BlackBerry Storm 2 9520 Review
In brief
The BlackBerry Storm 2 9520 is a user-friendly smartphone which houses advanced technology and has a touchscreen designed for fast scrolling and typing.
Look and Feel
Design wise, the BlackBerry Storm 2 looks very similar to the
original Storm. It is the same size, if a little heavier, and has a 3.25 inch touchscreen. The phone sits comfortably in your one hand and looks smart with only four buttons on the front which are not raised because they are touch-sensitive.
There are two virtual keyboards on the BlackBerry Storm 2, a SureType keyboard with two letters per key and a full QWERTY. If you miss the feel of a real keyboard and are not a fan of the flat typing offered by smartphones such as the
iPhone, you will love the SurePress click screen. Once you have guided your finger to the point on the screen you want, simply push down and it will be selected with a click, meaning you press as you type. This can take a little getting used to as, for example, you may find pressing on small site links a little tricky as the screen sometimes moves when you click, but as you get used to it you find the click screen complements the touch sensitiveness nicely.
The screen on the Storm 2 has a lock mode so you can’t accidently press it when the phone is off or in sleep mode. The LED light at the top of the phone is a good way of keeping in touch with the world when your phone is in sleep mode as it blinks a certain colour when you get a message or the phone is on charge, for example.
The phone is easy to use as the BlackBerry Operating System 5.0 keeps the screens clean and tidy – rather than displaying all the options and busying each screen, there are only a few displayed and you simply click on them for the extra options. One feature you can add to your BlackBerry Storm 2 is the Facebook Connect which lets you interact with your friends through your phone, including poking them or sending a message. This is similar to the
Motorola DEXT. You can view all your messages at once too if you click on the Messaging Centre icon.
For business, the BlackBerry Storm 2 is also good. You can add up to ten email addresses and it is effortless to type with the SurePress screen and options like copy and paste. You can add as much information as you want to each contact and you can search for messages from a particular person by holding down their name.
Special features
The touchscreen is really enjoyable to use. Swiping and scrolling is as easy as on the
Palm Pre and the SurePress is friendlier than on the first Storm. More sensors on the click screen have been added to the BlackBerry Storm 2 and this phone has four. This makes it easier to press down on a key or icon and supports multi-touch so you can press down on two sections of the screen at the same time. Combine this with the auto-correct ability for commonly entered words, and you can type as fast as your fingers will let you.
BlackBerry has greatly improved on the original Storm and the Storm 2 is a fully-functional touchscreen smartphone that can be used to manage and enjoy your personal and business life.