BlackBerry Curve 8320 Review - Hardware
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Alfredo Padilla Published on October 10, 2007 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (9.96)
To see how good the BlackBerry Curve 8320's QWERTY keyboard is for typing we time how long it takes to type out a test sentence and convert this to a words per minute (WPM) score. We repeat this test five times and take the average for our final score. We were able to score 49.8 WPM on the Curve in our test, which is about what we got with the AT&T version of the phone. We expect phones with QWERTY keyboards to get between 45 and 55 WPM, so the Curve is solidly in this range. The keyboard takes a little getting used to, as the keys are rather small and closely placed together. We found ourselves making mistakes fairly often, especially at first. | Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 49.8 | 9.96 |
| Nokia E90 | 49.0 | 9.80 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 51.3 | 10.26 |
| HTC Mogul | 44.9 | 8.98 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 45.4 | 9.08 |
| Apple iPhone | 39.6 | 7.92 |
T9 and Auto Complete (0.0)
The Curve doesn't support predictive text entry or auto completion as you type. This has been a feature missing from BlackBerry devices for awhile, and we hope it is addressed in future models soon.
One Hand Usability (5.30)
To see how easy it is to type on the Curve using only a single hand we run our words per minute (WPM) test one-handed. As we expect on QWERTY devices that don't lend themselves to one-handed typing, the Curve performed significantly worse in this test than our two-handed typing test. It scored 26.5 WPM in this test; most of the other phones that have QWERTY keyboards had a similar drop-off from two-handed usage.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 26.5 | 5.30 |
| Nokia E90 | 24.0 | 4.80 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 27.4 | 5.48 |
| HTC Mogul | 17.7 | 3.54 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 23.4 | 4.68 |
| Apple iPhone | 32.1 | 6.42 |
Keypad Backlighting (5.0)
As with other BlackBerry devices, the Curve doesn't have separate backlight settings for the keypad. Instead, it uses the same setting as the screen. You can choose to use automatic, however, which uses the light sensor to decide when the backlight needs to go on. We weren't very impressed with the quality of backlight though, as it was very uneven.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (9.0)
The BlackBerry Curve 8320 doesn't have a traditional five way directional-pad, instead using the trackball we've seen on other BlackBerry devices. The trackball allows you to quickly and easily navigate in eight directions, and offers benefits over a traditional d-pad because it's easier to use for navigating large lists. In this way it retains the principal benefits of the jog dial found on older BlackBerry devices, but has the flexibility of a d-pad. Not everything is rosy, however, as we did find that fine control can be difficult, especially if you turn the sensitivity way up. We also sometimes made mistakes when pressing in on the trackball to select an item. Familiarity addresses most of these concerns, however, and overall we were very pleased with the functionality. Touch Screen (0.0)
The Curve does not have a touch screen.
Jog Dial (1.0)
Although it lacks the traditional scroll wheel of previous BlackBerry models, the trackball fills in admirably by allowing you to quickly scroll up and down the huge menus you often find in the BlackBerry OS. As such we are awarding one point in this section.
Soft Buttons (0.0)
As with previous BlackBerries, the Curve lacks soft keys so commonly found on most mobile phones.
Volume Control (3.0)
The volume buttons on the Curve are located on the right side near the top. It's a typical rocker switch and fulfills it's function fairly well, with decent tactile feedback and key travel. The volume keys only work during a call or when inside a media player, however. For most other functions you need to set the volume using the built-in profiles system, which gives you exact control over what sounds the phone will emit depending upon what profile is activated. Some may like this level of control, but others will be frustrated by the fact they can't just change the phone volume like you can on most cell phones.
Power and Standby (5.0)
The power button on the Curve is a secondary function of the end key; you press and hold it to turn the phone off. The standby function is found on a button on the top of the phone, and again a press and hold is used to put the phone into standby. Both buttons provide good key travel, but we would have liked to see better tactile feedback on the standby button.
