BlackBerry Storm2 hands-on and impressions
By Chris Ziegler 
posted November 12th 2009 3:00PM
posted November 12th 2009 3:00PM
At a glance -- particularly as a non-Storm user -- you might say "wait a second, that's just a Storm." And in reality, you wouldn't be far off with that assessment. Put simply, this phone is less Storm "2" and more Storm "1.1" -- a hardware service pack, if you will, designed to correct very specific shortcomings in the original model while preserving the overall concept. We doubt RIM would come right out and put it that way, of course, but the fact that the Storm2 makes essentially no effort to look different than the Storm should be evidence enough.
So, what are those shortcomings, exactly? The big ones -- the ones that could ultimately convince a Storm user to upgrade -- are the addition of WiFi and a thorough revamping of SurePress. On the original Storm, SurePress consisted of a single mechanical switch mounted below the center of the display, leading to wobbly, uneasy clicks and -- far more devastatingly -- an inability to actuate more than one screen element at a time, which made the keyboard more of a hassle to use than it should've been. Don't get us wrong, we can understand RIM's impetus in creating SurePress; the company prides itself on producing devices with fabulous physical keyboards that make mobile email as painless of an experience as possible, and it wanted to port as much of that experience to a soft keyboard as it could. Ironically, in doing so, it actually made the transition harder for ex-8300 and 8800 users than a traditional soft keyboard would've. SurePress was so bad, in fact, that rumors had initially suggested the Storm2 would abandon it altogether in favor of a screen that stays in place when you press it (imagine that), but co-CEO Mike Lazaridis insisted that the technology was "here to stay." Indeed, the Storm2 keeps SurePress around but thoroughly revamps it by replacing the single mechanical switch with four piezoelectric ones mounted beneath the display's four corners.
The net effect of the Storm2's rethought SurePress is that it's unquestionably better -- but frankly, we still don't get it. Multiple keyboard actuations are now possible (shift plus a letter, for example), though it's not perfect -- things start to get flaky as your second press gets physically close to your first one, which makes some sense considering that the switches are placed at the screen's four corners. It generally works, but it's still a novelty; we can't think of a single good reason why you'd want your touchscreen to be able to click like this. What's worse, the Storm2's implementation requires a surprising amount of effort to actuate, meaning that long messages were a chore to type out -- not only do they wear out your fingers, but it gets old hearing the screen's loud "thunk" each and every time you type a letter, which we find considerably more noticeable than the traditional click of a physical QWERTY keyboard. It's also unclear why RIM bothered using fancy piezoelectric switches rather than simple mechanical ones, because they're not doing anything with the technology other than letting you click -- when you turn off the phone, the switches "harden" and prevent you from pressing the screen, but there's no option to keep that effect going when the device is on. For anyone who finds SurePress as distracting and unnecessary as we do, that omission alone could be the difference between buying a Storm2 and a Tour when you walk into the Verizon store.
Going back to the physical appearance of the phone for a moment, it's not necessarily a bad thing that it looks like the original Storm; apart from the fact that it's got a bit of infamy to outgrow, the old model was a pretty sharp-looking handset and the Storm2 refines that look in all the right ways. We're liking both the black chrome bezel and the touch-sensitive buttons, which eliminate virtually all of the visible gaps on the front of the phone to give it that smooth, slate-like appeal that full-touch handsets typically want to shoot for. The phone also feels great (SurePress click notwithstanding) -- as solid as the best-built physical QWERTY BlackBerrys, we'd say, but with the added benefit of tastefully rubberized volume, camera, and voice control buttons and a smooth, solid display covering almost all of the front of the phone.
Turning our attention to the software, the Storm2 runs BlackBerry OS 5.0 -- RIM's latest -- but as with virtually every new BlackBerry OS version in modern memory, it takes a keen eye and a long history of BlackBerry use to ferret out what has actually changed. As with the hardware itself, the Storm2's interface is all but identical to the Storm's 4.7 builds; the devil lies in the details, and to be fair, those details will be important for some users. Strictly from a usability standpoint, 5.0's addition of inertial scrolling throughout the platform makes a world of difference -- it works smoothly and effectively, and should be an effortless transition for anyone moving from another platform (like iPhone) that supports it. If you didn't like the Storm's overall look and feel, though, don't expect a revolution (or, really, even an evolution) here.
