Blackberry has long been the smartphone of choice for the business crowd, but given the popularity of smartphones with consumers, the company wants a slice of that pie, too, and the Blackberry Curve 8520 is their way of trying to open up that market.
Alongside email, it’s crammed with ways to stay connected, having instant messaging, Facebook and Twitter, guaranteed to appeal to the younger set that needs to be constantly in touch. Bearing that demographic in mind, the Blackberry Curve 8520 is also good with music, offering not only clear speakers, but also a 3.5mm jack for the listener’s own headphones, and keys solely to control music play – a very definite plus.
The styling is much what you’d expect – the handset is quite distinctively a Blackberry, with a QWERTY keyboard that’s easy to use. However, although it comes with Wi-Fi for downloads, it is not fitted with the quicker 3G, nor is there GPS, meaning that this is a relatively stripped-down unit as smartphones go.
The old trackball has been dumped in favour of the newer style trackpad; in mobile phone reviews some people love the change, whilst others hate it. However, it’s the modern way to go on a Blackberry.
What is a real disappointment is the camera, which is just two megapixels. It functions and takes pictures, but that’s about the best to be said for it. By usual Blackberry pricing standards this is a low-end handset, which explains why it doesn’t offer so many features. But it’s excellent for communication and music.
