REVIEWS / SMARTPHONES / RIM

BlackBerry Curve 8520 Mobile Phone

24 Aug, 2009, 11:00 am IST | by Shayne Rana | Smartphones Smartphones


PRICE IN INDIA

8,400
View Stores

TECH2 RATING

9.0

AVERAGE USER RATING

How we test

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RIM

BlackBerry’s latest offering in the 8520 Curve is going to give all the other business handsets a serious run for their money, including the other BlackBerrys. It may lack 3G but fares quite well without.

Form Factor
Keeping in tune with ALL the new BlackBerrys that made it out recently, except of course the Storm, the 8520 is a neat little handset. It’s smaller than the others and, kinda cute in a way. What pains me is that the 2.6-inch display has a resolution of 320 x 240, which is quite mundane. Then again what can you expect considering it's one of the cheaper models, but having reviewed the higher-end models that just happen to look quite like this one, the display sort of stands out like a pimple on the tip of a nose. You’ll get used to it especially if you’re upgrading from any other handset with a resolution like that.

 

 


Instead of the ‘standard’ trackball or ‘Pearl’, RIM has decided to go with a Touch-sensitive optical trackpad. The sensitivity is just right and after just a little while navigation becomes extremely simple. The full QWERTY keypad may seem a little squashed but believe me it’s easy to use. What makes the handset even more appealing are the media keys on the top and the 3.5mm earphone socket on the side. Other keys on the sides include volume/zoom keys, a shortcut to the voice dialing feature and a micro USB slot for the charger and PC connectivity. The hot swap slot for the microSD card is under the rear panel.

 


I like the handset. It's light weight, simple to use and comes with a 2GB card as well as a rubber protective case.

Features and Performance
Interface

Running the typical BlackBerry OS, the handset has all the trimmings of any of the BlackBerry handsets, which is definitely a good thing. Shortcuts can be assigned to the desktop and the main menu systems and icons are easy enough to maneuver through. On the whole the system is smooth thanks to the 512MHz processor and as I mentioned using the trackpad works out really well.

 


Media
As usual the BlackBerry music player worked without a hitch. Audio quality is great. The volume is loud enough to keep the outside world at bay and the bundled handsfree is comfortable enough to use so you won’t really need to invest in another, but you have the option and that’s great. It also has plenty of EQ presets to help enhance the audio.

 

 

 


The 8520 supports quite a few standard video formats so you can enjoy movies without having to worry about too much conversion. Of course the resolution isn’t as great as the 8900 or the Bold 9000 but it works. An FM radio would have been a great addition to the features set but you might not miss it, there’s plenty of other stuff.

Tags: BlackBerry , QWERTY , 2 Megapixel

Would you buy it?




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How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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