Blackberry 8900 Curve deals & review

The Curve 8900 is RIM's upgrade on the older 8300 model, offering a camera upgrade, Wi-Fi sharing and a micro-USB port, together with an upgraded 4.6 OS. Currently available on T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and O2; this business-friendly handset juxtaposes the divide between business and leisure: it’s practical in the office and playful in the pub, thanks to an array of clever features.

The Curve 8900 is one of RIM's smallest phones to date, scaled down from the bulkier BlackBerry and Bold lines. At a slimline 14mm thick, it fits easily in the pocket, and is lighter than previous models. The most obvious design feature is the BlackBerry’s trademark QWERTY keyboard, with 35 keys that are each raised at one edge to assist with typing. The keypad is smaller than RIM's other offerings, but is still very usable. The handset is stylish and feels well-constructed, and the display screen is big and bright, sitting at 2.44 inches across the diagonal. On the sides of the handset, the Curve 8900 has a 3.5mm jack for plugging in headphones, alongside a dedicated voice-dialing button, the camera shutter button and the micro-USB port. The 3.2 megapixel snapper on the back of the handset is an improvement on previous BlackBerry camera offerings, and allows video recording facilities too.

The Curve 8900 is optimised for e-mail functionality, and the desktop redirect software is easy to use and allows set-up of up to ten different accounts. The BlackBerry's e-mail abilities are still terrific, and there are free apps for social networking sites and instant messaging. Without 3G, sharing and downloading content is possible only with Wi-Fi, EDGE or GPRS. This in itself may be fine for many users, but it is hard to use the inbuilt GPS with BlackBerry or Google Maps while on the move. Still, downloaded content handles well on the handset’s competent set of office applications and media players, the latter of which feature the standard functions like playlist creation and shuffle option. If you don’t need to download on the move then 3G doesn’t have to be a problem.

One area where the Curve 8900 stands apart is battery life: without 3G adding to power drainage, the 1400 mAHr removable battery lasts well into a second day even with steady use. Basic memory is a fairly tame 256MB, but memory cards can boost this up to a meatier 16GB. Call quality is good if not brilliant, while sound quality for media and ringtones is pretty good.

As noted before, GPS performance can be a little sluggish without 3G, but it does allow geo-tagging of pictures. Pictures and video are good without being spectacular, taking shots that are fine for small prints and MMS. However, the low resolution is shown up on bigger pictures. The LED photo lighting will help with short-range pictures in the dark, but night-shots from distance are not recommended.

Once you get used to the trackball, the phone has a useful navigation system. Overall, the user interface is quick and responsive, and the operating system runs smoothly without discernible lag when scouting around menus. The only significant problem is the lack of 3G: if that doesn't concern you, then this is a great little phone.

For a bigger, badder handset, the BlackBerry Bold family provide some viable alternatives, with 3G HSDPA as well as Wi-Fi. For a different brand’s take on the business phone with a QWERTY keyboard, have a look at the Nokia E63, which has 3G and arguably a sharper user interface.