Features and Design

Your first instinct will be to compare the Blackjack to the Motorola Q. Resist the temptation. Yes, the Smartphones are quite similar, but the Q is available only from Verizon and the Blackjack is available only from Cingular. If you're a Verizon subscriber/Q user, you've got a slightly superior phone (if we're forced to compare), so there is no reason to consider switching. Q's slightly larger surface real estate -- at 2.5 v. 2.3 inches, it's a bit wider than the Blackjack -- actually works to its advantage. There's more room for its LCD screen (2.5 v. 2.2 inches) and its QWERTY keypad. If you're a T-Mobile user looking to make a change, the Q is $100 less. 'Nuff said.

More logical comparisons for the Blackjack are the other Smartphones Cingular offers, such as the Nokia E62, the Treo 680 and the varying Blackberrys. But comparing the Blackjack to Cingular's other Smartphones is more of a software choice -- Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone vs. Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC (for touch screens) vs. Symbian (Nokia) vs. Palm (Treo) vs. Blackberry -- which is another discussion entirely. At press time, the Blackjack is Cingular's only Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone phone, which literally puts it in a class by itself. But what sets the Blackjack apart from its Cingular cousins is its blazing fast HSDPA/UMTS speed and, therefore, access to Cingular's copious amount of multimedia content. Its quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE - 850/900/1800/1900 MHz capabilities combined with the global reach of HSDPA/UMTS networks also makes the Blackjack a world phone.

Samsung also is heralding the Blackjack's slimmer profile (4.4 x 2.3 x .5 inches), which is not really an advantage over other Smartphones. All that's required of a Smartphone is that it fit comfortably in a breast shirt or sports jacket pocket. All Smartphones meet this criteria, even though at 3.5 ounces, the Blackjack won't sag a breast pocket as much as the 4.1 ounce Q or the 4.7 Blackberry 8700c. Regardless of Blackjack's diminutiveness, however, it's still too bulky to fit in a pants pocket, where buttons are accidentally activated and the exposed screen scratched by keys, loose change and other pocket flotsam.

What also sets the Blackjack apart from Cingular's other Smartphones is its ridiculous alphanumeric array. Dialing becomes a game of Finding Waldo, except there's nothing red to aid the search. Not only are the number keys not bunched together, but their dark grey color blends with the nearly identical neighboring black keys, more hue harrowing given Blackjack's matt black surface. Beaming white character backlighting helps this black-on-black confusion considerably in dimmer ambient lighting conditions, but you'll be frustrated in sunlight and bright rooms. And with less girth, the keys also are bunched a bit more tightly than on other Smartphones, making it difficult to avoid adjacent key hits during text and email message composing.

Image Courtesy of Samsung