BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone review
RIM's recession-friendly BlackBerry
Slipping neatly into the 'entry-level' slot of the BlackBerry range, the Curve 8520 offers most of the features and a few new tricks, but with less of a monthly dent in your wallet. It's also the BlackBerry that's down with the kids, just as long as those kids want to spend more time messaging and playing tunes rather than browsing the net.
If the BlackBerry Bold screams 'quality' as soon as you pick it up, the Curve 8520 whispers 'average' when you get hands-on. Gone is that classy chrome detailing, replaced by a less-than-stylish rubber trim and plastic back. However, the 8520 does have size on its side. The BlackBerry Bold could eat the slimline 8520 and still have room for dessert. The same could almost be said of last year's 8900, which looks positively chunky in comparison to the newbie.
Shape and detailing aren't the only things to catch the eye either, you'll notice RIM has also dispensed with that mainstay of the BlackBerry range, the trackball. Instead it has opted for an optical trackpad. Purists will hate it on principle, but after a few hours of use, it's every bit as good, probably more solid and in our opinion the way to go.
Slightly less controversial, but equally radical is the addition of dedicated music buttons on the top of the handset. Coupled with a decent pair of speakers, an equally passable pair of earphones, a microSD card and your PC-based iTunes software, you'll have an above average music player that’s good to go with a flick of the wrist. Video playback is no slouch either on the 320 x 240 TFT LCD screen, although you might want to consider battery life if you're waiting for an all-important email.
Indeed, as ever, email is the big selling point here. Like just about every BlackBerry on the market, it can handle multiple email accounts with ease, allowing you to hack into that message backlog wherever you are. Throw in a typically robust QWERTY keyboard and solid apps for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and you'll never miss a word of wisdom from your friends again. It might be an entry-level handset, but once you get emailing, everything is reassuringly BlackBerry.
So everything is just fine with 8520? Well, not quite. Despite pushing its hip credentials and playing to its obvious strengths, there are a couple of few features that really don't cut the mustard in 2009. Web browsing is certainly the main offender. Granted a 2.46-inch screen isn't going to offer a PC-like experience, but the constant reloading to zoom in and out can be a real pain, as can the occasional dodgy page rendering. A lack of 3G isn't ideal, although to be fair, browsing via GPRS isn't bad and if you get near a hotspot, Wi-Fi is on-board for an injection of speed.
Other negatives include the less-than-impressive 2-megapixel camera and the laboured way of accessing the majority of functions, music playing aside. No whizzy interface here, just about everything you want to access is a couple of clicks away, sometimes more. If you ever want to amend a profile, just make sure you plan some downtime in your day to do it.
The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is something of a game of two halves. While the web browsing and below-par camera stop it short of being an all-round multimedia contender, it does have much to admire as a messaging powerhouse and a rather tasty media player - and all for a much more affordable £25 monthly rate. It's not perfect, but if you need something to help you cut into that email mountain, you'll find the 8520 to be up there with the best of them.
Link: BlackBerry
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The BlackBerry Bold could eat the slimline 8520 and still have room for dessert...
| Our Rating |  |
|---|---|
| Price |
WE LOVE
Emailing and messaging, still the best aroundOptical trackpad
Dedicated music buttons
WE HATE
Disappointing web browsing experiencePoor quality camera
Overly-complicated menu system
WE SAY
Despite a couple of obvious flaws, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is still up there with the best when it comes to email and messaging, proving itself to be a more-than-able media player and social network hub as a bonus.Essential Mobile Apps
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