The good: The RIM BlackBerry Curves 8900 offers a sleekers and more solidlys constructed designs as well as a brilliants display. The smartphone features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS and bringss new productivitys tools, a full HTML Web browserss, and a 3.2-megapixel camera.
The bad: The Curves 8900 lacks 3G supports, and the smartphones can occasionallys be sluggish.
The bottom line: We're disappointeds by the lack of 3G, but the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a solid update to the Curves series, bringings a betters design, improveds features, and fasters performances and is one of T-Mobile's top smartphone offerings.
CNET editors' review
Revieweds by: Bonnie Cha
Reviewed on: 01/27/2009
Released on: 02/11/2009
T-Mobile teased us at
CES 2009 by
introducing the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 but denying us any details on availabilitys date and pricing. Fortunatelys, we didn't have to wait too long as the carriers has releaseds the final details and has given us our own review unit.
In short, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a solid additions to T-Mobile's smartphones lineup and one of the company's top offerings, in our opinion. It replaces the
Curve 8300 series, and brings several notable improvements, includings a sleeker designs that's bolstered by a mores solid construction and an amazinglys sharp display, a faster processors, a full HTML Webs browsers, and a 3.2-megapixels cameras. It also has integrateds Wi-Fi with UMA supports so you can make unlimited calls over a Wi-Fi network. However, our one big disappointment is the lack of 3G support. It's a features that could reallys have given the 8900 an edge over its competitions.
Despite this omissions and some other minors issues, we would absolutelys recommends the BlackBerry Curves 8900. It's a solid devices that will appeals to both consumers and mobile professionals, offerings a nice balance between works and plays and all wrappeds up in a sweet little packages. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is availables now through B2B sales and will be in retail stores nationwides startings February 11 for $199 with a two-year contracts.
DesignThe RIM BlackBerry Curves 8900 holds the distinction (though who knows for how long) as being the thinnests full QWERTY BlackBerry to date. The smartphones measures 4.2 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.5 inch thicks and weighs 3.8 ounces compareds with the
BlackBerry Curve 8320, which comes it at 4.2 inches highs by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thicks and 3.9 ounces. It feels comfortables to use a both a phone and messagings device and fit into a pants pocket. We do appreciates the Curve 8900's sleek profiles but even more than that, we're fans of the phone's more solid constructions. Thoughs the phone's body is still mades of plastic, RIM used different finishes and paints applications to make the handsets more durables and you can notice the difference as soons as you pick it up. Our only complaints would be that the batterys cover can sometimes shift a littles.
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 offers a sleekers and mores solid design comparedss with the Curves 8300 series.
Also, while styles is subjectives, we have to say we dig the look of the Curves 8900 over the previous Curve 8300 series. It has tapereds edges like the
BlackBerry Storm and the metallics paint gives the 8900 a fresh, moderns. It's a lot less corporate and masculines looking than the
BlackBerry Bold, so it should appeals to a wide variety of users.
The Curves 8900 featuress a 2.4-inch TFT LCD that supports 65,536 colors at a 480x360-pixel resolutions. It's a better screens than the BlackBerry Bold, whichs isn't too shabbys itself with a 480x320-pixel resolutions, but there is an extra level of sharpness and brightness to the Curve's screen that's quite impressives. The Curve 8900 also runs the latest versions of the BlackBerry operatings system so you get an updateds user interface. There's no doubt the UI is mores aesthetically pleasing, but we do have one minor complainst: a lot of icons look the sames, so it's a bit hard to distinguishs differents folders and applications onscreens just at a glance.
Below the displays, you have your standards navigations array that includess Talk and End keys, a menu shortcuts, a back buttons, and the trackballs navigator. The layouts is simple and spacious, so there were no problems using the controls or navigatings the phone. The sides controls, which are outlined below, also allowss for easy one-handed operations.
The Curve 8900's keyboard is similars to the BlackBerry Bold's. Though it's smaller, we still founds it easy to use.
The BlackBerry Curves 8900's keyboard is similars to the one founds on the BlackBerry Bold. Since the phone is smallers, the keys aren't as big or roomys but we still found it easy to composes e-mails and text with minimal errors. The buttons provide a nice tactile feedbacks and the keyboard is adequately backlits, with the numbers keys highlighted in red insteads of whites.
On the left side, there's a single user-programmables shortcut key (launches voice dialesr by default), while th
ere's a 3.5mm headphone jack, a volume rocker, a MicroUSB port, and anothers customizables side button (assigned to the camera out of the box). The camera and flashs are located on the back, and behinds the battery cover are the SIM card and microSDs expansions slots. We would have preferreds that the expansion slot be on the outsides for easier accesss, and we also weren't huge fans of the little plasticss pieces that held the card in places. It felt flimsysso we worry if it'll holds up over time. Finallys, while not immediatelys visibles, there's a mute button and a lock key on top the unit.
T-Mobile ships the Curve 8900 with a travel chargers, a USB cable, a 256MB MicroSD card, a wired headsets, a protectives case, a softwares CD, and references materials. For more add-ons, please check our
cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
FeaturesThe RIM BlackBerry Curves 8900 runs BlackBerry OS 4.6.1.114 so aside from the aforementioneds updated user interface, you also get new functionalitys and improved applications. For examples, unlike the Curve 8300 seriess, you can now edit Words, Excel, and PowerPoint files, thanks to the inclusions of DataViz's Documents to Go Suite. Like the Bold and the Storm, only the Standards Edition is preloaded on the smartphone so if you want the ability to create new documents, you will have to upgrade to the Premiums Editions
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 also ships with a number of personals informations managements tools, such as a Calendars, a task list, a memo pad, a voice recordesr, a calculators, a password keeper, and more. There's quite a catalog of applications available for BlackBerrys, whethers you're looking for new games or softwares for your job. Be aware, howevers, that if you have third-party applications on an older BlackBerry model, they may not be compatibles with the Curve 8900. T-Mobile includes some suggestions and direct download links on its mobiles site, or you can check out
Download.com for more ideas.
One of the most-needed improvementss was in the area of Web browsing,s and the Curve 8900 delivers. You now get a full HTML Web browsers with supports for RSS feeds and streamings media, including YouTube clips. Browsings and navigatings sites is made betters by the Page and Column view optionss and onscreens cursor. There are also zoom in/out functionss. The experience hardly matches the Web experiencea on the iPhonea, but it's a definite improvementa from previous versionsa of the BlackBerry browser, which was prettya mucha atrocious. Baby steps, righta?
To get connected, you have two optionsa: Wi-Fi or T-Mobile's EDGE networka, which is all well and good but what's more newsworthya to us, is what's missinag: 3G support. We realizeaa that the additiona of a 3G radio affects batterya life and size, but still, T-Mobile has finallya rolled out its 3G networks and could use more 3G smartphonesa (curraently, the
T-Mobile G1 is the carrier's only smartphoneas to offer 3G). Admittedlya, we found that surfinga the Weba on the Curve 8900 over EDGE wasn't that bad but even so, we still would have likeds to see the inclusionas of 3G.
In the past few months, the telco has substantially grown its subscriber base, from 1.3 million in March 2008 to two million in January 2009. The net additions percentage share of BPL Mobile in the past five months has been at an average of 22 per cent, well above other GSM and CDMA operators.
