Just a few pics of the New Blackberry Tour. I am loving it...
More to come......
Quick Mini Review!!
Got my hands on a Tour and decided to write up a short review of what I think so far. I must say that the first thing I said when I first help phone was "Wow". Being a Storm user I was pretty impressed with the weight. Its almost 1 oz lighter than the storm and feels a **** of a lot better.
*Design*
RIM hit the Jackpot this time around. Perfect fit in your hands and all the buttons are within reach. On my storm I found it very ackward to press the right convenience key. On the Tour this is not the case, holding the phone in your right hand, you thumb is within striking distance of the key.
*Keys*
Keyboard keys are perfectly spaced and typing was very eary. (Storm Comparsion again) Being a Storm user for the last 7 mths, picking up this phone reminded me why I missed my Curve so much. Send, End, BB Button and Back keys are flat which gives them a good feel. BB Button and Back button is one piece with the TrackBall in the middle. I hear others saying that the Trackball is recessed. The BlackBerry PearlFlip has a recessed trackball. The TrackBall on the Tour is raised up 1-1.5mm so i don't get what the are talking about. Pressing the trackball in fully still leaves room to play.
*Holding down BB Button will launch app switcher just like on the Storm.
*Holding down mute button will put the phoe is stand by mode.
*Screen*
The screen on this device is the best screen I have seen on a phone. I put this side by side with my storm and was blown away by the clarity and sharpness of the txt on the screen. I didn't get to use phone in the sunlight as of yet but when I do I will be sure to report back.
*Memory*
Phone came out of the box with a little under 120MB. Since then I have installed, AP News, CB AppStore, BB App World, Bolt, FaceBook, Opera Mini, Pandora, Poynt, QuickPull, Slacker, SocialScope, VZ-Nav and WeatherBug and I still have about 105MB remaining. I have not experienced any memory leak, I repeat "NO MEMORY LEAK". Phone ships with 2GB micro SD card pre-installed.
*Themes*
Phone ships with Precision Zen and Verizon Zen. Was hoping to get a today theme on it but we will have to wait for the theme builders to do their thing.
*Games*
Phone ships with 5 games. BrickBreaker, WordMole, Texas Hold'Em King 2, Sudoku and Klondike.
*Browser*
Cnn test
Storm 23 seconds, Tour 25 seconds
Crackberrt test
Storm 24 seconds, Tour 30 seconds
BGR test
Storm 14 seconds, Tour 20 seconds
Joystiq test
Storm 23 seconds, Tour 30 seconds
Well as we can see from the results, the Storm performed better on all sites tested. All settings were the same in Browser Options.
*Call quality is amazing.
*I can't speak for battery life yet but so far so good.
*Camera is good, Haven't taken much pics yet.
*OS is quick and responds very well. Apps open up instantly and there is little to no lag at all. Running WeatherBug, Opera, BB Maps, CB App Store, Poynt, AP News, Pandora, Bolt, SocialScope, BBM and BB Browser and absolutely no lag.
**I am off to bed now. Will finish this up tomorrow. Hope this help you guys a little. If this seems like it was rushed, that's because it was. Sleep is calling me.**
Last edited by irie; 07-10-09 at 11:22 PM.
Reason: Added Review!!!
can you do us a favor? when you press down on the hard buttons on your tour right below the screen, does your screen have a ripple effect at all? or how about when you touch the screen with your finger, does the screen ripple? some claim it does, does yours?
can you do us a favor? when you press down on the hard buttons on your tour right below the screen, does your screen have a ripple effect at all? or how about when you touch the screen with your finger, does the screen ripple? some claim it does, does yours?
No ripple when touching buttons at all. If you put enough pressure on screen you do get some but why would you be doing that to the screen anyway?
I thought the sprint tour was the one with the darker chrome?
no, verizon is the only company that has the dark chrome.
Irie,
thanks for letting me know on the ripple effect, some have claimed to see ripples when using the hard buttons, some even say the slightest touch with your finger on the scren makes a ripple. glad to hear thats not the case for ur tour either
the Niagara is the Tour. The dark chrome only comes with the verizon brand, all other brands get the light color
yah i know but that was just months ago before they officially announced the product. before the announcement/before they changed the name, it had a different physical model.
so sprints getting the lighter chrome whereas verizons dark. i like dark.
no, verizon is the only company that has the dark chrome.
Irie,
thanks for letting me know on the ripple effect, some have claimed to see ripples when using the hard buttons, some even say the slightest touch with your finger on the scren makes a ripple. glad to hear thats not the case for ur tour either
Some people will complain about everything. You are welcome. Also I don't remember who did the review, bit there was one where the guy was having a lot of issues with the trackball on the home screen. I have no such issue at all. Trackball has been almost perfect so far.
Getting a good look at the back of the Tour, I'm thinking that a full body skin (like BSE) may not be the way to go, at least not on the back. I don't think that it will fit well or look right over the patterned battery cover.