BlackBerry Curve 8900 reviewed

In this blog on 29 September, I praised T-Mobile for their quick response in replacing my broken old BlackBerry with a new Curve 8900 Smartphone. It duly arrived by post on the date as expected.

I was asked to review the phone, and having now used it for a couple of weeks, I can give a short review.

Probably like most business users, I mainly use the phone for email and phone calls, backed up by some texting and Internet use. I don't tend to use the music or games facilities, though I have tested the camera.

Let's start with the camera. It has 3.2 megapixels - not large by today's camera (or many phone) standards, but I have found pictures taken in the daylight to be perfectly adequate for my needs so far.

The Curve is wider than my old BlackBerry 8110, but this has not been an issue to date. It still slips easily into a trouser pocket, or even a shirt pocket, and is not heavy enough to be a problem.

The width of the Curve has the advantage of giving it a wider screen, but, presumably, the reason the phone is wider is to make room for a full QWERTY keyboard. This is certainly better for typing (no more of that old predictive text or multi-presses), but the keys are mighty small!

One feature I particularly like is the single press (top left of the unit) to release the phone from keyboard lock as opposed to the double key press of the 8110. Small thing, but significant.

The screen gives a clear presentation and although website text can be miniscule (reach for the glasses!), it is still clear and readable.

All in all, I am very pleased with the phone to date.