BlackBerry Curve 8320 Sunset

Call Quality

Call quality: We’re happy to report that call quality is decent – not quite as clear as the Pearl's but still quite good. For the most part, callers were clear, and it’s easy enough to adjust the cell phone’s volume with the corresponding buttons on the side of the Curve. However, there were times when we heard a tinny echo of our own voice. We also appreciated the speakerphone since we were able to speak simultaneously and callers weren’t cut off mid-sentence. Additionally, there was no degradation in call quality when we used a Bluetooth headset, and we could still hear callers clearly in a noisy environment.

Audio quality: The playback of music on the BlackBerry’s speaker is pretty good, but we aren’t ready to give up our separate MP3 player just yet. We must admit, music sounded much better through the included stereo headphones. If you prefer to go wireless, you can always listen to tunes via an optional Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset.

Ease of Use

Menu/phone book: If you love the BlackBerry interface, you’ll be happy to know not much has changed with the Curve – but it is a lot prettier. You can use the included software to easily sync contacts, calendar, and e-mail between the Curve and your computer. Additionally, syncing media – videos, music, and pictures – is also infinitely easier thanks to the included Media Manager software from Roxio (see Music and Camera for more details). However, unlike with the Treo, you can’t color-code your calendar entries. The BlackBerry Curve comes with a mini-USB-to-USB cable so that you can connect it directly to your computer. Also, you can always use Bluetooth if your computer has that functionality; however, sending/receiving media via Bluetooth is a bit of a mixed bag.

Messaging: The reason most people buy a BlackBerry is for the messaging, and rightfully so; it really has perfected messaging, and now it has a built-in spell checker , which makes sending messages even easier. Even better, it’s extremely easy to set up multiple e-mail accounts (including work e-mail) on this BlackBerry. You can do it during initial setup of the device by following the prompts on the screen. If you already have a BlackBerry e-mail account and are simply changing devices, you can upgrade the information in the BlackBerry Start option in the Media Net menu. Also, if you tend to receive a lot of graphic-intensive e-mails, opt for an unlimited data plan, as downloading graphics can eat up megabytes of data pretty quickly. We should note that if you don’t configure an e-mail address, you can’t send e-mails from the BlackBerry.

Camera/video: The BlackBerry Curve has a 2-megapixel camera and a flash. Overall, picture quality is decent when snapping pics using the Curve, but not as good as the photos we took with the LG VX8700. Colors are true and bright even when viewed on a computer; however, it doesn’t capture details too well. There’s also a tiny mirror underneath the lens, and you can use it to snap self-portraits. Like the BlackBerry Pearl, the Curve doesn't let you delete a picture once you snap it. We’re glad to see BlackBerry left our favorite feature implemented on the Curve: the trackball integrated with the camera application. While you’re setting up a picture, you can scroll around to zoom or change the size of the image.

Additionally, you can view videos on the cell phone, but you can’t shoot any. We were able to load a few videos onto the Curve using the included Roxio Media Manager software. It’s easy to drag and drop videos onto the cell phone using this app. The only downfall has to do with the way the internal 64MB of memory is configured on this BlackBerry; you can’t transfer files much larger than a few megabytes unless you add an optional MicroSD card and put the cell phone into Mass Media mode, which you need to be prompted to do on the BlackBerry. On the plus side, regardless of the folder where you store the video, the Curve is smart enough to find it and play it back through the video player. Playback of video is OK, but not stellar – you definitely know you’re watching video on a cell phone.

Music: As noted, the Curve has a music player as well. Unlike with many other cell phones on the market, you can listen to songs stored in MP3, AAC (Apple’s audio format) and WMA files (Microsoft’s audio format). There aren’t many music-centric features included in the player, but it has the ones we’ve come to expect: Repeat, Shuffle, and Playlists (though you can’t create them on the fly). However, we should note that you can save tunes stored in your cell phone as a ringtone. The biggest issue we had with the built-in music player has more to do with the Curve’s memory than anything else. Although the cell phone does come with 64MB of built-in memory, it’s not really set up well for typical music files, so if you want to use the music player, get an extra MicroSD memory card. Once we inserted a 1GB MicroSD card into the back of the cell phone, the music app became much more harmonious to use.

Quibbles aside, we must commend RIM for teaming up with Roxio to help you get music, photos, and videos from your computer on your Curve. Although it ran a little slow on our system (Windows XP), it’s worth the time it takes. It’s one of the more advanced music-syncing options we’ve seen to date. For starters, it supports Music ID tags (which contain information such as song title, album, artist, and so on), but if your music files don’t already have tags, you can easily add them in the Roxio desktop tool. The software has an extremely intuitive user interface, so you don’t even need to read directions to get started. You can always use this software to turn CDs into MP3s. Another nice feature is that the software won’t allow you to move music that the Curve won’t play back (that is, protected music that you might have purchased at an online store) onto it, so you’ll never have to wonder why a song isn’t playing. Instead, you’ll get a pop-up that says, “There are no media files in this folder that supports filter settings.”

Connectivity/Bluetooth/WiFi:You can do a lot with Bluetooth on this cell phone. Besides easily being able to connect to a Bluetooth headset (we found call quality was great when we used the Motorola H700), you can also use it to sync up with your contacts if your computer supports Bluetooth.

This BlackBerry Curve for T-Mobile has built-in WiFi. Besides being able to use this Curve to log onto available WiFi networks to surf the Web or send/receive e-mail, if you have T-Mobile at Home service you can also use it to make voice calls, which can save you minutes on your cell phone plan. We should note that surfing the Web on the Curve was a little lackluster, which is likely due in part to the EDGE data connection. We did have to refresh a few times to get a page loaded correctly. However, the experience is much better if you surf Web pages via a WiFi connection.

Design

Look and feel: We admit it – the BlackBerry Curve isn’t the most attractive smart phone we’ve seen, but it does have a smaller footprint than other BlackBerrys with full keyboards, as well as some nice design features. Of course, it has that great scroll wheel from the Pearl, which is just superfun to use. Plus, the display is easy to view in most lighting conditions and really pops in dimly lit rooms. Unfortunately, like many cell phones these days, it attracts face grease easily, so we often found ourselves wiping off the screen. Additionally, the Curve feels durable, but after a couple of weeks of everyday use, we found it attracted scratches and nicks a little too easily; we highly recommend keeping it a carrying case. Also, we should note that we are not fans of the push-to-talk button located on the left spine of the cell phone. We accidentally pressed it way too often.

Keypad: It’s amazing what a difference a little space between the keys can make. This is abundantly evident on the Curve. Although the Curve is narrower than the BlackBerry 8830, the keyboard on the Curve is much more usable because of the small space between the keys. We rarely suffered misdials or misspells at all. While the keys are a bit on the small side, they are extremely tactile.

Battery Life

We found battery life on the BlackBerry Curve to be an improvement over that of the Pearl. If you use the cell phone frequently to make calls, as well as send/receive text messages and e-mail, the Curve will probably last about two days before needing to recharge. However, if you consider the Curve primarily a cell phone and less of a messaging device, you’ll get about four days of battery life from it. We should note that listening to music a lot on the Curve will drain the battery faster. On the plus side, leaving the WiFi activated doesn’t have an adverse effect on battery life. On the plus side, the BlackBerry Curve will charge when it’s connected to your computer via the included USB cable, so you can leave the cable in the office and the charger at home. Nice!