The BlackBerry brand has significantly grown in popularity over the last 12 months with the youth market. These days it is not uncommon to see what was once the preserve of the business user being handled by teenagers, as they take advantage of the advanced BlackBerry messaging capabilities to keep in touch with their friends. Two devices really helped kick start this trend, and they were the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and the BlackBerry Curve 8900.
There is now a new updated Curve handset, the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300, and we are going to take a detailed look at this new device to see what new features it delivers.
One of the more obvious upgrades to the previous Curve handsets is hinted at in the naming of the new device, and that is the inclusion of 3G data technology on the new Curve 9300. This is a real bonus for many BlackBerry users, and the lack of 3G was really hurting BlackBerry's competitiveness in the smartphone market, given that 3G is very common on even many budget phones these days. The 3G support is backed up by the inclusion of both Class 10 GPRS and EDGE, should you happen to stray from 3G coverage. The Curve 3G also delivers WiFi, so if you happen to be in the coverage of a local WiFi hotspot, you can connect your device for web browsing and file downloading, as well as utilising your home WLAN setup.
Design wise the new 3G Curve is like many other Blackberry handsets before it. The handset offers a 2.4 inch TFT display, supporting up to 65,000 colours and with a QVGA pixel resolution. Underneath the main screen are the familiar BlackBerry navigation and menu access keys, flanking either side the increasingly popular optical trackpad. The move to trackpad has removed one of the key weaknesses of previous blackberry handsets, the old trackball, which was liable to stop working over a period of time as it accumulated dirt and grease from fingers. Underneath the main display is a full, four row QWERTY keyboard, and although the keys may seem small and hard to use, the keys are designed in such a way that it should be comfortable for almost all hand sizes.
The new BlackBerry 9300 will come with the latest BlackBerry OS pre-installed, OS 6.0, which offers an improved user experience and delivers a really slick user interface, and also includes the latest version of the BlackBerry web browser, which renders web pages better than before, and really takes advantage of the improved data speeds available.
BlackBerry handsets have always been capable media devices, and the Curve 9300 is no slouch in this department either, offering support for a wide range of media formats for music and video, including MP3, eAAC+, WAV, FLAC, MP4, H.263 and H.264. The handset has a set of dedicated music keys, and there is a 3.5mm audio jack for use with any third party headset, plus the device includes Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, which allows you to use a stereo Bluetooth headset with the phone too. A camera is included on the phone, nothing special to note though, just a standard point n shoot 2.0 Megapixel camera, with video recording option.
The new BlackBerry will be available in Black and Red colour choices initially, although given the recent popularity of white BlackBerry phones, I wouldn’t bet against a white version of the 9300 appearing in the near future. Social networking is an important part of a mobile device, and with native applications available for both Twitter and Facebook, the BlackBerry is well setup for keeping in touch with your friends on the move. The handset also has a full GPS receiver built in, as well as offering aGPS support, which will allow you to tag your Tweets with your location if you wish, as well as utilise services such as Foursquare and Gowalla which can send out updates based on your current location.
In the whole of this review we have yet to mention email. It is almost a given that any BlackBerry device is going to offer an excellent mobile email experience, and the Curve carries the BlackBerry tradition as well. Setting up a BlackBerry email account is a very simple procedure, all of the networks have dedicated websites, so you can set up your email either online, or via the device.
Overall the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 is a significant improvement over previous Curve handsets, whilst at the same time retaining all that was good in the previous models, and as such the Curve 3G 9300 should prove to be a very popular upgrade indeed.
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10:16 am
I just upgraded to this from the Curve 8900, and short of the 3G connectivity, the phone it self is a good as a downgrade, retaining the 'lesser' features in design, and screen resoluton of the cut down versions. Just thought I'd add this to the review so people do not make the same mistake I've made.
7:39 pm
I love this phone. I'm always in a hurry and i can't check on my e-mails all the time and this phone made it easier for me, plus the fact that it's faster and very light and the design is very sleek. Bravo!
7:00 pm
This phone is amazing it helps me socialize with my friends so much easier and i duno what i would do without it as the internet is quick and easy to use.
8:55 am
Having had previous Blackberrys the 8100, 8820, 8000, 8900 & 9000 i thought i'd give this a go. Underneath hardware wise is the same as the Bold 9700. The screen admittedly is lower res and the camera is well, basic but who really cares about a camera on a Blackberry.
It is a serious upgrade from the old Curve 8520 but Curve has changed since the 8900 days. If you want a serious upgrade from a 8900 get a 9780 Bold or a Torch