Blackberry Curve 8900 Smartphone Review
The Blackberry Curve smartphone has been a staple in the industry for a long time starting with the original 8300 back in 2007. RIM is back at it again with the sleek new Curve 8900 smartphone. How does it compare to the 8300 series and will it become the new champion of the Blackberry?The 8900 takes the curved design of the 8300 series and polishes it up to match the styling of the Storm and Bold smartphones, taking the sleek black finish and combining it with smooth metal bezels. One thing that struck me first was the display. Text was crystal clear compared to my now outdated titanium Blackberry 8310. Images are sharp and vibrant, no longer is there the problem of getting dust under the screen since it's now flush with the rest of the phone.
As with the Curve series before it, the 8900 brings the familiar QWERTY keyboard back and it still has the same great feel that Blackberry users are accustomed to. Thankfully RIM managed to slim down the Curve quite a bit, making it even more compact and comfortable in your hands. We also liked the fact that the Curve 8900 had an updated user interface that matches hand-in-hand with the external design of the phone.
On the back of the phone is a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash, and image stabilization. Images taken in dark situations turned out grainy, but those taken in a well-lit room were decent. There is some lag when taking a photo however, so keep those hands steady to get optimal shots. The camera is a welcomed improvement over the 2.0 megapixel camera in the 8300 it replaces.
The phone does have built-in GPS and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with UMA support, so you'll be able to hop onto a hotspot at Starbucks and surf the web at increased speeds. Speaking of speed, the Curve 8900 isn't a 3G phone, so you're stuck with the slower EDGE network which isn't too bad if you're not a huge mobile web fan. There are maps available on the Blackberry either using the Blackberry Maps application or Google Maps Mobile, but if you're looking for the true GPS experience, you'll want to take a look at the TeleNav software.
And all on top of this is the BlackBerry messaging that every Blackberry smartphone is known for, emailing capabilites and all. If I wasn't upgrading to an iPhone 3G S, the Blackberry Curve 8900 would be my phone of choice.
In our performance tests, we were able to get around 8 hours of talk time on a single charge. Call quality was good, but there was some noticeable background noise. The speakerphone quality was decent and loud as well.
We reviewed the T-Mobile version of the Blackberry Curve 8900, but an unlocked version is also available from Amazon.com for $460 bucks.
Pros
- New slim and sleek design.
- Revised user interface.
- Wi-Fi and GPS built-in.
- Great 3.2 MP camera.
Cons
- No 3G support.
Entries(RSS)