BlackBerry Storm 9500 hands-on
By Paul Miller 
posted Oct 8th 2008 12:02AM
posted Oct 8th 2008 12:02AM
Hardware
RIM's going back to its roots here, and once again reminding us why corporate users tend to holster their phones instead of pocket them -- the Storm is a large one. It's not that you can't slide it into a jeans pocket (it's 0.55-inches thick), and in fact, there's no particular dimension that the Storm exaggerates beyond reason in comparison to, say, an iPhone, but folks who felt that Apple was already pushing boundaries there won't take kindly to this beefy phone. The traditional BlackBerry weight advantage is gone as well -- the Storm's large glassy touchscreen and related clicking mechanism, in addition to a very solid build means the weight certainly matches the size.
The 3.25-inch screen itself is bright, colorful and high-resolution (480 x 360). Video playback is sharp and smooth, and the extra pixels on the large screen means eye fatigue won't be much of an issue. Unfortunately, as far we can tell there's no hardware video acceleration, which shouldn't be a problem for correctly-compressed video, but there aren't any Apple or Nokia-style swooping transitions in, we don't have high hopes for gaming, and stuff like browsing through photos and and panning around web pages is fairly choppy. The lack of hardware acceleration could also cut down on battery life, which RIM is pegging at 15 days of standby and 5.5 hours of talk, but hasn't fleshed out with media playback figures.
In addition to the touchscreen, there's a full complement of standard buttons for getting things done: rocker switch and camera button on one side of the device; another function button on the other side; call, end, back and BlackBerry buttons on the face; invisible mute and lock buttons up top.
Software
Like we said before, RIM didn't want to reinvent the wheel here, and didn't. In fact, almost the entire interface -- besides the recent aesthetic overhaul enjoyed by both the Bold and the Storm, which brought much needed perks like readable fonts and a modicum of glamor -- is standard BlackBerry. That means the standard, business-friendly strengths of RIM remain intact, while some of the long-standing interface annoyances (like incessant scrolling) can be overcome with a simple tap or click of the touchscreen.
In standard RIM fashion, one-handed navigation is a priority and totally doable, but now there's actually room for two hands, which could speed all sorts of actions -- click the app switcher button with one thumb, tap your desired app with the other, not mind-blowing, but helpful. There are other perks brought on by touch that will take a bit of exploration to discover. For instance, if you tap and hold the screen (without clicking) on an email address or an email subject for a couple seconds, the phone will search for related emails. Multitouch makes a reluctant appearance in the form of two-fingered selection. Hold one finger above and another finger below a block of text to select it, then tap and drag to fine-tune the selection. Unfortunately, stuff like two-fingered zooming and rotation isn't happening here, but RIM promises to work on other helpful uses for touching -- it feels a tad underutilized in its present form.
Speaking of the browser, RIM has made great strides in the past year or so, but its homebrewed Java-based app still doesn't quite match the Nokia / Apple / Google-favored WebKit in terms of rendering speed and accuracy. We also didn't see the sort of smooth and effortless scrolling the iPhone provides, that no other touch phone has managed to replicate so far.
RIM's core apps are obviously just as solid as ever when it comes to email, calendaring and contacts, and are increasingly being integrated with the browser and outside apps like Facebook. What's still lacking is a truly powerful and cohesive media player -- it still seems tacked-on, though the search feature in the music app is a nice touch. RIM's clearly working on this, but there's more to be done. At the time this post goes live we're still not sure if those leaked App Center screenshots are legit, but it'd certainly be a nice shot at Apple and Google, and a chance to bring RIM's existing developer community to the forefront.
Wrap-up
Carrier (Verizon) and budget (unknown) constraints aside, what it's probably going to boil down to is whether or not the BlackBerry OS is your style. RIM hasn't done an overhaul to make touchscreen viable, instead banking on its navigation / execution paradigm to make the transition to touch -- which for the most part it does brilliantly. RIM hasn't in any way made the phone unattractive to its traditional corporate loyalists, and might just manage to snag other users looking for a flashy phone with decent email, but when it comes to browsing, media playback and other forms of consumer-friendliness, RIM still has a ways to go.
Finally, some action shots rather than videos of the phone flying around on the screen.
Thanks!
this phone looks AWESOME!
some (probably stupid and obvious) questions:
1. what kind of calendar syncing does it support?
2. what email protocols (i assume the basic imap and pop3?) does it support push?
3. how does it group sms messages? (iphone-style conversation, or straight up inbox list?
thanks!
Wow! It has a seriously amazing interface !!!
