Review on BlackBerry Storm2 9550 for Verizon

BlackBerry Storm2 9550 has been released by BlackBerry after the Storm 9530. The hardware which is in-built with this phone is 95 percent similar to the original Storm hardware. Only 5 percent change is seen in this phone which has been coupled with the New BlackBerry 5.0 OS which is functional and also firm. Thus, good support is given to the Storm2 phone very carefully, than its elder sibling. Hope this phone at least wins the hearts of people!

Design & Features:

This design is almost similar to the Storm 9530. The dimension of this phone is 112.5×62x14mm which is same as the older one and the weight is around 161.6g which is a bit more than the original one. Physical differences are there in this mobile when compared to the original Storm. The touch screen is 3.2inch having a native resolution of 360 x 480 pixels. The colors of the screen are warmer than the original one and they are life giving colors which makes the screen real when viewed. To activate certain functions, pressure is required by typing, though being a capacitive touch screen.

The display of the new Storm2 is flexible but it doesn’t shift up or down and thus the click is completely replicated offering a tight seal in the region of the display. This click is not considered when the phone is locked. On the edges of the mobile are the shutter toggle, volume rocker and voice dial key which are in black color and are merged cleanly with the design of the phone. The frame of the phone which is dark chrome in color gives a cohesive appearance to the phone and thus is eye catchy. The metal body is retained at the rear end of the phone. Headphone jack of 3.5mm is on the side of the device.

If the jack for headphone was on the top side or bottom side of the phone it would have been easy to use. Beneath the back wrap is the slot for microSD memory card. Mute and screen lock buttons re present on top of the phone. These buttons appear to be touch-sensitive but are actually hard ones which produces original click when pressed. The grille of speakerphone has been stirred to the bottom edge of the device from rear side. When the device is placed on the desk, the speaker phone works better than the original one. On the whole, the quality of build of BlackBerry Storm2 9550 is very, very robust. Thanks to the new display which is far better than the original one.

Performance:

The strength of reception in this phone seems to be poorer than the former Storm 9350. The quality of call is good and also speakerphone performance is pretty good. The battery life of Storm2 is rated to be 5.5hrs of talk time and the stand by time is 11 days. The keyboard is spacious and texting is easy with this phone. Maneuvering of fingers on this keypad gives a comfy feeling. Even the contact structure is same as it is in the Storm 9350. All types of information can be loaded into contact as before.

The OS of BlackBerry Storm2 9550 has been integrated tightly with the non-BlackBerry Enterprise Server systems. As a result of this, the contacts in Gmail can be synched with the Storm2, if the user chooses it. There is no instantaneous search of contacts as the hardware keyboard is absent which could have been used to search for contacts from the home screen. System of profiles present in here is very pleasant and is easy to configure. This has an intimidate scope and can be used as a powerful tool in Storm2 by the user. By tapping on the speaker icon which is at the top left hand corner on the home screen, the profiles can be changed.

The speed dial which is also present but rather than this, there is a voice dialing system which has an independent speaker and this can be activated by default with the help of the convenience button which is found to the left of the phone. This voice dialing is efficient and very swift too. The specialty of any BlackBerry handset is that the messaging is very user friendly and thus Storm2 is also not an exception, when this point comes into picture. With the help of the RIM setup wizard, multiple email accounts can be set up painlessly. All these email accounts do possess their own inbox which include picture and text messaging.

Email with full HTML is also supported. You can even sync contacts, calendar with Gmail and Facebook. MS Exchange users have no full support which is required to via BlackBerry Enterprise Server. IM clients are available in a wide variety which can be installed easily from shortcut presets which are in the App folder in the mobile. This IM theme is also spilt all over messaging too, so that it features threaded messaging and color coded messaging and these doesn’t have a polished look. For networking purpose Wi-Fi is present in this Storm2 and it gives a back up to the Verizon’s CDMA EV-DO Rev.

