The latest edition to the Blackberry Smartphone family is the new Curve 8520.
From the flashy touch-screen Blackberry Storm, to the bulky but brilliant Blackberry Bold, the 8520 has a lot to live up to if it’s going to sneak out of the shadow of its chic older sister, and my phone of choice, the Curve 8900.
When a new phone such as the 8520 comes out, you expect something pretty exciting.
Blackberry boast that they’re about choice and variety, and between the Flip Pearl, your standard Pearl, the Storm, Bold, Curve & 8800 series, Blackberry really do give you more than enough choice.
I suppose this was why I was expecting more of an “upgrade” when it came to the 8520 verses the Curve 8900. The obvious and immediate differences between the 8900 and the 8520 are:
- The 8520 has a trackpad, rather than that noisy trackball.
- The 8520 is back to the bog-standard 2mpx camera, while the 8900 reign’s supreme with a 3.2mpx camera.
- The 8900 has GPS, while the 8520 does not.
Because of this, I was bit cynical as to why anyone would want an 8520 rather than an 8900. Even running down the initial techy specs of both phones – you know, those things that your average consumer couldn’t give a toss about - there wasn’t that much difference in size (the 8520 does weigh less), and both phones generally seemed to be very, very similar.
But then – oh, then – I actually started to use the 8520. I walked around with my Sisters Curve, the 8900 in one hand, the 8520 in the other, and I really started to see that these phones were actually quite different. The 8900 felt a bit overweight compared to the 8520, and at the risk of sounding ridiculous, the 8520 felt lush to the touch.
The main reason for this, was the new trackpad that Blackberry added to the 8520. It’s sleek, it’s sexy, and it’s of better quality than the trackpad on my Samsung Q45.
One can easily forget how noisy the trackball on the Curve and Pearl is, and the 8520 is as quiet as a mouse. Any true Blackberry lover will appreciate a ‘Berry that allows you to check your email in the middle of the night without waking up your partner.
What also became very apparent when using the two Curves at the same time, is that they were not only with different service providers, but operating on two different network types. The 8520 I was using was on O2 and the EDGE network, while the 8900 was still only on GPRS, and with T-Mobile. It was impossible to ignore that when an email or text message came in, the 8520 would buzz about 15 – 30 seconds before my 8900 did.
While generally lacking in new and exciting features (like, I don’t know, 3G!) the 8520 does win points with its new dedicated Media Buttons that sit on the very top of the device, where only a Lock and Mute button exist on the 8900.
The Media Player on the 8520 also supports photos, so when searching for music, the album image pops up. It’s reminiscent of a less graceful version of Cover Flow, but it’s still a nice touch that the 8900 is lacking. If you’re a big fan of listening to music on your phone, the 8520 totally wins here.
But, if you’re not bothered about the trackpad, and never listen to music on your phone – why should you bother with the 8520?
Well, let’s say that you’re addicted to Twitter and Facebook and Apps in general. While all those iPhone Jerks might have “an app for that, too” – Blackberry App World is pretty cool. With the 8520, Blackberry App World comes preinstalled, and you can get started downloading right away. Although you can also get Blackberry App World on the 8900, you must first download Blackberry App World via the Blackberry Browser, and then you're free to get stared.
Having Blackberry App World installed on either handset means that you can download the Flickr, GoogleTalk, Bebo, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and AIM apps with the greatest of ease, and then scream IN YOUR FACE at the nearest iPhone user, because hey, you have an App for that, too!
As much fun as I had using the new Facebook App on the 8520, it was easy to forget that the App does not make the phone - something which I think a lot of Android and iPhone users forget – and I had to remember that I could always download the same App on my 8900.
However! As easy as it is to download Apps quickly and easily to your 8520, what is the point of uploading numerous crappy photos taken on a 2pmx camera to Flickr?
The 2mpx camera has long been my biggest issue with Blackberry, which is why I dropped my Pearl like a hot potato when I found out the 8900 had a 3.2mpx camera. For me, going back to a handset with a 2mpx camera is not going to happen. Sexy trackpad be damned.
Another feature which the 8520 is lacking that would cause me to stick with my 8900 is that the 8520 does not have GPS.
To be fair, I used Google Latitude sans GPS on the 8520 and it wasn’t that bad. It was pretty accurate and it knew what street I was on with pretty decent accuracy. But, when I’m lost, I want 100% accuracy. If I’m running late for a meeting, and need to know where I am or what direction I’m heading in – I need my GPS. (Both phones do come with Blackberry Maps, but I much prefer Google Maps. And, yes, there’s an App for that.)
The bottom line is that the Curve 8520 is a good phone. What many a mobile phone reviewer tends to forget is that gadgets and especially mobiles are a very personal thing. Each person varies on what they like and what they will and won’t compromise on. Therefore, you cannot deem something as being crap based on a absence of features that some people may just not care about.
The Curve 8900 is still the phone for me, but the Curve 8520 might be the perfect phone for you if listening to music on your phone is very important to you, and you’re not bothered about the number of megapixels a camera has or GPS. If you love Apps, the 8520 is incredibly App friendly, and will help you stay connected to all of your networks and online communities easier than the 8900 will.
It’s a very chic phone. It weighs less than the 8900, has the gorgeous trackpad, as even runs on a faster network.
If all that sounds fantastic to you - go for the 8520. And if you like color on your gadgets, be sure to check out The Carphone Warehouse, as they exclusively sell the Violet version of the 8520. (Yes. Violet. Hey, at least it’s not pink.)
