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(More customer reviews)I knew this was going to happen. Research In Motion (the makers of the BlackBerry series of smart phones) finally made a product that didn't live up to my expectations.
I'll tell you more in detail below, but first a bit of history: At my 9-to-5 job it is one of my roles to manage a BlackBerry server and 50-odd BlackBerry phones, so I've used every model of BlackBerry available in the US for the most part in some capacity or another.
Currently, I have a Verizon BlackBerry Curve at the office. My current home cell phone is an iPhone 3G. I asked our corporate Verizon representative to send me a demo of the Storm, because I've had a lot of BlackBerry users at work asking me when we were getting them (due to the media saturation of the commercials and the general coolness factor of how the phone looks). So I felt it was my duty to get one in for review so I could make an educated decision about recommending this thing to upper management and other people who may be interested in it.
A lot has been said about this phone in reviews by other technology journalists on the web (David Pogue of the New York Times for instance, and Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal), some positive, some negative. I used the phone for a solid 4 days of testing and one software upgrade (to try to fix an issue, more later on that) before deciding to write this.
I'll go over some key items about the phone in a few sections, the stuff that's important to me as a consumer. Things that have been in BlackBerry OS forever (such as push email, calendar sync, etc) are really not that noteworthy to me, and I won't talk much about those. I can, and will compare this phone to the iPhone 3G though, simply because RIM was definitely aiming right at Apple when designing this, I have no doubts about that.
Phone Design
The BlackBerry Storm is a slick looking phone -- which elicits the expected reaction from nearly everyone you show it to. It is very heavy feeling, about the same weight as the iPhone 3G. I would say it feels solid, but then you press down on the touchscreen itself (since it is one large button), and it wobbles and leaks light in from behind the screen. It is not the most comfortable phone to hold, but then again I don't think the iPhone wins in that category, either. Both of them could benefit from the rubberized grip of the BlackBerry Curve (or other phones that actually seem like they're designed to be held).
Underneath the black aluminum battery cover (yes, unlike the iPhone the battery can be removed - score 1 for RIM), there is a removable 8GB MicroSDHC card, which is a great thing for them to provide. The last generation of BlackBerry phones (The Curve and Pearl) include a MicroSD card slot, but they didn't give you a card with the phones. 8GB is more than enough for a decent amount of media and pictures. It also included a Verizon SIM card (which I think is a placeholder, since Verizon doesn't sell GSM phone service). I've been told that this can be unlocked just as easily as other BlackBerry phones so you can roam the world with it easily (this is another thing the iPhone 3G requires hacking to do.)
RIM abandoned the standard Mini USB port they've used for several years for a new "Micro" USB port for charging and connecting the phone to the computer. This means all your old BlackBerry chargers and any wired peripherals won't work with the new phone. This is kind of a letdown for me as a BlackBerry administrator, simply because we have dozens of perfectly good spare BlackBerry car and home chargers that are now useless if we move to the Storm.
The Screen
The screen is one of the better things this phone has to offer. It has a 3.25', 480×360 pixel screen, with very easy to read text and a very bright backlight, with a nice glossy sheen to it. I really have no gripes whatsoever with the actual screen in this phone by itself, if I don't take into account the way or manner information is displayed on it or it's "click" function. It is better than the iPhone's screen in both clarity, size, and general readability.
The Accelerometer
This is the first BlackBerry with an accelerometer in the device. Again, another thing I believe RIM decided to copy from the iPhone (even though the iPhone is not the first device to use something like this, it's the first one to do it right in my opinion.) I found the sensor had major lag issues (even after a software update to the 4.7.0.75 leaked firmware!) with moving from portrait to landscape. Sometimes it took up to 4 seconds for the phone to change back from landscape to portrait with nothing else going on. This is simply unacceptable. It would inadvertently switch screen orientation at random times when it wasn't necessary to do so, and it confused all the users I gave the phone to. The final straw with the accelerometer is for some reason RIM believes that if you have your phone locked, it should still change orientation from portrait to landscape. I honestly can't figure out why I'd want my phone sitting there in my pocket switching orientation when it's locked and not being used. I hope they fix this in a software update.
