RIM BlackBerry 9530 Smartphone
- Screen Size (Diagonal): 3.25 inch
- Installed Memory: 1000 MB
- Operating System: BlackBerry OS
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
- Performance: Quad Band
- Design: Mobile
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Blackberry Storm 9530 : Review for 1st time BB Owners and Crackberry Addicts
Pros
Cool looking, Big high res 3.25" screen, Autofocus 3.2MP camera, Excellent phone quality.
Cons
Difficult to type, Touch screen not responsive sometimes, Laggy system, Slow camera focusing. No WiFi.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
As a crackberry addict or techno geek, its a must try, maybe a must have. For a business person or SMS texting freak, its gonna slow you down.
Hi, my review will try to be a bit different from the ones written already. I will target my info on people who have never had a blackberry before and are thinking of getting one, as well as to all the already converted blackberry addicts that have previous blackberry models. There will probably be a few "shots" against the Iphone somewhere in the review as well.
Features :
Camera (3.2 MP)
Built-in GPS
Media Player
Video Recording
BlackBerry® Maps
Wireless Email
Organizer
Browser
Phone
SMS/MMS
Display :
High resolution 480 x 360 pixel color display
Transmissive TFT LCD
Font size (user selectable)
Supports over 65,000 colors
Screen Size: 3.25 inches (diagonally measured)
Media Player :
Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV
Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC , eAAC , WMA, WMA ProPlus
Network that it works on :
UMTS/HSPA: 2100 MHz
North America: 850 MHz GSM®/GPRS networks
North America: 1900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA/Ev-DO networks
This is my 7th Blackberry that I have owned. I have previously owned BB7280, BB7290, BB Pearl, BB8700, BB Curve 8310, and the BB Bold. In general, for a person who types alot of emails or is not a great speller or typer, then the Storm is probably not the model you should use. For a person who likes to read emails (not write them), and likes to surf the web, and watch movies and listen to music, in addition to talking on the phone alot, the Storm is perfect. The reasoning is below.
EMAIL :
I receive about 200 emails a day and write about 10 emails, and 25 SMS texts a day. The BB Storm is great for reading emails but is not the fastest or easiest to type on. I can type very fast on all the previous BB I have owned but the Storm is the most difficult and problematic for me. Here are the CONS of the Storm in terms of email, texting, and typing in notes :
- There is no trackball or wheel like in all the previous blackberry models. When typing, and if you made a typing mistake or needed to go back and edit (add or delete) a word, the trackball and/or wheel allowed you to navigate anywhere through the text that you typed. With the Storm, you need to touch the screen as to where you want to point to. With the keyboard taking up 2/3rds of the screen, and with most people having a fair size finger or thumb, it is almost impossible to point to where you want to edit or fix a spelling mistake. Its possible, but takes about 50x longer than if you had the trackball or wheel.
- There is auto spell check where if the word you spelled is incorrect, a tiny box (2 words at a time) show up allowing you to choose which one you want to replace it with. Within that tiny box showing 2 words at a time is a "micro" scroll where again, you need a finger the size of a ball point pen to scroll down to see the other selections.
- In terms of SMS/Text Messaging, the Storm deviated from all the past blackberries where if you go into your SMS sent history, you can open up a SMS message and hit the menu button giving you the option of creating a new SMS to that contact. The Storm does not allow you to do that. For sending out a new SMS, you basically have to press 4 extra buttons which makes things more time consuming and again, having to deal with the difficulties of pressing the screen.
PHONE FUNCTION :
PROS : Blackberries are have some of the loudest earpiece volumes and most sensitive microphones compared to any phone on the market. This is a huge plus for people who work in manufacturing, outdoor, or environments where there is alot of background noise and difficult to hear. As for business discussions where you don't want others around you to hear what you are saying, the microphone picks up a whisper and allows the other party to hear you easily.
CONS : Non-physical key makes it difficult to dial when driving and is a safety hazzard. Compared to previous blackberries, the Storm and the Bold have had their maximum earpiece volumes decreased by the manufacturer due to some speakers blowing out. My older blackberries are extremely loud at the 50% level, and equal the Bold and the Storm at the 75% maximum volume level.
WEB BROWSER / Internet :
I personally use the web browser to kill time waiting in line ups or to check for restaurant phone numbers on google, or to check on something easy and fast, not having to deal with booting up my laptop or PC. The blackberry has never been a fast loading web browser regardless if it is on 3G, EVDO, 1X networks. If you have patience, then the web broswer should be fine. I do use Windows Live Messenger on the blackberry. Its great to be able to chat online or surf the web at work without the IT/management knowing you are on the web :) Potential downside of the Storm is that it does not have WiFi for those who have a low data package and have a wireless network at home and want to surf without incurring data usage fees.
