RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile) Review
Being one of the Smartphone users who finally succumbed to the Blackberry lifestyle, I have to say that I was excited when I first read about the new Curve 8900. Being a Curve owner myself I have been pretty satisfied with the device. But the new Curve 8900 builds on Blackberry’s trade marked strongpoint’s and also adds the level of consumer features that have made the iPhone popular.
Design
For those familiar with the original Curve which marked RIM’s first attempt into the consumer field, you will notice the similarities. But while the new 8900 Curve stays true to its roots, it would be preposterous to say that RIM has not made some serious design tweaks and innovations to the phone.
Some of the new design features include the re worked QWERTY keyboard which is currently RIM’s thinnest to date measuring only 0.6 inches thick. While we remain on design we should point out that the device is 4.2 inches high by 2.4 wide and weighs 3.9 ounces.
The screen is 2.4 inches of TFT LCD goodness and has been bumped to 480×360 pixels which puts it a full 40 pixels above that of the Bold.
Other design features include a MicroUSB port, 3.5mm headphone hack, microSD expansion slots (support up to 16GB), 3.2 megapixel camera with included flash (records video also) and 2x zoom with image stabilization.
Performance
The new Curve is running the latest version of the Blackberry OS. While we were not fans of the icons in the UI we have to say that it is a mark improvement over that of the previous Curve. The major updates to the OS include tighter integration between web services and the device as well as more consumer friendly options like increased support for various audio files (MIDI and DDivX4 are now supported).
Productivity is still as strong as ever before and the new Curve 8900 can sync with Blackberry Enterprise server as well as Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise as well as personal email accounts. And just like before this is done in real time.
Instant messaging has been updated and now includes clients for Yahoo, AIM, Window’s Live and Google Talk. Unfortunately that Skype app that we have been dying for has not been included.
Call quality is good and thanks to the quad-band (850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) we were able to get great call reception where ever T-Mobile picked up.
That does not mean the device does not have its down sides though. The major feature lacking is the inclusion of 3G. Since T-Mobile is in the processes of rolling out there 3G network (while all the other companies are preparing for 4G) it would not make sense to put it on the new Curve and that has been heeded.
The device is pretty responsive and thanks to the 512MHz processor you will notice very little lag. The speaker on the device has very good output and is a lot better than that of the previous Curve although it will not beat that of the Bold.
Bluetooth 2.0 is also included and provides anywhere from hands free calling to stereo music capabilities and dial-up networking.
The battery is rated for 5.5 hours of talk time and 14.5 days of standby time.
Conclusion
We are very impressed with the new Curve. Thanks to its updated design the device looks and feels more sophisticated. We were just hoping that 3G would have made it to the device and a better processor could have been included. But even with those minor faults this is one phone that is a worthy upgrade to any T-Mobile customer. If you are with a different carrier though, we suggest waiting a little later.
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