The Keyboard
The screen being covered in its literal sense, I'll discuss the biggest part of what makes the Storm the Storm: The keyboard and its role in the UI. RIM decided in the BlackBerry Storm's development to eschew the traditional BlackBerry keyboard for two different "touch" keyboards. These both are familiar to older users of BlackBerry phones: The "SureType" style in the 7100 series and Pearl (2 letters per key), active while in Portrait orientation, or the QWERTY style (full keyboard), like in the Curve, 8700, and 8800 series, which is active in landscape orientation.
However, the old keyboard layouts work completely differently in the Storm -- because they are now part of the touch screen and are activated by "clicking" in the entire screen while your finger is over the corresponding button. The screen acts as one giant button that you press in with every letter press, icon click, or menu selection.
I've found typing for any period of time becomes tiresome after only a minute or so, and it seems like way too much work even to just send off a small text message. The auto-correction software (SureType) seems like it isn't as effective as it was in the BlackBerry Curve, and sometimes the phone simply types letters that I didn't press, even though it looks like I'm pressing the right one due to the blue "halo" around my finger as I hover over the letters.
The keyboard isn't completely missing. There are still 4 physical buttons on the front of the phone, which include the typical SEND and END keys, the "Menu" key, and the "Back" key, both of those last two are holdovers from previous BlackBerry incarnations. I'm kind of surprised they couldn't find some way to integrate these into the touch screen.
If this review was trying to convince me to buy this phone, this keyboard would be the deal breaker. I can't stand it. People who might peck one or two characters every 5 seconds might not care about how bad this is, but for me, it was infuriating to use it. I can type on my BlackBerry Curve at approximately 30 words a minute. The iPhone 3G? maybe 20-25. This was much, much less than that. I'm extremely disappointed; one of the huge advantages of BlackBerry was their highly efficient keyboard and the "Pearl" (or scroll wheel in the older generations), and that speed and fluidity is completely obliterated with a keyboard UI that just doesn't work. I had several non-techie users at my office try to type on it who were BlackBerry users, and they either typed incredibly slow or were just confused by the new keyboard.
The Touch Screen, And It's Role In The User Interface
In general, the touch screen functions are a good effort for a phone if you ignore one thing: the existence of iPhone. Apple clearly invested much, much more time into usability and interface design here than RIM did. A few things about the iPhone that you don't notice you miss until you use the Storm are the ability to quickly "flick" through lists of items, multi-touch capabilities like pinch gesturing, double-tapping to zoom smoothly into/out of web pages, and smooth scrolling through websites. All of these things are not something the Storm does well (or at all in some cases), and I'm sure I'm missing a lot more here. Maybe its related to patent issues, but the touch screen in the Storm just seems dumber than the iPhone touch screen. That's about all I can say about it.
Research In Motion has not paid enough attention to the menu UI in regards to making it easy for people to "click" on menu items, either. They are too small for even my (not that large) fingers to consistently press in properly. Making calls from the old UI was simple: Start dialing from the home screen. Now you have to press the SEND button to get to the call area, or click on the call log, which wasn't immediately apparent to any veteran BlackBerry user I showed it to.
The Apps
As of right now, there's really little that is new or interesting about the applications bundled with the Storm. VZ Navigator is included, which is a turn-by-turn GPS application that has a lot of good Points of Interest and other neat features. Unfortunately Verizon charges $10/mo for this feature, which is really not worth paying a monthly fee for. There's not a good turn-by-turn GPS on the iPhone right now, but if it cost $10/mo extra, I wouldn't buy it anyway.
Refinements to BlackBerry OS 4.7 to make it look very pretty are great, but those were done in OS 4.6 already for the BlackBerry Bold (a far superior phone for people who might actually want to type...Read more›
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BlackBerry Storm 9530 Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless)Designed to satisfy the needs of both consumers and business customers, the BlackBerry Storm smartphone offers a revolutionary touchscreen that dramatically enhances the touch interface and enables easy and precise typing. The world's first "clickable" touchscreen responds much like a physical keyboard and also supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures for intuitive and efficient application navigation. Whether traveling to Europe or Asia, the Storm provides globetrotters the freedom of reliable global connectivity with Verizon Wireless's reliable, high-speed 3G CDMA network here in the United States and compatibility with GSM networks abroad.