There is also 3G network in this phone. 2100MHz UMTS 3G networks can be operated via Storm2 and falls and supports the range of quad- band GSM / EDGE as a backup. Storm 2 can also be used as a 3G Modem with appropriate data plan by Verizon. Bluetooth with stereo headphones and microUSB options for connectivity are available on the phone always. The camera which is provided with this phone works marginally when compared to the micro phones of higher end. The images taken with this camera show up with distinct colors and also noise.

The best part is the lighting. To change the features like focus and flash modes, the menu is too awkward and not that much quick to use. If the frame is filled with subjects then only the macro focus mode works. The camera offers a 3.2MP with a native resolution of 480 x 352pixels. The quality of photos is not up to the mark and this doesn’t count when you wanna buy this camera. The music player is a real benefit in this phone but the position of the headphone jack is very much annoying. V CAST music from Verizon is also supported by Storm2.

On the Storm2, the video playback is very fine, thus the touch screen display is used brilliantly. The things are dry and cut in the web browser. BlackBerry 5.0 OS browser works well with many sites but not that much speedy. Most of the time, the work is nicely done. Some sites load up very slowly. The zooming mode in the browser can be done with a single click or double tap which seems to be decent. For un-zooming you need to use the back button which is quite fussy. For general browsing, the browser is good.

The calendar app in the BlackBerry offers really good functionality. This calendar can be synced with the Google calendar and Facebook app with the help of some of the freely available apps. From BlackBerry App World store and from other sources, you can avail plenty of good apps for the phone. Some of the utility apps and typical organizer are linked or pre installed with the icons which are existing in the menu systems. Offices docs can be edited directly form the Storm2 which is very much appreciated by the business people!

There is 1.8GB of space for storage which is built-in the Storm2 and it is used to save photos, media files, attachments and messages too. microSD memory card of 16GB is provided by the Verizon with this phone which helps the users to work plenty on it. To swap this card into the slot, you need to take the wrap off which is at the back and thankfully no the battery!! The users will be fully contented by the user interface provided in the Storm2. The SurePress system is also an added feature where the users will be satisfied.

Some of the added feature has been provided with the SurePress other than simple drag and tap functions. When a finger is held on the message title box, search for similar messages will be brought up in the inbox and with a click on it, opens the full message, which is quite impressive. The people who are well versed in handling and working with the iPhones which have 2-D touch screen can rock with this phone. RIM is not at all consistent with the new 3–D touch screen in Storm2 which leads to lots of confusion until the user gets adjusted to it.

The text selection which is made multi touch helps the starting users easy to handle it and get easily adjusted to it. Some of the tabs which are on screen can be moved about. There is also a changed cursor positioning tool. The transition effects of the new screen which are seen in apps are pretty. Scrolling can be done kinetically which helps in going through the long lists, Docs etc. There are handy and intuitive suitable sets for wireless status of home screen and thus multi-finger resting is offered on the screen at a time.

When ever you want that QWERTY keyboard to be in landscape mode, then you just need to tilt the phone and keep in horizontal direction and this keyboard is easiest to use on a touch screen phone. The keyboard which has been offered in this phone feels very much real though pressure requisition is more. When the keyboard is in portrait mode, it lacks the intelligent prediction of text and also auto correction. The things are done differently in this Storm2 user interface which is the biggest flaw. If it had the similar interface as the competitors then it would have excelled in this competition but unfortunately Storm2 lacks in this.

Outline:

The main plus point of this Storm2 is that it has an impressive user interface and also the speed of messaging is surprising! The new contact and calendar syncing option is very good. The camera is a step back when compared to similar competitors and also the browsing gets awkward sometimes. Your fingers get tiresome by typing the message in Storm2. This phone is a perfect one for the right user. For social networking, limited messaging and for reading emails, this phone is very much pleasing.

Even the browser is good and the presence of Wi-Fi speeds up the things. Sometimes you will be tired of the SurePress display even though it is supposed to be cool! Storm2 is still regarded as a fantastic phone and is highly recommended for the right users.