UPS came through with an extra special delivery this morning, the highly-coveted Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm 9350 Smartphone. The first-ever BlackBerry Smartphone with a touchscreen has been building momentum across Cellfanatic for the past few months, but finally the day has come to review the device and see if RIM and Verizon’s hardwork has paid off.
What’s In the Box?
When you first see the box you are immediately humbled by the convenient packaging. Inside is a vast array of accessories including a microUSB charger, microUSB sync cable, 3.5mm Wired Stereo Headset, pre-installed 8GB microSDHC card, 2GB USB Verizon Wireless branded memory stick, and a variety of International power adapters to comply with charging outlets as you become a Global Traveler. As far as the literature and software is concerned a Navigation QuickStart Guide, Global Support Guide, Tips Hints and Shortcuts Manual, BlackBerry User Tools CD and V Cast Music With Rhapsody / VZAccess Manager Software CD is included.
The Device: Build Quality and Screen
There was little doubt in our minds before having the Storm that RIM would neglect the fine detail and materials for a high-end smartphone. At 4.43 x 2.45 x 0.55 inches and 5.5 ounces, the device has excellent balance and can best be described as ’solid’. The low-grade plastics we’ve seen on other smartphones are absent when it comes to Storm and this is where the materials and construction shine.
The 3.25-inch HVGA+ (480 x 360 pixel) touchscreen is simply stunning. Side-by-Side with the iPhone 3G you can see the higher level of clarity and benefit of added screen resolution. The screen uses RIM’s SurePress technology which allows the entire screen to be pressed similar to the feeling of clicking the mouse on your desktop computer. There is an inherit benefit in this click-screen technology which allows fewer accidental keystrokes and presents an affinity to traditional keypads. Beyond the technology behind the screen are also several Touchscreen settings which allow you to adjust the Tap Interval, Hover Period and Swipe Sensitivity.
Keyboards: SureType, Multi-Touch, Landscape QWERTY
The biggest complaint we hear from first-time touchscreen users is that the learning curve to typing poses a serious threat to their productivity. With the BlackBerry Storm this learning curve is minimized thanks to SurePress technology and 3 on-screen keyboards.
Unfortunately no device is perfect and one area we found bothersome was the autocorrect capability since even we can’t maintain 100 percent typing accuracy. When common spelling mistakes were made it seemed to be hit or miss as to whether the intended word would be displayed. As a result we often found ourselves using the backspace for manual corrections. Auto correct aside, the touchscreen is extremely accurate in a way yet to be seen outside of the iPhone until now.
Software: Verizon Services
The Verizon Wireless BlackBerry 9530 Smartphone ships with OS v4.7.0.65, 15.8MB of Application Memory Available, 879.2MB of Device Memory and 7.3GB of the 8GB Media Card available. At the moment the Application Center is rather limited, with only 8 titles available to download: AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Facebook, Flickr, VZ Navigator and Visual Voicemail. Long-time Verizon Wireless customers will be happy to know that GPS functionality is fully enabled within the BlackBerry Maps application as it is in VZ Navigator: Traffic Enhanced Edition.
What would you like to know?
We are going to hold off on releasing a full review for the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm 9530 until we have enough time to fully explore the phone. At the moment we consider the device to be the best alternative to the iPhone 3G based on touchscreen performance, build quality and the updated Operating System. While there have been some hiccups in the speed of the device as well as typing, further exploration into the touchscreen settings could prove extremely important in our valuation. We would like to open up this post to questions for readers so go ahead and drop a comment below.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for your comments. I will keep abreast.
I have a few months remaining on a VZW contract with RZR . I have desired a smart-phone, and the features such as scrolling thru images to show potential clients.
Storm seems my answer, as with the other device, I am told that AT&T service & signals are terrible here in my area. I will watch for all the reviews I can read…..
