The first Jet was marketed, rather over-ambitiously, as an “iPhone killer”. This didn’t prove to be the case, but the Jet was a good device, boasting a vivid AMOLED display, a responsive touch-screen and an electric processor.

Samsung has given the Jet a few tweaks – most notably including BBC iPlayer – and the Ultra is available exclusively to O2.

Style and handling on the Samsung Jet Ultra Edition

The Samsung Jet Ultra Edition is the same size and weight as the original model, a good, comfortable shape for both the palm of your hand and your pocket. This is largely because of the 3.1-inch screen – not as big as the four-inch displays that have appeared on some phones lately but a far more useable size. And you still get a good viewing experience thanks to the vibrant AMOLED display.

There have been a couple of design tweaks: a thin silver strip around the front fascia and a plainer, shiny back, without the red streaks that were on the original Jet. It still looks great – maybe even better, in fact.

The touch-screen is still the resistive kind, which is less sophisticated than the capacitive type and less responsive. We liked the display on the original Jet but a year is a long time in technology, and it now seems a bit dated as well as suffering occasional delays that left us feeling frustrated.  

But Wi-Fi is still present and correct, which is enables the most impressive addition to the Jet Ultra: BBC iPlayer.

iPlayer on the Samsung Jet Ultra Edition

If you have been living under an internet-enabled rock and aren’t familiar with iPlayer, it’s the BBC’s catch-up service that allows you to catch up with TV and radio shows from the previous week. You can access it via an on-screen widget.

The quality of the streamed video is impressive. The picture is sharp and bright and rivals the quality of a desktop PC or laptop. Audio is taken care of with a 3.5mm headset port, which means you can plus in your own cans for the best sound. And if you invest in a TV out cable, you will be able to view the programmes on your TV or large monitor.

Social networking on the Samsung Jet Ultra Edition

Although Samsung says the Jet Ultra has integrated social networking, it’s actually just widgets for Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, which can each be put on any one of the three home screens.

You get push email support for Microsoft Exchange and webmail accounts, and typing, tweeting and messaging is made easier by the inclusion of an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Simply turn the phone on its side to activate. It certainly makes things easier than using the T9 keyboard in portrait mode.

Verdict on the Samsung Jet Ultra Edition

We’re not sure why Samsung made the decision to bring out the Samsung Jet Ultra Edition so long after the original Jet, especially with so few upgrades to the software or design. It would have been good to see a capacitive touch-screen or access to an apps store. As it is, there doesn’t seem to be enough going on here to attract new users.