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Blackberry Storm first impressions

I’ve seen and held the new Blackberry Storm on several quick occasions in the past but only able to really tinker with it yesterday. Here are some of my first-hand impressions about the device and why I thought it was a tricky proposition for RIM to venture into the touchscreen handhelds.

This isn’t a full review but I’d like to share some of the things I found unconventional about the Blackberry Storm. The Storm has some pretty solid construction but the glossy black plastic casing in front is prone to scratches while the back panel has a brushed metallic finish.

Unlike most other touchscreen phones, the Storm’s screen can be pressed down (much like the trackpad of the new Macs). The displayed screen is recessed and you’ll need more than just a simple tap — the difference is somewhat like that of the computer keyboard and a mechanical typewriter. On that same note though, scrolling through the screen menu can be a bit confusing (but then again, this is my first time to ever use a Blackberry).

blackberry storm

There’s some haptic feedback and the icons/keys light up with a tap but you would need to press down harder. It’s something that a lot of touchscreen users might find some time to getting used to. I got the hang of it but sometimes you’ll find yourself tapping an item several times to activate it. I guess this is RIM’s approach to answer that lingering complaints about touchscreen phones not having enough tactile feedback.

blackberry storm blackberry storm blackberry storm
Pictures taken using a Nokia E71.

It has a pretty decent auto-focus camera too, considering I took this under low light. Here’s a sample photo below.

The web browser is proprietary RIM but reminded me of Opera Mini which is light and quick. There are some bugs on the re-draw of pages with ghost images but they’re not a big issue.

What impressed me the most was the sound and video quality. Beats the iPhone hands-down and comparable to the SE XPeria X1. The audio gets muffled when the device is placed down since the speakers are smack right at the back. The unit shown here is not the official one released for the Philippines (it’s a Verizon one showed to me by the guys at Novare) and does not have WiFi. However, looks like the version for the Philippines doesn’t have WiFi too.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

14 Responses

  1. Avatar for New Media Philippines New Media Philippines says:

    Great review Yuga. Did some research myself and I have to agree that the phone kinda sucks. Having no wifi is a big mistake.

  2. Avatar for Sirshatterstar Sirshatterstar says:

    I just got a storm and all I can say is that it’s just so cool for a phone! Sure iphone rocks but I already have an ipod touch and the main diff bet it and the iphone is that you can call and text on the iphone. So having a blackberry storm and an ipod touch is the way to go! Oh yeah, it really doesn’t have a wifi but it’s no biggy coz my ipod touch has it. Hehe.

  3. Avatar for beeps beeps says:

    The BB8320 Curve is still the best for me, but i still want to get a hang on those BB Storm.

  4. Avatar for trench trench says:

    I think I’d rather go with the BOLD although the STORM is quite attractive.

  5. Avatar for SEO to Hobbies| CarloBlogg Online SEO to Hobbies| CarloBlogg Online says:

    “No Wifi” – ok, I think that would be enough for me to look somewhere else :D,

  6. Avatar for domotics domotics says:

    Wow, impressive…whats the os?

  7. Avatar for john john says:

    doesn’t have WiFy?..iphone is the best for me..

  8. Avatar for boy mejorada boy mejorada says:

    yes, big disappointment indeed that it doesn’t have wifi.

  9. Avatar for blued888 blued888 says:

    Having a screen that big and not having WiFi?

    Simply kills the sales potential.

  10. Avatar for seoulbox seoulbox says:

    nice looks but hey, who wants a business type phone without WiFi?

  11. Avatar for Jhay Jhay says:

    3rd in a row, no WiFi?! Bummer!

    Now how would this phone do in the local market?

  12. Avatar for Nitecrawler Nitecrawler says:

    No Wifi? sucks bigtime.. cant use skype, facebook, etc.. unless you’re willing to pay for the metered browsing charge by telcos

  13. Avatar for william william says:

    no wifi? that sucks. but the image quality is impressive.

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