I am interested in Storm’s syncing with a Mac! Geo
You always have the option of using Missing Sync for BlackBerry. This would take care of any BlackBerry to Mac syncing including your music library via iTunes.
http://www.markspace.com/products/blackberry/blackberry-sync-mac-software.html
i am curious about mms. ive had the 3g iphone for about a month now and recently found out i can not send picture msgs to friends phones, only to their email. unless i have their exact phone address, like ###-####@tmomail.com, most people dont even know their phone address and its a big pain in the a**!! i cant even find a zoom on the camera and theres no video! maybe its just me, but im really not impressed with the iphone. when you spend that much on a phone, it should do everything + more than other phones w/out having to download and pay for apps for every little thing! i have always loved blackberry and am considering the switch to storm. how is the camera/mms functionality on the storm and its other apps?
I would like to see a review by someone who lives with the phone on a day-to-day basis and uses much of the functionality. Unfortunately, many Storm reviews are simply a discussion of the features or specs, which are impressive. However, this phone is being considered by people looking to be more productive. Issues like whether or not someone will have a compatible power cord when you forgot yours?, or can I read the screen on a sunny day in the car?, or does the phone reboot in the middle of a conference call with top customers?, would it appear to sustain an accidental drop in a parking lot?, what about use in the rain waiting a cab?These can be deal breakers for many of us who use these phones. Teenagers who are power users no doubt have different requirements.
A formal review that addresses those issues is in the works. This was more of a first look since the software the BlackBerry Storm shipped with was extremely buggy. Now that the v4.7.0.76 update has been released I think the Storm can receive an accurate review. To be honest the software the Storm shipped with prevented it from being my daily device because the accelerometer would only work half the time and the back button sometimes not at all. Needless to say these issues have been resolved and I am back using the Storm so I think I could give you a good idea of how the device performs in the situations you’ve described above.
Power Cord: Just like all BlackBerry devices you can charge via USB cable or the included power cord. The major difference here is that since the Storm is a World Edition phone it includes the wall adapters for traveling abroad. The connector on the Storm is similar to the Motorola Krave ZN4, but the charger will not work since Motorola always has an odd pin placed in the connector preventing cross compatibility. It is not a standard mini USB connector.
Sunlight: Direct sunlight can best be seen in this photo from my comparison Storm vs G1 gallery. http://www.cellfanatic.com/wp-content/gallery/JPEG/g1vsstorm%20134.jpg You can also visit the entire gallery here http://www.cellfanatic.com/gallery?album=2&gallery=104
Durability: The Storm build quality is very similar to the 8800 Series with the exception of a metal back cover and of course the camera. Dropping the device will definitely slash the edges of the phone, but I would not fear the phone breaking. As far as water goes it is as prone to water damage which will void the warranty as much so as any other phone, doesn’t’ look like any special measures have been taken. The indicator spots are still inside the battery cover and it will be easy for a technician to spot water damage.
Reboots: The Storm users will suffer in much of the same way that first-time iPhone users suffered when switching from physical QWERTY keyboards. On the T-mobile G1 I am able to maintain 35wpm, the iPhone 25wpm and the Storm < 20wpm. The clicking of the keyboard prevents the quick sequential keystrokes that can be performed on the iPhones since you can literally click two letters within fractions of a second. Each time you press in on the screen only counts for one letter so a major sacrifice will need to be made if you are a power email user. Bottom line, I couldn’t imagine sending a hundred emails off a day with this device when I struggle with a few dozen.
I have not had the phone freeze or lock up on me once since installing the new firmware, but I have had the phone become extremely slow when switching between programs. There are also occasional instances where the accelerometer takes a good 3 second count before it rotates and brings up the proper keyboard. I hope I’ve answered your questions, feel free to continue asking and I will incorporate them into the formal reviews, thanks.
Do I HAVE to install the blackberry tools and all the verizon crap on my desktop pc? I want to use my realplayer for music and I want to sync my blackberry with Microsoft outlook to get all my contact names and addresses. What else is provided on these two discs?