The Storm initially looks a bit chunky and definitely doesn’t have the smooth edges of the iPhone, but don’t be fooled, this is a revolutionary handset. The large touchscreen is superb and video quality is astonishing, with colours far clearer and more vivid than the already excellent Apple iPhone.
The menu system has also been redesigned to make use of the screen, and is simple and easy to use, with popular websites such as Facebook and Flickr integrated so you can instantly see if you have any new messages. There’s also a decent web browser but as the phone doesn’t have wifi, browsing is nowhere near as fast as on rival handsets, even though it uses the high-speed 3G network.
Typing is the revelation here. The screen allows you to “click” on it when you want to press a key, giving the impression you are using a real keyboard. It works superbly, and users can choose from either a horizontal or vertical keyboard. Typing is a far better experience than on the iPhone, although still not a patch on the speeds you can get up to on a real keyboard.
Where the Blackberry falters is with music and video. It doesn’t have enough memory, with only 1GB as standard, although that can be expanded with a memory card. Getting your files on to it in the first place is also harder than it should be.
Blackberry’s software is adequate but there are too many different bits needed, and there is no way to buy and download video easily. The iPhone, on the other hand, has a slightly less impressive screen but a vast catalogue of music, film and TV shows that can be downloaded.
For the typical consumer who does a bit of everything, the iPhone, with its superior music capabilities, is probably still the best bet – just. But for heavy emailers or business users, the Storm is an obvious choice.
Given the touchscreen functionality, it’s advisable to try before you buy as many big email users still prefer using a real keyboard.
Pros Innovative touchscreen keyboard and good video quality
Cons Unreliable software, no wifi
Free on contract
