Blackberry Storm 2 9520 Review

When the original BlackBerry Storm launched on Vodafone back in November last year, the interest around the handset was almost fever pitch. For so many people, rightly or wrongly, the Storm gave Vodafone a leading alternative device to the ever popular iPhone. A touchscreen handset, built around the legendary communication options that BlackBerry offer. And in the early days, it was hard for Vodafone to keep up with demand, as any stock in the stores was going straight out onto back orders, and for weeks the waiting lists grew and grew. And then eventually, the interest started to settle, and stock became more freely available. And, little by little, and in ever increasing numbers, that stock started to come back to the stores, as users came to realise that in fact the BlackBerry Storm was nothing like the Apple iPhone, and not only that the thing just didn’t work!

Unreliable software coupled with poor quality hardware and a lousy battery life meant that the reputation BlackBerry had earned for themselves over the years as a supplier of dependable, reliable, if a little uninspiring handsets was being undermined as the Storm proved to be anything but.

You would have thought Vodafone and BlackBerry would have learned their lesson, but no, as dogged as a terrier with a rag doll, BlackBerry are returning to the touchscreen market with the new BlackBerry Storm 2 9250, and it will initially see its launch exclusively on the Vodafone network in the UK. It does appear, however, that this time round the exclusive deal for the Storm 2 is for a limited period, and the handset will find its way onto other UK mobile networks, most likely after Christmas. What part the decision by Vodafone to be selling the iPhone after Christmas played in this is unclear, but the news should please those BlackBerry users on rival networks who found themselves frozen out of purchasing the original model. Although, some might say they had a lucky escape!

So, just what does the new BlackBerry Storm 2 offer? Size wise the dimensions of the Storm 2 appear to be absolutely identical to the original Storm, measuring in at 112.5 x 62.2 x 14 mm, but weighing in at a slightly heavier 160g, outweighing the Storm by 5g. The touchscreen is the same, also, a TFT display supporting up to 65,000 colours, measuring 3.25 inches with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels. The screen itself though, is much improved in the way data is entered. The original Storm screen sat on a type of gel pack, and clicked in with each press, almost performing itself like one large button. With the new Storm 2, this approach has been completely overhauled. It still feels like you are clicking a button when interacting with the device, but instead of sitting on a gel pack, each corner of the screen is controlled by a kind of electro mechanical actuator, which delivers a much improved performance. This is one of those areas where it is hard to describe just how effective the new approach is, and it really needs to be tried to be understood completely. Add in the fact that the screen supports multi touch, and suddenly typing with the on screen QWERTY keyboard becomes a joy, and not a cause of user frustration.

Although the Storm 2 is the same size as its predecessor, it does look sleeker, with a more rounded design. Gone also are the hard keys at the bottom of the phone, these are now incorporated into the touchscreen. The new design means a tighter fit between display and handset, so there is less opportunity for dust, crumbs and general pocket lint to invade the device.

Despite the low colour support on the display, the Storm always delivered a clear, crisp image, and that remains the case with the Storm 2. This helps with video playback, which the Storm 2 handles well, supporting MP4, 3gp, H.264 and WMV video files. The media player can also take MP3, WMA and AAC files, and there is plenty of room for media storage, with an internal capacity of 2GB, which can be further expanded via MicroSD memory cards. The Storm 2 still sports a fairly decent 3.2 Megapixel camera, with autofocus, LED flash and image stabilisation and comes complete with built in GPS, which as well as allowing the handset to be used as a portable SatNav device, also allows captured images to be geotagged with location information.

Another welcome edition to the revamped Storm is the inclusion of WiFi, probably one of the most asked for features on the original device. As well as WiFi, the Storm 2 supports HSDPA Mobile Broadband, along with GPRS and EDGE. Local connection is handled by Bluetooth 2.1, with the inclusion of a Micro USB connector for attaching the handset to a PC with a data cable.

So to conclude, is the Storm 2 a worthy successor to the original Storm? Well, based on the earliest reviews from the demo handsets, the answer to that is a big fat yes! If the launched product perform as well as expected (and there is no reason to suspect they won’t) the Storm 2 should go some way to repairing the damage caused to the BlackBerry reputation by the original product. The handset is now available to pre-order from Vodafone with stock expected Monday 26th October.

Related Blackberry Storm 2 9520 Links

• Compare the latest Blackberry Storm 2 9520 deals
• Compare Blackberry Storm 2 9520 pay as you go prices
• Read user Blackberry Storm 2 9520 reviews