Blackberry 8700 Cell Phone Review - Software
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Alfredo Padilla Published on March 16, 2007 Comment on this |
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OS (8.0)
The Blackberry 8703e runs RIM’s own Blackberry operating system. This is an easy to use and intuitive operating system. It is also open for development so you can address many of the shortfalls of the Blackberry platform by installing third party software. The interface can be navigated easily using the scroll wheel and back button. Although, this sometimes results in several button clicks to access the function you want, the fact that you don’t have to move your hand at all to get through menus or access programs means that it is very quick. The one issue that we had with the Blackberry OS is that multitasking is not fully supported. This means that you can’t go into the web browser, look up a webpage, go back to the menu, look something up in the address book, and then go back to the web browser at the same point you left it. Most Blackberry programs do remember where they were the last time you left them so you won't typically loose data shifting between programs.
Home Screen Score (5.0)
The home screen on the Blackberry 8703e displays the basic information you would expect to see from any mobile phone. This includes time and date, battery, and signal strength. There are also icons that indicate Bluetooth activity, unread messages, voice mail, and other items of interest. These are all arranged in the top quarter of the screen. The bottom three fourths are taken up by program icons. These can be navigated easily by scrolling up and down on the scroll wheel. The icons change to indicate that they have been selected, and the name of the application is indicated at the bottom of the screen.
As with many things on the 8703e, the interface is simple and easy to use. Unfortunately, it does have some drawbacks when compared to other smart phone platforms. For example, both Windows Mobile and Series 60 devices provide users with a home screen that can list upcoming appointments, more detailed task and message lists and other useful information. Overall, we found the home screen on the Blackberry 8703e to be usable, but we wish we had more options to customize the screen to meet individual needs.
Extensibility (7.0)
The Blackberry operating system is an open platform and has a good array of third party programs available that will run natively on the device. You can also install java programs such as the opera mini web browser. We like that the Java platform runs natively in the operating system so we don’t have to launch a separate program to access Java midlets like on many Windows Mobile devices. Native programs can be installed either through a direct download to the device or using the included synchronization software. Overall, we were very pleased with the extensibility options on the Blackberry 8703e. Although, the software catalog is not as large as Windows Mobile or Series 60, you still have hundreds of different programs to choose from.
Customizability (6.0)
The Blackberry 8703e provides users with several options to customize the look and feel of the device. You can assign any picture on the device to be your background. You can also change the device theme whch can change the look of the home screen significantly. More important for business users is the ability to globally change the font type, size, and style. This allows users to make sure that text on the 8703e meets their needs. Include the ability to add third party programs to meet your specific needs and the 8703e is an eminently customizable platform.
OS Responsivness (10.0)
The Blackberry 8703e’s operating system is extremely responsive. In our use of the device, the only time we noticed lag was when waiting for network services or when changing the device theme. This is one area where the 8703e and other Blackberry devices shine compared to other smart phones where lag is a fact of life. We found that the 8703e is even more responsive than Palm, which we praised for its responsiveness.
Gaming (4.0)
The Blackberry 8703e from Sprint only comes with a single game installed, BrickBreaker. This game uses a paddle and a ball with the goal of breaking the bricks that are arranged above you. Although it is certainly not a dynamo, it is distracting, easy to play, and (in our opinion) fun. We also appreciated that the 8703e shipped with at least one full version game, something we didn’t get in phones like the Motorola Razr V3m and the Sanyo M1.
If you are interested in obtaining additional games for the 8703e, you can choose from an array of native games, we found 80 titles at handango.com. Although, we were unable to verify this; the Blackberry 8703e should also support many Java games. Unfortunately, whatever game you are playing, you will find the controls on the 8703e to be very limiting. A scroll wheel and a back button simply can’t compare to a good joystick or directional pad like that found on the Treo 700p.
Overall, we liked the fact that the 8703e gave us options for games, but as a business device, it was not optimized for game play.
