AT A GLANCE
- New BlackBerry OS6
- 5 megapixel camera
- Touch screen, keyboard and trackpad
- Multi-touch gestures
I absolutely love the new Torch. It has all the features that I have come to love with the Storm 2 and more. This is the first device to feature the newest version of the BlackBerry Operating System and it's is slick, easy to use and so very intuitive.
The Torch is quite chunky and the Qwerty keypad slides out from under the touch screen – making it a complex interaction between touch and key input, with the optical trackpad thrown in for more precise navigation. This device offers the best of both: a full keyboard, and a touchscreen experience that's....well....touchable.
My favourite feature on BlackBerry OS 6 has to be the way the navigation menu is laid out. No longer do you have to change the four icons on your home screen for instant access. Now, thanks to the 'Frequent' menu, the top four applications that you use are constantly updated. It made getting into Twitter, GTalk, mail and BBM a breeze. Downloading apps was easy and quick and the apps ran smoothly once installed.
Browsing on BlackBerry devices has long been a nightmare involving much scrolling and swearing, trying to view web content. RIM seems to have given some attention to the browsing experience, and with WebKit support, web pages look a lot better when they load. There's also been the addition of tabbed browsing – which completely changes my opinion of BlackBerry web browsing.
Communication – BlackBerry proves again why they do it best and setting up e-mail, contacts and calendars was so quick, it was almost like they were already waiting for me on the device. Remotely importing my BBM contacts and groups via email was effortless, I didn't have to send new requests to my contacts and it even restored previous conversations.
The touchscreen was great to use once I had gotten used to the sensitivity. It's a capacitive touchscreen, rather than a resistive one, so you won't actually feel the screen move when you press something. I must admit that I didn't use the pull out keyboard as much as I should have but I think that comes from using the Storm 2 prior to the Torch. I just preferred using the touch screen QWERTY keypad in a landscape view for typing. For someone coming from a keyboard-based phone, I think having the keyboard will be a huge win, and would make the transition to a touchscreen-dominated mobile experience that much easier.
The 5 megapixel camera was a great improvement on the Storm's 3.2 megapixel camera, I especially found the auto focus a huge help. Uploading photos directly to UberTwitter was as easy as pressing a few buttons regardless of whether I uploaded from the original image or from within UberTwitter. This is due to another smart feature from BlackBerry: total integration of third party apps, which means that their functionality is extended throughout the BlackBerry OS.
One of the new functions on the Torch is the Social Feeds function. Basically your Twitter, Facebook and any RSS feeds are amalgamated into one time line. I found this a bit busy and frenetic, especially during peak times when the majority of people I follow were updating. It reminded me a lot of the review I read of the SocialScope for BlackBerry app and I found that as I was opening each individual application anyway, Social Feeds seemed a bit redundant to me – but it seems like something that might be useful for someone who wants to keep an eye on their social networks easily, and from one place.
As for who'd be perfectly suited to the BlackBerry Torch - I'd say just about anyone as using it in a business or social capacity is equally enjoyable. The weight of the device is a bit off-putting if you are going to carry it in your hand or in a pocket but in a handbag the weight is negligible.
I can't wait to get one but with this price tag I will have to wait for my upgrade in order to be able to afford it.
TURN ONS:
- Touch screen, keyboard and track pad make for a mix of convenient access and input options for this phone.
- New BlackBerry OS is slick, sexy and makes this a superbly smartphone.
- Easy to set up and use – menus are much easier to navigate.
TURN OFFS:
- Heavier than most BlackBerry handsets.
- Touch screen is very sensitive
- Expensive if not on a contract
