Foreword:

Blackberry Tour called as Blackberry BOLD for the CDMA network is a perfectly blended phone with style and features. Tour has better QWERTY keyboard and design than the similar looking Blackberry curve. It is a Hybrid phone that works on both CDMA and GSM networks and is capable of roaming all around the world, on any network. This feature gives it the name, Tour. The data speeds should be pretty good as it supports 3G on both CDMA (EVDO), and GSM (UMTS/HSPA).

Tour does not fail to impress on the first go. Though, slightly higher in weight compared to other Blackberry devices, it doesn’t take much of a time to get used to it. Its wider dimensions has made it possible for RIM to have a well placed QWERTY keyboard, and the tiled moulds on the keys makes it surprisingly easy to type. The rubber finish on the backside of the device is really smooth and satisfying to hold, but the silver lining on the device might wear out just like other devices. The phone has a 3.2 Mega Pixel camera along with flash for clicking photos and shooting videos. The quality of the photos thus taken is decent but not spectacular.

The phone does not have a Wi-Fi support, and another shocking thing is that you cannot install applications on your memory card. You will have to fit everything within your phone’s 256MB storage capacity, which is a poor decision by RIM. SMS/Email works wonders and setting up an email account in the phone doesn’t take more than 5 minutes. RIM has bundled the device with almost all IM clients like Yahoo, Gtalk, AIM.

+Ves:

• Good battery life – The battery life is pretty good when compared to the specifications of the phone. This of course means that you won’t have to carry your charger along most of the time.
• 3G and GPS support – Even though 3G is coming in as a standard option, such is not the case with GPS, and having a 3G and GPS together makes it a good deal.
• Availability of GSM and CDMA – The Blackberry Tour gives justice to its name, and supports both GSM and CDMA, allowing the user to use local SIM cards while on travel and international roaming.
• 3.5 mm audio jack – The 3.5 mm audio jack in the phone enables easy connectivity to most of the devices.
• Good camera – The 3.2 MP camera provides good image quality, and also shoots crisp and clear videos.
• Good quality integrated speaker – Performs well and gives crisp sound even at high volume.

-Ves:

• No Wi-Fi available – a bit old fashioned for a new technology phone. A Wi-Fi is must in the phones of today’s age.
• Applications can only be installed to the internal 256 MB memory – This provides very limited space for the applications.
• No VGA camera in front for video call – Availability of this would have made the phone a perfect business machine.
• No FM radio – An FM radio would have been a good value add to the phone.

Final Word:

The Blackberry tour does pretty much everything you ask for it, if kept the exception of not having a Wi-Fi aside. The slimmed casing and rock-solid email functionality are a great combination to business people and messaging-obsessed personal users, to which decent multimedia functionality is the icing on the cake. If a hardware keyboard is a must and Wi-Fi can be ignored, then Blackberry Tour may be your best device.

Foreword:

The Nokia N97 is Nokia’s answer to the Samsung Omnia HD and the iPhone. Thought the device can be called a good one, it hasn’t reached the level of the competitors. The N97 has a QWERTY slider that produces a snappy “thwack” when the screen slide upwards and this is a really satisfying thing; and gives the phone a powerful, sturdy and smooth feel. As a whole the phone looks pretty stylish, but is predominantly made of plastic components, rather than metal. This devours the device of its luxurious feel.

The N97 sports a 3.5 inch TFT display with 16 million colors and resolution of 360×640 pixels. There is a proximity sensor that is clearly visible on the left of the earpiece; and the video call camera and light sensor that controls the screen brightness are on the right. The Send and End keys on the bottom are touch sensitive and gives a slight vibration feedback when pressed. The 424 MHz processor on the N97 is a setback for the device, and it really slows down and even gets to the extent of hang ups while using a couple of applications together.

There are two cameras in the phone, a 5 megapixel camera with a dual LED flash, and a VGA camera for video conferencing. The photos taken by the camera are of good quality, and it also shoots 640×480 videos at 30 frames per second. Stereo speakers are placed at both ends of the left hand side of the device, with both micro USB slot (equipped with LED indicator) and slider button to lock/unlock the screen in between. The slider button and the camera shutter are very easy to use but the same is not the case with the volume rocker. The N97 has a 32 GB built in memory which will do well to almost all of the media related needs. It is expandable up to 48 GB using micro SD cards.

+Ves:

• 32 GB internal storage memory – The on board 32 GM memory ensures you don’t run out of space for your media related applications.
• Slide out 3-row full QWERTY keyboard – Provides better interface for messaging and mail related applications. How much ever a touch screen improves, a keyboard has its own effect and ease of use.
• 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash – The 5 MP camera provides crisp and high quality images, and the dual LED flash makes night photography easier and better.
• 3.5 mm audio jack – The 3.5 mm audio jack in the phone enables easy connectivity to most of the devices.
• Stereo FM radio with FM transmitter – The FM radio is a good add on and the FM transmitter really adds value and helps in easier playback while in car or transmission to a group.

