BlackBerry's smartphones weren't always known for their good looks. But looking at the BlackBerry Curve 8320, it's hard to remember that there was a time when RIM was known for making bland, boring phones. The BlackBerry Curve, with its softly curved and colorful design, is anything but bland. And if you're one of those smartphone shoppers who think looks aren't everything, you'll be happy to know that the BlackBerry Curve performs well, too. It offers top-notch e-mail handling and the ability to place voice calls over Wi-Fi networks.
Design
The Curve 8320 is available from T-Mobile in three colors: titanium gray, gold, or sunset red. The gray is the most business-like of the three; the sunset red shade is the boldest and the brightest.
PROS: In any color, the BlackBerry Curve is a good-looking phone. It's only .6 inches thick and weighs just 3.9 ounces, and it fits nicely in the palm of your hand. The keyboard is small but easy to use, and the display is bright and clear.
CONS: Not many to speak of, though people with large fingers may find the keyboard a bit too small. One other, albeit minor, complaint: The Curve lacks a touchscreen, a feature that is becoming more popular on smartphones.
Making Calls
PROS: The Curve supports T-Mobile's $10-per-month Unlimited HotSpot Calling service. This allows you to make voice calls over a Wi-Fi network (either your home or office network, or a public hotspot), rather than over a cellular network. This allows you to make calls in areas where cellular coverage may be spotty. It can also allow you to avoid using all of your voice minutes making calls, as calls placed over Wi-Fi networks don't count as voice minutes on your service plan.
CONS: Voice quality is only decent, both over cellular networks and Wi-Fi networks; over both networks, voices sometimes sounded choppy and words were sometimes garbled. Also, I had some problems when the Curve handed calls off from my Wi-Fi network to a cellular network. The transition is supposed to be seamless; that is, you should be able to start a call over Wi-Fi, then when you leave the range of the wireless network, T-Mobile's cellular network should automatically pick up the call, allowing you to continue chatting. My experience wasn't as smooth: I found that calls were likely to drop as soon as I left the range of the Wi-Fi network I was on.
Browsing the Web
PROS: The Curve 8320 supports Wi-Fi; this allows speedier surfing when you're in range of a wireless network.
CONS: When a Wi-Fi network is unavailable, you're limited to T-Mobile's pokey EDGE network for surfing. It's not a 3G network, and it shows. Page loads can be slow. The Curve's browser formats pages for viewing on the smartphone's screen, but this can be a bit of a drag. Photos are often stripped out, and you're not likely to see a lot of content on one screen.
Messaging
PROS: Messaging is the highlight of any BlackBerry smartphone, and the Curve 8320 is no exception. It supports almost any type of e-mail system you can think of, including business accounts that run on Lotus Notes, and will handle up to 10 e-mail accounts. It also includes most of the popular instant messaging clients, including AOL's AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live.
Software
PROS: You can download applications from a variety of sources, including mobile.blackberry.com. This allows you to pick and choose which applications you'd like installed on your phone. And BlackBerry users now have an application that allows them to work with Microsoft Office files on their phones: eOffice for BlackBerry from DynoPlex.
CONS: While you can download apps, you often have to pay for them, and many of the titles are pricey. DynoPlex's eOffice, for example, costs $70. And while the number of titles for BlackBerry phones is growing, you still won't find as many applications as you will for Windows Mobile- or Palm-based smartphones.
Multimedia
PROS: The included audio and video player is easy to use and supports most popular file formats, such as MP3, WMA, and WMV files. Transferring files to your Curve from your computer is easy, using the included BlackBerry Desktop Manager software and USB cable. The 2-megapixel camera took some very good snapshots, especially when used outdoors. It includes a 5X digital zoom.
CONS: To capture a snapshot, you press the trackball that sits directly below the screen. To activate the camera's digital zoom, you scroll the trackball. I often found myself adjusting the zoom when I meant to press the button completely to take a photo. This caused me to miss a few shots I hoped to capture. One other complaint: Videos don't display in full-screen size. Instead, they're shown in a smaller square within the media player interface, which leaves you looking at a very, very small picture.
The BlackBerry Curve 8320 is available from T-Mobile for $150 when signing a new two-year service agreement. And if T-Mobile is not your carrier of choice, you can find other versions of the Curve--which are very similar to the 8320 reviewed here--from AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless. Whichever carrier you opt for, the BlackBerry Curve is an excellent smartphone, with plenty of features to back up its good looks.
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