I received the Samsung Jet to try out for 2 weeks. Ever since the Adgator Campaign I’ve been curious about this phone as it looked damn impressive and feature rich. My first impressions were kind of a mixed grill.

The basics of the Samsung Jet
I feel that Samsung could have invested a LOT more in getting the basics right.
What irritated me was the unresponsive touch screen. If you are used to an iPhone then you’ll know what I’m talking about. They could have done a lot more optimization for the touch screen responsiveness. It is basically the same as with the HTC Magic. You need to press something twice or even three times before it registers at times. That being said, I noticed that the screen was almost flimsy. It feels soft and for good reason as it looks like it is pressure sensitive. A woman with long nails can click the screen with their nails and it would respond. This is something the iPhone don’t do.
Second thing is setting up or connecting to a wireless network. I got it going, but there was simply too many options to go through.
Third thing that bothers me is the setting up of Gmail on the phone. It should be a lot more simple. I tried once, didn’t succeed and left it. I’ll try later again when I have the time.
Then there is the keyboard. When the phone is upright, it mimics a normal mobile phone keyboard and if you turn it sideways, you get a qwerty keyboard. I initially though this was dumb, but my wife loves it that way. Different strokes, I guess…
I have to say, it looks fantastic. The display is astounding! The graphics is crisp, clear and very high definition.
When I hooked it up to my laptop to charge it, I was glad to see it can actually charge via USB. This should be a standard for all new phones. Only problem is that it took hours to charge. Too long, considering how fast an iPhone charge. Surely this is something they could have investigated?
Furthermore, it is PACKED with gimmicks. I mean PACKED. For example, if you open the phone menu and press a button on the side of the phone, your phone menu is transformed into this 3D rotating cube. It looks AMAZING. If you then open the photo gallery, your photos are presented like a 3D book with pages which you can page through. Very, very good looking and done well.
I think it is a good phone. It is just a pity that it lacks the very basics that the iPhone has done so well. For me it did not feel intuitive enough, but my wife immediately RAVED about it’s user-friendliness. Depending on price, I’d say it is not a bad alternative. I would lump it together with the iPhones and Androids of the world. Only one small glitch though… need to figure out the apps or widgets and how or where to get them… This could be a deal breaker.
Welcome back! You should subscribe to my RSS feed here.
You should follow me on Twitter here
You should follow me on Gatorpeeps here.







Tiny 4:32 pm on August 13, 2009 Permalink |
I thought that was supposed to be the Samsung Omnia 2??
Looks a lot like the same thing…
In fact:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BvsEHqALFk
Don’t those two look a lot alike, or has it received a name change in the last month or two?
Optimised Onion 8:18 am on August 14, 2009 Permalink |
Hmmm, plugins, gimmicks. Interesting you say this could be the deal breaker. if you look at some of the more popular web tools, one of the most important aspects is extendability through plugins. So, it’s the same in the mobile world too, it seems.
Conrad Strydom 10:54 pm on August 14, 2009 Permalink |
Yeah dude, I also looked into this phone. I think its a phone for someone who is not interested in the top of the range smart phones, but does not want to compromise on trick features. Nice overall and will be a winner for the right user.
Emil 9:49 pm on August 15, 2009 Permalink |
But can it Peep?
Nuxxy 1:27 pm on September 4, 2009 Permalink |
The Jet is the baby Omnia II. They look almost identical, except the Jet has smaller dimensions.
The screen is resistive, although Samsung claims it’s better than normal resistive. But no, it won’t be as sensitive as the capacitive on the iPhone, though you can use other than fingers to do it. It’s probably not as bad as you make out, it just takes some getting used when you go from the tech that doesn’t need pressure to the one that does. Newbies to either should get used to it soon enough.
In terms of adding ‘widgits’, not only has Samsung released their widget store, but they have also released an SDK allowing anyone to create new widgets. So you should see a lot of new useful widgets appearing soon, especially seeing how many phones already use the TouchWiz interface.
Now if only Samsung SA or Vodacom would actually list it on their sites.
AllThingsMobile Blog || Samsung Jet – First Impressions 10:49 am on February 23, 2010 Permalink |
[...] First written here. [...]