The Storm2 looks exactly like the first gen Storm, but is still different.
What is carried over is the Quad-band GSM capabilities, 3.2 inch screen and the
same form factor. But what is different, and most importantly, is the way RIM's
SurePress technology works.
What SurePress did was make the entire touchscreen into a clickable button.
Touch the screen, press a bit harder and you could feel the entire screen click
like a button. And that did not go well with the users, because the response was
iffy and pressing the entire screen needed too much of an effort, which other
touchscreen phones don't need. Research in Motion realized the problem, and the
Storm2 gets a different SurePress. This time, the clickable screen sits on 4
buttons, which makes the clicks more precise, and feel more solid.
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The Storm 9520 has a pretty good build quality, true to Blackberry
traditions. the front is completely black in color with a silver border on both
sides. The battery cover has a rubbery feel to it, in contrast to the rest of
the back panel. The call/Menu and Back buttons are placed on the clickable
touchscreen, while the left side panel has the MicroUSB port and the right side
panel has the 3.5mm jack.
The call quality is excellent. The in-ear as well as the hands-free speakers
are loud, clear and disturbance free. The BlackBerry OS 5.0 interface on the
Storm2 is open to some customizations on the home screen, but is pretty much
locked otherwise. The menu is smooth to operate and use, and the phone does not
freeze or hang. The processor is still 528 MHz, but, RIM has doubled the
operating memory from 128MB to 256MB.
The battery life is better than expected and took two days
from full charge to full discharge. The 3MP camera is decent enough. However,
there are not a lot of tweaking options. Moreover, should Blackberry not offer a
better spec camera for a phone at this price? The media player is no great
shakes and plays multimedia in a basic way.
To point out the quirks, first, the GPRS/EDGE capabilities
of the BlackBerry are completely disabled unless you have a BlackBerry plan
activated with your service provider. Secondly, in case data services are
disabled completely (not linked to the Blackberry plan in any way) on the phone,
even the Wi-Fi does not work. Data services, irrespective of use or not, need to
be kept on for Wi-Fi to work. Third, the web browser is a bit of a
disappointment. It has two separate settings - Wi-Fi browser and Mobile data
services and for a first time user, it is a bit overwhelming. And, there is no
FM radio.
To conclude whether to buy the Storm2 or not, you should
know, if you want a BlackBerry, then you would be better off with the
traditional (read QWERTY) Bold2. The Bold2 is lighter to use, less flimsy
because of the smaller screen and more comfortable to type on if you will be
sending long mails and SMS. If you want a touchscreen phone, then you can look
at the Bold2 and also the HTC HD2, available in a similar price range. And
finally, if you want a touchscreen phone which is a BlackBerry, then you really
have no option.
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