Saturday, March 20, 2010

BlackBerry-Curve-8900

Along with the Pearl, the Curve series represents the kinder, gentler side of BlackBerry; it's the side that appeals to consumers without sacrificing power, and from time to time, it's the side that's even been known to show some sex appeal. The Curve 8900 really takes that sex appeal to the next level, delivering one of the most drop-dead gorgeous phones ever to grace a corporate boardroom -- and it just so happens that T-Mobile USA's the first American carrier to deliver it, so we've taken the opportunity to put it through its paces. Does it out-Bold the Bold? Read on.
At the risk of gushing, we've got to say it again: in person, this is a really stunning phone, and we think it goes without saying that this is the best-looking device RIM has crafted to date. The Bold isn't far behind, but the 8900 gets nipped and tucked in just the right places and adds just enough matte chrome to take the prize (believe us, we hate shiny overkill as much as the next guy, but the chrome's legitimately tasteful here). It also swaps out the white trackball for a stealthy black one and replaces that polarizing pleather back with a far, far more agreeable slab of brushed aluminum. In a way, you can think of the industrial design as a Bold / Storm hybrid.

We figure a lot of buyers here are going to be upgrading from an 8320, so we wanted to put the father and the son side by side to see just what has changed. In a word? Everything. It's amazing to think that the 8300 was on the forefront of RIM's ID when it launched, because when you put it side-by-side with the 8900, it looks like a child's toy dominated by bulky, painted plastic. That alone could be enough to sway a few particularly fickle, superficial users into a new two-year contract (read: us), but what's more, you're getting a significantly higher resolution display -- just like the Bold -- along with a new default theme that really puts the tight dot pitch in the spotlight. On the downside, we noticed that the 8900's max brightness is noticeably lower than the 8320's, which could be an issue in direct sunlight; otherwise, you'll be fine.

Just as the Bold carries over the 8800's keyboard design, the 8900 carries over the 8300's -- keys are spaced with a gap between each, and unless you're a psychotic keyboard aficionado, we think you're really unlikely to experience a difference in accuracy, speed, or comfort between the two. The key layout is identical so there won't be any learning curve there, though the shift keys have shrunk from double-wides to single-wides; we didn't have any trouble quickly and accurately hitting them, so no big loss.
The user interface is a total walk in the park for anyone familiar with the BlackBerry ecosystem -- particularly an OS 4.6 device like the Bold -- and T-Mobile's made the expected customizations like myFaves access from the home screen. As we've said, the now-familiar wireframe theme is attractive and really shows off the power of the 8900's ultra-crisp 480 x 360 display, but when you look at the main menu, it can be a bit overwhelming; the icons have a tendency to blend into one another and it's a little difficult to quickly pick out what we're looking for by sight. We're sure we'd learn the locations of icons and commit them to memory after a couple weeks' of use -- either that or we'd change the theme -- but for new users, this could be a source of some intimidation out of the box.

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Quick Specifications

Network GSM 850 MHz / 900 MHz / 1800 MHz / 1900 MHz 3G Network No Weight 3.87 oz / 109.7 g Dimension
4.29" x 2.36" x 0.53"
10.9 cm x 5.99 cm x 1.35 cm
Touchscreen No MP3 Music Player Yes. Supports MIDI, MP3, AAC, eAAC+, AAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, Real Audio 10 Music Files Digital Camera Yes. 3.2 Megapixel Battery Type Lithium Ion 1400 mAh Talk Time 5.5 hours Standby Time 365 hours (15.21 days)

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