It's compatible with the V Cast Music and V CAST Music with Rhapsody services, which enables you to purchase songs through your phone and download them via Verizon Wireless's fast EV-DO data network. You'll also benefit from the phone's A-GPS receiver, which enables you to access Verizon Wireless's VZ Navigator service for turn-by-turn directions. Other features include a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder, Bluetooth connectivity for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, 1 GB internal memory, MicroSD memory expansion to 16 GB, support for up to 10 personal and corporate email accounts, access to popular instant messaging services, and up to 6 hours of talk time.
Verizon Wireless Service With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, you'll enjoy fast access to the Internet and Verizon Wireless's multimedia services (additional charges applicable), with average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2 Mbps. (Learn more about where EV-DO coverage is offered.) The V Cast Music service enables you to download songs instantly to your phone, or purchase music through your PC and transfer the files to your phone. If purchased from your phone, you'll receive two copies of the song: a Windows Media Audio Pro Plus format at 64Kbps stereo is sent to your phone, and a Windows Media Audio 9 format at 160Kbps stereo is sent to your account in the V CAST Music online store for downloading to your PC. V Cast Music offers nearly 2 million songs, with more being added all the time.
In addition to the V Cast Music service, this phone is also compatible with Verizon Wireless's V CAST Music with Rhapsody, which enables you to access this exclusive digital music service for RealNetworks and for MTV Networks. V CAST Music with Rhapsody delivers unlimited monthly access to music on up to three Rhapsody-compatible mobile phones and players and online on multiple PCs and Web browsers. In addition, customers who purchase music over-the-air are able to download the master copy of the songs or albums to their PCs free of digital rights management (DRM) software that restricts how and where music can be played.
The V Cast Video service enables you to stream or download video clips to your phone from a variety of news, entertainment, sports, and weather channels, including CNN, ABC News, E!, CBS Sports, The Weather Channel, and VH1.
With this GPS-enabled phone, you'll be able to access Verizon Wireless's VZ Navigator service (additional charges applicable) for voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, heads-up alerts, local search of nearly 14 million points of interest in the US (such as landmarks, restaurants and ATMs), and detailed color maps. And Verizon Wireless's Chaperone service lets you easily locate your loved ones from your cell phone phone or PC in real time. After defining a zone, such as an area designating a school or summer camp, you'll be sent an alert via text message when the Chaperone handset enters or leaves the zone.
With BroadbandAccess Connect (subscription required), you can use your smartphone as a modem for your notebook when you connect the two using a USB cable--or open a Bluetooth connection--enabling you to access the Internet or your company intranet. The tethered modem capability is ideal when you're traveling and need to use your notebook to check email, access corporate networks, or download large files like presentations and reports. And with BroadbandAccess Connect, you won't have to buy an extra PC Card or other devices.
With Visual Voice Mail, you can delete, reply and forward voice mail messages without having to listen to prior messages or voice instructions. Visual Voice Mail is the ideal tool for the busy mobile professional who may need to prioritize which messages he or she listens to first.
Global Connectivity The BlackBerry Storm allows for global roaming--from Europe to South America to Asia--and also provides 3G data speeds on select international networks, giving you high-speed connectivity when you're abroad. The Storm offers Verizon Wireless's fast 3G EV-DO Rev. A/CDMA connectivity in the United States, and UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz) and quad-band GSM/EDGE/GPRS connectivity for use outside the U.S. The Storm comes pre-installed with a SIM card, so customers who plan to travel abroad can activate global service at the time of purchase or by calling Verizon Wireless prior to leaving the U.S. For those who travel abroad frequently, the company's Global Value Plan offers discounted roaming charges on calls made to and from 130 countries.
Phone Features The first BlackBerry to feature a touchscreen interface, the Storm's large 3.25-inch LCD (360 x 480-pixel resolution) actually depresses ever so slightly when the screen is pressed, giving you the distinct feeling that the screen is being pressed and released with a gentle "click"--similar to the feeling of a key on a physical keyboard or a button on a mouse. The "clickable" touchscreen gives you positive confirmation that you've made a selection, resulting in a highly-intuitive typing experience. In addition to the familiar navigation keys (phone, menu and escape) that are common to other BlackBerry smartphones, the Storm adds support for multi-touches, taps, slides and other touch-screen gestures, so you can easily highlight, scroll, pan and zoom for smooth navigation.
