RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900

The four-line keyboard looks the same as the Bold's, but it's a teeny bit more cramped, and during attempts at speed typing we noticed the difference, experiencing more errors than we'd anticipated. A little practice and more concentration seemed to solve that problem, however. We guess it just takes some getting used to.

Around the sides are volume buttons, a dedicated shutter button for the camera, a mini USB power socket, a voice-dialling key and a keyboard lock button. The latter, on top of the phone, is certainly convenient, but the fact that it requires a single press means it's not difficult to unlock the handset accidentally, which could potentially leave you open to Alistair Campbell-style accidental email debacles. We're just saying…

More pocket-friendly than past Curves

The main functional improvement on the Bold comes with the camera, a 3.2Mp job as opposed to the 2Mp type seen on both the Bold and the 8300. Not only that, but it has autofocus and an LED flash – a grown-up camera for a grown-up handset.

It's quick to access using the shutter button on the side of the handset - it's ready to shoot in around two seconds - and includes a 2x digital zoom controlled using the volume buttons. There are three picture sizes available, with the largest being 2048 x 1536, plus three compression settings increments, from Normal to Superfine, to trade file size for clarity. Snaps can be geo-tagged.

There's video too, which wasn't available on the last Curve we saw. It's not great, it has to be said, offering a resolution of only 240 x 180, but has less of a tendency to blur with movement than many other comparable cameraphones we've looked at.