Samsung Jet

Features (contd.)

At this point, we'd like to clarify that we tested two Jets on three MobileOne (M1) SIM cards and we encountered several teething problems. We couldn't get the handsets to synchronize with our office Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Assisted-GPS didn't work and Webpage rendering on Samsung's proprietary Dolfin browser was wonky. Initially, we thought this could be an issue with the hardware and we asked the company what could have gone wrong. It turned out that the data settings sent over-the-air from M1 doesn't work for our sets. The product manager clarified that the handsets bought directly from the telco wouldn't face these issues since they would have been preconfigured with the right settings. Fair enough.

That said, we still couldn't get the Jet to sync with our Exchange Server on the SingTel SIM card. The explanation from Samsung was that the Exchange ActiveSync implementation on the Jet is meant for only basic Exchange use, typically SMB or SOHO setups which have their email systems provided by a hosting company. Although we weren't able to test this out, the chaebol said that ActiveSync will synchronize emails, calendar and contact entries.

After finally getting the settings tweaked, Web pages rendered perfectly and we were able to browse the CNET Asia home page comfortably. The Dolfin browser is a Webkit version that lets you have up to five tabs opened simultaneously. That's helpful if you need to zip between different Web sites.

According to Samsung, Jet units sold in Singapore are not bundled with a microSD memory card, although the handset has an internal memory of 2GB. This is required to run the mapping software that supposedly incorporates 3D Map Navigation. You can activate the program icon in the phone settings, but you'd get a message prompt that says you should insert the memory card. It can be a little misleading and we feel this option should have been disabled if the accompanying software isn't provided in-box. That said, Google Maps is preinstalled, so you still have basic mapping software on the Jet.

Performance

The Jet packs an 800MHz processor, a clock speed that's considered fast even for smartphones. As a comparison, the i8910 HD and Omnia i900 have processor with clock speeds of 600MHz and 624MHz, respectively. Navigating the phone's menus and opening applications proved snappy. At the same time, we were impressed with the 5-megapixel camera which had a shutter lag of only 0.2 second. There was hardly any purple fringing in our snaps and the shooter was able to handle white balance pretty well in our test shots. The dual-LED flash, however, gave us uneven lighting as the intensity was generally focused on the center of our test shots and dropped off rapidly toward the edges.

We had no issues with call quality and video calls were respectable. The image quality from the front camera was admirable and there was minimal display of sluggishness and lag. The onboard speakers were also loud enough for video calls and music playback. Video capture is at 720 x 480 pixels (30fps) in MP4 format and a 1-minute clip generates about 14.6MB in file size. We were able to play our DivX test video smoothly on the handset without having to do any conversion on the Jet. In short, it's a pretty capable multimedia device.

The 800 x 480-pixel AMOLED touchscreen, which shares the same resolution as the HTC Touch HD and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, was sharp, bright and held up well under the sun. We didn't have to squint to make out text messages or Web content.

The 1,100mAh battery has a rated talktime of 8.2 hours and approximately 17.5 days on standby. On average, we managed to get two days of usage before having to reach for the charger.

Conclusion

We didn't think the enhanced TouchWiz 2.0 was a remarkable improvement over the earlier version. Instead, it is more of a showcase of what Samsung can do. What could have made the UI better would be the company releasing an SDK for the platform and having developers build apps for it. We encountered some hiccups with the SIM card issue during our review, but safe to say, that shoud be something the end-user wouldn't encounter if he or she purchases the handset directly from a telco operator.

So is the Jet smarter than a smartphone? Not quite. The TouchWiz software isn't as robust as the mature operating systems, but the Jet tops our choices for a regular handset with a touchscreen. Overall, it's an excellent device with the right features and a hard-to-match price. With a two-year telco contract, the device costs about S$350 (US$249.48) on average. These definitely work in Samsung's favor and the Jet's strengths noticeably outweigh the limited apps. As far as regular touchscreen handsets go, the Jet will be your best bet.

Tags: Apple iPhone, App, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Web Browser, multimedia

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