@a ham sandwich:
if it's like a normal blackberry (which it probably will be since it's pretty much the same software)
1. exchange if you're on a bes or gmail sync if you're not (you've got to install the gmail app though)
2. pop3/imap4/owa/exchange (exchange only if you cough up for a bes)
3. both - it lists them all as an individual message, and then if you go into it, it then lists the history iphone style
@a ham sandwich
3. how does it group sms messages? (iphone-style conversation, or straight up inbox list?
You mean Palm Treo style conversation ;)
Why is the WiFi missing????
Such a perfect phone and you had to skip out on one small thing....!! Why why why?!?!
@ TheGuy
"and enough radios to give your grandkids cancer"
they prolly couldnt fit any mor ein it
im so getting this phone.
Looks nice but the no wifi is a huge letdown.
Even though it is a letdown, I would take this over the T-Mobile G1 any day. It looks sexier, hardware and software both.
The sheer number of people who are always clamoring for wifi seriously drives me insane. I can honestly count the number of times I've used WiFi on my HTC Mogul on one hand. Perhaps with the counter intuitively rising cost of 3G data (or perhaps the positively draconian AT&T 3G data costs) drives everyone to whine for wifi all day, but, honestly, what's the point of having data everywhere if you're back to searching for a usable wifi hotspot?
WiFi is near, just nearly, worthless when you have "unlimited" (to 5GB) of data. Seriously. I keep wifi turned off all the time.
you can thank Verizon for that.
Same for me. I'm looking for a nice touchscreen phone with wifi so that whenever I'm in school I don't have to take out my laptop to quickly check a site or my e-mail.
@nerdtalker
Im sorry, but many many people love wifi as an option - its almost a standard in high end phones now and for this highly anticipated phone to lack it is a big let down.
Personally i use wifi all the time, my phone automatically connects to my home and uni networks when i walk near them - so i get a seamless, fast and free internet connection. Can't live without it :)
Last I checked Verizon doesn't allow WiFI on their phones in fear or VoIP or people not buying the Dataplans.
Wifi is crucial for me. I go to college in the middle of nowhere, and theres no 3G signal, and when you're inside the stone buildings, there isn't a reliable Edge signal either (AT&T with Blackjack and iPhone3G). There is however Wifi coverage EVERYWHERE.
Do you really need Wi-Fi? Verizon's superior 3G network is well deserved. Having wifi is not needed, providers like AT&T and Tmobile need wifi to substitute the terrible coverage, lol.
With sucky 3G from iPhone+AT&T, you do need wifi.
The fact this has no wifi is a let down, I have 3G in daytona beach where I work, however there is no 3G 10 miles away where my home is and that is when edge is available, luckily my iPhone 3G will recognize my wifi setup (AirPort base stations, 1 master and a slave for extended coverage) so I don't have to rely on edge, I like to listen to internet radio on my iPhone and edge is not fast enough to stream music like 3G and wifi can.
@7on
You seem to be misinformed about wifi on verizon phones. I am a verizon customer and my last phone (as of last month) most definitely had wifi. and you can't use VoIP types of clients or servers on smartphone's meager browsers. so thats a mute point
Those of you without solid 3G coverage *cough* *AT&T* *TMobile* *cough* seem to be the only ones who care about wifi. I've had it on my last 3 Sprint phones and have turned it on maybe 3 times. It's really not necessary when you have EVDO, especially rev A.
I am very much hoping that T-Mobile picks up this phone. Also hoping that, when they take out the Verizon radio, they put in a wifi radio. The ONLY reason I would get this phone is for the improved interface, but I can't live without my UMA wifi-calling. If they didn't put UMA on it, I wouldn't buy it.
No Wi-Fi. My iPod Touch tops that.
no flush? my toilet tops your touch
Ah, thank you for proving my real point- this does not top the iPhone because of a couple more features! ;-)
Like Copy & Paste?
No wifi = no sale.
Just another iPhone clone w/out WiFi... move along folks...
the iPhone didnt invent touchscreen phones. jesus christ stop talking about the iPhone like its the Wonder Bread of the cell phone world. No copy/paste? No video? NO MMS?!? who the fuck are you kidding.
^^ I didn't say that iPhone invented the touch screen phone. Keep the irrelevant comments to yourself.
The iPhone sets the industry standard for touchscreen phones, and that's a fact.
i can't wait to punch you in the face.
Am I the only one who doesn't sit at home on his wifi network with his phone? :(
Clones are supposed to be worse than the perceived original product.
@iKurt
Did. Past tense.
