A ‘Bold’ move
The thought of having a full QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen at first made me go ‘hmm’. It’s not a new or innovative idea; Samsung, Nokia, PalmPre all had their shots, so next up is BlackBerry. As you can imagine my hand was on my chin, my index over my mouth, and i had my intrigued face on.
I previously owned the BlackBerry Bold but moved over to the darkside and got an iPhone when my contract was over. The little Blackberry flame in me is still alight, so when we finally managed to get our hands on the BlackBerry Torch, i jumped at the chance to review it.
Best of both worlds
As soon as you have the Torch in your hands you know it means business. It’s a little chunkier than other previous models but that is kinda overlooked as the first thing you’re greeted with is a nice 3.2 inch touchscreen – this is the first time that a touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard have been put together in the BlackBerry world, but funny enough the fusion of both actually works. No stylus, no more double clicking, no more roller ball, the Torch is the BlackBerry for modern times yet still keeps all the classic features.
The old…
The trademark full QWERTY keyboard remains and is integrated within the phone with a smooth slideout movement that makes you feel reassured that RIM actually spent a bit of time and thought into this product to produce something of good quality. If they got rid of this then the phone just would have been another version of the Storm. Instead keeping the solid keyboard which is similar if not the same as the the Bold 9700, makes typing messages and email a pleasure. However, sometimes it is a little dodgy trying to slide the phone out when the top is completely touchscreen; you find yourself sliding it open and touching a button.
Another key feature that RIM kept was the unified messaging inbox allowing all messages to be filtered through to one inbox. Very handy for people on the go.
…and the new.
Get your specs – here comes the tech:
Dimensions: 62 x 111 x 14.6mm
Weight: 161g
Processor: 624MHz
Camera: 5.0 megapixel camera
Screen: 3.2 inch touchscreen
Memory: 4GB internal
Battery life – stand by: 432 hours (2G)
Battery life -talk time: up to 5.5 hours
Music playback: up to 27 hours
Video playback: up to 5.7 hours
Outputs: 3.5mm audio jack, v2.0 micro USB, built-in speakerphone
Colours : Only available in black
Built-in GPS and Wi Fi
Everything else with this phone has been given a revamp. A new BlackBerry OS6 system which is smoother, faster and has less ‘freezing’, updated and refreshed icons that are now smoother and easier on the eyes, a new updated media player so watching and listening to music is less of a chore, improved internet browsing (with the ability to support multiple tabs – a feature that has been missing for a while), improved social networking features, games, and Blackberry App World 2.0.
In addition to this, RIM have also introduced a new Social Feeds feature with the BlackBerry Torch; similar to the unified message inbox but only for your social networks – so you have all your Facebook, Twitter, Instant Messages, etc all in one place.
Some people may think that all this is not a big deal and i agree, they’re not the biggest innovations in the universe. However they are exactly what was needed to be injected into BlackBerry to make them more up to date and reassure competitors that they’re still in the game. With the BlackBerry Tablet soon to be released, BlackBerry are not going nowhere.
The final verdict:
The BlackBerry Torch truly is a good example of how to fuse traditional style with modern technology. To some this may not be a big thing, but if you’re on the BlackBerry hype then this just may be the improvement you’ve been waiting for. I think the BlackBerry Torch is a flame. Flame on…
What do you think? Is the Torch an imperial blaze or just a little spark in the dark?
Are you a BlackBerry user or is this enough to make you want to convert back?
Let us know and leave a comment below. Enjoy
