The Curve range of handsets from BlackBerry have proven to be very popular, and helped BlackBerry to make the transition from the perception of being a phone just for business users, giving access to a much wider market share. With the Curve, BlackBerry were able to hit a lower pricing point, which helped grow the appeal among younger users, an area where BlackBerry perform very well. The latest addition to the Curve family is the BlackBerry Curve 9380.
The first obvious thing to note about the Curve 9380 is the lack of a hardware QWERTY keyboard. The 9380 is a full touchscreen phone, the first device from BlackBerry to market under the Curve name that is full touchscreen.
The display measures in on the small side for a full touch device, just 3.2 inches, with a pixel resolution of 360 x 480. In general day-to-day use this isn't a major issue, viewing email and web browsing is adequate, but it does have a negative impact on the multimedia aspects of the phone, such as watching YouTube videos, TV Shows or Movies on the go.
The Curve 9380 has a generally small feel to it all round, measuring just 109 x 60 x 11.2mm and weighing only 98g. Despite its compact size, the handset feels well made, and is very pocketable. You certainly wouldn't worry about carrying this phone around with you all day. Underneath the display are the familiar BlackBerry control buttons, the BlackBerry menu key, back button, plus send and end call keys, flanking an optical trackpad.
The trackpad works really well, as expected, and comes in very handy, despite the Curve being full touchscreen. Given that much of the lower menu on BlackBerry devices tends to be a long list of options, it isn't always that easy to select what you need. In such cases, it is much easier to scroll down the list using the trackpad instead of trying to select the option you want with your finger. It can feel a bit clumsy, constantly switching from touchscreen to the trackpad, but you soon get used to it.
The 9380 is powered by an 806 MHz processor, not quite as powerful as that found on other recent BlackBerry handsets, but in general usage the phone operates well and doesn't appear to have any noticeable lag. The device runs BlackBerry OS 7.0, the latest version of the BlackBerry operating system, which allows RIM to include support for features such as NFC, which the Curve is capable of.
Onboard the 9380 includes a 5.0 Megapixel camera, which offers support for geotagging, face detection and image stabilisation. The camera can record VGA resolution video clips, but there is no front facing camera for face-to-face video calls. Image quality on the Curve is nothing spectacular, but it performs well as a point n shoot device.
A full media player is included, with support for a range of media formats for both music and video. The device offers 512 MB internal memory, which can be expanded with Micro SD memory cards, with the device officially supporting cards up to 32 GB in size. A 3.5mm audio jack is available on the phone, too, allowing you to listen to our music using your own preferred headset, rather than being restricted to the basic set that BlackBerry issue.
Social networking support has always been a strong feature of BlackBerry handsets; as well as the extremely popular BlackBerry Messenger, the phone supports integration of Twitter and Facebook, with alerts and updates from these and other services being pushed out to your unified messaging box, allowing you to keep up to date with all the latest news from your friends and family. Obviously email integration on the Curve is top class, it is still an area where BlackBerry excel over all other devices. Multiple accounts are supported, which can be viewed individually or as a whole via the unified messaging inbox.
High speed data is fully enabled on the Curve 9380, with support for both HSDPA and HSUPA included as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g/n. The handset offers quad band GSM connectivity for worldwide roaming, and also includes GPRS and EDGE as well as Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and EDR. The device also includes a full GPS receiver supported by A-GPS, allowing you to use navigation and location based services on the phone.
Although the BlackBerry Curve 9380 may not be as powerful as some other BlackBerry handsets on paper, in general usage the Curve 9380 performs very well. The touchscreen is responsive, if a little small, but text entry via the onscreen QWERTY works well, and is comfortable to use in both portrait and landscape mode.
Given the lower spec on the Curve 9380, the handset comes at a very competitive price point, with contract offers starting from less than £20 per month. And at such a low price, the Curve 9380 offers excellent value for money.
For the latest prices on the 9380, check out the BlackBerry Curve 9380 deals page.
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