@ chris
maybe he is french and therefore douche is shower.
do u shower? no? maybe should "open your mind" and move away from your computer for 5 minutes everyday
@paul
you're totally right. the iPhone is *this close* to being a just another phone in an already cluttered market. Its missing integral parts of what we consider a smart phone to be. How is it that i can not take a photo and send it to friends, family or co-workers. Hell, ive used copy and paste three times in writing this reply. What Apple has down is integration, and its executed quite nicely. integration between apps and the iphone, integration between the i phone and other Mac systems (hardware and software). I have spent quite a bit of time exploring a friends first-gen iphone and am now considering a 3G iphone for myself. I currently have a RIM ( BlackBerry Pearl) and im wondering how the 3G would fair against it, but now the Storm and the upcoming HTC Touch HD in the mix, it changes things.
People (almost always Mac fanboys) think that the iPhone was completely ground breaking, which it was certainly not. It essentially just took what was already out there and brought it together with the Apple design standard and ease of use. so people, stop acting like the world revolves around a piece of fruit.
LOL
enough radios to give you kids cancer.
I LOVE IT.
But that Verizon software has gotta go
The only Verizon software on it is VZNavigator.
the verizon software is not on blackberry's
Does it have a proximity sensor?
Yup.
Thank you for replying so quickly. I assume you loved the device then?
Yeah, I do. Still waiting to hear what the price will be, but right now I'm personally torn between this, the G1 and the iPhone. They all have a ton of positives, and each have their fair share of drawbacks.
Pros:
G1: Google integration, cheap, cheap network, app potential, physical keyboard.
iPhone: iTunes integration, browser, apps, size.
Storm: BlackBerry OS, Verizon coverage, awesome typing.
Cons:
G1: Very beta-ey, T-Mobile, rather fat.
iPhone: App store lockdown, typing, AT&T 3G coverage
Storm: Probably more expensive, Verizon data charges, BlackBerry OS, no app store (yet).
Tough choice!
Paul pretty much summed up my thoughts...
In november I'll be deciding if I want to stay on Verizon with this or move to Tmo for the G1...
oh the choices.
Oh. My. God.
An Engadget user who is open-minded and wants to choose the right device for his/her personal needs? What the hell is going on around here? You either love or hate Apple, Google, RIM, Nokia or Sony. Don't break the rules.
It's like an American who went into this Presidential election with an open mind. They don't exist.
Which one has the best battery life? All these huge screens gotta be sucking the juice. Maybe that is why they left out wi-fi?
What does a proximity sensor do on the Storm?
@Bob,
Maybe it senses other idiot verizon users around, like myself, to laugh at 'em.
Ok, this is the real Bob, my name has been hijacked twice now!!??
Anyway...
It's time to knock it off with the "beta-ey" comments on Android, come on guys, don't call something "beta-ey" if you haven't used it. I wouldn't call the Storm "beta-ey," cause I haven't used it. To do that is just ignorant and uninformed.
dock included?
That was the impression I got, but they haven't been super clear on that point in PR.
If text entry wasnt so god awful i would totally get one...
from the shots, the phone looks REALLY nice and the UI looks pretty good too!
Maybe they should just make a slider keyboard for their next Blackberry with a touch screen :D
Did you not just read the stupid article? He just said that it was the best QWERTY keyboard around, topping even physical keypads.
Idiot.
Did you read the hands-on? Text entry is really, really good. I prefer it to most QWERTY phones.
lol, only clicked on the gallery...
Paul, in the photo where it shows the highlighting of the key (with one key per "button"), was that done in landscape mode?
Yeah, landscape.
When the H is someone gonna finally make a true world phone, that works in Korea and Japan? Is it impossible?
I just moved to Korea. I have a Nokia 8600 Luna before, and I really wish it worked over here. Now I have to get something that I'll have to sell a year later when I move out. :-(
As a result of the dual (GSM/CDMA) radios, this phone should work in Japan and South Korea (and pretty much everywhere else.)
Although it may not work in Korea, the Bold also has a tri-3G radio that will give 3G in North America, Europe, and Japan.
The main gripe is more with the network technology than with the handset. IIRC, Korea uses an iDEN network (similar to Nextel). I know you can get the 7100i in Korea, but looking through the BlackBerry site doesn't show any devices being available in Korea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Digital_Enhanced_Network
Zro
I sooooo hope this doesn't reach the sales quota for Verizon so Sprint finally gets an exciting, non-HTC smartphone....
Ui looks great, and the higher resolution is nice, but no wi-fi, and no hardware video acceleration is a huge let-down, I have never liked Blackberry's much, and looks like this is another thats not for me.
