BlackBerry Curve 8320 Phone, Sunset (T-Mobile) Review

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(More customer reviews)I resisted a Blackberry for years because I didn't want my email following me everywhere. Finally broke down and got this Curve 3 weeks ago. It truly lives up to its name as a "smart phone."
The Good:
1--The preloaded applications. I LOVE having mapping and search technology right on my cellphone! No more wondering where the nearest Wells Fargo or Pinkberry is. No more wasting time in the doctor's waiting room. I can check/respond to email or better yet, play tetris or brickbreaker.
2 --Multi-Tasking. If you are in the middle of one app (e.g., entering an address) and a call comes in, when the call is finished, the screen goes back to what you were doing instead of losing all the data you just entered. Coming from regular phones, this is a HUGE time-saving improvement for me. Also, if you are on the phone with someone and you want to look up a number or an email or a calendar event on your phone, you can click a button and search for the info, all while continuing your convo with the caller. How novel that technology should actually work the way common sense dictates. I uploaded a software called Mobile Tracker that works with a GPS to track my movements (which I can later upload in a file and watch on Google Earth) and the tracking is done in the background all while I continue to make and receive calls, check email, etc. Love that!
3--The Keyboard (Characters). I love that all the letters, numbers and common symbols are on one keyboard instead of my having to scroll thru multiple screens like most other phones.
4--Phone quality. Speakerphone is crisp and clear. Phone can hold a signal even in certain dead spots.
The Bad:
1-- Battery life is not great. Requires daily charging but I use it quite intensely. Easily solved with a car charger.
2-- Browser is sometimes a little too slow for my taste. This may be the phone or it may be t-mobile. I haven't tested to know whether wi-fi makes the browser go faster than being on the EDGE network. Also, could be slower when there are multiple applications working in the background.

The Ugly:
1--The keyboard (surface). Not crazy about the texture. I prefer the feel of the Bold's keyboard but I'm not going to switch carriers for it.
2--So incompatible with Mac it's not funny. After 3 days of trying different alternatives (the free pocketmac from blackberry froze my computer), I had to pay $40 for Missing Sync software to make the phone play nice with Mac, and even then there are issues. If you have a windows pc, you won't have this issue. If you have a Mac, be prepared to accept less than accurate syncing.
3--The manual. It's beyond useless. Doesn't tell you anything about this phone which has menus within menus within menus. There are a lot of features and you really need to take it out on a date and get to know it intimately. I have started to create my own little "how-to" file to keep track of how to do everything on this phone.
If you are new to smartphones, you will really enjoy this phone, not just for the email but for the constant access to the internet which is great for having information at your fingertips when you're away from your computer.
NOTE: A week or so after getting the phone, I also experienced the problem mentioned by the reviewer below with the phone locking up and the interminable hourglass. When I went in to each of the programs on the phone I had opened (maps, browser, weather channel, missing sync, brickbreaker, etc) and selected Close or Quit from the menu, this problem went away. I guess what makes this a smart phone is that hitting the back button on the phone just takes you to the previous screen but it doesn't automatically close out the application you are working in. You have to do that manually.
UPDATE: It has now been more than 6 months since I have had the phone and I want to throw it into the ocean. I still love the map feature and the camera has come in handy a couple of times, but the phone part drives me nuts! #ver since I activated the UMA feature which allows me to make calls over my highspeed Internet connection, I have had constant dropped calls, call failures, inability to dial out or receive calls. The phone basically works when it feels like. I have called T-Mobile but the support on this particular feature is useless. You might ask, why don't I just disable it, but when it works, it's brilliant -- it's like being on a landline. And cell service in my home is spotty so if I don't use UMA, I have to stand in one corner of the house. I had the phone set to work exclusively with UMA and I had problems so I switched it so that the phone would go back and forth between UMA and Edge, but I still have problems. This could be the phone, this could be T-Mobile, this could be my internet connection, who knows. I haven't tested UMA over another wireless network to isolate the problem. Perhaps I will do that next and update the review again.