The BlackBerry Storm smartphone also features a built-in accelerometer, allowing its touchscreen to automatically switch between landscape mode and portrait mode as the you rotate the handset--RIM's SureType keyboard layout is available in portrait mode and a full QWERTY keyboard layout is available in landscape mode. Other relevant features, such as cut and paste, are only a touch away for the ultimate smartphone experience.
The on-screen SureType hybrid alpha-numeric/QWERTY keyboard, first introduced with BlackBerry Pearl phones, places two letters on each button of the keyboard layout and the Storm automatically determines which letter is the intended one based on what it predicts you are trying to spell. SureType also learns the words you use most often, further enhancing your typing speed.
View your favorite web sites the way they were meant to be seen with the high-performance web browser that works in either portrait or landscape orientation. Navigating Web sites is fast and easy with the touch-screen interface that lets users double tap to zoom in and slide their fingers to scroll and pan. Icons along the bottom of the display allow for quickly accessing Web sites, switching between Page View and Column View as well as the ability to toggle between Pan mode and Cursor mode.The enhanced browser supports file downloading, streaming audio and video (RTSP), and built-in RSS support--enabling content from supported Web sites to be automatically pushed to directly to you.
Whether you're on the clock or out-and-about, the Storm has the tools to keep you productive. Access up to ten supported personal and corporate email accounts, including the most popular ISP email servers, using BlackBerry Internet Service. View and revise Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files using Word To-Go or Slideshow To-Go. And keep your schedule on track with the advance calendar function, which allows you to check appointments or make new ones in just a few clicks.
In addition to the industry's leading mobile email and messaging solution, the Storm supports text (SMS), picture (MMS) and instant messaging (IM) on today's most popular platforms as well as social networking sites. Take your social life on-the-go with Facebook for BlackBerry and Flickr Photo Uploader for BlackBerry applications (pre-installed on the Storm). A Mobile IM feature provides access to Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo!, Windows Live, and AIM instant messaging services.
Handsfree communication is easy thanks to the integrated speakerphone. This phone also provides Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2.0), and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and file transfer. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. You can connect your laptop (either via Bluetooth or wired USB) and enjoy dial-up networking--surf the Internet, send email, and access files from a server.
The media player can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music collection (compatible with MP3, WMA, and AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ formats). Playlists can be created directly on the handset and there's an equalizer with 11 preset filters--including Lounge, Jazz and Hip Hop--for customized audio ranges when using wired headphones or external speakers. The Storm has 1 GB of internal memory--enough to store 250 tunes--which can be expanded via optional MicroSD/SDHD memory cards (up to 16 GB in size).
Other features include:
3.2 megapixel camera with variable zoom, auto focus and a powerful flash that also provides continuous lighting when recording video
Built-in GPS supports location-based applications and services, as well as geotagging of photos
An ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts backlighting for ideal screen viewing and an accelerometer that allows customers to view applications in either portrait or landscape mode by simply rotating the handset
Visual voicemail allows you to browse your in-box and choose the messages to listen to with just a few clicks.
Record and send verbal reminders to yourself and others with the easy-to-use Voice Notes feature, which allows you to recored, pause, and resume your voice notes in the push of a button.
Enhanced noise cancellation to offset background noise
Low-distortion speakerphone
3.5 mm stereo headset jack
Polyphonic and MP3 real-music ringtones
MicroUSB connector for charging and data transfer
Removable battery
Bluetooth version 2.0 with the following profiles: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), DUN (dial-up networking), FTP (file transfer), PBA (transfer contacts)
Vital Statistics The BlackBerry Storm weighs 5.5 ounces and measures 4.43 x 2.45 x 0.55 inches. Its 1400 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 6 hours of talk time, and up to 15 days of standby time. It runs on Verizon Wireless's 800/1900 CDMA/EV-DO frequencies while in the United States, and it can connect to 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks as well as 2100 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 3G frequencies when outside the U.S.
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