Blackberry Curve 8900 Review
T-Mobile introduced us to the Blackberry Curve at CES 2009 last month and will soon release it in the market. What’s so great about it? Nothing really. But is it a smartphone that you should seriously consider? Absolutely. The Curve 8900 is a replacement for the 8300 series. Although there is nothing in the way of breakthrough technology that makes this new model stand out, there are a number of improvements on the already good 8300 that make the 8900 among the best smartphones available today. The phone will be available with T-Mobile from mid February for a price of $199 with a 2 year contract.
Price: 
Looks:
User friendliness:
Overall Rating: 
Looks wise the design, although resembling the older model, is much sleeker. It is the thinnest full QWERTY Blackberry ever made measuring 4.2 inches long, 2.3 inches in width and 0.5 inches in thickness. It fits comfortably in the hand for both phone and messaging use and also goes easily in a pocket or handbag. The phone is also more solid than its predecessors. The body is still plastic (that’s why the weight is only 3.8 ounces) but the new finishes and paints that RIM have used make the body more solid – something you notice as soon as you pick it up.
The keyboard has the standard Blackberry layout which means that it’s comfortable and easy to use and navigation is not a problem, even for those with big thumbs! Because the phone is smaller than other models like the Bold, the keypad is smaller, but using it is not a problem.
The Curve 8900’s display is its outstanding feature. It is a 2.4 inch TFT that offers 480 x 360 pixel resolution and supports 65K colors. As compared to the Bold, the screen is much sharper and has a much higher level of brightness.
The Curve 8900 uses the latest version of Blackberry’s operating system which means that you get the latest User Interface. Again this UI is nothing very new, but it does remove some to the niggles, that were present in the previous version and overall makes using the 8900 a much more pleasant experience. But the new interface has one new problem – many of the icons are very similar in looks and distinguishing the various folders and applications at a glance, especially in bright sunlight, can often be a problem.
Phone features include quad band which supports world roaming, conference calling, voice dialing, a speakerphone and text and multimedia messaging – all that you would normally expect in a phone of this type.
The music player is exceptional (the speaker is good) and support a huge variety of formats. The 8900 has only 256 MB of on board memory but the expansion slot can hold up to 16 GB cards.
The camera has been upgraded from 2 megapixels to 3.2 and takes clear and sharp photos and videos with various light and color effect options.
As for the other features, it has everything you would expect from Blackberry. It’s a good phone, with good looks, good features and a good price.