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.

The screen is undoubtedly one of the sharpest ever seen on a handset and the colours are amazing.  It gives you the ability to browse the internet using HSDPA or the Wi-Fi connection.  One of the outstanding features on this handset is the email system that supports all the major clients.  You can even have corporate email accounts that are simple to set up. 

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 has Quad band coverage and gives you up to 4.5 hours talk time and up to 324 hours standby time.  It has many features including a 2 mega pixel camera with flash, a video camera, video and audio player with that all important 3.5 mm headphone jack.  Also included are GPRS, 3G, GPS and Bluetooth. As previously mentioned it has a great email system that is ideal for both business and pleasure.

The Bold handset is very versatile for anyone who uses it.  It is ideal for people who are conducting their business away from the office or just using it to keep in touch with friends and family.  The browser facility allows you to go online and keep up to date with all your social network sites.  For many years people have complained about handsets having one feature but lacking in others; this handset appears to have it all.

Pros
The Curve 8520 gives access to Facebook and Twitter, email, and instant messaging.  Users will be able to stay connected for a fraction of the cost of other contract mobile phones.

A set of dedicated music keys at the top of the handset enhance the capabilities of the 8520 as a music player.  Users can easily play or pause tracks, rewind or fast-forward, and pump good quality sound into decent headphones, thanks to the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The integrated Wi-Fi connectivity makes downloading apps from BlackBerry’s App World fast and simple.

Cons
In a bid to position the 8520 amid other mobile phone deals, the phone doesn’t have 3G or a GPS.  These do keep costs down, but their absence is an annoying omission for a smartphone.

The camera function is a bit disappointing.  Just 2 megapixels and no flash make it nearly impossible to take great pictures. 
The keypad is also smaller and more difficult to use than those of previous BlackBerry mobile phones.

Conclusion
Certainly not high-end by any means, the Curve 8520 is a fine choice for smartphone newcomers or those looking for just the basics done well.  Mobile messaging is passable, though 3G connectivity would be an improvement.  There are plenty of apps to choose from, the design is sleek and manageable, and the music player feature is impressive.

BlackBerry mobile phones are highly distinctive in terms of their design, and so it is with the BlackBerry Pearl 3G. The Pearl 3G is essentially the same as the most powerful BlackBerry mobile phone on the market, the Bold 9700, but with all of the hardware and functionality squeezed into two thirds of the space.

Most BlackBerry Pearl 3G reviews stress the handiness of the size. The only minor drawback is the compromise between size and having a full QWERTY keyboard, which is not available on the Pearl 3G. The keys themselves tend to feel less solid than those of the Bold 9700. The optical trackpad replaces the trackball of many earlier BlackBerry mobile phones. The newer option is generally more accurate and easier to use.

Although the Pearl 3G has a browser and media player, the size also means the visuals are relatively small, although very sharp in quality.

The Pearl 3G is not offered as a mobile phone deal at the moment, as it is only just hitting the market.

Pros

Elegance and style drip from this handset, and the large screen reproduced brilliant colour in crisp detail.  The trackball navigation took makes scrolling through email or browsing menus quick and user friendly.

Getting started with Wi-Fi is simple, and the gains in web browsing speed are instantly noticeable.

Push email support means that even multiple inboxes are updated simultaneously, a really handy feature for business users who need to manage more than one email account.

Other key benefits include GPS, BlackBerry Maps, and a long battery life.

Cons

Many users may find the wide design of the 8820 cumbersome, and there does seem to have been some concessions made in this department in order to compensate for messaging features.

3G data connection is missing, and viewing pages through the 8820’s GPRS system can be sluggish.

Some new mobile phones run Windows Mobile, which fully supports HTML emails.  The 8820 doesn’t have this feature, and this could pose a problem for some users.

Because the 8820 is aimed for the business user, there’s no camera, which is actually admirable for companies concerned about corporate security, but the average user may find this disappointing.

Conclusion

Without 3G, the 8820 simply can’t compete against the latest mobile phones. It does the BlackBerry basics well, messaging, ease of use, and comfortable keyboard, but those looking for more, like super fast web browsing and multi-media capabilities, should look for mobile phone deals elsewhere.

Both Orange and Vodafone are offering the BlackBerry Bold 9700 at £19.99 for the cost of the handset, both on 24 month contracts and both at £25.00 per month, although this is where the similarities end. Orange is offering 900 minutes of free talk time any time any network plus unlimited texts and unlimited data usage whereas Vodafone are offering 300 free talk time minutes, unlimited texts and 500 MB of data usage. The difference in the tariffs for the same monthly line rental is vast and just shows how wise it is to shop around.

T-Mobile is offering the BlackBerry Bold 9700 as a free handset on their Web900 tariff which costs £35.00 per month on a 24 month contract. For that you get 900 minutes of free talk time any network any time plus 500 free texts, instant email and unlimited data usage, plus the opportunity to have five months half price line rental.

No matter if you are looking for cheap mobile phones or the latest mobile phones full of special extras, it pays to shop around as prices can differ greatly between the various mobile phone companies. Online mobile phone reviews, and updates of the latest mobile phone news can keep you ahead of what’s hot and what’s not.

BlackBerry has designed the Storm with multimedia in mind. The screen gives excellent video and photo quality, while still looking stylish, and the whole unit has a nice rounded feel that fits nicely into the hand. One of the bonuses from the company is the software behind the screen, which works really well, and whether you are using the speakers, headphones or watching videos the sound quality is above the norm.

RIM has a reputation for producing phones that are made for keying in words as in emails, and they come with full QWERTY keyboards. The Storm is packed with all this technology and there is even an app for editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations. The phone supports multi-tasking, conference calls and the maps app links to GPS.

If there is any criticism of the earlier model then this is likely to centre on battery life. Heavy users will find they need daily charges to keep the unit active. Weighing in at 155gms it is the heaviest smartphone on the market. Other than that it combines the business world applications and touchscreen utilities very well to produce a viable competitor to the iPhone.

The Blackberry Bold 9000 features the mini keyboard synonymous with the Blackberry range, and the amount of features packed into this handset are really impressive. You can now browse the internet on the move, which is a feature that was missing from the earlier Blackberry range, add to this the mobile email, the ability to listen to tunes on the go and you have one very powerful mobile office. 

Our only gripe is that in order to get this much versatility into the package, the size has increased resulting in quite a wide unit.  For some this could cause issues when slipping the phone into a trouser pocket, however, for the ladies this is still perfect handbag size and gives you the ability to take your mobile office with you easily.  Check out some other mobile phone reviews before you buy, especially sites that offer reviews from other users, these are more honest than some of the reviews, and will help you build up a better picture of whether this phone is suitable for you.  You should always compare mobile phones before you buy.

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.