Key difference
Like other BB keyboards, the ergonomic angling on the keys makes them easy to distinguish under the thumbs and they offer just the right amount of feedback so you can comfortably work up a good turn of texting speed with eyes-averted confidence.
Slimmer than the Bold 9900 but a decent performer
The latest BlackBerry 7 is the operating system of course, including the recent addition of NFC (Near Field Communication) for future mobile-based payments and a neatly efficient display of shortcuts which can be organised across five different screens (All, Favourites, Media, Downloads and Frequent).
The processor is a 1GHz Marvell Tavor MG1 but while on paper it’s less powerful than the Bold 9900’s 1.2GHz model, in practise you’ll notice little difference. The BB 7 OS is efficient and doesn’t offer the same kind of drain that you get from the processor-hungry graphics on higher-end HTCs for instance.
Sample shots
Click for a full-resolution image
Click for a full-resolution image
As with cameras on other recent BlackBerrys, the 5Mp model here starts from a pretty high level of competence. It has an LED flash and autofocus, plus a range of settings including close-up and face detection which helps to optimise the focus for faces. It won’t work miracles, but pictures tend to be sharp and clear with good colour balance. Video drops the resolution to 640 x 480 pixels but it holds up well enough for YouTube.
Next page: Staying power
COMMENTS
Built-in time machine
Takes you right back to 2003 every time you pick up the phone.
Same old same old
So it's a bit better than one BB here and a bit worse than another BB there and a lightly smaller screen but a touchscreen.
Seems RIM can only improve one thing if they cut back on another thing. What would be wrong with the 9900 plus touchscreen?
Apps are overrated
Just look at the top selling apps and you'll notice 90%+ are games and entertainment, and not even good games.
What people actually use are a browser, email, facebook, twitter and youtube. If your device can do those well then really that covers almost everything that matters.
Yes, you enjoy your little colourful apps that waste time. Meanwhile I'll be productive and not use my phone as a toy ;)
iMessenger... great idea! It will be copied by BlackBerry I'm sure. ;)
Go ahead, feel smug and download another app. Isn't there an app for feeling smug? iSmug? ;)
"As far as apps go, RIM's BlackBerry handsets still have a lot of catching up to do"
that might have something to do with the teeny tiny screen size?
