Review: BlackBerry Storm 2

Thursday, 10 December 2009 12:05 Written by Joe Diedericks

The BlackBerry Storm 2 I received for review this week left me in two minds as to whether it is a great phone or not.

This being an improved version from the previous Storm, we decided to compare berries with berries and see if it is actually a better phone. It is a touch screen so the first place we would be looking at is the user experience. (Read the Press Release)

Improved touch

When I first open the box and touched the screen it didn’t give way like with the original Storm. My initial reaction was that they took away the SurePress screen which was surprising since it was the main pulling card.

I then found out that once the phone is switched on that it becomes “press-able”. This is an improved feature that locks the screen when you are not using it and thus ensures that the screen lasts longer. The screen now has 4 sensors to track movement where the previous version had one. So immediately you have a better reaction time to your inputs and it is more controlled.

This also improves the typing experience since you can now have two thumbs on the screen, both will light up the desired letters but only when you press the screen will it send the command to type the letter.

I gave the phone to a Storm 1 owner and he was very impressed with the new screen technology.

Interface

In general I have no problem with the interface. It is the sleek look that we have come to know and for a new user navigation shouldn’t be a problem at all.

What I would still like to see it that when you press a key when typing, that the selected letter jumps up above your finger. This is something that I like with the iPhone and I have seen it on some other touch screen phones as well. I know that I am typing an ‘S’, but that visual confirmation would really make a big difference.

Exterior look and feel

The Storm 2 has a few cosmetic changes when it comes to the exterior.

First off you will notice that the call and menu buttons at the bottom is now part of the touch screen. I had no problem with this but Storm 1 owners didn’t like it at all. The reason why they did this according to my research, is because people were complaining that the buttons on the Storm 1 fell off. Now my question is, what do you have to do with your phone to make the buttons fall off? Do you use it as a door stop?

The convenience keys on the side are now a bit tougher and they don’t stand out as much. They are now the same colour as the rest of the phone lining which doesn’t make it look as cheap as with the silver keys on the previous model.

I didn’t like the stainless steel cover on the back as it feels a bit loose and when you tap it, it sounds like tapping a tin roof.

Let me entertain you

I am big on any part of a phone that entertains me. So when it comes to the audio and visual capabilities of a cellphone, it will either make or break you.

With 2Gb onboard storage and expandability to 16Gb via the SD card slot, you can pack this phone with more than enough MP3’s and music videos to last you a few months. RIM kept the 3.5mm earphone jack, so if you want to extend your music to your car or home audio system you have the means to do so.

The LCD screen is crisp and clean, making watching videos an absolute pleasure.

Browsing the web and maps

Looking at websites on the Storm 2 is simply amazing. This is where I finally started to warm up to the touch experience a bit.

The 3G connection is super fast. I browsed from my house where I am of the opinion that both Vodacom and MTN hates me and therefore gives me the worst coverage. But on the Storm 2 I had a blast connecting to pages, running searches via Google and just reading content on sites with ease. This is where you appreciate the 3.25” screen.

Jump over to the BlackBerry Maps application and just start searching places. Pan the map left, tap-tap back to the right, zoom in, zoom out. This is the way all map interfaces should be. I really loved the speed on the maps. There were times when the rendering was a bit slow, but we have come to accept that from mapping applications in general.

Camera and Video

This was a bit of a let down for me. I would have liked to see an upgrade from the normal 3.2MP camera to maybe a 5MP or bigger.

I found the flash light to be better than with the previous version, but I still feel that the Curve 8900 takes better photos and videos. On the Storm 2 they come across as a bit grainy.

The video quality is much smoother but could improve. It looks like it records at a frame rate of 20-25fps. I would have liked the option to set that myself since storage space isn’t going to be a problem, unless you want to shoot Titanic 2.

Useless but interesting info

When I was taking videos with the Storm 2 it kept on bombing out the phone and restarting it. At first I was under the impression that it was a OS glitch.

Luckily it is not a problem with either the hardware or the operating system which is now sitting at Version 5. The problem is the SIM card.

The SIM card I used is still a 16k card which causes problems on most modern cellphones. So by doing a SIM swop and upgrading to a 32k card immediately fixed this little problem. When you have problems with doing cellphone banking this will be the first thing you need to look at as well.

I tested this theory on the Storm 2 by using two different 16k cards and two different 32k cards. The 16k card is the problem.

If you are a BlackBerry owner and you experience problems with the phone restarting, check your SIM card. You will actually be amazed how many 16k cards are still out there.

Overall verdict

Personally, I not get myself a Storm 2. Storm owners love the improved version but I am sticking to my QWERTY equipped Curve.

If you are on the market for a touch screen phone then I would say that the Storm 2 is a safe buy. I do however get the feeling that RIM is holding back on what they can do with it. Go to your local carrier and first play with it. Decide if you are comfortable with the touch screen before just taking out the wallet.

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