For the last few years Research in Motion (RIM) has been the manufacturer of choice for most business users. So much so, that the business people who own one of these productivity enhancers mainly refer to it as an entity “I’ll put it in my Blackberry” can still be heard in board rooms around the world. This success and the now very popular Smartphone have seen RIM capture the imagination of the consumer market with relative success. After the success of their Bold series of phone RIM have released the Torch. Can it stand up and be counted in the Smartphone marketplace?
Well unfortunately, RIM seems to be a little lost when it comes to anything other than business users. With the Torch you are basically getting an overhauled Bold with a touch screen and new OS in my opinion. The design isn’t bad, it is not groundbreaking and it is pretty much a Bold with a slide function to hide the QWERTY keyboard. It also still has the comparatively small screen when compared to the other Smartphone’s that are on offer.
So let’s have a look what it does well. The touch screen is smooth and responsive. A 5MP camera, which is about average for Smartphone’s these days, is included. Sticking to RIM’s roots you get a QWERTY keyboard. And, because it is a Blackberry it is great for all business phone use.
The bad points aren’t necessarily bad points, they are just points which the new generation of Smartphone’s have made important things to look for in a device, and this is where the Blackberry Torch suffers. Blackberry OS 6 as far as I can see is pretty much same as the last incarnation, just now with touch screen support and icons and menu’s emulating the rest of the pack. The media player is good but not up to the standards of the other Smartphone’s. As far as Apps go, you’ll be hard pushed to find anything other than business related programs here.
All in all, the Torch is a fantastic phone, if you like blackberry’s you will no doubt like this handset. Everything it does, it does well, but against the set of smart phones in the current generation the Torch doesn’t quite cut the mustard. This is a great phone for the business person, but a mediocre phone for anyone else.
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