Samsung Jet ‘Cube’ System
What about the much hyped six-sided Cube navigation system found on the Samsung Jet? For one thing, the system is easy to navigate, and fun to play with. Each icon has its own link at the bottom of the screen in case you simply can't find it on the cube, and the likes of video, music, radio and more are contained within the system. The system as used for media applications works flawlessly.
The array of widgets on offer hasn't really changed much from other handsets, with the usual suspects including Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and Youtube all present.
The video player is very good but falls rather short in comparison to other high-end Samsung stablemates such as Tocco Ultra.
Internet on the Samsung Jet
Now that using a mobile phone for web browsing is fast becoming de rigueur, how does the ‘Jet’ perform on this front? The jet comes with the @Dolfin’ browser and it is pleasing to see a very capable 800MHz processor driving all this. You can have up to five tabs open at once, allowing background downloading and browsing through sites without so much as a groan from the ‘Jet’. However, this is based on WAP 2.0 (rather than full HTML). This decision by Samsung was clearly a strategic mistake (remember Blackberry Storm 1 without Wi-Fi?). It all means many pages will inevitably load a lot more slowly. This is apart from dedicated mobile sites.
Samsung Jet Keyboard
There is no doubt that the QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode is the best option with keys easily reached and response quite good. You are probably best served by avoiding the T9 mode with a mind of its own. Mordern phones hardly need this and even though the Jet is not exactly a smartphone, with such a keyboard, it is a mystery why Samsung felt that it will serve any purpose in this device. However, it is easily turned off.
All in all, the Samsung Jet S800 looks good, the small form-factor will fit most pockets and, more importantly, functionally it delivers. It certainly beats some of the more expensive smartphones out there.
The ‘cube’ on the Samsung Jet
Unlike the iPhone (right), the Samsung Jet is not a smartphone. However, it holds its own in many functionality and aesthetic aspects.