Blackberry Storm 9500 Review

Blackberry has long had the business smartphone market sewn up with its many useful offerings, but with the Storm 9500 it moves on to something different; the first Blackberry mobile phone that’s a touchscreen smartphone, which means it is really going for the consumer market.

The first thing to note is the screen itself, which is sharp and clear, and excellent for viewing pictures or video. The camera is 3.2 megapixels, which is fine for most purposes, but the best results come in full light.

There’s a music player, thankfully with a 3.5mm headphone jack for good private listening – RIM has done it right with this one.

The big change for Blackberry users, of course, is the touchscreen itself, a very different experience for them. By making a clickable screen, the company has tried, after a fashion, to make it seem somewhat familiar. Users have to click down on menu buttons to select them, so it feels like a keyboard. For many this will be a plus, since it feels like an action, but seasoned smartphone users won’t be quite as convinced.

The built-in GPS utilises Blackberry Maps, which works very well; it’s certainly as good and intuitive as any GPS app on the market. Naturally, the Blackberry is excellent for email, keeping RIM’s reputation firmly intact.

Although the phone does have 3G, it’s not set up for Wi-Fi, which seems like a glaring omission, but one that might well be rectified in the next generation. For a first entry in the touchscreen market, however, the Blackberry Storm 9500 has a lot to recommend it.