CAMERA / VIDEO Camera:
3.2 MP with auto-focus WITH flash. At first I thought the auto-focus was a gimmick but it works just like a real digital camera. Press the shutter button half way down to focus (green box appears to confirm subject is in focus), and then press the shutter all the way down to capture the image. The shutter speed is slow so for moving objects you will probably miss the shot. But for still pictures, it is extremely clear. I have yet to print out an image though. Even though there is a shutter lag, it kicks the Iphone as the resolution is better and the Iphone doesn't have auto-focus and no flash either. Video camera is great. Doesn't work well in low light though. Samsung Instinct is great in low light. Storm has capability of video light constantly on which works excellent in an emergency situation such as a power outage at home/office or in car. The light is very bright. Another PRO on the video camera is the no time limit on recording. You can record up to the capacity of the external memory card you have. You can easily record more than 1 hour with a 4GB micro SD memory card. The same is true for the voice recorder. Voice recorder is great for lectures. The Iphone can only record approx. 1 minute as is. A 3rd party application is available for a fee for the Iphone, which allows you unlimited recording time.
BATTERY LIFE :
Battery life on blackberries are the best. The battery quality is also the best. I have charged by blackberry every single night for years have never had a battery die yet. Some of my batteries are 3 years old and still are going strong. I usually get 200 emails, surf the web for 30 minutes, leave my screen at 50% brightness, talk for 20 minutes a day, listen to 10 minutes of music per day. After 16 hours on, with the above activities, the battery level is at 70% at the end of the night. I don't think the Iphone's battery is this good.
MEMORY (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL) :
Anyone owning a blackberry with the capability of an micro SD card should invest in one. Most BB can handle up to 8GB. The Bold has the memory card slot on the side of the phone and is accessible anytime. The Storm is not as convenient and has the micro SD slot under the battery cover. The one positive is that the battery does not need to be removed to access the micro SD card. I have over 200 songs, 20 music videos, and 4 full length movies, taking up 7GB of space. MicroSD cards should be available in 16GB in a year or two. Iphone's 16GB memory is not expandable and is not hot swappable. You require Itune software. A microSD card can be inserted into a card reader with no software required. You just drag and drop your MP3, pictures, movies into the card.
MEDIA (MP3/MOVIES) :
Everyone knows what a MP3 file is so I won't go into that. But I use Windows Media Player and click on the RIP tab to convert my CD's to MP3. For movies, there is a great program that is free (no time limit) that converts almost everything (DVD, AVI, WMV, DIVX, etc.) to BB, Iphone, PSP, etc. It is called XVID4PSP by Winnydows. Just google it. They don't have the perfect match to the Storms screen resolution of 480x360 but if you choose ITouch/IPhone output 480x320, it looks good. I have a quad core and choose the 1 pass conversion to save time. I can convert a 2 hour movie to MPEG 4 for the Storm in 30 minutes. The screen is amazing and is better than the Iphone. When watching movies, it is almost impossible to scan, skip or rewind to exactly where you want to go due to the on screen navigation. The speaker on the Storm is very loud, much louder than the Iphone, probably about 5 times louder.
DURABILITY :
Blackberries in general are indestructable. But the Bold and the Storm are trending towards partial vulnerability due to their "flashy" and shiny metallic trims. Blackberries were constructed of very hard plastic that could be dropped on concrete and not leave a mark. The Bold and the Storm have a plastic metal-looking trim that scratches easily, melts on cigarette burns, and dents/divots when hitting the pavement. The unit will still function but if dropped, it looks like its been through some wars.
Other Comments :
Blackberries have firmware/operating system upgrades available for free every year or sooner. They can be found at your carrier's website or at blackberry.com. The upgrades usually fix alot of the bugs such as the camera lag, overall system lag, and can add alot of new functions and improvments.
There are some manufacturing defects that can't be fixed though. The one problem is that the screen is all one piece and has some non-sensitive areas when pressing. Sometimes when pressing the bottom row of icons in landscape mode or the corners, it does not register your "pressing/clicking" and you have to keep trying a few times. This is very irritating and can't be fixed.
In general, if you are a blackberry addict who uses the email (writing) and SMS/Txt functions the most, the Storm is probably not the best unit to have. If you are female and have long nails, a person with big fingers, the Storm is also not the easiest unit to use.
If you are someone who reads alot of emails, surfs the web, listens to music and watches video on your handheld devices, then the Storm is perfect.
Lastly, is it worth the $400-600 no-contract price ? I'd say no, but people have to have their toys :) Its definitely more worth pay this price for the Storm as opposed to the Iphone.
Thanks for reading.