Look! A 3.5mm jack. YOU SEE THAT HTC?
having it on the side might be annoying, but you can use heaphones with a right-angle plug.
How much memory does the the Storm carry?
It comes with an 8-gigabyte microSD card. It officially supports a 16-gigabyte card, but I don't see any reason why you can't go as large as 32-gigabytes.
So the screen actually clicks, as in a big raised, pressable button with an audible click?
Right. Just like a button.
who needs wifi when you have bis or bes via hsdpa?
its a bb damn it! wake up!
no wifi is needed. you have real push for €15/month, 24/7!
I can't believe it! An un-biased review on Engadget! THE END IS NEAR MY FRIENDS!
The review expresses opinion. Doesn't that make it biased in some way?
No thanks, left Verizon for my iPhone, and this is not good enough or better to win me back. Sorry, just doesn't cut it.
Wow, I cannot wait to play with one of these...
I really don't want to be stuck with Verizon as a carrier... but damn... I might not be able to resist.
I am very happy to read that the keyboard works extremely well!!! I was worry when earlier reviews (ie. the Ninja review) hated the keyboard, I guess it was a beta model.
Or biased review
So, its browser still does suck, as well as media player. I really wanted to get this one. Vodafone's a great carrier. Unfortunately, I would rather have good web browsing experience and nice media player than push e-mail, reasonable camera and sexy keyboard. Better luck next time, switching to O2 hurts, though :(
I know there is much hate on these boards but you are spot on. The iPhone doesn't do everything right but the web browser is WAY ahead of the competition. The only one close is Android and their implementation of the browser isn't as smooth. Believe me, when you have a real browser in your pocket and it's so easy to double-tap your way to your content, you will wonder how you lived without it.
@ Chris:
Re iphone hate - I think it's because people expected it to be better and it's damn disappointing that it lacks on that many fields. That's the feeling when you realise that with all love to the device/software comes this anger mixed with disappointment "how could have they failed to implement simplest features?!'.
Re storm vs iphone - it's all about your needs - for email and keyboard, buy storm. For browsing and multimedia - iphone is the way to go.
I use my phone to talk, browse websites, read feeds and rarely answer some emails. Like to read them, though ;-) At this point iphone seems to be a better solution, but O2 UK is a pretty bad carrier and its customer service is a roflocopter compared to vodafone. I need to try Storm and then will decide. Anyway, pretty tough choice.
Copy & Paste! gg apple.
YES! finally a decent verizon phone. i hate being stuck on my family plan, and therefore verizon. Anyone got any idea on price?
(alone, not on contract as i am one year into a two year contract)
So super sexy - I really want one. There has GOT to be a way to port this over to work on Sprint, yes?
I'm not convinced about this two-mode touchscreen nonsense. They are completely ruining the touchscreen paradigm! touch = action! What's this well you touch it for a selection and then press hardware for execution? I guess I'll have to try it out...
- No Wifi?? 3G is way more power intensive than WiFi which is going to kill the battery way faster
- No graphics acceleration? So that means no H264 video, no decent graphics, etc.
- Web browser sucks like the rest....
3G? On Verizon?
Its does do H.264, only question is at what bitrate. Go to RIM.com and see for yourself.
__________ .__ _________
\______ \_____ ______ |__| ______ \_ ___ \____________ ______
| _/\__ \ \____ \ | |/ ___/ / \ \/\_ __ \__ \ \____ \
| | \ / __ \| |_> > | |\___ \ \ \____| | \// __ \| |_> >
|____|_ /(____ / __/ |__/____ > \______ /|__| (____ / __/
\/ \/|__| \/ \/ \/|__|
Good point.
I agree.
Nice start, but how the @&$! could they leave out wifi? I think this is going to leave quite a few consumers scratching their heads!
I think this looks awesome. The touch screen with tactile feedback is a breakthrough.
Yet I have to point out to those most vocal on Engadget about their hatred for Apple and all things iPhone; would this product even exist without the introduction of the iPhone. I mean, stop your hatred for a second and realize that Apple pushed the entire industry forward. Unlike the iPod, which caught the industry with their pants down, Apple entered a market that was already established with names like Nokia, Samsung, RIM, Sony Ericsson and HTC. These people were designing hardware and in some cases software for years before Apple entered the scene. Now, magically, everyone wants a touch-screen.
I don't think it's because the masses want a touch device. I think it's because Apple was innovating in an extremely stagnant market. They innovated and the world has changed. They won't take over the cell phone business like they did with the MP3 player but if they hadn't been involved at all, do you really think this would have happened?
Awesome shit is being designed now.
