Discount BlackBerry Storm: Tempering the BlackBerry Storm

Storming the ranks of smart phones is the BlackBerry Storm from Research In Motion. RIM puts together a pretty package, combining state of the art touch interface and performance. However, the BlackBerry Storm is not without flaws.

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When compared with the iPhone 3G, the Storm is bigger and heftier. It measures 4.4 x 2.5 x 0.6 inches and weighs in at 5.5 ounces. The design looks good: smooth black with silver trim and a brushed metal-back. Put them all together and you have a phone that looks and feels really solid. The front is dominated by a 3.3-inch touchscreen. Around the Storm are several dedicated buttons such as the Send and End buttons. You also get a 3.5mm audio jack, a microUSB port and a microSD card slot right under the cover of the battery. 

The Storm includes RIM’s SurePress technology. Instead of a simple buzzing sound, the display shows that the button is actually being pressed down. This reduces wrong clicks and also provides a visual cue that you are pressing the right button. The user interface found on the Storm is exceptional. It is intuitive and at the same time, pleasant to use.

Typing on the Storm can be done in two ways: portrait or landscape mode. When in portrait mode, you get a keyboard that, when combined with the improved spelling suggestion of RIM, is great for one-hand typing. On landscape mode, you are presented with a full QWERTY keyboard. However, speeding up typing with your thumbs would usually result to reduced accuracy.

The Storm lives up to its standard of delivering excellent push e-mail capability. It also includes a lot of choices when it comes to instant messaging. You can setup AIM, Windows Live, Yahoo and Google Talk, together with the default BlackBerry Messenger. Browsing the Web can be done via EV-DO Rev. A and the internal Wi-Fi.

At the back of the Storm is a 3.2-megapixel camera that is able to capture images that have sharp colors. However, to do so, you would have to wait, as the Storm takes it time to autofocus and save the image on the phone. Nonetheless, you still get good looking images. Dim environments aren’t much of a problem as the Storm is equipped with its own flash.

Call quality of the BlackBerry Storm is quite good. Callers sounded clear and crisp on both the earpiece and the speaker. Battery life is rated at 6 hours of talk time and 15 days of standby. All in all, RIM packed quite a package with the BlackBerry Storm. However, it has flaws that you might want to check out as some might consider them as deal-breakers.