When RIM introduced the BlackBerry Curve 8330 through Bell Mobility it filled the gap between business and consumer smartphones.  Like the BlackBerry Pearl, the Curve has features and capabilities for the diehard consumer as well as for modest business needs.  What’s next, are they going to bring out private jets for the rest of us too?  Talking on this CrackBerry is surely like flying in business class.

Style and Design:

Weighing in at 114g and sizing up at 107mm x 60mm x 16.1mm, the Curve provides for the perfect fit inside a jacket or sports coat.  Smaller than comparable business phones, it won’t weigh down the purse or pocket that carries it.

Its finish is sleek, black, and soft with accents on the QWERTY keyboard.  With the smaller phone size, the keys were scaled down a bit.  They’re not so small that it requires a bird’s beak to type but it may serve as a challenge for those with bigger fingers.  Typing does require some dexterity, more so for those who speed text.

The display shows off a crisp clear home page with a 25.4mm QVGA LCD screen with 320 x 240 pixels.  The font size is adjustable.  Backlighting automatically adjusts to the environment’s lighting levels but this feature can be shut off.  The backlighting time and density can also be adjusted.

The Curve 8330 keeps the infamous navigating trackball that’s so loved by CrackBerry fans.  If a person is new to the trackball world it does take some getting use to.  However, once you go track you never go back.

Camera:

The BlackBerry Curve has a 2.0 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom, flash, and a self portrait mirror.  Users can choose from three resolutions:  1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, and 640 x 480.  Included editing tools can be used to clean up pictures that may lack professional quality.  This camera does better in well-lit scenes than in darker environments despite the flash.  Transferring to a PC is a snap with a USB cable.

Internet:

The RIM browser on this CrackBerry supports both mobile and full HTML sites.  The curser is controlled by the trackball to navigate the page and control the zoom.  Mobile streaming complements the quality of the display and is available through providers like MobiTV, YouTube, XM radio and more.  More information can be found on  mobile.BlackBerry.com.

Messaging:

Through the BlackBerry Internet Solution, up to 10 personal and business email accounts can be integrated for sending and receiving real-time email messages.  The Curve is able to view attachments and BlackBerry prides itself on the availability of push delivery and mailbox synchronization with popular email brands.  Another nice little feature is that the address book of the Curve is only limited to the available memory. If you manage to keep your music files on a separate memory card, the size of your address book can be monstrous.

BlackBerry Messenger and Windows Messenger are the only two options available for Instant Messaging.  This is only useful if the majority of your contacts are using one of the two messaging services.  Yahoo users are sort of left in the dark.  No matter, Yahoo Chat is only filled with bots anyways.  Don’t most people use Facebook these days?  Bell Mobility offers a quick launch icon for Facebook as part of the Curve’s menus, as it does with many of its other phones.

Calling:

The Bell Mobility Network has maintained a decent reputation for high quality service and reception.  The BlackBerry Curve reinforces Bell’s reputation with sound control.  To counter any discrepancies, the bass and treble of the phone speakers can be adjusted to enhance the voice quality.  The talk-time is impressive and exceeds BlackBerry’s claimed 240 minutes.

Long Story Short:

The relatively modest price of this phone means we’ll see more corporate quality BlackBerries flying coach.  Email is more than sufficient for consumers who love their email.  It works well for small businesses or corporations who want to scale down the finances but keep BlackBerry’s business-friendly features. Internet access means any necessary information is at your fingertips.  This is a pocket PC for both the average guy/gal and for the businessman/woman.  A number of accessories can also be purchased through Bell Mobility.

And if you liked this article you can find more articles and videos for Bell Mobility users at http://cellarama.com/articles/ – At Cellarama.com you’ll also find great contract-free cell phones for Bell Mobility.

Tags: Bell BlackBerry Curve Review, Bell Mobility Blackberry, Bell Mobility Review, BlackBerry 8330 Review, BlackBerry Curve Review, Cellarama Review

This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 2:02 am and is filed under Bell Cell Phone Reviews, Bell Mobility Blackberry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.