BlackBerry Storm2 9550

Call Quality

Call quality: We found call quality on the BlackBerry Storm2 to be relatively good. For the most part, callers were clear, and it’s easy enough to adjust the cell phone’s volume with the corresponding buttons on the side of the Storm2. That said, we did notice that if we kept the Storm close to our face during calls, we would inadvertently touch the screen with the side of our face. In those events we would hear a beep and accidentally press one of the numeric phone keys. We also appreciated the speakerphone since we were able to speak simultaneously and callers weren’t cut off mid-sentence. Additionally, there was no degradation in call quality when we used a Bluetooth headset, and we could still hear callers clearly in a noisy environment.

Audio quality: The playback of music on the BlackBerry’s speaker is loud. For the most part songs sounded clear through the smartphone’s speaker and even better when using 3.5mm stereo earbuds. Music was definitely loud enough, so much so we found ourselves lowering the volume via the side volume keys. As noted, the cell phone sports a 3.5mm headset jack, so you’ll be able to use your own high-end headset with the Storm2 to listen to music, however, you won’t be able to conduct calls using one of those headsets. Finally, the BlackBerry Storm2 supports stereo Bluetooth so if you prefer to go wireless, you can always listen to tunes and take calls via an optional Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset.

Ease of Use

Menu/phone book: If you love the BlackBerry interface, you’ll be happy to know not much has changed with the overall menu structure on the Storm2 – but it is a lot snazzier and runs the most recent version of the OS available to date. Corresponding icons resemble a lighted nightclub sign and really pop against the black background. Although, the BlackBerry interface isn’t a lot different, you’ll probably encounter a bit of a learning curve to truly master using it. This is because it’s different. It’s also because the Storm2’s display realigns itself every time you turn it. Like other touchscreen cell phones available, the Storm2 has an accelerometer. That means when you turn the cell phone in a horizontal direction, the screen turns horizontal.

You can use the BlackBerry Media Sync software (also now available for Macs) to easily sync contacts, calendar, and e-mail between the Storm2 and your computer. Additionally, you can also view and edit word docs, excel docs, and PowerPoint presentations on the BlackBerry Storm2. You can store as many contacts as your available memory will allow. Each entry can hold multiple phone numbers, e-mail addresses, birthday and anniversary information, a picture and a slot for both work and home addresses. You can customize the look of the BlackBerry Storm2 interface.

The Storm2 is as much about fun as it is about business. Syncing media – videos, music, and pictures – is infinitely easier thanks to the Roxio Media Manager software for BlackBerry (see Music for more details). The BlackBerry Storm2 comes with a mini-USB-to-USB cable so that you can connect it directly to your computer. But that’s not all. There’s also a ton of social networking options available such as access to Flickr, MySpace and FaceBook. These apps can be found in the Application Center, but you’ll need to select and download them if you’d like one-touch access to them. There’s also the BlackBerry App World where you can find and download even more apps. Now for the Internet, it’s the real Internet – not a mobile version. So you can access any page you want on the Internet and zoom and pan for a better viewing/surfing experience.

Messaging: The reason most people buy a BlackBerry is for the messaging, and rightfully so; it really has perfected messaging, and it has a built-in spell checker , which makes composing messages even easier. Even better, it’s extremely easy to set up multiple e-mail accounts (including work e-mail) on this BlackBerry. You can do it during initial setup of the device by following the prompts on the screen. If you already have a BlackBerry e-mail account and are simply changing devices, you can upgrade the information in the BlackBerry Setup menu. We appreciate how easy it is to set up folders and connectivity for web-based e-mail accounts such as AOL, Yahoo!, and Gmail. Also, if you tend to receive a lot of graphic-intensive e-mails, opt for an unlimited data plan, as downloading graphics can eat up megabytes of data pretty quickly.

We’re really happy to report that there are separate folders for text messages and individual e-mail accounts. There’s also support for multiple IM accounts (Windows Messenger, Yahoo!, Google Talk, AIM and BlackBerry Messenger). If you leave an IM account activated, when a new message appears in an existing conversation an icon with a star on it will appear in the top section of the screen. We should also note that text messages are threaded so you can see an entire text conversation in a single screen. However, if you choose to delete a message it will prompt you to delete the entire thread instead of just a single text.

Camera/video: The BlackBerry Storm2 has a 3.2-megapixel camera with a flash, but lacks a tiny mirror for framing self portraits. Overall, picture quality is decent when snapping pics using the Storm2. We found colors appeared a bit washed out, but it handles details well. There’s still zoom on this camera. To zoom simply move your finger over the screen where you want to zoom and it does it automatically. Move your finger over the display in the opposite direction and you zoom out. The shutter is fast once you frame your shot. Once you press the camera button down to capture the photo, that’s when the photo is captured. The screen will go dark when it’s actually taking a picture. Once you snap a picture, you can save it, rename it, save it as a Caller ID photo or wallpaper, delete it or send it. Camera features are a little skim, but you can adjust the flash, Image Stabilization, White Balance, Picture Size, Picture Quality, Color Effects (Normal, Black and White, Whiteboard, or Sepia), and GeoTagging.