You are absolutely right that the iPhone is responsible for a lot of the innovation we see in the smart-phone market today - but if the Storm is better for my needs I'm not going to use an iPhone just because it was first.
I do think RIM should be congratulated for taking the time to get the touch-screen right. After the iPhone's release a lot of companies figured that they could piggy-back on the effort Apple had put in to polishing their device and so put little effort into there own device. RIM took the concept and then took the time to make sure it fit their phone.
What we hate are rabid Apple fanboys.
OMFG, THANK YOU!
I'm guessing Apple would be getting rather worried, now that most of the major smartphone companies are starting to get their acts together.
This, along with the HTC TouchHD, and whatever Nokia is bound to release next year or soon thereafter, coupled with the problems that are starting to erode at Apple's fanbase (things like the email client, browser and security issues, and (sigh) lack of copy/pase) are insuring that Apple's 'stronghold' (as the fanboys call it) on the 'smartphone' market will probably dwindle.
You're absolutely right. Funny thing is that even with both iPhone's being released, Apple has done nothing to affect RIM's dominance of the smartphone market. And with other phone manufacturers are becoming more and more comfortable with the whole touchscreen concept, the iPhone/Apple will be hard-pressed to try to capture that enterprise users and ultimately more marketshare.
RIM already will continue dominating just off enterprise and continue to grow with their consumer releases while Apple will most likely hang around at whatever percentage they have of the smartphone industry but will now have to compete with more competition.
At this point, I'm not going to consider this an Apple vs. RIM. After the release of the Storm, I believe RIM will let the Storm do what it can in the market and look towards the global market. Personal opinion, after the Storm, it's a RIM vs. Nokia for global handsets (although we know RIM is not even CLOSE to Nokia) while Apple will try to fight for whatever marketshare it can get with the other manufacturers.
(It was never RIM vs. Apple, the media put it that way, instead it was always Apple vs the rest but never RIM)
@Andrew T.
Wow! What a statement. "Apple has done nothing to affect RIM's dominance of the smart phone market."
Wow! Wow! You actually just said that! On a blog post about RIM releasing their first-ever touch-screen device even. Wow! You really understand the market, that's for sure. If RIM's total smart phone sales weren't disrupted in some way by the introduction of the iPhone, why on fucking Earth would they even consider a touch-screen device when their corporate stance was people wanted a real keyboard? Oh, right, I forgot, it's because the iPhone never pushed them at all. Not once. And even thought RIM's overall market share increased by a smaller margin since the iPhone was released, that had nothing to do with anything.
Awesome thinking. You sir are a visionary. Thank God businesses like Microsoft and whatever-crap-shop-you-work-for are hiring people like you. It makes it easy for others to make you irrelevant.
@Chris:
RIM, with the release of the Pearl, declared that they were finally entering the consumer market. Typical phone users were not choosing Blackberrys for their everyday phone. The iPhone's release entered into the consumer space, having absolutely no effect on Blackberry, except the very small percentage of Blackberry owners who picked one up for personal use as a smart phone.
If not before this, during or after the release of the first iPhone (before the iPhone even talked about the entry in the corporate world) Blackberry was defining their intention to enter the consumer space, thus making designs such as this one and drastically cutting the cost of the Pearl to the point they were given free with contracts.
It was only after the iPhone 3G that Blackberry was truly under attack by the iPhone, but as it turns out, the 3G was not at all accepted as a viable option for business users, due to many reasons Engadget covered extensively, such as the iPhones storage of secure passwords and Exchange info in plain text, causing a massive security risk to corporate networks.
If the iPhone influenced the Storm (remember, phones can take years to make, and no doubt Blackberry had this in the cooker for a while), then it was only because Blackberry needed something general consumers wanted, not because Blackberrys bread and butter was under attack. Nothing, to this day, touches Blackberry in the space they control.
I'm curious about the soft-QWERTY. How does it stack up compared to the keyboard on the Curve/Bold? I thought it'd be nowhere near as good (i.e. like iPhone).
In the article the author writes about the keyboard, "we like it enough to pit it against regular button-based keyboards, since it easily leaves traditional touchscreen typing (even that hokey haptics stuff, Nokia, LG) in the dust."
If they would put the Storm touch keyboard against regular button-based keyboards that means this could be just as good as the curve and bold. YOMMV.
Two quick questions:
(1) Does it do HTML email (especially for IMAP)?
(2) How does the phone application compare to the iPhone? I really like the ease of switching to speaker phone or a headset that the iPhone has.
Thanks for the review.
About the touch-screen having tactile feedback, is it the same as in the Nokia 5800?
About the tactile feedback, is it the same as in the Nokia 5800?