Review: BlackBerry Curve 9380 – Rickrollingly Awesome

The Blackberry Curve 9380 is the first of the Curve range with a touch screen. While it may be BlackBerry’s first attempt at a mid-range all touch screen cell phone, this BlackBerry is nothing short of awesome. Up to date tech specs, sensitive bright touch screen and the latest Blackberry OS 7, and still one of the most cost effective ways to rock a smartphone in South Africa

Aesthetics

The Curve is a small thin device, just 10cm in length, 6cm wide and 11.2mm thick, the screen is still a healthy 3.2” as there is no hardware keyboard, making for relatively mistake free typing. With a screen of that size, we did not expect the battery life to be very good; surprisingly it shames other similar touch screen devices by giving a solid two days of regular to heavy use.

The new Blackberry Curve 9380 is very well built, and is a huge step up from the previous Curve range. The silver trim is flush with the body, the plastics used are all of a high quality and the overall impression is of a cell phone that will handle the test of time relatively well. It is not all peaches and puppies; firstly unlike other manufacturers who use Gorilla Glass for their touchscreen, BlackBerry has opted for high-density plastic. This reduces the touch sensitivity and tactile feedback of the touchscreen slightly, as well as making it less hardy, when compared to those with Gorilla Glass.

Unfortunately the back battery cover is made from the quality of plastic normally reserved for the toys you buy at petrol stations, basically it scratches far too easily.  Despite these niggles the Curve 9380 is as well built as many of its competitors. We do recommend that you invest in a funky cover to keep your Curve 9380 looking fresh, the official Blackberry covers work well and look good to boot.

OS

This is where the Curve 9380 really shines, not once did I have to do a battery pull, not once did the device freeze, and not once did I want to slam it in my car door! For a veteran BlackBerry user this is hugely impressive. The Curve 9380 comes out of the box with the latest iteration of Blackberry OS 7.0 and will be upgraded to BlackBerry OS 7.1 in the next few weeks, and it is rock solid. Social features are beautifully integrated; BBM, Facebook and Twitter are all constantly updated in real-time with notifications popping up in your consolidated message centre.

Additionally, a host of other social platforms and apps either have proprietary apps or links right into the OS. Whatever you choice of social platform, there is no better OS to keep you connected and updated than Blackberry OS 7.1 – you never, ever feel out of touch. This extends to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and all other areas of productivity that synchronize to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Live over the air, in real time. Simply put, iOS, Android and Windows Phone could learn a lot, from how connected BlackBerry OS7.1 makes the user feel.

Media

While BlackBerry Music and other paid services are still not available in South Africa (fingers crossed!) the Curve is a solid media device. The music player, and PC/Mac sync tool, is slick and seamless – and allow for music, videos, podcasts and pictures to be transferred to and from the device with minimal fuss. The quality of the music player is also up to snuff in the mid-range scene. Finally, the camera is fantastic, fast, sharp and takes great pictures at night – what more could you ask for really.

The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is currently one of the most compelling cellphones on the market, keeping you completely socially connected, coupled with a stable OS and rocking media capabilities. Bar the issues I mentioned around build quality, there really is very little to fault in this splendiferous, diminutive device.

The Curve 9380 is first BlackBerry to date that is never going to give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you… It’s awesome.

Spesifications

BlackBerry Curve 9380 – Side Angle

BlackBerry Curve 9380 – Front and Side

Brendon Ambrose – Managing Editor | About Me – Scared of: Clowns, spiders and Hilary Clinton; Dream Wing Man: Jacob Zuma; Started Writing Tech: 2005 for Gadget.co.za; Favorite cereal: Frosties; Find me on: Twitter & Facebook

Spesifications – really this time