Samsung Jet - DigitalVersus

Samsung Jet

STORES	£
Dell (UK)	279.34





Compare prices

Specifications
Camera sensor	5 Mpixels
Weight	99 g
Dimensions (mm)	108 x 53 x 12 mm
Talk Time	3 hours
Standby Time	250 hours
See all specifications

Internal memory	2 GB
Memory Card	micro SD
SAR Level	0.522 W/kg
Hide specifications

Florence Legrand
Updated: August 05, 2009 - Test date: July 24, 2009

The Jet as a phone

The Jet satisfies both as a multimedia device and as a phone.

Management of contacts and diary is easy enough, though if we're to split hairs, it could be even simpler.

No complaints when it comes to reception, calls and audio.

Presented in great pomp and circumstance a few weeks ago, the Jet is the new Samsung flowering. Smarter than a smartphone, is the ad-speak hook and with its closed OS, the Jet is not a smartphone but rather an intelligent multimedia phone and pretty high-end at that, thanks very much. Similar to the LG Arena, how do we rate it?

A return to the telephone design

The Jet has an eyecatching red-black coating. One of its great advantages is its size in comparison to the more chunky 3G S, Player HD, or Toshiba TG01. Great news for those looking for a mobile that is in fact, well… mobile.

The Jet beside the Player HD

Light and well thought out, it has a nice finish and a screen that is "just" 3.1 inches in size and gives excellent results. Contrasted colours and really impressive brightness (as seen on the Player HD). The viewing angles are also much wider than you’ll find on the competition. Nevertheless, in bright sunlight, just as on all mobiles, you can hardly see anything.

Samsung Galaxy, LG Viewty Smart, Samsung Jet and Apple iPhone 3G S

Although most operations are carried out via the touch screen, there are some physical buttons, such as for locking the phone or for access to the main menu. If you hold this button down, you get through to the multitask function displaying which applications are running. It then allows you to close unused apps down.

Simple and effective

The Jet has really been thought out for the mass market. It is easy to get to grips with thanks to a nice effective touch interface. The phone uses the in-house Samsung OS which is limited and can’t be added to but which has the advantage of being sufficient for most common use - and stable!

A main menu designed for the mass consumer market

The manufacturer has provided its most recent model with a whole load of more or less useful apps. Note, for example, the lock option that is activated by drawing the letter of your choice on the touch screen. Add to that synchronisation with Activ Sync or the ability to manage your music by tapping the device or tilting it – more of a gadget than anything else.

The widget bar

The Jet offers three desktops that can be personalised using the widget bar. It also inaugurates the new TouchWizz 2.0 interface, a sort of shortcut to the multimedia side of the phone. You access a 3D cube (that’s right, like the Arena) with 6 sides, each representing one feature (photo, video, music…).

With an 800 MHz processor, the Jet doesn’t suffer from sluggishness or any unexpected freezing or other system problems. Navigation is fluid – it remains so even with several applications open – and the various features nice and responsive. Note that after start-up you have to wait for a few seconds for the phone to wake-up completely…

Virtual keyboard for easy keying

A bit of everything

Well equipped, this device does pretty much everything well, though it doesn’t yet meausre up to single function devices (mp3 player, compact camera…).

Using the Dofin web navigator, the Jet gives a pleasant internet experience. It helps you to optimise web page management (having several pages open at once for example). You can zoom within a page using your finger: pressing and sliding down or up. Quite precise (compared for example to the multipoint zoom on the Arena or the much less agreable Viewty Smart), it’s a convincing solution.

Web page management

In terms of audio, there’s nothing new or exceptional on this Samsung. It uses an impractical interface with rather superficial sound effects. On the positive side, the in-ear headphones supplied with the device are very good indeed. We like the combination with the FM radio function.

Moving on to video. Viewing first. The Jet supports DivX videos without resorting to a converter, an excellent feature that is moreover missing on the Arena. It films at 720x480 pixels (like the Arena) and although the results are nothing amazing (the sound is mediocre: you don’t or hardly hear the individuals filmed), the Jet will do for recording a slice or two of life for the web, as long as you don’t use the zoom!

For use as a camera, this phone does pretty well. It has loads of photo options such as smile detection and rapid focus (a little faster than the Arena). Photo quality is good, nicely detailed even, and better than the Viewty Smart (currently being tested) which has an 8 Mpixel sensor or even the Player HD, which gives overly smooth results.

The Jet does not come with built-in navigation software. However it does have Google Maps that you can use as backup.

The battery life on the Jet is good: 2 days without having to recharge.

Pluses

Nice design and build / Good finish

Good quality screen

Google suite installed

Standard audio jack – hands free kit

Battery life

Minuses

Audio quality poor

Memory card is not accessible from outside

No app store

The Jet is a very appealing multimedia phone. Simple to use and with a great screen, it will suit those who want a multipurpose phone of a reasonable size. Arena or Jet? We lean towards the Jet, especially for the responsiveness of the camera.