Browser Features (7.0)
The Blackberry 8703e has a better than average web browser. You can view both WAP and HTML web pages. Javascript is supported as is viewing of images, encryption and cookies. You can also save images or whole web pages to your device. More advanced features like Flash, rss feeds, and automatically filling in fields is not supported. We were pleased with the features on the 8703e’s web browser. Although not as fully featured as the browser found on Symbian Series 60 devices or the new iPhone, it compares well with the browser found on Windows Mobile and Palm OS smart phones. It is a step above the browsers found on regular phones like the Motorola Razr V3m or the Sanyo M1.
Browsing Interface (6.0)
The Blackberry 8703e only has limited browsing controls available. You can only change the font by changing it globally in the phone settings. Pages are automatically formatted for small screens and rendered in single column view. You cannot zoom in or view pages as they would appear on a desktop.
Bookmarks on the Blackberry 8703e provide good functionality. Although you cannot change the top level bookmark folders, you can create new subfolders. You can also edit existing bookmarks as well as copy or move it to another folder. History is less impressive. For starters, you lose your history between browsing session, which of course means that you cannot control how long your history stays around. You cannot search either your bookmarks or history.
The menu interface on the 8703e’s browser is its usual simple self. You push in on the scroll wheel to get access to the context menu. The browser options are extensive, allowing you to turn certain technologies on or off such as Javascript. You can also clear your history and cache manually.
Advanced features like a mini map, tabbed browsing, and screen rotation are missing from the 8703e’s browser; however, the extensive preferences available put it a step above basic browsers found on phones like the Motorola Razr V3m. It is not as functional, however, as the advanced browser found on Series 60 smart phones like the Nokia E62.
Browser Access Speed (5.71)
To test how easy it is to access the browser, we count the number of steps it takes to go from standby to our own website. We count steps instead of doing a timed test in this situation to control variance in network conditions. Entering the web address is counted as single step. The Blackberry 8703e took 7 steps to access our site. This is an average score for a smart phone, with the Motorola Q coming in at 6 steps and the Palm Treo 700p at 5. The 8703e is helped by the fact that the front shortcut key is mapped to the browser by default. This performance is much better than many regular phones, for example, the Motorola Razr V3m took 13 steps to access our website.
Calculator (9.0)
The calculator on the Blackberry 8703e provides very good functionality for a cell phone calculator. The 8703e gets around the lack of a directional pad by using the keyboard for most calculator options. There is an on screen map that shows you what the key functions are. Thankfully, the number keys map to numbers and the basic calculations map to their standard symbols on the keyboard. More esoteric commands like controlling memory or percentages are mapped to keys that are slightly less obvious. The 8703e handled all of our test calculations, including taking the square root of a number. In addition, the 8703e’s calculator can act as a conversion tool to and from the metric system. This is accessed through the context menu and is a nice added feature.
Alarm (2.0)
We were disappointed by the alarm program on the 8703e. It allows you to set a snooze option and turn the alarm off on weekends as well as choose your alert type. You cannot however create alarms with more advanced recurrences and most disappointing you can only set a single alarm at a time. Obviously, with a smart phone like the 8703e, you can create calendar appointments to act as alarms, but often you don’t want/need that level of detail for a simple alarm. Other smart phones like the Cingular 8525 can set up to 3 and each one can be turned on or off for any given day of the week.
Document Software (3.0)
The Blackberry 8703e does not allow you to edit documents, but it does include document viewers so you can look at attachments that you receive. According to the documentation, this support is contingent on being connected to a Blackberry Enterprise Server. Although we were not connected to such a server in our tests, we found that we were able to view Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files. Surprisingly, we were unable to view Word documents. Document viewing is an important function for a smart phone, and we are disappointed that the 8703e’s document viewing capabilities are contingent on server side support. Other smart phones like the Cingular 8525 or Treo 700p come not only with document viewing but also editing capabilities.
Additional Software (2.0)
In addition to the standard software we have covered already, the Blackberry 8703e comes with a few additional programs, including a program to take advantage of the 8703e’s location based capabilities. The only item we found to be of significant value however is the search application, which allows you to search through your messages, calendar items, address book, memos, and tasks. This is invaluable when you need to find an item quickly. You can search for titles or for text within items as well. A program like this is invaluable on a smart device where you might have hundreds or even thousands of items stored.
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