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Adding a fashionable touch to Research in Motion's formidable arsenal of telephonic, PIM, and media tools, the BlackBerry 8320 Curve for T-Mobile is also the smallest, lightest BlackBerry phone that includes a full QWERTY keyboard. This amalgam of the svelte BlackBerry Pearl and the more business-oriented 8800 combines RIM's long-valued corporate email and messaging platform with a host of advanced multimedia features, including a 2-megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth (for listening to music via wireless headphones). In addition to its quad-band GSM and EDGE connectivity, it also offers Wi-Fi connectivity for access to the Internet and email as well as access to T-Mobile's Hotspot @Home service.
T-Mobile Service Options With T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service, you'll effortlessly transition between Wi-Fi calling and T-Mobile's wireless network while you talk. You can get unlimited nationwide calls over Wi-Fi--at home via your wireless router or at any U.S. T-Mobile HotSpot. You can also use the HotSpot @Home service via most open, or unsecured, wireless routers, as well as any secured wireless router for which you have access to the password from the owner. This phone is compatible with the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standard as well as the following wireless security protocols: WEP, WPA (TKIP), WPA2 (AES-CCMP), LEAP, PEAP, EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, EAP-FAST, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA. Whenever you're not using a Wi-Fi network, the Curve works just like a regular mobile phone, using your Whenever Minutes under your T-Mobile voice plan.
This phone also includes compatibility with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.
Staying Connected With BlackBerry's push email technology, your email will find you without having to initiate a connection. BlackBerry devices are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, notifying you as new email arrives. In addition to the text, you can also receive and view attachments in a wide range of popular file formats, including Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect, and Adobe PDF.
Browse the web with the integrated, full-featured browser, which quickly and efficiently displays HTML pages as well as enables you to set up RSS feeds to stay connected to up-to-the-minute news and blog posts. And keep up with your contacts using a variety of instant message (IM) networks, including the integrated Blackberry Messenger as well as downloadable clients for Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, and Lotus Sametime.
For corporate users, the Curve delivers all the enterprise email and messaging capabilities you've come to expect. It's supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, giving you access to up to 10 work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.
Phone Features The Curve is fashioned with subtly curving corners and chrome highlights. Measuring 4.2 x 2.4 inches, the Curve is just as slim as the Pearl (0.6 inches) and weighs in at 3.9 ounces--just 0.7 ounces heavier than its predecessor. It features a bright 2.5-inch color TFT screen that provides 65,000 colors and a 320 x 240-pixel resolution, and it includes a light-sensing feature that automatically adjusts backlighting for indoor, outdoor and dark environments. Like the BlackBerry 8800, the Curve includes a trackball navigation system located on the top of the QWERTY keypad, and it also features an integrated spell checker with a customizable dictionary to help maintain accuracy while on the go. It has 64 MB of internal ROM memory, and is expandable using MicroSD memory cards. The battery provides up to 4 hours (240 minutes) of talk time and up to 17 days (408 hours) of standby time.
You can snap vivid photos (though no video) using the 2-megapixel camera on the back of the Curve, which also features a 5x digital zoom, built-in flash, self-portrait mirror and full screen viewfinder. It can capture images in up to three picture quality and size resolutions that can be shared instantly by email, MMS or BlackBerry Messenger, or even uploaded to your Flickr account with the Yahoo! Go service. Photos can also be immediately set as a unique caller ID or Home Screen image. You can edit photos and create albums within the Curve using the PhotoSuite application. Pictures can be cropped, rotated and straightened, and flaws can be fixed by removing redeye or changing the brightness, contrast, and saturation levels.
Listen to your favorite music and watch downloaded videos using the included stereo headset, or use an optional wireless headphone thanks to the Curve's support for the Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP). The Curve is compatible with a wide variety of file formats, including MP3, WMA and AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ audio and WMV, MPEG4 and H.263 video. Dedicated volume controls are conveniently located on the side of the handset.
With the Voice-Activated Dialing (VAD) feature, you can initiate a call just by telling the Curve who to call from your contact list--either via the integrated speakerphone or using an optional Bluetooth wireless headset. Other advanced phone features include advanced sound technology that cancels out background noise and echo, dedicated volume and mute keys, and the ability to customize the Curve with polyphonic and MP3 ringtones.
Vital Statistics The Blackberry Curve 8320 weighs 3.92 ounces and measures 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of talk time, and up to 408 hours (17 days) of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.

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