When you hold the phone upright during texting you automatically get a standard or SureType or Multitap keypad and when you hold it sideways you get a full Qwerty one. We actually found the SureType (predictive) mode the easiest of the bunch and the full Qwerty took us a while to master.
RIM's attempt at porting the BlackBerry OS is far more finger-friendly than Windows Mobile on a touchscreen, featuring large icons so that you can tap them with ease. The interface is a little cluttered though and an overal simplification of the menu structure wouldn't go amiss.
Another change we would like to see made is that the accelerometer that changes the screen from landscape to potrait mode seems to be overly sensitive. On several occasions the screen put itself into landscape mode when we didn't want it to and occasionally froze.
An interesting addition to the menu is the Application Centre that allows you to access apps for the Storm, such as Flickr and Facebook, in a similar way to the iPhone's app store. It's straightforward to use and a sensible move by RIM.
In order to download apps you need to connect to the Internet which you can only do via HSDPA as disappointingly there's no Wi-Fi, which may annoy some users. If for example you want to stream video content 3G isn't always the best option.
The Storm's browser displays full pages which you can scroll through using your finger. Zooming in and out of pages has to be done using specific keys, which isn't as intuitive as the iPhone's pinch system and disappointingly there's no option to open a new tab or a new window.
In terms of the Storm's email capabilities it's fairly easy to set up but you may need to ask your IT administrator for help. The Storm supports BlackBerry Servers and Microsoft Exchange, in addition to Web-based email clients such as Yahoo Mail and Gmail.
The Storm's media player supports all the major formats and offers an interface that echoes the iPhone's, such as a scrolling list of songs, artists, etc. It's easy to play music or video and video footage looks fantastic on the Storm's large crisp screen.
Performance
Audio quality from the music player is loud an
clear, made even better by the fact that you can plug your headphones
straight in and don't need to use an adaptor. That said, it is a shame
that the jack isn't at the top of the Storm instead of the side, which
means the headphone pin sticks out.
If you get lost you can use the Storm's GPS with Google Maps or BlackBerry Maps to find your way. We found it fairly easy to pick up satellites, but it won't pick them up indoors of course.
Finally, at first we thought Storm's 3.2-megapixel camera performed
well and then we slowly started to realise that it wasn't the case all
of the time. In daylight it takes clear shots if you hold it very
still, but in lowlight conditions shots mostly came out looking blurry.
Battery
life is quoted at 15 days standby and six hours using 3G. We found that
with moderate use it lasted for around two days before needing to be
recharged, which is impressive compared to certain other smart phones.
As we mentioned earlier, audio quality during music playback was great as is audio quality during calls. The loudspeaker is loud enough to use as a handsfree solution but you're better off using a Bluetooth headset.
Conclusion
The BlackBerry Storm is one of those phones
that you'll love or hate. If you're someone who appreciates a
mechanical keypad but yearns for a touchscreen then the Storm offers a
middle of the road solution. However, in doing so it doesn't really
manage to provide the best of either format.
We credit RIM for entering the touchscreen market and for adding something extra in the form of a clickable screen, but we're not convinced that this is RIM's best phone yet. While it's better than a lot of toushcreen phones out there, it's definitely not perfect.
Edited by Cristina Psomadakis
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User reviews10
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Karp 6 January 2011
Good: It's so pretty..... *strokes*
Bad: The things that begin to fall apart first are the vital bits!!
Comment: I bought this phone 2yrs ago because it looks so lovely. I'm a girl so I don't have to justify these things. It's sleek, glossy and still looks smart enough to compete with the likes of the iPhone. The display is just amazing if you're not used to such a large screen. The overall style of this phone just makes you want to touch it. Beautiful!
I also love how BB combines every email account, myspace, twitter and facebook into one handy msg box. You can seperate them if you prefer but it's so handy. I no longer have to log into Facebook to see who's left a comment, it's automatically retrieved. I am a total fan of BB after this phone.The clicky touchscreen is a nice touch, for me personally,i am forever chucking my phone in a backpack and only when i take it out again i realise it's unlocked itself and had a 6 minute chat with my nan! No such happenings with this phone it's not overly sensitive to touch so no unexplained call charges.
The downside to this is that typing on the touchscreen takes ages, especially if you're used to a full key keyboard. after a while the whole system starts to slow down.. it used to be push icon, job done. now it's push icon... wait.... wait... my handset chose patches of restricted use on the touchscreen on a whim and no matter what position i held the phone in it wouldn't obey me! In the beginning it'd give in and after a few hours/days everything would be back to normal but now it will not let me key in the letters S,W or O... I'm a serial BBM/SMS fiend but no more. It's gotten to the point where I don't bother charging it or replying to people because it takes so long. The only other downside to this phone is the signal... if you live in a house with walls the phone thinks it's in a nuclear bunker and refuses to work. If you're out and about it's fine.
On the whole I love this phone and I love BB. The downsides are the things that seriously irk me because it seems to be all the bits you generally need in a phone that drop off first. The other thing that makes me dislike this phone on occasion are the fact that its so smug. It'll give you just enough signal to call someone then it'll cut out and you'll find reception again then it'll freeze up!
I would recommend this phone to someone, however i'd advise them to get the storm 2 in the hope that BB have done the decent thing and resolved the problems. The one thing i have learnt from this is that i'll never again be solely at the mercy of a fickle touchscreen type pad.
Kundai Ralph-Teflon Henney 22 October 2010
Good: I like the Touch Screen actually. Big Child like menu, and its many options to do things.
Bad: Signal, Signal and SIGNAL !
Comment: The signal on this is appalling at times. It can cut you off a call or make this funny sound. It cant find service most of the time in my house. But I have had it for about 9 months and to be honest I have fallen in love with this phone for its email service and its very easy BB messenger interface but if your gonna buy it just go for the Storm 2 :)
chris221273 7 April 2010
Good: The email is very good and quick, the satnav is awesome, and the new software upgrade is a vast improvement.
Bad: See below!!
Comment: I am currently coming to the end of my 18 month contract with this phone, and only now, since the new software upgrade, is it half decent.
My biggest problem with the Storm, is the screen.
As it is heat sensitive, apparently, if you have it in your pocket when its cold, or even when quite hot, the screen doesn't like it, so when you go to say press your email button, it flicks to another button, and just keeps doing it until it feels ready to play again.
That to me is no good when i rely on a phone for email.
The battery life is VERY poor. It won't last a working day if you use it fairly regularly for email and internet use.
Every few days it requires a battery removal and re-start as it freezes and takes ages for anything to open.
The Blackberry App store is, to be brutally honest, boring & rubbish, and i have never seen an app that i would feel is worth paying for.
Its nothing like the iPhone app's, and has no where near the quality, quantity i would expect from a phone that initially i bought, as i was told by the phone salesman it was supposed to make the iPhone look silly........i think not.
The 5mp camera isnt very good, it takes ages to actually take a picture.
I could go on and on, but in hindsight, i would not have bought this phone had i known it would have ended up being such a pain to use.
Its a shame, as it has the potential to be an amazing phone, shame blackberry haven't taken that into account
Bring on my iPhone 3gs at the end of the month.
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