Let us clear up a few things first here. Has the blackberry storm been on the market and available for quite some time now? Absolutely. Are we the first to report on it? Not by any means. Yet, the fact of the matter remains that it has NOT gotten the complete and utter attention that it deserves. The truth is, without any fluff, that the Blackberry storm is the sexiest, sleekest and best functioning smart phone that has hit the market in a long time.
From the moment that you pick up the Storm you can feel just how durable it is, and the screen on the front is fantastic with an excellent 480 by 360 high resolution screen. Aside from its actual mobile usages, the color, depth and brightness make it perfect for watching YouTube clips. However truth be told, it would be nice to have widescreen for watching internet clips or movie trailers.
The Storm implements Research in Motion’s very first Sure-Touch interface which makes it stunningly easy to navigate the screen and use the phone just like you would with a proper keyboard. You simply can’t mess up and touch the wrong button or function thanks to the Sure-Touch function.
A trackball would make the screen a little bit easier to navigate and thus it is not as smooth as the iPhone, but it is unique and altogether the UI runs very well. While the touch screen is fully functional and probably the best out there, it is not as promising as a full QWERTY keyboard if you are planning on writing long articles or sending lengthy emails. The QWERTY concept in landscape mode is perfect if you have dainty little hands, but the larger your fingers are the harder the whole process becomes.
The Blackberry Storm is fantastic without a doubt, but the only glaring problem is the lack of Wi-Fi on the phone. This is really a big mistake made by RIM, as any device used for browsing should command Wi-Fi capability. While the Storm can function quite well thanks to HSDPA and 3G, the real underlying problem here is cost. If you plan on sending a ton of emails with large attachments or downloading lots of music, the cost of Storm phone plans can easily pile up. With the iPhone you can implement the O2 heavy user policy which can cut costs quite efficiently.
For now you can install Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook and the BlackBerry Application Centre but the RIM’s application store is just starting up. It was just put online in March of 2009 and is not fully up and running by any means. The good news is that the Google Maps application is simply fantastic and even effortless.
The BlackBerry Storm’s built in camera is pretty stunning and works wonders with the beautifully large and high resolution screen. One thing is that you are going to have to invest in a MicroSD card if you plan on taking a ton of pictures as Vodaphone only plans on giving you a 1GB internal memory with purchase.
The last true drawback to the BlackBerry Storm is that the battery life is not as good as it could be. If you use your phone often you are going to have to charge it every night, but this is pretty comparable to most other phones that are alike in the market.
Are there a few drawbacks that need improvement? Without a doubt. The bottom line is that Research in Motion has really put out an incredibly innovative phone with the BlackBerry Storm. It looks beautiful, feels even better and is perfect for small business and emailing. While we have to be honest, the Vodaphone contracts are not altogether to appealing, but that aside, this phone is incredibly stunning and can suit your needs quite perfectly given the chance.
RIM has really put a lot of time, thought and effort into the design of the BlackBerry storm and it is definitely worth the investment. That is for now anyways, until they come up with something even more ground breaking, which is inevitable.
