BlackBerry Storm – The Aftermath.
Thanks to Ripplevox/Starhub and BlackBerry, I had a chance to play with the BlackBerry Storm here’s what I think about it after being in a storm for a month. Despite the fact that I refused to join the iPhone craze (or rather, because Starhub refuses to bring iPhone in), the BlackBerry Storm is no iPhone…not even close.
Just like every other BlackBerry, the Storm is no wannabe for business clients. You have the usual BlackBerry highlights such as email-on-the-go, BlackBerry IM and its own app store. It looks smart and professional (though the Storm looks alil too fat, I almost thought it was a flip phone). Don’t get me wrong, fabulous features but most of the time I feel like it’s taking a long while to load. Quite laggy responses as compared to how I “abuse” my N82 or iPod Touch.
With the feature of accelerometer like iPhone, it was much easier to type on the touchscreen with the SureType keyboard than when the phone was in horizontal, full Qwerty keyboard mode since the buttons are bigger. I really could not get used to “punching hard” on the touchscreen instead of the usual “clicking” of the keypads or just “gliding” my fingers over the iPhone touchscreen.
Instead of comparing Storm to the iPhone or even other smartphones (and getting whiney and providing solely negtive feedbacks), consumers should compare it to other BlackBerries. In which they may like what the BlackBerry team has put together for them: A big touchscreen, a 3.2MP camera that takes video with a proper flash, a respectable Web browser and a touchscreen typing system that is uniquely BlackBerry. (Although personally I think the trade-off is Big Screen vs “proper” typing system aka keypad between the BlackBerries)
Personally I liked the screen as well and the camera is definitely better than iPhone’s, I thought the apps were rather limited but I believe the BlackBerry team is building on it. I like the twitter app most (duh) and if not for the lagginess, the maps feature is rather useful for direction blind people like me. I have to admit that holding the Storm makes you look “professional” and you have envy eyes stealing glances at you while you type on your BlackBerry (with much struggles).
More on the Blackberry Storm and starhub’s data plan soon !
