Samsung i780, the review

Posted on March 31, 2008
Filed Under Samsung, Samsung i780

 
Samsung has a good run on the Blackjack style smartphone.  Ever since the Motorola Q hit the streets, the Microsoft smart phone hardware platform never looked so good.

Samsung continued this trend of the Windows Mobile smart phone OS but with an exposed qwerty keyboard.  Thats where the i780 evoles past it's Blackjack heritage.

The i780 has a slim feel to it, even though its running with a rather large battery.  Thats a good thing, since the first generation Blackjack was a power sucker.  

On to the specifications. 

1.  GSM 900, 1800, 1900
2.  UMTS 2100, so no 3g love for the US
3.  320 x 320 touch screen
4.  Bluetooth
5.  Wifi
6.  Micro SD
7.  Windows Mobile Professional 6
8.  256MB ROM and 128MB RAM
9.  Front facing camera
10. 2MP camera on back

[The unboxing]
[The hardware overview]
[Windows Mobile 6 on the i780]

The i780 is running Windows Mobile Professional, in a smart phone hardware platform.  Some addtional hardware tweaks were created to get this working correctly.  On the from is a touch enabled button, which acts as the mouse control.  Yes, the i780 has a on screen mouse.  At first I though, this is weird, but it does have its place and usability is not bad.  

The keyboard is small and buttons are raised, but I have issues hitting them.  I feel there too small and too close.  If you use your nail, then you will have better results.

I was unable to test the phone and data side of things, but I expect this performs similar to the Blackjack series.  Wifi peformance was decent, pretty much falls into other Windows Mobile Professional expectations.  I was unable to test the GPS, but this does have assisted GPS, so the lock should occur fast from start up.

An interesting paring from Samsung and Microsoft.  I an not sure that Windows Mobile Professional needs to live on a smart phone hardware platform.  This combination tends to make the navigation and general operation confusion.  As there is too many options of how to navigate the OS.

Overall, if you love the Blackjack style and are looking for a powerful Windows Mobile Professional platform, the the i780 is you you.  If your expectation are, easy navigation and a great keyboard, you might be disappointed.

Thanks to Overseas Electronics for providing the review i780.  Go check em out.