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The Blackberry Curve 8330 is the phone I've wanted for a long time. I finally have it and here is my review.
I got my first Blackberry two years ago. It was an 8700. Ever since then, I've loved having RIM's Blackberry as my cell phone. The Curve has been out for about a year now, and I now have it.
In The Box
- Blackberry 8330
- Leather Holster
- Stereo Earphones with microphone
- Charger with adapter for other countries
- Software CD
- USB Cable
- Manuals
- Battery
Features
The Blackberry 8330 is the less "business" version of their Blackberry 8830 smart phone. In addition to the "pearl" track ball that this Blackberry uses, it also has a 2MP (1600 x 1200) camera for still photographs and video, and also a media player to view pictures and videos, and play music.
This version of the Curve also has GPS built-in. However, using GPS, you have to download maps online, which in turn uses up data. The 8330 also works on the EVDO network which is faster than EDGE. Unfortunately there is no wi-fi capabilities on this phone, so everything you do online will require the use of a data plan. Also, you can insert a microSD(HC) card for extra memory. In fact you need a microSD card to even record video. The built-in memory is very minimal.
As for the other features, it has the same old Blackberry features - and aside from the ones listed above, it has a Voice Recorder.
Review
I was excited to finally receive my Blackberry Curve. I wanted it ever since it came out last summer, but was too cheap to buy it. I had a iPhone since then, but recently gave it up, knowing that a new iPhone was coming out. I'm happy with my Curve, though there are still some problems.
Look and Feel
The Blackberry Curve is the smallest full-QWERTY keyboard that they've made. It's thinner, smaller, and lighter than the others. It also feels a bit, cheaper in a way because of how light it feels in your hand. The previous generation Blackberry's had this sort of heavy-hard plastic feel to it. You knew you could give it a beating and it would still work. Maybe if i drop the phone a few times, I will get the same comfort in knowing that it can take a hit and still work. Then again, the 8700 was a company phone, and I paid my hard earned money for this Curve. So I'll still try to baby it. Furthermore, the buttons are a bit smaller than before. I personally find it fine to type on, but others complain that the buttons are a bit too small.
At first, the "pearl" track ball was a bit hard to use. It wasn't very responsive to my actions especially when moving left. However since then, it works very well. I'm not sure if it had to do with breaking in the ball, or the fact that I changed the sensitivity. It works great now, and is very easy to use.
Normally, Blackberry's come with a holster for you to clip onto your belt. No need to put this big phone into your pocket. And depending on your settings, you can have it just vibrate when it's in your holster, and ring when it's out. Now, what we get is a black leather holster, but it does not clip onto your belt! It's basically a protective pocket which you now have to put into your pant pocket. The front of the "holster" sticks out a bit, seeming like it can be slid onto your belt. But no, it's just for looks, and it also houses the magnet that your Blackberry reacts to.
Another thing I don't like about the Curve is that you have to remove the backing and battery to insert and remove your micro SD card. My friend's Samsung Jack has a slot in the side of the phone that you just push the micro SD card into. With the 8330 you have to remove the backing, then remove the battery, and then slide the SD card in place then lock it. Then you have to put the battery back, put the backing back in place, and then wait for the Curve to restart. A lot of hassle, especially for those who use their SD cards for multiple gadgets. That being said, I'm glad it takes SDHC cards, because being as it as many multimedia functions, a large storage capacity is great. Another thing to note is that you must have a memory card in the phone if you want to record video. Furthermore, the Curve's camera doesn't seem to have a protective piece of hard plastic attached to the backing. It just has a hole which the camera lens looks through. It seems like dust can easily get trapped and settle in there.
Being that the Curve is also a multimedia player, they have replaced the wired headphone, with stereo headphones. Now, you have an ear piece to go into each ear. I guess it's good, if you plan on listening to music a lot on this thing. But, honestly, I don't. I'd rather have a single ear piece. Sadly, you can't use that single ear piece from your old Blackberry anymore because the jack is too large now. I don't like having both of my ears covered when I'm using the phone, so I usually just talk with one ear piece on, leaving the other piece dangling and usually getting caught on something.. like my seatbelt. Not fun. The stereo headset does still have the answer button on the phone which is good.
