[darreno1]

I had some time to kill today and checked out the Torch at a nearby At&t store. Let me start by saying Blackberrys were never my thing so naturally there is going to be some bias in my opinion. However with the Torch I figured they'd finally have some appeal being it's more touch oriented with better browsing and multimedia capabilities.

Well before I even dove into the multimedia features, the first thing that struck me was the screen pixelation. I know for many BB users this will not be that important but for someone accustomed to higher res screens, hate to say it, but this was a big turnoff. If they are trying to appeal to people like me or iPhone users, they need to do better than this. It's as though the screen quality was an afterthought. Zoomed out even a little, text became nearly impossible to read and fuzzy. The fonts were also poorly anti-aliased which didn't help. I found myself having to zoom more than normal to read and the pinch-to-zoom feature itself was pretty jittery but I can forgive that being it's a new OS and will need some tweaking. I couldn't help but think though, that with a nice high res screen this phone would have been so much better.

The hard keyboard was good but not as good as the Curve's or Bold's that I've used on occasion. It reminded me of the Palm Pre's in that it seemed a little cramped with the lip that surrounded it getting in the way sometimes. I'm sure with time one will get used to it but it wasn't very comfortable for me. The on-screen was bland but worked well enough. There was nothing special about it but it wasn't something that one would have a hard time getting used either. It worked well enough in landscape and portrait modes. It's no Android keyboard though.

Played with the browser and thought it was definitely a step up from previous Blackberrys but still suffered from jittery and inconsistent performance. For example, sliding around the pages with one finger wasn't as smooth as I'm used to and some pages took forever to load while others loaded up quickly. The colors were good and the rendering was accurate but again, the font visibility was disappointing mainly because of the screen res.

Tried the camera but didn't get good shots from it. They were a little hazy and blurred. However because it was a floor model, I'll reserve judgement. I've seen some review pics on the web and they were very good.

Getting around the OS was better and it did seem snappier at some things while laggy in others. I was able to get to the important settings much quicker than with the older OS, and switching to and from and in and out of apps were more Android like which was a nice welcome. The OS needs some work but I think they're heading in the right direction. As a business OS it's still more feature rich than both Android and IOS but as a consumer oriented OS, it has to mature some more IMO.

The slider had a nice feel opening and closing but there was some wiggle to it when fully opened which could drive some folks nuts. The phone was light but felt of good enough quality. Again it being a floor model could easily explain why the slider was a little loose, so until I play with one in the wild, I'll reserve judgement.


I really didn't spend any more time with it but it's a step in the right direction. Would I give my X up for it? No way. But If I were a BB user not planning on changing, I'd get it mainly for the improved browsing and multimedia. I have to say though, RIM could have had a much more compelling product had they not skimped on the screen.

[whsbuss]

Fair review but not everyone wants a 4.3" screen.

[Simba501]

I agree, for the most part. It's definitely a step in the right direction and I think it'll appeal to a lot of people. I thought they should've taken a bigger leap though (Faster processor, maybe a tad bit bigger screen). Knowing Rim, it'll be stable and reliable, like all Blackberries. I'm pleased with it, but since I'm not particularly fond of slider phones, I won't be getting it. They definitely could've put more work into making the touch screen more fluid. I played with it as well. I look forward to what Rim will bring next.

[Najo]

Thanks for your review, fair I guess. And it is your opinion but saying things like "text became nearly impossible to read and fuzzy" and "The hard keyboard was good but not as good as the Curve's or Bold's that I've used on occasion. It reminded me of the Palm Pre's in that it seemed a little cramped with the lip that surrounded it getting in the way sometimes." Well I can say I did not have that impression at all. The screen may not be as crisp, it is however very usable and I had no problem with it. And to compare the keyboard to a Pre, well that's just crazy. But thanks for your comparison!

[FrenchCrackberry]

Thanks for your review . This Screen res is frightens me .....

[zensen]

good thing the droid x does not appeal to me. Might as well carry around a 32" HD tv.

predictably, we all know RIM will just bring out something more awesome within 8 months and people will whine that device should have been the device the torch was - in saying that, im still getting the torch as it seems to be the best RIM phone for me, let alone any other phone out in the near future.

nonetheless, thanks for your impressions.

[madlaw1071]

BB faithful are so easy to please and love to make excuses for RIM skimping on the hardware. Why settle for what RIM gives you? Demand more as a consumer and RIM will deliver or die.

[fecurtis]

Fair review but not everyone wants a 4.3" screen.

Higher resolution <> 4.3" screen

[avt123]

good thing the droid x does not appeal to me. Might as well carry around a 32" HD tv.

This makes a lot of sense...

[ClintRo]

BB faithful are so easy to please and love to make excuses for RIM skimping on the hardware. Why settle for what RIM gives you? Demand more as a consumer and RIM will deliver or die.

We just have different priorities and needs. I would rather have a device that will last me all day with a physical keyboard, trackpad and battery life. I have tried the android products and have an iTouch.

The android platfom just doesn't hold a charge for my typical day, my bold 9700 will. If the 9800 is anywhere near as good and comes out on another carrier I would love to give it a go.

[madlaw1071]

We just have different priorities and needs. I would rather have a device that will last me all day with a physical keyboard, trackpad and battery life. I have tried the android products and have an iTouch.

The android platfom just doesn't hold a charge for my typical day, my bold 9700 will. If the 9800 is anywhere near as good and comes out on another carrier I would love to give it a go.

