Samsung i617 BlackJack II - Design
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Design
The BlackJack II sports an updated look that isn't immensely different from the original model, but it definitely does look much sleeker and sexier. It is currently being offered in two color choices: black and wine red. The black color model tends to be a fingerprint magnet, while the wine red model seems to keep fingerprints in check a little bit better. Both colors look exceptionally good on this phone, so either choice is a good one.
The BlackJack II is very similar in size to its predecessor. It's actually an ideal size for a smart phone -- not too small, but also not too bulky. The overall dimensions of this device are 4.4 inches tall x 2.3 inches wide x 0.5 inches thick, and it weighs just 4 ounces. The BlackJack II is actually a little bulkier than the original BlackJack, but I don't think that anyone will be able to tell the difference without comparing the specifications of both phones.
Looking at the front of the phone, it almost looks like a cousin of a BlackBerry with its decent sized display and full QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard of the BlackJack II is slightly redesigned to make the keys a bit easier to use, which will help make this phone a great messaging device -- much like a BlackBerry. Above the keyboard, you will find the 2.4 inch TFT LCD display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution and over 65,000 colors. The quality of this display is exceptional, although watching extended length videos is a little eye-straining on a 2.4 inch screen. Nevertheless, the screen is vibrant and colorful, and videos and images appear crisp.
One of the most notable new features of the BlackJack II is its new scroll wheel/D-pad navigation button, which is located in the center of the device. This new navigation control allows you to scroll in a circular motion, or you can use it like a traditional D-pad if you like. This is a very cool innovation that just adds another nice little detail to this device.
The rest of the BlackJack II's body is pretty bare. The right side sports a microSD card slot for adding music and video to the phone. Samsung claims that you can add up to 4 GB of memory via the microSD slot, but I have seen it work with an 8 GB card and there were no problems. The other side of this device sports the volume controls, and the top of the device hosts the power button.
The back of the BlackJack II has a two megapixel camera, which is an upgrade from its predecessor's 1.3 megapixel camera. The back of the device is coated with a nice "leather-like" substance that not only looks good, but will also give this phone added protection.
I have only two issues with the design of the BlackJack II. The first issue I have is that there is no support for a charging dock. The bottom of this phone is bare, whereas most new smart phones offer a dock connection. The other complaint that I have is with the headphone jack. This jack is a proprietary connection, meaning you can't connect standard 2.5 or 3.5mm headphones to this device without some kind of adapter (not included). This won't be a problem though for Bluetooth users, because you can bypass the headphone jack altogether by using the Bluetooth capability of this phone.
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