Other Buttons (4.0)
The BlackBerry Curve 8320 has four more buttons In addition to the buttons described above. To the left and right of the trackball are the menu and back keys, which are used to navigate the interface. They are well placed and easy to use. On the left and right side of the phone are two customizable buttons that initiate voice dialing and the camera by default. We like having customizable buttons, but wish they had been placed in more convenient locations.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
The Curve's screen is the standard QVGA (320 x 240-pixel) resolution we've seen on the latest BlackBerry devices. This resolution provides good detail and should be sufficient for most users. QVGA is pretty standard on phones nowadays, but we would have liked to have seen a higher-resolution screen, as found on the iPhone or E90.
| Cell Phone | Resolution | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Nokia E90 | 800 x 352 | 10.0 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| HTC Mogul | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Apple iPhone | 320 x 480 | 9.0 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.23)
Pixels per inch (PPI) is a measure of how densely pixels are packed onto the screen. Higher pixel density leads to sharper images and richer colors. The BlackBerry Curve 8320's pixel density was 164.6 PPI, which is pretty good, but not great. You can see from the table below that this is as good or better than most of our comparison phones, with the only exception being the Nokia E90 and its very high resolution display.
| Cell Phone | Pixels Per Inch | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 164.6 | 8.23 |
| Nokia E90 | 219.0 | 10.95 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 164.6 | 8.23 |
| HTC Mogul | 142.9 | 7.15 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 162.0 | 8.10 |
| Apple iPhone | 164.8 | 8.24 |
Screen Physical Size (6.08)
The Curve's screen measures 2.43 inches, which is a good-sized display for cell phones in general, but just average for smart phones. Several of our comparison phones have larger screens, but of course screen real estate is one of the things you give up for the Curve's smaller form factor.
| Cell Phone | Size Diagonal (inches) | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 2.43 | 6.08 |
| Nokia E90 | 4.0 | 10.00 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 2.43 | 6.08 |
| HTC Mogul | 2.8 | 7.00 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 2.4 | 6.00 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.5 | 8.75 |
Screen Brightness (9.5)
To measure screen brightness we turn the screen's brightness up to maximum and point the phone's browser to a blank white page. We then use a lux meter from two inches away to measure how bright the screen is. The Curve's screen measured an impressive 105 lux, which is very bright. You can see below that only the iPhone, which is just about the brightest screen we've ever seen, is significantly better than the Curve. We also found a good selection of screen brightness settings, with the ability to set one of 10 levels or let the light sensor adjust automatically. You can also set how long the backlight stays on.
| Cell Phone | Brightness (lux) | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 105 | 9.50 |
| Nokia E90 | 54 | 3.95 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 105 | 9.50 |
| HTC Mogul | 102 | 7.85 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 53 | 2.65 |
| Apple iPhone | 168 | 15.40 |
Screen Bright Light Performance (8.0)
To see how well the BlackBerry Curve 8320's screen holds up in bright light we shine 3000 lux of light onto the screen, which is equivalent to a bright sunny day. We were very happy to see the Curve is very legible in bright light situations, thanks to its very bright screen. We were able to navigate the interface and read the screen without any major problems.
Color Depth (6.0)
Color depth is a measure of how many colors a screen can display. The Curve can display a fairly standard 65,000 colors. This should be sufficient to handle most on-screen displays and images with good color fidelity. We are starting to see phones like the Nokia E90 handle up to 16 million colors, and we can't help but hope RIM starts to upgrade its displays, especially since it has started to offer multimedia features.
| Cell Phone | Colors (thousands) | Score |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 65 | 6.00 |
| Nokia E90 | 16000 | 10.00 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8300 (AT&T) | 65 | 6.00 |
| HTC Mogul | 65 | 6.00 |
| T-Mobile Dash | 65 | 6.00 |
| Apple iPhone | n/a - unknown | 6.00 |
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (9.0)
Like most BlackBerry devices before it, the Curve supports Mini USB for both power and data. We love the use of this standardized port, as it allows you to use a single cable for a wide range of devices that support it. We also like that charging via USB is supported, as well.
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (8.0)
The Curve has a standard 2.5mm headphone jack. We would have preferred to see a 3.5mm jack here, but it's significantly better than HTC and Motorola devices that force you to use the Mini USB port for headphones. We were also happy to see support for wireless stereo Bluetooth headphones via the A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth profiles.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The BlackBerry Curve 8320 has 64 MB of internal storage, which should be sufficient for all of your contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, and notes. If you want to put any multimedia on the device, however, then you should invest in a Micro SD card. But seeing as you can pick up a 2 GB one for $40 these days, it's not a big investment.
Expansion Slot & Format (5.0)
The Curve uses Micro SD for expandable memory, which is fairly standard among cell phones. The card slot is located under the battery though, which is inconvenient. We recommend buying the highest capacity card available and forgetting it, although you should note that the Curve doesn't support newer high-capacity Micro SD cards, so your limit will be 2 GB.
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