We don't want to harp on SurePress too much, but since there's a decided lack of physical QWERTY in play here, the Storm2's soft keyboards bear another mention. If you can get past the muscle fatigue-inducing clicks -- we couldn't, but who knows, we could be particularly weak-thumbed -- the layout and function of the keyboards is mediocre at best. For one thing, they don't look particularly good; white-on-black is always a tough scheme to pull off, and RIM didn't do itself any favors by skimping on the anti-aliasing and leaving keys looking exceptionally jaggy. Whatever, though; keyboards are about functionality, not appearance, right? We found ourselves making more mistakes than we should've on the portrait full QWERTY mode because the Storm2 lacks character pop-ups like you find on Android and the iPhone -- there's a blue glow cast on the key, which is all well and good except that... well, you're thumb isn't transparent. In portrait mode, even a small thumb can easily cover two keys, so it's impossible to tell with certainty which key is actuated. We also noticed that the keyboard doesn't contextually customize itself enough; from the screenshot above, for example, you can see that "Go" replaces the normal Enter key in the browser and there's a period key in place of the spacebar, but when entering email addresses, there's no @ key. Not a deal breaker, but again, for a company that prides itself in elegant input methods, this should be the best soft keyboard on the market today.
As much flak as the BlackBerry browser takes, we actually found it acceptable on the Storm2 -- likely a direct effect of RIM's alleged improvements made in 5.0. Inertial scrolling worked reasonably smoothly and new regions of the page that scroll into view load relatively quickly. We like to use Engadget as a baseline for testing devices because it's a fairly complicated page that tends to choke some mobile browsers, but it loaded drama-free on the Storm2. That's not to say it was a perfect experience: it takes forever to get past the "Requesting" phase and graphics look truly awful -- both a result of BIS' magic, we suspect. Ultimately, we'd take a good WebKit browser over this any day, but the platform just isn't there yet.
Wrap-up
As more modern mobile platforms become enterprise-savvy, RIM's on the cusp of losing its identity -- and products like the Storm and Storm2 prove that it's well aware of the situation. Only problem is, Waterloo is clearly woefully unequipped to handle the creation of exceptional, effortless usability that's demanded of a lustworthy mobile device these days. The Storm2 oozes most of the same personality traits espoused by its older brother -- traits that suggest a "Bold with a touchscreen" attitude -- and when you're fundamentally rethinking your device's user experience, that's not the right attitude to take.
For existing Storm owners who've been saying "if only this damn thing had WiFi" through clenched teeth for the past six months, the Storm2 makes an elegant, hassle-free replacement. For the rest of the world, though, we totally understand why Verizon has elected to bury the phone's launch beneath a pile of Google -- it's an underwhelming experience for today's multimedia-centric, ADHD-afflicted buyer.
I have the storm 1 and sure press is a pain!! Was hoping RIM went touch only with Storm 2 but they never did. I still don't get the whole screen click thing, it's annoying as heck.
yea, blackberry is wasting their time with sure press. Its pointless! thats what instantly annoyed me when i was using my friends storm. its such a same too, because blackberry has such a long history of good phones, if they released a smartphone that could really compete instead of trying to perfect a pointless technology. If blackberry really wants to make a killer phone, they need to loose the sure press and upgrade some of the hardware, and they either need to pour money into a mobile OS, or have it powered by andriod.
Just switched from iPhone to This Blackberry Storm 2 (9550).. yea everyone's calling me crazy but I love the storm 2!
had orig iphone and then 3g.. was a great phone, time for something different though (u know?).. Same design phone after phone gets annoying (iphone speaking).. AT&T had too many dropped calls (in my area at least)
loved the iphone, but was really suprised with the storm 2!
Great phone! Highly reccomend it!
