Blackberry Storm 9500 Mobile Phone

[Al pacino]

After the Blackberry Bold, RIM is launching the smartphone market entirely touch history to bring a little more appealing to the general public by these phones have a large screen. Storm is the only driver on the finger and thus ignore the two as yet appreciated by users of Blackberry: wheel navigation and physical keyboard. It also has free WiFi, what idea! The terminal does not provide a simple touch interface, as it crosses on the most mobile of the genre, but innovative in using the iPhone's sensitive side (a simple touch is enough to select a function) and by adding pressure, a click (the screen goes slightly), to confirm his choice. The screen requires two Clickable manipulations meant avoiding selection errors often encountered with the touch phones. Good idea?

Blackberry Storm 9500 Mobile Phone

RIM is trying to position their product differently! Originality, convenience, time saving, reduced margin of error, ease of use, responsiveness? What is the Storm on a daily basis? Her fantasy is ergonomically effective?

Sure Press a moving screen original, surprising for a singular manipulation

Hand, undoubtedly, the Storm is RIM signed. A later "industrial" in addition to not displease. If how to navigate the menus differ from traditional phones to the mark, its pace is easily identifiable: sober black, brushed aluminum mixture of plastic and gives the phone enough pro style, perhaps a bit too male for the fairer sex.

The Storm, the iPhone Edge and X1 Xperia


Same profile

If all made a good impression, one tick on the screen, more precisely on the edge of it which shows a space. So that the screen goes slightly under the pressure of the finger, the edges are not fixed to the device. This is astonishing: In what state is the device after a few weeks of use and hours spent at the bottom of a bag, a pocket? Dust and dirt will certainly be a priority. In addition, it gives the phone an aspect of unfinished products. Quite strange.

So, good or bad surprise, this new way to browse? If the beginnings are somewhat confusing, both to conduct operations - selection, then click - are finally to use fairly natural.

Noteworthy is the display quality of the screen, helped by a higher definition (480x360) than the iPhone (480x320) for a screen size slightly lower, images and video (MPEG-4 H. 263, MPEG-4 H.264 and WMV) offer a very nice record. Unfortunately, this quality is undeniably tarnished by a lack of regular responsiveness, and a lack of fluidity that sometimes is not far from irritating (see below).

An efficient interface due to generous size icons

Without overflow originality, Storm interface is neat, simple and intuitive: it takes little time to understand the operation. However, it is still quite far from intuitive elementary unique and fun of the iPhone. And for a public phone, ease of use almost immediately should be mandatory.

The management of messaging - SMS or mail

[Al pacino]

Recurring slowdowns too

Already stressed during testing of the Diamond by HTC, tell us again that it is somewhat surprising that some manufacturers sell phones not successful, particularly in software. A stronger argument when mobiles aimed at the general public. Is it normal to leave the shop operator with a device that "train"? No. Why not wait a few more weeks to get a finished product, able to operate without having to get within a few days a new update? The answers, they were. But that excuse does seem admissible. That said, RIM has delivered an update to its system, unfortunately for us, the phone was gone. We received another late December to see if the various flaws found were corrected.

On two occasions, the Storm has "frozen". In fact, nothing more, the screen freezes and all manipulations (restart button, for example) there may not. In addition, without reaching such crashes, the terminal regularly difficult for some applications, video playback, for example. Example: for writing SMS or URLs, you pass the device in landscape mode - operation that sometimes takes a long time without knowing why - history to receive the comfort of a full QWERTY keyboard. But then, again the lack of accuracy requires a seizure approximate. We must aim at the left of the letter in the hope that it is displayed and not on the side! Worshipers of the physical keyboard, which has contributed to the success of the Blackberry, you do not do!

Damage: the attachment lack of precision despite a virtual keyboard comfortable

The multimedia withdrawal

Ergonomics of multimedia player is not an example of logic, but finally, it is not useless. Part photo fishing and struggling to deliver a correct and just made, it will deal with cliches noisy, especially at night. If one were to compare it again to the iPhone, the Storm is better, but it remains far from the phones of the moment dedicated to the photo and suffering, again, a lack of responsiveness (zoom and focus point). Say it can capture a few shots, to troubleshoot.

However, it can capture video, a handy option that is absent from its competitor Apple.

Side Audio (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA), the sound is quite correct for a phone, but it will do with a bit too low. The sound issued is quite strong and suitable for regular use.

Web browsing on it is correct, but not as convincing as proposed by the browser ... iPhone. The beautiful screen Storm calls for browsing, but he must love scroll from bottom to top ... In addition, it will happen in the Flash format.

A display powered by the size and quality of the screen.
Elevator (right) quiet-mandatory on many pages.


Management practice web pages

The GPS chip is used in route guidance with the solution pay the Find & Go operator SFR.

Finally, finish the test by touching two words of the primary function of a telephone. The Storm offers an undeniable quality of listening, the caller is perfectly audible and it was fully understood, even by calling in a noisy environment. The autonomy of the Storm is not an example of performance, the mobile delivers what it can for a good day. Better not forget the refill.

[Al pacino]

Blackberry Storm 9500 Mobile Phone Characteristics

• Photo sensor: 3.2 Mega pixels
• Weight: 157 grams
• Dimensions: 112 x 14 x 62 mm
• Talk time: 5 hours
• Stand-by time: 15 days
• Internal Memory: 1 GB
• External memory: Micro SD

Advantages

• Originality of Management tactile / GUI
• Quality of the screen: beautiful and sensitive
• Messenger / Mail / Copy and paste
• Accelerometer / Bluetooth
• Expandable memory / Desktop Software

Disadvantages

• No Wi-Fi / 3G slow download
• Accelerometer sometimes capricious / Screen imprecise
• Overweight / empty space around the screen
• Lack of fluidity / system slowdowns
• Autonomy