Orange Rio II deals & review

The Orange Rio II - solely available on the Orange network - is an affordable touchscreen phone with a full Blackberry-style QWERTY keyboard and the capacity for video messaging. The handset is reasonably priced and offers a number of useful features. For instance, you can connect your PC to your phone to access the internet, essentially turning the phone into a wifi dongle.

The Rio II is a social media phone, ideal for users seeking easy access to Facebook, Twitter or Windows Live Messenger.  The phone’s push email allows you to stay in touch when on the go.

The handset is available on Orange for free on £10.50 a month (on a 24 month contract), which includes 30 minutes’ talk time, unlimited texts and free internet. If you’d like to purchase the handset for pay as you go, you can do so for £49.99, also on Orange.

Available in black or white, with a stylish silver surround, the Rio II has a rubberised back, very much like the BlackBerry 8520. The QWERTY keyboard boasts larger buttons than the original Rio, but there's no space between each key. Despite the closely-packed buttons, they’re still easy to use due to their increased size.

The Rio II’s battery is easily accessible, inserted like a standard phone, with SIM and micro SD card slipping in under the battery. Although the internal memory of the phone is only 80MB, it can take an SD card of up to 8GB. The original Rio was quite easily scratched, and whilst this model appears more robust, it would probably be a good idea to get a screen protector and an attractive wallet casement with flap.

Designed as a social networking phone, with good facilities for video calling and video/photo messaging, the Rio II also gives you a top web browsing experience. Tri-band 3G connectivity is included, while Java support allows for all manner of fun games to be played on the go. Having the option to navigate with either a touchscreen or full keyboard is also a nice touch.

The Rio II has some Games and Apps options, as well as easy access to various internet functions - and whilst there is no App shop, there are Orange’s range of widgets. The Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live Messenger widgets come free with the phone. These can be customised on your home screen for ease of access.

The Rio II uses a custom-made operating system that borrows elements from both RIM's BlackBerry OS and Google’s Android 2.3. Dimensions are 110 mm×61 mm×12.5 mm, whilst the screen display is 2.4 inches, with a resolution of 320 x 240 and 262,000 colours. It weighs in at 106g with battery, which is a 1000 mAh Li-ion model.

The Rio II is a capable music player, supporting many different sound formats, including eAAC+, MP4, MP3 and WAV files. It also has a stereo FM radio on-board and the 3.5mm phone jack means that you can use the phone with your own set of traditional cans (even though it doesn’t come with a set of headphones in the pack.)

The phone is easy to use, aided significantly by its full QWERTY keypad. The Rio II’s screen is easy to view, even when being used outdoors. Like most smartphones however, it will struggle in direct sunlight. Battery life is respectable, though if you’re regularly using the 3G services, the phone will probably need to be plugged in and recharged on a daily basis.

The Rio II from Orange gives you the BlackBerry experience at a fraction of the cost and some improved functions and speed over the BlackBerry 8520. It offers improvements over the original Rio, and whilst it has no wi-fi option and lacks the smartphone’s capacitive touchscreen, this phone is good value for money, has great social networking features, is spot-on for email and messaging, and gives you a full QWERTY keyboard coupled with a touchscreen as well.

While the Rio II doesn’t disgrace itself when compared with the BlackBerry handsets it’s clearly emulating, that’s not to say they’re evenly matched. The more expensive BlackBerry Curve 8520 comfortably trumps the Rio II in terms of performance and usability. In saying that, given the Rio II’s budget price tag, it’s very hard to fault.