RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900
If rising sales are any indication, RIM has done it again with the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8900. Along with its signature curve design, the cell phone packs in a new high-resolution screen, a faster processor, and a much improved camera for your still and video shoots. If you wish to make your office mobile and that too without compromising on the style quotient, then the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is certainly your best bet.
Set in a mostly black frame, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 features a 2.4 inch display screen with a resolution of 360x480 pixels. If you compare its screen resolution with that of other high-end cell phones, you will notice that 8900's resolution is superior in most cases. Other essential components and features include the full QWERTY keyboard, voice dialing, front camera for video calls, discreet volume controls on the side panel, and the main camera on the back with 3.2 megapixels.
We were hugely satisfied when we tested the voice quality of calls made with the BlackBerry Curve 8900. In our tests we did not find any background noise getting in even when we were using the speakerphone. Voice dialing was completely bug free and the device also worked well with third-party Bluetooth headsets. In our tests, the device provided approximately nine hours of talk time, which although is not the best, can still be considered good enough for normal use.
Just like its predecessors, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 features an advanced email application that can support up to 8 different email accounts. The best part is that you can view a wide variety of attachments including photos, videos and office documents with complete formatting and graphics. The device also supports most of the popular chat clients such as AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo, and Microsoft Live Messenger.
With its 512-MHz processor, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is build to deliver robust performance and faster response to user inputs. The advanced processor allows you to achieve max response from audio and video applications. The in-inbuilt music player supports MP3, AAC and WMA audio files and features an add-on application that allows you to sync iTunes playlists. Audio files play perfectly and sound great on both wired and Bluetooth headphones.
The 3.2 megapixel camera takes high resolution shots and works quite well even in dark environs. There was only a slight problem with the autofocus, in that it took at least two seconds more to focus in comparison to cameras that older BlackBerry phones had. On board memory is also fairly limited, with 120 MB available as internal phone memory and 250 MB available as external memory, a micro SD card supplied with the cell phone. The good thing however is that you do not have to switch off the cell phone for removing the micro SD card. So, you can easily swap media cards in case you happen to have more than one.
On a five star rating scale, we will give 3 ½ stars to the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900. Our initial review gave it a 4 star, but after receiving some negative feedbacks on the web browser and camera, we had to settle down for 3 ½ stars. However, that does not stop us from recommending this cell phone to anyone who wishes to unlock the full potential of this performance multiplier. In spite of some drawbacks, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is still amongst our list of top recommended cell phones.