Blackberry Torch Review

Overview

Blackberry's have been ubiquitous with the corporate culture over the last 10-years, from humble beginnings as a glorified two-way pager to a handset that has cornered the email market – the meteoric rise of Blackberry has been impressive.

But now Blackberry aren't top dog in America and this has led Rim to take a long hard look at what they want their new phones to be. A business only phone that is more concerned with the impressing the average IT worker or something that is desirable and can be seen as a cool. Well they have tried to go for both and have just about managed to achieve both, well, sort of.

Features

The first thing you will notice about the Blackberry Torch is it remains true to what Blackberry's are all about, full QWERTY keyboard, bullet-proof emailing and massive battery life and Blackberry Messenger all remain with improvements across the board. But have the improvements made the Torch a viable alternative to Apple and Android?

Rim has brought the design forward with the Torch with a new sliding form factor, and this now includes a sliding front screen, slide it forward and you'll be greeted with a full QWERTY keyboard. A welcomed inclusion, but we often wonder why phone companies want to continue with the moving parts ethos - generally the more moving parts, the more likely it will be to break. But at the least the slider seems well built and were sure that it will stay the course, no matter how many time you repeat the action.

The keyboard is the same as previous versions, and is certainly one of the reasons why Blackberry is still seen as the ultimate email device - and we have to agree. It might not a fun as a touch-screen keyboard, and by fun we mean, you don't have to make a game out of trying not to make a mistakes. The new optical trackpad is much better than the nipple from previous versions, but is it really necessary with the new and improved touch-screen? Maybe Rim wanted to keep everyone happy, either way it works better than previous versions, but isn't something you will fall in love with. In fact the whole combinations of hundreds of buttons and a touchscreen just doesn't seem to make sense.

With Apple and Samsung arguing over who has the best screen, it's no surprise that Rim have been keeping quiet - the screen is a comparatively low 480×360 which just isn't sharp enough - especially compared to the AMOLED and Retina displays of Samsung and Apple are offering. Is it a deal breaker? No, probably not, but it not impressive at all. Text isn't as clear as it should be and photos don't jump off the screen like they do with their competitors.

Where the Blackberry Torch fails, and fails in a big way, is the software and overly convoluted user interface. Compared to Apple or even Android it's all over the place. For example, the homescreen is just a muddle - you'll be greeted with drawer system, where a quick gesture side to side shows some icons, and swipe up shows all the apps and icons, but this leaves a lot of space left over when viewing the screen, fine if you have a lovely background picture, but not the best way to use the space available. The general look is stylish and glossy, but delve deeper into the menus and it starts to looks like something from 5-years ago. It just doesn't have that slick feel we were looking for, more functional than smart. It does have some nice touches though. Being able to access Wi-Fi options from the top of the homescreen works well. And the social app, which allows you to purge all of you social network feeds into to one place, makes life easier if you're a big Facebook and Twitter user.

One of the biggest improvements on the Torch is the web browser, this has been a pariah since Blackberry's inception, and were glad to tell you that it's much improved. It's on par with anything else on the market, but still lacks any real wow factor.

We found the 5-megapixel camera to be quite good, but let down by the screen. It performed admirably. It's not as in-depth as many others on the market - but will certainly capture many situations especially as it has decent flash.

For us the latest and greatest phones live or die on the strength of the apps available and this where Blackberry is a let down, there are apps available, but it's not even in the same league as Apple or Android, you won't be playing Angry Birds and time soon. But these sorts of app aren't exactly the type of apps that your average Blackberry user would be looking for. The Blackberry Torch is a work phone first and an entertainment device second. It's perfectly fine as mp3 player, but is far from an iPod.

Conclusion

If you love Blackberry's you'll be right at home, for those of you who have been spoiled with other smart phones and their smarter ethos, there's nothing here to tempt you away from Android or Apple. Compared to other phones Rim has been left behind. The Torch lacks a real focus. It tries to be to many things. And ends up being a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. Rim has failed to focus the phone. It's not a smart phone, nor fully-fledged touchscreen phone. It ends up being neither. Undeniably a Blackberry, but just not a pleasurable as others when it comes to living with it. For many this won't matter if you have been using a Blackberry for while – you'll be more than at home, but for those of you who are looking for a more pleasurable lifestyle experience you'll find the whole package convoluted and uninspiring. The Blackberry Torch is definite improvement on the last, but has failed to break the new ground we were looking for. We like the Blackberry Torch, but we just don't love it, and that's where it fails.

Gaj-it Rating 3/5