Users like you are becoming the exception as evidences by RIM's continued and steady loss of market share. Since most people charge on a daily/nightly basis, battery life is less important than it used to be. Android and iPhone 4 virtual keyboards are so good most people don't miss a physical keyboard.

[fecurtis]

Users like you are becoming the exception as evidences by RIM's continued and steady loss of market share. Since most people charge on a daily/nightly basis, battery life is less important than it used to be. Android and iPhone 4 virtual keyboards are so good most people don't miss a physical keyboard.

True they do charge daily...but my phone will just barely make it a whole day.

[DNRuffin]

BB faithful are so easy to please and love to make excuses for RIM skimping on the hardware. Why settle for what RIM gives you? Demand more as a consumer and RIM will deliver or die.

You are so right!

[avt123]

True they do charge daily...but my phone will just barely make it a whole day.

You may have a faulty battery. I would look into that.

[ClintRo]

Users like you are becoming the exception as evidences by RIM's continued and steady loss of market share. Since most people charge on a daily/nightly basis, battery life is less important than it used to be. Android and iPhone 4 virtual keyboards are so good most people don't miss a physical keyboard.

I charge on a daily basis too. The Vibrant only lasted about 6 hours.

Loss of market share is an anomaly for example if the market grows by 300% (which is not unrealistic in the current market) and you lose 2% your company is still growing and can be very successful and profitable.

The Keyboards are good, but I still had issues when typing as everyone does. Even my friends that love their phones would rather physical keyboards occasionally. I use my phone too much to be dependent on an onscreen keyboard.

[madlaw1071]

True they do charge daily...but my phone will just barely make it a whole day.

I have a charger at home, at my desk and in my car. Simple.

I can see if someone if away from home, desk or car being concerned but I'd venture to say the vast majority of consumers charge as needed.

[ClintRo]

It is still a pain to charge the phone all the time, and then if you happen to forget it dies and you are screwed.

[madlaw1071]

It is still a pain to charge the phone all the time, and then if you happen to forget it dies and you are screwed.

Forget what? It's really not that hard to plug something in.

The market speaks, only RIM doesn't listen. Early adopters of the iPhone complained about poor battery performance and each iteration got better. Android being a newer platform I suspect the same thing will happen.

Ask an average smartphone user to rank battery life along with smooth, user-friendly OS, fast web-browsing, availability of apps and fast performance and I'd bet battery life comes out near the bottom.

[ClintRo]

I am sure it doesn until the phone dies when they need it.

I dont want a phone that I have to plug in 4 times a day just to make it to 10:00

But we can agree to disagree that is fine with me.

[madlaw1071]

I am sure it doesn until the phone dies when they need it.

I dont want a phone that I have to plug in 4 times a day just to make it to 10:00

But we can agree to disagree that is fine with me.

That's why they make them in all shapes and sizes

[whsbuss]

Forget what? It's really not that hard to plug something in.

The market speaks, only RIM doesn't listen. Early adopters of the iPhone complained about poor battery performance and each iteration got better. Android being a newer platform I suspect the same thing will happen.

Ask an average smartphone user to rank battery life along with smooth, user-friendly OS, fast web-browsing, availability of apps and fast performance and I'd bet battery life comes out near the bottom.

You still here? The 75 posts you have are all geared to trashing RIM. Please leave.

[avt123]

Forget what? It's really not that hard to plug something in.

The market speaks, only RIM doesn't listen. Early adopters of the iPhone complained about poor battery performance and each iteration got better. Android being a newer platform I suspect the same thing will happen.

Ask an average smartphone user to rank battery life along with smooth, user-friendly OS, fast web-browsing, availability of apps and fast performance and I'd bet battery life comes out near the bottom.

You also have to remember that iPhone users put up with this because there was nothing else out like it at the time. No other touch screen was as smooth. No other browser can compete, HTML email was the best. Plus the almighty App Store. Then you have the Apple fanboys and trendy people who carried it around because it was cool. I actually enjoyed my iPhones, but couldn't take the dropped calls anymore. AT&Ts service was excellent in my area.

[ReggieTee]

Battery charging shouldn't really be an issue for most. Most people probably have car chargers and spare USB cables for when they are in the office provided one works in an office.

[mark_rivers19]

why is it hard for android and apple phone owners to accept the fact that there's a serious market for people who love the physical keyboards, the RED LED notification and the peace of mind for the so called battery life.

in my case.. i have a macbook pro and an i pod touch... i want/NEED a phone and not a redundancy of the ipod touch..
parted with my 2 yr 3G for Bold 9000.
now i'm happy.

we're not even putting the iPad in the mix.. which will make this more redundant.

[fecurtis]

I have a charger at home, at my desk and in my car. Simple.

I can see if someone if away from home, desk or car being concerned but I'd venture to say the vast majority of consumers charge as needed.

Yes so do I. I'm merely stating a fact, the battery life on this thing is a far cry from what it was on BB's.

I worked my way around it but it's still a downfall. Luckily I have a plethora of USB cables so it was easy to keep them in various places.

And Jesus, remember that Facebook app upgrade? You know, the one that killed your battery in 4 hours? That was a good time too. Thankfully Facebook pushed out a fix in two days.

I guess I should be fair, if you do things like dim the brightness of the screen, turn off wifi, bluetooth, and GPS, the battery will last a good while (toggling through those is easy to do via the power management widget). You'll still have to recharge it overnight though.