To sum it up, all-in-all the Blackberry Curve does have some problems with it's overall design. But none are too critical. Sure the holster is pretty lame, but I'm sure you can buy one that suits you. Sure, it feels cheaper, but at least its lighter. Who knows, maybe it still can take a couple dozen drops on cement.. but who really wants to drop their phone and try? Sure you have to remove the back and battery to insert the SD card, but for most it's a one-time thing. I shouldn't really have to remove the SD card. You can access the data by connecting your Blackberry to your computer via USB. It should show up like another drive.
Interface and Software
The Blackberry interface is well thought out and easy to use. If it's your first time using a Blackberry there's a learning curve, but you'll get it eventually, and you'll enjoy the phone - and eventually be a Crackberry addict.
As said before, there are a few new features from the previous generation Blackberry. First they allow you to customize your front scree. You can have it so that you only have a few main icons, or have more in an L shape. If you want to access everything, like I do, you can change the layout to display all. Every item on the menu can be swapped and moved, or even hidden. With the menu button it is even easier to customize the front. You can also customize almost every application, and you will need to get your phone to act the way you want it to. It will take a while to get it just right.
First things I needed to change was the messaging. It's annoying how the call log, text messages, and emails all get clumped into this list. It can be easily be edited so that you only get what you want, such as emails in the email application, texts in the SMS app, and calls displayed in the call log. But you will have to play around to figure it out.
Without going into too much detail, the software applications are basically the same. I'll go over some of the new features though. All Media is accessed through the Media application. Here you can listen to your mp3s, view your videos, listen to your ring tones, view your pictures, and listen to your voice notes. The Music Player allows you to view your mp3s by artist, albums, genres, and you can even create playlists. The other categories have less browsing capability, but isn't much of a problem. The music can also be played through the speaker phone.
The Voice Notes Recorder is just a voice recorder. If you want, you can interview people and save it as an mp3, which is great, and then access it from your computer. You can also just leave little voice notes to remind yourself of things.
The Video Camera allows you to record little videos. It's a bit laggy at times - the screen doesn't refresh that fast, especially if you or the background is moving a lot. You will see heavy pixelation. It uses .3GP file format, with heavy compression. It produces very small files. One great thing I found was that this camera has a light which is used for flash, and also for video. You can adjust the settings and have this light on continuously and use it as a flash light.
The Camera is a 2 megapixel camera which produces 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution images. It's not the best, but it is sufficient, and the norm for most cameras. You can apply digital zoom to the pictures at 3x and 5x, but all it really does is crop the picture. For example zooming 5x will produce a picture that is just 320 pixels by 240 pixels. Very small. As mentioned in the above paragraph, it also has a built in flash.
The voice dialer does not work very well. It can't recognize my girlfriends name which is a pretty typical name. And some other times it completely misinterprets what I'm saying. A cool feature though is that it's not just a voice dialer. You can use this feature to access other parts of your phone.
Also, although it is very easy to type with the keyboard, it does little things to help you type even faster. For example pressing space twice will insert a period, and holding a letter for a second will capitalize it, and in an email field, pressing space will enter an @ symbol.
Pros
- Each application is customizable
- Still a business phone but with more features
- 2MP camera, with ability to record video
- Smaller and more lightweight than before, and still has a QWERTY keyboard
- Expandable memory with a microSDHC card
- Built-in GPS
- Voice recorder, mp3 player, video viewer, picture viewer
Cons
- Feels less durable (but it may still be tough)
- Have to remove battery and backing to insert/remove SD card
- GPS requires data plan. No application with preloaded maps
- Comes with crappy leather holster
- Still only comes with Brick Breaker
- Battery doesn't last as long
Although there are lots of problems with this phone, I still like it. How does it stand up to the iPhone? Well, it certainly lacks some of the features and innovations of that phone, but it does what a smart phone is supposed to do, and has added a bunch of features as extra. It's a great improvement over the last generation of Blackberry's, and is still very easy to use. I like the size of this phone, and would rather hold this phone to my face than a giant iPhone.
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