They went back to the drawing board with BlackJack, which means that everyone can enjoy the fruits of those labors. No II has a bigger screen, more memory, powerful processor, better keyboard, GPS, Windows Mobile 6 and 2 mega-pixel camera. Last but not least – a larger battery.
Don’t think that the new design is without its problems though. There are sync problems and the speakerphone echoes, sounds garbled, muffled and indistinct.
BlackJack II comes in black or burgundy. The latter has textures on the back making it easy to hold. Burgundy makes a nice change from the usual mobile black (which always attracts fingerprints).
It’s a rather gorgeous executive-looking phone to say the least. Bigger than its predecessor because it has to allow for extra battery capacity – an enormous 1,700 mAh rated for 7 hours talk time and up to 14 days of standby. I foresee recharging just once a week.
The TFT non-touch screen has a high pixel resolution so text and images are sharp and effervescent. As with a normal PC, you can alter background, home page, menus, etc.
There’s a full QWERTY keyboard at the base of the screen with:
- Function keys to hold down for alternate uses
- Talk/End buttons
- Home shortcut
- Go Back button
- Long press Talk key – activate speakerphone
- Long press End key – lock mobile
- Number keys
- Quick-launch keys
- Short-cut easily accessible buttons to Video, Camera, Messages and the Internet.
I don’t care very much for the navigator with center select key, but this can be used as a wheel for scrolling too, which is great. Personally, I prefer a side-mounted wheel but then you can’t have everything and I am happy with my phone.
I paid $150 for my BlackJack II which includes a long two year contract.
Judy Wolvaardt