RIM just needs to make a slider already. Best of both worlds. Big touch screen and put their hardware keyboard prowess to use. Surepress, though a good concept, did and still does suck in implementation.
agreed!
I agree. I think the Pearl Flip and the Storm/Storm 2 are evidence that RIM really does understand that the game has changed and will continue to change. Even though I have not owned one, I am a fan of slider QWERTY phones. I currently use a enV Touch and I love the combination of touch screen and physical QWERTY but I hate the flip. I could see RIM making something with a form similar to the Palm Pre, because they could use an existing keyboard layout and include a trackpad, but I would like to see their take on a landscape slider like the DROID or Touch Pro. If they make something like that with a new webkit browser and Verizon offers it, I'm sold.
Long ass review
You can also change the battery in your vibrator - but that's no replacement for the iPhone either.
You're right... more people get off on the iPhone.
surepress really does suck. I was excited to try it, I was expecting a screen that guides your fingers to the 'buttons' but that doesn't happen, you click everywhere so its just MUSHY
Blackberry needs to give up this Surepress garbage and just make something more akin to the Palm Pixi's form factor. Give it a great Blackberry keyboard, and just make the regular screen at the top into a touch screen for easier navigation. I have no idea why RIM seems to think that hardware keyboards and touchscreens cannot coexist on the same device.
I thought thatvthe Storm 2 was the second best device at Verizon behind the HTC Eris. I do think the browser needs some work, butbi never really had any problems with the BB browser because I visit the same 12 mobile sites and they work just fine on the BB. Luke the reviewer said, I don't understand the suspension screen. If it had a plain capacitive screen, this phone would be that much more amazing. I think that the next generation Storm will be the one to get. Mark my words.
The Blackberry Web Browser! If you only want to visit 12 websites it's great!
Let me preface by saying that I have a Storm1, but I have plenty of gripes with it. In the end, I very much love my phone and have adjusted to it nicely. I like it better than the Storm2 actually (once I made some customized adjustments to the screen).
Regarding the browser, Crackberry.com said that a webkit browser is in the works. We'll see if that fixes things.
As for the not seeing when the SurePress could be useful, I think it's pretty obvious what their intentions were. Separating selection from confirmation is extremely useful when browsing the web, sifting through emails/texts, and other menu options. The one place where it's completely pointless, though, is text input. I don't understand why they insist on SurePress for text input. It isn't too much of a hassle to use SurePress for other things, but when texting and doing many presses in a short time span, it's extremely tiring and too much of an effort.
I am supremely confident that if SurePress were enabled for everything except for text input, there would be far, far less complaints about its application. Or is it just me that thinks this?
I have the S2 and this guy is a freeking pansy if the keyboard gives his thumbs cramps. Give me a break. I can fly on this thing. It is 100 times better than the original and after all is said and done, that wasnt so bad either.
Does this reviewer not understand that there are two shift keys, one on each side?
typi on a virtual keyboard blow when yu accidntly tou. The won key. With suurepres I am ure that the key hat i wn to press is he rigt one. I am lees prone to wron ky press wit surepress as i have te optin to not type a ltter just because my thub touches the scren.
-Sent from my iPhone-
Surepress is ultimately a better way. People who complain about it being tough to press a button with their thumbs are a bunch of nancy boys. Man up for once and stop crying over having to apply a little pressure...... Im sure the editors at Engadget have touch-screen keyboards for their work PCs.. because it's so much better.... right?
-Sent from my Storm-
I'm just surprised there were no shit iDon'ts in the picture.
Looking forward to winning :-)
I'm confused as to whether the Storm 2 is a 3G device or not. I notice it says "3G" in the screenshots, but most online reviews don't explicitly discuss this, nor do the official specs on the product website, and nor does the Telus website (the only Canadian carrier stocking the Storm 2 at the moment), even though all their other 3G devices are clearly flagged as such. Can anyone shed some light?
Even if this comment is quite a bit late - it DOES indeed have character popup in OS 5. You just need to enable it :) I've been waiting for it for so long, and I had to upgrade my OS on my original Storm to 5 using another carrier's OS package just for that feature.