracks, speakerphone.

Blackjack also offers Stereo Bluetooth. But specs from both Samsung and Cingular confusingly list it as "Bluetooth 2.0" instead of "Stereo Bluetooth," both corporate entities stupidly assuming everyone knows that Bluetooth 2.0 means stereo. Everyone doesn't and shouldn't.

And everyone doesn't want to bother with Bluetooth, stereo or not. But instead of a standard 2.5mm headphone jack for those who favor physical connections, Blackjack is equipped with a proprietary plug and, even more annoying, no earphone is included in the box. In fact, there's isn't even a mono earphone available. If you want wired conversation, you have to buy the $39.99 Music Bundle, which includes stereo earbuds. A data cable is included, thankfully, along with an extra battery and a handy separate charger, but a belt clip is extra.