Typical price: £240
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What is it: Inexpensive BlackBerry with trackpad
What we think: Offers fewer features than its siblings, but RIM's done a good job of making a Qwerty phone with mass appeal
What you need to know
Reviewed on: 13 August 2009
Tags: RIM, BlackBerry Curve 8520, GPS, SIM-free, 3G
We like:
Flat, responsive trackpad; Qwerty keyboard; good social-networking apps with more available on the BlackBerry App World; 3.5mm headphone jack; dedicated music keys; black version is attractive; rubber trim
We don't like:
No 3G; no camera flash; low-end, 2-megapixel camera; purple version is hideous; no GPS
CNET UK judgement:
With the BlackBerry Curve 8520, RIM has done a good job of creating an affordable phone with all the right features, although you might miss 3G connectivity. Just make sure you get it in black
Full review:
As that creepy guy said at the beginning of The Twilight Zone: there's a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to humanity. We like to call it 'The BlackBerry Zone'. In this parallel world of mobile phones, everything works slightly differently -- all screens are landscape displays, for example. RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8520 provides an inexpensive entry into this alternate phone reality, and we think you might just like it. You'll be burning up the social networks thanks to its Qwerty keyboard and solid apps, and a decent collection of media options means it's fun time, baby. Continue Reading...
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BlackBerry Curve 8520 History
5 Aug 2009 in Crave
Photos: BlackBerry Curve 8520 hands-on
BlackBerry is shaking off its business suit with a cheaper handset aimed at the social networkers of the world, featuring a new trackpad instead of the trackball of old
28 Jul 2009 in Crave
BlackBerry Curve 8520 swaps balls for pads
RIM has announced the inexpensive BlackBerry Curve 8520 will ripen this August, dropping Qwerty goodness into our held-out aprons and swapping the trackball for an optical trackpad
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