BlackBerry Storm Review

BlackBerry Storm is the first handset from Research In Motion (RIM) to feature a touch-based user interface similar to Apple's popular iPhone. This may attract more attention from consumers, but business users tend to stick with the traditional BlackBerry designs.

Now available from Vodafone, the BlackBerry Storm is no keyboard and instead has a larger 3.25in screen designed for fingertip control function, only with a standard telephone / end BlackBerry and the menu button and the button in front bezel. It also has improved music and video capabilities, such as the ability to play movies and synchronize with your iTunes library users.
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While the Storm also has the usual corporate features, such as the ability to register with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) for push email and administrator control, seems to be more aimed at consumers.

Storm has 3G network support, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS hardware for location-based applications, but no Wi-Fi, which many rival devices like the iPhone there. There is, however a decent 3.2 megapixel camera.

The Storm of the touch screen and the attitude of recognition is bound to invite comparisons with the iPhone from Apple, and both are quite similar system inputs. With both devices, the user can scroll up and down the menu and email lists by swiping the screen, and tap the screen to zoom in applications such as browsers. The main menu icon has just the right size to be easily tapped with a fingertip, and the second device automatically changes screen orientation when you are winding around them.

Where the Storm differs is clicked on the screen, which lets the user press down - such as clicking a mouse button - to choose one option. This feature means it is possible to scroll through emails and open the menu without accidentally or unintentionally triggering some function, which we have found a scourge that is sustainable with a touch-enabled mobile phone.



The screen should also be made ​​clickable on-screen soft keyboard more usable, but we did not find this to be happening. Click the feedback does not help, but we found we could only tap out text at a fraction of the speed possible with a real keyboard, and even other thumb keyboard Smartphone. The problem is that tricky to press the correct key, and although the Storm lights he thinks you're trying to press, this forces you to look carefully at the keyboard before you press.

Software using the keyboard more easily trained, but we are still in doubt that professionals who rely on the Blackberry to access email every day will be satisfied with this. We showed the Storm to several other colleagues who already use BlackBerry devices, and most of the states hate this input method.



Actually, the Storm has two on-screen keyboard. If you hold the device in portrait orientation, he showed the same SureType keypad with a BlackBerry Pearl, where each key has two letters and the phone using predictive algorithms to work from what you want to type. Twist the device round to landscape mode, and the Storm uses another side to display full-screen Qwerty layout instead.



As with Apple's iPhone, the touch screen is good for voice calls by dialing on-screen numeric keypad, the key here is larger. Rim also wisely included a physical button to turn off the sound and lock / unlock the screen.

One useful application of touch-screen multi-touch support. If you place one finger at the beginning of the text block and in the end, the Storm highlights of all, making it easier to cut and paste.


In size, the BlackBerry Storm is the same as the RIM BlackBerry 8800 from the old model at 112.5mm long x 62.5 wide x 13.95 deep. Apple's iPhone a little more, but less thick, but the Storm is noticeably heavier than the iPhone and other BlackBerry models at 155g. Nevertheless, it still can be done in a jacket pocket.

BlackBerry models have recently been showing a good, and the Storm is no exception. Its 480 x 360 pixel screen of the iPhone rival for the brightness and colors bright. Vodafone supplied our unit with a variety of media options such as movie trailers, and we found the playback quality is impressive.

We encountered problems while testing of the BlackBerry Storm. While we were able to get the Vodafone 3G network connection center in London, we evaluate the speed dropped off GPRS in other locations and sometimes lost the signal once.

We also found that the motion sensor, which detects the orientation of the device, often causing Storm to change the screen format when we do not want to.



BlackBerry web browser is also due to our disappointment with some links. We found that on some news sites, for example, tapping only the main information on the zoomed, instead of opening a link to the article itself. The browser has a cursor mode, where the mouse pointer can be moved around the screen by finger tip control, but switched to this does not alleviate the problem.

Storm is equipped with a variety of applications, such as a version of Documents To Go suite from DataViz, which enables users to view and edit email attachments sent as Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint files, including Office 2007 formats.

It also includes the Vodafone Music Store, allowing users to purchase and download music tracks. However, while the Storm's built-in media player can supposedly sync with your iTunes music library users, we can not find a way to do this and no longer provided in the documentation.

Many other applications as they are ready to be installed, such as Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Google Maps, but they touch the icon actually triggers downloaded from the web. The same is true for most IM applications, such as ICQ, Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger.

Rim own BlackBerry Maps for navigation applications are built-in, however, such as BlackBerry Messenger.



The Storm has 1GB of built-in memory, but this can be expanded to 16GB using a microSD card slot for Flash, which is located next to the SIM card slot behind the back cover of the handset.

Powering the Storm is a 1400mAh lithium battery pack by Value Rim in 15 days on standby and up to 5.5 hours and talk time. However, we found that the charge level indicator on the screen seems to drain faster than previous BlackBerry models we've tested, so we have to return the unit cost per day or more during the test.



Available Features• Camera (3.2 MP)• Built-in GPS• Media Player• Video Recording• BlackBerry ® Maps• Wireless Email• Organizer• Browsers• Phone• Corporate Data Access• SMS / MMSSize and WeightHeight:4:43 inches (112.5 mm)Width:2:45 inches (62.2 mm)Depth:0:55 inches (13.95 mm)Weight:5.5 ounces (155 grams)

Display• High resolution 480 x 360 pixel color display• Transmissive TFT LCD• Font size (user selectable)• Light sensing screen• Supports over 65.000 colors• Screen Size: 3.25 inches (diagonally Measured)Camera & Video Recording• Camera: 3.2 MP camera with auto flash, auto focus, 2x digital zoom• Video Camera: Depending on the amount of built-in memory available for use, a third-party microSD card may need to be properly inserted into the BlackBerry smartphone to enable the video recording featureBattery & Battery Life• Standby time: 15 days (356 hours)• Talk time: 6 hours• 1400 mAhr removable / rechargeable cryptographic lithium cellGPS & BlackBerry Maps• Stand-alone and assisted GPS• Preloaded with BlackBerry MapsData Input & Navigation• SurePress ™ touch screen• On screen keyboard: portrait SureType ® and Multi-tap, QWERTY landscape• Dedicated keys: Send, End, Menu, ReturnVoice Input & Output• 3.5mm stereo headset capable• Integrated earpiece / microphone• Built-in speakerphone• Bluetooth ® v2.0 enabled; mono / stereo headset, handsfreeMedia Player• Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV• Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, WMA, WMA ProPlus
Ringtones & Notifications• Polyphonic / MIDI ringtones• MP3 ringtones• Vibrate mode• LED indicator
Bluetooth• Bluetooth ® v2.0; mono / stereo headset, handsfree, phone book access profile, and serial port profiles supportedDevice Security• Password protection and screen lock• Sleep mode• Support for AES or Triple DES encryption Pls integrated with BlackBerry ® Enterprise Server• FIPS 140-2 Compliant (FIPS Validation in Progress)• Optional support for S / MIMEMemory• Expandable memory - support for microSD ™ card• 1GB of onboard memory• 128 MB Flash (flash memory)Wireless Networks• UMTS / HSPA: 2100 MHz• North America: 850 MHz GSM ® / GPRS networks• North America: 1900MHz GSM / GPRS networks• Europe / Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM / GPRS networks• Europe / Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM / GPRS networks  
• Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA / Ev-DO networks