-Ves:

• Slow processor – The 424 MHz processor makes the phone extremely slow when using multiple applications at a time, eventually leading to more number of hang ups.
• No DivX or XviD support – This will affect the users by a big margin as a lot of videos come in these formats.
• No smart dialing – No smart dialing options are there pulling it a step backward.
• No office document editing (without a paid upgrade) – This should have come in as a standard package with the phone to compete against the existing ones in the market.

Final Word:

Even though the N97 falls apart in a few of the features, mainly in its processor, the phone catches up in most of the other aspects. The availability of Wi-Fi, 3G, EDGE delivers high quality networking experience without any compromises. The speakers and 5 MP camera are of awesome quality making it an excellent media phone. Some people might face problems with the angle of the screen when the QWERTY keyboard is set out, and in the layout of the keyboard also, but that purely depends upon the person. So the phone is worth a buy if you don’t use many applications together, and focus on one process at a time. The N97 is definitely worth the money.

Foreword:

The Palm Pre has been launched as a competitor to Google’s iPhone, and it would be rightly justified if said that the Pre is the best competition that iPhone has ever had. It scores well above the iPhone in many aspects. The smartphone, along with the company’s much anticipated webOS operating system, isn’t perfect, but it definitely does not disappoint. The webOS interface is pretty clean, engaging and intuitive, and it blends and works well along with the hardware.

The Palm Pre is stunning in looks and design, and it feels great to hold the phone in your hands. The front of the device is coated with a tremendously shiny and extremely smudge-friendly plastic. It has a 3.1 inch capacitive touch screen that has 480×320 pixels. The phone has a 3.5 mm headphone jack that avoids the problem of carrying compatible connectors around. The phone sports a TIOMAP3 processor with 8 GB of storage and 256 MB RAM. It also has a light and proximity sensor that works almost similar to the iPhone. The Pre has a slide down QWERTY keyboard and it takes on a banana like appearance when the keyboard is slid out, and a mirror is revealed at the back.

It may be stressed on the point that the phone is for men and women alike. The Pre has a good 3.2 megapixel camera that can take pretty crisp and clear shots, and the Palm has done something radical in the webOS. The image processing is back loaded while you are shooting. This means that you can just snap away without sitting through the shutter lag, giving an actual camera experience. The audio on the Pre doesn’t disappoint either. The earpiece is clear and plenty loud, and the outgoing sound quality is also great.

+Ves:

• QWERTY keyboard – The keyboard of the Pre is pretty much user friendly, and the physical keyboard gives an actual feel to the user.
• Multitasking – Not found on any other phone, the webOS specializes in optimizing speed even while multitasking. You can run all the applications you want simultaneously without any problems.
• Synergy contact management – This is a unique feature of the phone which makes managing contacts with multiple accounts very easy. Everything is designed and stored in a flawless manner giving the user the best possible experience.
• 3.2 MP camera with flash – The 3.2 MP camera in the PRE takes sharp pictures, and it performs pretty well in dark conditions with its flash.

-Ves:

• Low Battery life – The comparatively low battery life of the Pre will mean that your battery will be drained by night upon heavy usage, and you will need more charging cycles to keep it up and running all the time.
• Less internal memory – At least a 16 GB or 32 GB internal memory is required to render itself comparable to other phones in the market.

Final Word:

The Pre has come out as a real competition to the iPhone, in terms of looks, performance and features. The positive aspects of the phone leave out little chance even to notice the negative it has; and the negative is its battery life. The multitasking options provided by webOS platform is the best available, and the Synergy contact management software can be termed as a bold step that turned out successful. Overall, this phone is the one to have, and is surely worth each penny you spend on it.

Foreword:

Storm, a touch screen device boasts many of the same features as the iPhone, but adds a lot of innovations like a clickable display, and comes with RIM’s legendary email and messaging services. You can adjust the backlighting, font size, and type. Storm is also equipped with an accelerometer that changes the screen orientation from portrait to landscape on rotation of the phone from a vertical position to a horizontal one or left to right.

This is Blackberry’s first touch screen phone and they have come out well with it. It has a 624MHz Processor with 128 MB RAM and 1GB onboard storage. The Blackberry Storm gives pretty decent music output. Its speaker is loud and the provided headset if not good enough can be kept aside for a pair of headphones of your choice, thanks to the 3.5mm jack. The standard headset does not leave up to the expectations and provides very ordinary audio experience. The video options are limited only to mobile video formats (3GP, H263, MP4, WMV).

The camera of the Blackberry Storm is a 3.2MP autofocus with flash assistance. The camera provides with pretty decent images considering that it is on an autofocus module. This feature is sufficient for a business user. You can also capture standard videos that are an added plus in the Storm. The Blackberry Storm has three input options – QWERTY key matt, semi-QWERTY and alphanumeric keypad. While the QWERTY key matt shows up every time the phone is moved into landscape orientation, you can choose to settle between either of the other two as the default input mode.

