Journalists – and maybe all writers – are suckers for awful puns. So naturally the BlackBerry Storm has been subjected to tons of groan-inducing headlines over the past few months. Storm in a teacup? Storm on the horizon? Kick up a Storm? Come on people, you’re better than that. Or if not, at least pretend you are.

Who am I kidding? I think those headlines are hilarious. In fact I think I’ll pepper them throughout this blog – see if you can spot them, they’re subtle. Now, on to the impressions …

Storming the barricades of the competition

After the iPhone (particularly the 3G model) came out, major mobile phone makers scrambled to release their own sexy touch-screen devices. What’s strange is that even BlackBerry, seemingly secure in its image as a no-nonsense provider of dependable business phones, succumbed. It’s understandable – who wouldn’t grab at the chance to take a bigger slice of the pie?

The major selling point of the BlackBerry Storm is the touch screen. It differs markedly from the iPhone in that where Apple’s device responds to touching, the Storm’s screen requires you to click down on it to perform actions. You can still run your finger over the screen to scroll, but clicking is needed to open applications or punch in letters. It’s a good idea – I made far fewer typos than I did on the iPhone.

However, the screen is not without flaws. While I didn’t detest its performance as much as Stephen Fry did, I still felt my finger didn’t line up exactly with where the Storm thought I was pressing, which made typing disconcerting. Because of the design, the screen has to sit looser than normal to allow for clicking, giving the phone a less polished feel.

Eye of the storm

The screen is hardly bad enough to be a deal breaker, but what might put off casual users is the interface. It’s not as user friendly or intuitive as the iPhone – though it does seem to have more depth and scope for customisation.

I particularly like the way you can get all your disparate messages, emails and so forth popping up next to each other on the home page – it comes in handy for keeping alerts organised.

Unfortunately, a general feeling of lag permeates the interface. Take the tilting option, you can hold the Storm vertically or horizontally and the screen adjusts accordingly. But it often takes several seconds to readjust – and sometimes it won’t pick up the orientation at all.

 While there are applications such as the Facebook program that will entice personal users, much of the interface is still very BlackBerry-like – meaning it’s geared towards business users. But it’s not ideal for them either – people who do a lot of typing on their smart phones will find the lack of physical keyboard a hindrance.

Call quality seems on par with other smart phones.  During our tests at Consumer I’ve noticed smart phones aren’t always the best, but they’re certainly adequate. I didn’t test the reception sensitivity much, but it seemed fine in the nooks and crannies of the Wellington region.

Was the weather forecast accurate?

In the end, I’d have to say this isn’t a storm – it’s more of a strong northerly gale. What the Storm suffers from most is an identity crisis. Is it a dedicated business tool favouring substance over style? Or is it pandering to a more casual crowd in an attempt to win over potential iPhone buyers? The problem with a jack of all trades is it ends up master of none – and the BlackBerry Storm, while certainly a solid device, suffers from spreading itself too thin. That, and a general feeling it was rushed to market.

I’d love to see what developer RIM can do with a follow-up to the Storm –it’ll be interesting to see whether they continue with just a touch screen, or offer a physical keyboard as well.

Find out more - check out our intial impressions of the Blackbery Storm or Tristan's video review of rival smart phone, Apple's iPhone 3G. 

   

Tristan Clark - Technical Writer

 

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