Additionally, you can view videos on the cell phone and we’re happy to report that you would have no problem watching shows or movies on the Storm2 – the experience is that good and the display is definitely spacious. You can shoot video, as well. You’ll be able to watch videos stored in the Media folder, but you’ll have to go to Applications to launch the recorder or switch to Video Recorder when the camera is launched. Shooting videos is pretty easy, but the quality isn’t fabulous. While it’s a nice feature to have, you’re probably going to enjoy watching videos you download.

You can also watch VCast videos on the BlackBerry Storm2 for an added fee. If you turn the smartphone sideways it activates full screen mode, which offers plenty of viewing area. Video quality is ok, however, we did find it a bit pixilated. You’ll have a better experience viewing videos saved to the smartphone.

Music: As noted, the BlackBerry Storm2 has a music player as well. You can listen to songs stored in MP3, AAC (Apple’s audio format) and WMA files (Microsoft’s audio format). There aren’t many music-centric features included in the player, but it has the ones we’ve come to expect: Repeat, Shuffle, and Playlists (you can’t create them on-the-fly) and an Audio Boost feature. A huge plus is that you can save tunes stored in your cell phone as a ringtone. The Storm comes with 2GB of memory onboard, and an additional external 16GB MicroSD memory card, so you have plenty of room for tons of music and video out-of-the-box.

We still commend RIM for teaming up with Roxio to help you get music, photos, and videos from your computer onto your Storm2. The software has an extremely intuitive user interface, so you don’t even need to read directions to get started. You can also use this software to turn CDs into MP3s. Another nice feature is that the software won’t allow you to move music that the Storm2 won’t play back (that is, protected music that you might have purchased at an online store) onto it, so you’ll never have to wonder why a song isn’t playing. Instead, you’ll get a pop-up that says, “There are no media files in this folder that supports filter settings.” If that’s not enough music options, the BlackBerry Storm2 will also work with Verizon Wireless’ Rhapsody music service, VCast Song ID, and Slacker Radio.

Connectivity/Bluetooth/WiFi/World Phone: The BlackBerry Storm2 adds WiFi to its connectivity options, which is a welcome addition. We’re happy to report that leaving WiFi activated didn’t seem to drain the battery any faster when left activated. We also appreciated how easy it is to add a network. Like The BlackBerry Storm, the Storm2 is a true world phone. It runs on CDMA networks in the United States and will work on GSM networks with an active SIM card around the globe. As noted earlier, in addition to being able to take calls using a Bluetooth headset, the Storm2 also supports stereo Bluetooth, which we tested using the Motorola T505 .

Design

Look and feel: Like it’s predecessor, the BlackBerry Storm 9530, the Storm2 is all screen and only a few keys. About that display, it’s large, bright, crisp and visible in direct sunlight – even when viewed through sunglasses. Since you are using your fingers to maneuver through the menu, the screen obviously picks up a ton of fingerprints and face grease. When you are not using (i.e. touching) the display it turns black. Display aside, the Storm2 is an attractive cell phone with its black casing outlined with metallic trim. It will definitely draw attention from onlookers.

The Storm2 feels good in the hand and the pocket. The closest comparison to size we can make is that it’s a little bit narrower than the BlackBerry Bold and slightly shorter. Another nice design feature of the Storm2 is that there aren’t a ton of keys cluttering the cell phone’s spine. There are volume keys, a dedicated camera key, the USB port (sans cover), and the Say a Command key. The MicroSD card is hidden behind the battery cover, but you don’t have to remove the battery to insert the card – Nice.

Keypad:The BlackBerry Storm2 has three keyboards from which to choose. It’s got a full touchscreen QWERTY keyboard that appears vertically on the screen in an application that would require a keyboard, such as the Web, e-mail, IM, or entering contacts. If you want a more spacious keyboard simply turn the smartphone on it’s side and one will appear. In our tests, we preferred entering text with this keyboard as we got much more accurate results. If you don’t want to use a full QWERTY keyboard, there’s always the SureType keypad option. About that touchpad, it’s a bit tricky. You can’t just tap the screen lightly with your fingernail and expect something to happen. You actually have to press down on the screen (yes, the screen moves) similar to how you would press a button on a typical keypad. The screen is a bit sensitive to the touch and when typing out messages, you’ll probably use the check spelling option about 30 percent of the time and come to really appreciate the predictive text option.

Battery Life

We are happy to report that battery life on the Storm2 is much improved over its predecessor. If you use the cell phone frequently to make calls, listen to music, as well as send/receive text messages and e-mail, the Storm2 will probably last about two days before needing to recharge. However, if you consider the Storm2 primarily a cell phone and less of a multimedia device, you’ll get about three to four days of battery life from it. We should note that listening to music a lot or leaving WiFi activated on the Strom2 doesn’t have an adverse affect on battery life.