+Ves:

• High quality touch screen – 3.25 inch 65K-color capacitive touch screen of 360 x 480 pixel resolution with sure press feature provides an excellent experience.
• 3.5 mm audio jack – The 3.5 mm audio jack in the phone enables easy connectivity to most of the devices.
• High battery life – Provides a talk time of 5.5 hours which is good enough for a phone of this caliber. The large screen is a battery drainer but still the battery holds good.
• Good camera – The 3.2 MP camera provides good image quality, and also shoots crisp and clear videos.
• High speed – The phone has a high speed, which can be easily noted while running multiple applications.
• 3G and GPS support – Even though 3G is coming in as a standard option, such is not the case with GPS, and having a 3G and GPS together makes it a good deal.

-Ves:

• No Wi-Fi available – a bit old fashioned for a new technology phone. A Wi-Fi is must in the phones of today’s age.
• Fingerprint-prone front panel – The front panel gets too messy and dirty upon constant use, and fingerprints start getting accumulated from the first touch, requiring frequent cleaning.
• No email support without blackberry internet service account – a feature common to most of the Blackberry phones, this device also does not provide internet support unless you subscribe for blackberry internet services account.
• No FM radio – An FM radio would have been a good value add to the phone.
• No VGA camera in front for video call – Availability of this would have made the phone a perfect business machine.

Final Word:

The Blackberry Storm can be called an ultimate Business phone, providing almost all features required for the same, with a grand touch screen, user friendly messaging and email features. With a good performance and decent battery backup, this phone can be placed in the top list. The non availability of Wi-Fi puts it a generation behind for those who plan on using the phone in hot spots. But 3G and GPS features are good enough, and as a final verdict, it can be stated as a good buy if you don’t plan on using Wi-Fi much. But if the case is otherwise and you have much uses of Wi-Fi, you may prefer better phones.

Foreword:

Samsung Instinct performs well in almost all aspects. The phone is a fairly large one measuring approximately four and a half inches by two inches. Though it is slimmer than similarly designed ones, it is half an inch in thickness. The screen of the phone is a giant 3.1 inch touch screen but features a 240 x 432 pixels resolution with a colour depth of 262k colours, which is not at par with other high end touch screen phones available in the market.

The panel uses resistive touch screen technology. It means that the phone can be used with a stylus or while wearing a glove in addition to your bare fingers. Every time you touch the screen, your press is confirmed with a slight vibration, which is particularly useful while typing. Placed at the top of the face is a long, stretched oval speaker that works both as an earpiece and ringer/speakerphone/music. It has an in built 2.0 megapixel camera with a two times digital zoom, which is also not a catchy feature. The phone has good multimedia features, with the built in audio and video players supporting almost all audio and video formats for playback on the go. There is a built in 32 MB memory that can be expanded with microSD cards. The phone has Bluetooth 2.0 support, world clock, number of voice commands, voice recorder, speakerphone, email support, full HTML browser and GPS support.

+Ves:

• Tons of features – There are a lot of softwares and features available in the phone which makes its usage easier and gives in a pleasing experience.
• Slick design – The design of the phone is slick and attractive, and will surely catch the attention of the passerby’s.
• 3G and GPS support – Even though 3G is coming in as a standard option, such is not the case with GPS, and having a 3G and GPS together makes it a good deal.
• Good battery life – The battery life is pretty good when compared to the specifications and the size of the touch screen. This of course means that you won’t have to carry your charger along most of the time.
• User friendly interface – Using the device is very easy because of the user friendly interface, and hence the phone can be used even by non techies with ease.
• High speed – The phone has a high speed which can be easily noted while running multiple applications.

-Ves:

• No Wi-Fi available – This makes it an old fashioned for a new technology phone. A Wi-Fi is must in the phones of today’s age.
• 2 megapixel camera – should have been at least a 5 megapixel camera to give a good competition to the other phones in the market. The quality of pictures taken is very poor.
• No QWERTY keyboard available – The keyboard that shows up in the screen is good, but it surely is not a substitute to the physical QWERTY keyboard.
• Some features not up to par with the competition –
• Dual Band CDMA device – Not having a GSM will allow it to be used in selected countries only. The places which have only GSM services can’t use this phone.
• Low internal memory – The availability of just 32 mb internal memory pulls it backwards. Higher memory could have made the mobile give out better performance.

Final Word:

Providing justice to its intentions, the Samsung Instinct has come in as a good competition to the iPhone. It has a slick design and good looks with a huge 3.1 inch touch screen. Even though the non availability of a separate QWERTY keyboard can be stated as a disadvantage, the in-built touch keyboard is user friendly and does not trouble the user when there is a lot to be typed. The 2 megapixel camera is a feature that puts the phone on backfoot; and the non availability of Wi-Fi puts it a generation behind for those who plan to use the phone in hot spots. But 3G and GPS features are good enough, and as a final verdict, it can be stated as a good buy if you don’t plan on using Wi-Fi much. But if the case is otherwise and you have much uses of Wi-Fi and good camera, you may prefer better phones.