BlackBerry Curve 8900

BLACKBERRY CURVE 8900 REVIEW

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is RIM's new mid-range device, sitting somewhere between the bigger Bold and Storm and the non-qwerty Pearl and Flip. The previous 83xx series Curves found favour with both corporate buyers and consumers by providing a well featured and usable handset in a very pocketable form factor, and the new Curve 8900 is a natural evolution. The Curve 8900 is BlackBerry's slimmest full-QWERTY smartphone yet, measuring just a hair more than half an inch thick. Its case is black with chrome-colored edging, making it look a lot like the BlackBerry Bold. The 8900 is slightly smaller than the Bold, though, measuring 4.3 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide. The screen measures 2.4 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 480 by 360--that's even higher than the resolution of the Bold's display. I used to think the Bold's screen was the best I'd ever seen on smartphone, but not anymore. The Curve's screen is gorgeous, displaying crisp graphics and bright colors. Everything from text to streaming video looked great. The keyboard is small, but I still found thumb typing easy. The phone is light, too, weighing just 3.9 ounces. The only real downside to the 8900's design is the fact that much of it is made of plastic. While that helps keep the phone light, it does feel a tad bit cheap. The Curve 8900's small size and light weight make it comfortable to hold next to your ear, and I found voice quality to be very good. The Curve 8900 is a quad-band GSM phone; that means you'll be able to make voice calls in many countries outside the U.S. You also can make voice calls over Wi-Fi networks, in addition to over cellular networks. This can allow you to make voice calls in places where you have a wireless network, but the cellular coverage is spotty. The included BlackBerry browser is excellent: It displays Web pages just as you would see them on a computer screen, and lets you zoom in and out easily. Like all BlackBerry phones, the 8900 is a messaging champ. It will support 10 personal or business e-mail accounts, and setting them up is a breeze. Several instant messaging applications, including AOL's AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, come pre-installed. You also get support for text and multimedia messaging. The Curve 8900 runs the updated version of the BlackBerry OS that we've seen on the Pearl Flip, Bold, and the Storm -- and that's a good thing. And, like those phones, the Curve 8900 has the DataViz Docs To Go editing suite preinstalled. And you can use the Curve 8900 to access BlackBerry App World, where you can browse through and download software applications directly to your phone. The included 3.2-megapixel camera has auto-focus, a flash, and digital zoom, and it captured some great snapshots. You also get support for stereo Bluetooth and built-in GPS, as well as a decent--though basic--audio and video player. Video clips look great when played back on the Curve's screen, though. Overall, I was really impressed with the BlackBerry Curve 8900. It could benefit from 3G connectivity, but even without it, this is one of the best smartphones I've seen. The camera in the 8900 is better too with a welcome bump from the two-megapixels seen in both the 8300 and the Bold to 3.2-megapixels with autofocus and an LED flash present and protected under a class cover. Granted the results aren't going to worry any Cybershot, Pixon or Renoir owners but it's a nice little upgrade. RIM hasn't skimped on the other features either with GPS and Wi-Fi still part of the mix along with the full Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP for streaming music to headphones. Another key component for many, voice recognition, also appears while the keyboard is as easy to use as ever with just the right amount of give. We found our typing accuracy to be better as well thanks to the spacing introduced between the keys since the 8300 and again in similar vein to the Bold. Showing RIM's desire to engage the man then in street as well as those permanently positioned behind their desks, the 8900 sports a top notch multimedia player which offers support for MP3, AAC/AAC+, WMA, DivX, Xvid, H.263 and more - a list many of which an iPhone owner would be envious. No fatal flaw here either as a 3.5mm headphone jack is fitted, though perhaps it would be better located on the top than the side. There's no falling down when it comes to battery life either with official stamina quoted at up to a mammoth six hours talk time and 19 days of standby. In reality this translated to a good day to two days when combined with moderate use and should prove more than enough for most. Something which can't be said for the paltry native storage (under 100MB) RIM tends to supply inside its handsets (Storm aside). That said, the inclusion of a microSD expansion slot compatible with cards up to 16GB means this won't prove an issue. It will also appear on T-Mobile and O2 with other telcos expected to land it soon meaning there'll be a wide range of choice.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES