BlackBerry Curve 8300 Overview

Keeping with BlackBerry’s Curve tradition, the 8300 aims to provide the average consumer with strong messaging capabilities and some nice multi-media features.

Pros

The design of the Curve 8300 is even more attractive than some earlier BlackBerry mobile phones marketed to consumers.  It’s thin enough to fit comfortably in the hand, but spacious enough to support a full QWERTY keyboard.  The 64mm screen features 320×240 resolution and produces sharp, clean images.

Messaging remains strong as ever:  instant email access, SMS, MMS, and BlackBerry Messenger.  There’s support for attachments including Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, and media files.

For multi-media applications, the Curve 8300 performs admirably.  The media player handles a wide range of formats, and sound quality is very good.

Cons

There’s significant glare off the screen, and the surrounding chrome accents certainly don’t help matters.  The microSD slot is positioned inconveniently underneath the battery, and there’s no microSD card bundled with the phone.

Even the most consumer-centred new mobile phones are moving toward 3G data connection, but this is missing from the Curve 8830.  Downloads and web browsing are hampered by the slow connection.

The 2 megapixel camera is miserable, lacking more than the most basic features.  Images are grainy, poorly coloured, and dull.

Conclusion

Ease of use goes a long way to make up for the Curve 8830’s lack of features.  Users who compare mobile phones, however, are likely to find other products with more advanced multi-media offerings.