BlackBerry Curve review - Conclusion
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Mark Brezinski Published on August 10, 2007 Comment on this |
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Who's It For
Business User
Business users will find all the important functionality they've come to expect from BlackBerry, just with less of a price tag. Although the Curve is designed for both business and home users, it will find a fond place in the pocket of any business user who has to justify their purchase to their accountant.
Budget Callers
Normally, anything that costs money after a contract would be a turnoff to a budget caller. When dealing with smart phones, however, you probably won't find a cheaper alternative than the Curve without sacrificing a great deal of functionality.
Chatty Teenager
Unless this particular Chatty Teenager is one of those annoying over-achievers, there's really no reason for him or her to own a smart phone at all. There are cheaper phones that provide better aesthetic appeal and better media playback. The Curve offers a lot of functionality specifically for business users, which will be wasted on most teenagers.
Media Maven
Media mavens should look elsewhere. The music player is basic, the camera isn't very good, and there isn't any ability to capture or download music. Tack on the inability to store multimedia on the phone itself, and Media mavens will see this more as an agenda book than a handset.
Conclusion
We like the Curve. It offers a lot of functionality for its price, and its e-mail capabilities are amazing. Its organization software isn't the most powerful we've come across, but more than adequate for most users. Its multimedia support doesn't stack up well against a more media-oriented handset like the Ocean or the iPhone, but this really isn't why you would buy a Curve in the first place; you'd pick it for the email and the ability to do a number of things adequately.
The QWERTY keyboard is pretty good, but the keys are small, and some users with big hands will find it awkward. Also, the talk and end keys are hard to find on their own, as their edges are tapered off. The trackball, on the other hand, is excellent for this OS. We initially missed using keyboard shortcuts for opening up programs, but the trackball made navigation relatively easy to do, if a tad slower.
One thing we really had a problem with was the alert functionality. At most, the Curve will ring or vibrate three times per alert, with no auto-snooze to remind you again in a few minutes. This phone is marketed to people who can't afford to miss meetings, yet it offers far fewer functional alerts than even media-oriented standard phones.
The Curve is great for what it is: a budget business device. If you're looking for business functionality at a discount price, the Curve is for you.
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