April 01/2009 Update : Several great things have happened since I purchased the Storm in January. There have been several operating system (OS) updates. Original OS was .76. They have had about 6 updates and the current OS is .113. OS .113 is excellent. It has improved the lagtime when switching between portrait to landscape and vice versa. It has improved its overall speed for all functions. For those who can type very fast, there was a lag where you typed faster than the letters/numbers showing up on the screen. That is now resolved. The other major boost to blackberries in general is the launch of the BB App Store. There are over 300 apps you can download direct from the BB, many of them free. Others are are ranging from $2.99 to $9.99 and can be paid by paypal.
Features :
Camera (3.2 MP)
Built-in GPS
Media Player
Video Recording
BlackBerry® Maps
Wireless Email
Organizer
Browser
Phone
SMS/MMS
Display :
High resolution 480 x 360 pixel color display
Transmissive TFT LCD
Font size (user selectable)
Supports over 65,000 colors
Screen Size: 3.25 inches (diagonally measured)
Media Player :
Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV
Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC , eAAC , WMA, WMA ProPlus
Network that it works on :
UMTS/HSPA: 2100 MHz
North America: 850 MHz GSM®/GPRS networks
North America: 1900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA/Ev-DO networks
This is my 7th Blackberry that I have owned. I have previously owned BB7280, BB7290, BB Pearl, BB8700, BB Curve 8310, and the BB Bold. In general, for a person who types alot of emails or is not a great speller or typer, then the Storm is probably not the model you should use. For a person who likes to read emails (not write them), and likes to surf the web, and watch movies and listen to music, in addition to talking on the phone alot, the Storm is perfect. The reasoning is below.
EMAIL :
I receive about 200 emails a day and write about 10 emails, and 25 SMS texts a day. The BB Storm is great for reading emails but is not the fastest or easiest to type on. I can type very fast on all the previous BB I have owned but the Storm is the most difficult and problematic for me. Here are the CONS of the Storm in terms of email, texting, and typing in notes :
- There is no trackball or wheel like in all the previous blackberry models. When typing, and if you made a typing mistake or needed to go back and edit (add or delete) a word, the trackball and/or wheel allowed you to navigate anywhere through the text that you typed. With the Storm, you need to touch the screen as to where you want to point to. With the keyboard taking up 2/3rds of the screen, and with most people having a fair size finger or thumb, it is almost impossible to point to where you want to edit or fix a spelling mistake. Its possible, but takes about 50x longer than if you had the trackball or wheel.
- There is auto spell check where if the word you spelled is incorrect, a tiny box (2 words at a time) show up allowing you to choose which one you want to replace it with. Within that tiny box showing 2 words at a time is a "micro" scroll where again, you need a finger the size of a ball point pen to scroll down to see the other selections.
- In terms of SMS/Text Messaging, the Storm deviated from all the past blackberries where if you go into your SMS sent history, you can open up a SMS message and hit the menu button giving you the option of creating a new SMS to that contact. The Storm does not allow you to do that. For sending out a new SMS, you basically have to press 4 extra buttons which makes things more time consuming and again, having to deal with the difficulties of pressing the screen.
PHONE FUNCTION :
PROS : Blackberries are have some of the loudest earpiece volumes and most sensitive microphones compared to any phone on the market. This is a huge plus for people who work in manufacturing, outdoor, or environments where there is alot of background noise and difficult to hear. As for business discussions where you don't want others around you to hear what you are saying, the microphone picks up a whisper and allows the other party to hear you easily.
CONS : Non-physical key makes it difficult to dial when driving and is a safety hazzard. Compared to previous blackberries, the Storm and the Bold have had their maximum earpiece volumes decreased by the manufacturer due to some speakers blowing out. My older blackberries are extremely loud at the 50% level, and equal the Bold and the Storm at the 75% maximum volume level.
WEB BROWSER / Internet :
I personally use the web browser to kill time waiting in line ups or to check for restaurant phone numbers on google, or to check on something easy and fast, not having to deal with booting up my laptop or PC. The blackberry has never been a fast loading web browser regardless if it is on 3G, EVDO, 1X networks. If you have patience, then the web broswer should be fine. I do use Windows Live Messenger on the blackberry. Its great to be able to chat online or surf the web at work without the IT/management knowing you are on the web :) Potential downside of the Storm is that it does not have WiFi for those who have a low data package and have a wireless network at home and want to surf without incurring data usage fees.
CAMERA / VIDEO Camera:
3.2 MP with auto-focus WITH flash. At first I thought the auto-focus was a gimmick but it works just like a real digital camera. Press the shutter button half way down to focus (green box appears to confirm subject is in focus), and then press the shutter all the way down to capture the image. The shutter speed is slow so for moving objects you will probably miss the shot. But for still pictures, it is extremely clear. I have yet to print out an image though. Even though there is a shutter lag, it kicks the Iphone as the resolution is better and the Iphone doesn't have auto-focus and no flash either. Video camera is great. Doesn't work well in low light though. Samsung Instinct is great in low light. Storm has capability of video light constantly on which works excellent in an emergency situation such as a power outage at home/office or in car. The light is very bright. Another PRO on the video camera is the no time limit on recording. You can record up to the capacity of the external memory card you have. You can easily record more than 1 hour with a 4GB micro SD memory card. The same is true for the voice recorder. Voice recorder is great for lectures. The Iphone can only record approx. 1 minute as is. A 3rd party application is available for a fee for the Iphone, which allows you unlimited recording time.
BATTERY LIFE :
Battery life on blackberries are the best. The battery quality is also the best. I have charged by blackberry every single night for years have never had a battery die yet. Some of my batteries are 3 years old and still are going strong. I usually get 200 emails, surf the web for 30 minutes, leave my screen at 50% brightness, talk for 20 minutes a day, listen to 10 minutes of music per day. After 16 hours on, with the above activities, the battery level is at 70% at the end of the night. I don't think the Iphone's battery is this good.
MEMORY (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL) :
Anyone owning a blackberry with the capability of an micro SD card should invest in one. Most BB can handle up to 8GB. The Bold has the memory card slot on the side of the phone and is accessible anytime. The Storm is not as convenient and has the micro SD slot under the battery cover. The one positive is that the battery does not need to be removed to access the micro SD card. I have over 200 songs, 20 music videos, and 4 full length movies, taking up 7GB of space. MicroSD cards should be available in 16GB in a year or two. Iphone's 16GB memory is not expandable and is not hot swappable. You require Itune software. A microSD card can be inserted into a card reader with no software required. You just drag and drop your MP3, pictures, movies into the card.
MEDIA (MP3/MOVIES) :
Everyone knows what a MP3 file is so I won't go into that. But I use Windows Media Player and click on the RIP tab to convert my CD's to MP3. For movies, there is a great program that is free (no time limit) that converts almost everything (DVD, AVI, WMV, DIVX, etc.) to BB, Iphone, PSP, etc. It is called XVID4PSP by Winnydows. Just google it. They don't have the perfect match to the Storms screen resolution of 480x360 but if you choose ITouch/IPhone output 480x320, it looks good. I have a quad core and choose the 1 pass conversion to save time. I can convert a 2 hour movie to MPEG 4 for the Storm in 30 minutes. The screen is amazing and is better than the Iphone. When watching movies, it is almost impossible to scan, skip or rewind to exactly where you want to go due to the on screen navigation. The speaker on the Storm is very loud, much louder than the Iphone, probably about 5 times louder.
DURABILITY :
Blackberries in general are indestructable. But the Bold and the Storm are trending towards partial vulnerability due to their "flashy" and shiny metallic trims. Blackberries were constructed of very hard plastic that could be dropped on concrete and not leave a mark. The Bold and the Storm have a plastic metal-looking trim that scratches easily, melts on cigarette burns, and dents/divots when hitting the pavement. The unit will still function but if dropped, it looks like its been through some wars.
Other Comments :
Blackberries have firmware/operating system upgrades available for free every year or sooner. They can be found at your carrier's website or at blackberry.com. The upgrades usually fix alot of the bugs such as the camera lag, overall system lag, and can add alot of new functions and improvments.
There are some manufacturing defects that can't be fixed though. The one problem is that the screen is all one piece and has some non-sensitive areas when pressing. Sometimes when pressing the bottom row of icons in landscape mode or the corners, it does not register your "pressing/clicking" and you have to keep trying a few times. This is very irritating and can't be fixed.
In general, if you are a blackberry addict who uses the email (writing) and SMS/Txt functions the most, the Storm is probably not the best unit to have. If you are female and have long nails, a person with big fingers, the Storm is also not the easiest unit to use.
If you are someone who reads alot of emails, surfs the web, listens to music and watches video on your handheld devices, then the Storm is perfect.
Lastly, is it worth the $400-600 no-contract price ? I'd say no, but people have to have their toys :) Its definitely more worth pay this price for the Storm as opposed to the Iphone.
Thanks for reading.
April 01/2009 Update : Several great things have happened since I purchased the Storm in January. There have been several operating system (OS) updates. Original OS was .76. They have had about 6 updates and the current OS is .113. OS .113 is excellent. It has improved the lagtime when switching between portrait to landscape and vice versa. It has improved its overall speed for all functions. For those who can type very fast, there was a lag where you typed faster than the letters/numbers showing up on the screen. That is now resolved. The other major boost to blackberries in general is the launch of the BB App Store. There are over 300 apps you can download direct from the BB, many of them free. Others are are ranging from $2.99 to $9.99 and can be paid by paypal.
