BlackBerry Curve 8310 Review
BlackBerry Curve 8310 Smartphone Review
The Blackberry Curve 8310, released in the year 2007, has turned out to be the most loved phone in the Blackberry Curve series. It is the Blackberry series with satellite navigation along with features like email, internet, 2 mega pixel camera and memory card slot. RIM have taken on a great idea by continuing to release models in the Blackberry 8800 series that keep the people of corporate sector happy and simultaneously the Blackberry Curve series which will keep the consumers sector happy. This time Blackberry has to face some fierce competition as the mobiles that run on the Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Platform are selling twice that of those running on the RIM’s Blackberry.
Blackberry Curve 8310 is the successor of Blackberry Curve 8300 which was released in the month of June, the same year. While both of them has similar looks and features, the major difference is the introduction of the GPS.
Smart, stylish design:
The design of the phone is exactly the same as that of its predecessor. One of the major things that the designers of the Blackberry Curve had to keep in mind is that, since this series, unlike the others, is consumer oriented, they has to design the phone in such a way that it is slim and stylish enough to attract the consumer community. It has a 2.5 inch LCD display. The Curve 8310 has managed to weigh an average 111grams that is just 12 grams more than Blackberry Pearl, that had two letters in each key. But 8310, being just 10mm wider at 60mm has managed to put on a full QWERTY keyboard. Hence, the designers have succeeded, making 8310 one of the most stylish device in the market.
Navigation:
The small keys in the QWERTY keyboard work much faster than the usual T9 predictive text available in the Pearl, once you get used to it. The main navigational button is the mini pearl like trackball that was in imitation from the Pearl. With this, you will see that scrolling through long pages is no longer irritating. This smart phone has been designed ergonomically.
Menu usage:
The menus of the RIM Blackberry Curve 8310 are really a breeze to use once you get used to it. Blackberry key switch is used to switch between various applications and reassign items in the launcher. Once the application is opened, the same key brings up very useful drop down menus. The sat nav application was absent in the default programs list in the Curve’s launch bar, surprising! The phone has a simple navigation set up that aids you in a lot of means. The Curve lends itself particularly well for your email and browsing needs. There are no annoying home pages that you will have to go to and eliminating your need for entering the entire URLs of the sites that you want to visit. All that you need to do is, select Go To option from the drop-down menu where you can select whichever website you want to, when the browser application is active.
Satellite navigation feature:
You must have used the sat nav application in the other mobiles and said, “what is the great deal?” as all of them take ages to even pinpoint your current location. But the combo of the Google maps, Vodafone sat nav and Blackberry have done a great job. They get you your locations in just a few seconds. But Vodafone cannot actually take all the success of the sat nav feature as it had bought in a third party application from Telmap that had already proven to be successful. The Google map application is not custom designed to be used while driving and so, you will have to plot the route before you start driving and then start off by following the sat nav.
Sat nav menus:
Even if you are not familiar with the way Blackberry menus work, you will not be having any trouble working with it. All that you will have to know is that, if you click over the red arrow icon, the Vodafone sat nav application will be launched and then just select yes to admit Telmap to make use of the satellites to get the maps and locations for you. It will then take you to a screen that has options like “Where To“, “Place or Business“, “Where am I“ and “My places and Inbox”. As each of their names indicate, they work accordingly. For instance, the option “where am I” presents you with a 2D map of your current location and when you click over it with the central navigation button, it displays to you the address and geo-reference. You will also be able to save the location along with details attached to it like the place name and number. The only issue is that, we feel is that, the display is a bit on the smaller side for viewing the maps.
Sat nav operation:
If you choose to go to a particular place with the help of the Sat Nav, just enter the town name, suburb name or just the post code number. In just a few seconds, the complete route data will be downloaded, and you will be set to explore. You can move around the map with the numeric keys as was the case of the sat navs in the other Blackberry smart phones. The Google maps take some relatively long time to pick up signals in areas that are heavily built and in that case, by default, it tends to display to you maps that cover quite a large geographical area. In such a case, just move around the map and zoom-in and out will help you better making your work a little faster and easier. Your current location in the map will be indicated by a flashing blue ball and you can go back there by just pressing the ’0’ key. The navigation instructions are given by a female voice that is clear and authoritative but not bossy. In case you misinterpret the instructions, the error sound is just a gentle ping and not some irritating alarm like sound.
Lack of connectivity:
One of the major dis advantages of the 8310 is that, it lacks connectivity. The support for Wi-Fi that was available in phones like Blackberry 8820 is absent in this model. And like every other RIM Blackberry except the Blackberry 8320, this phone too lacks 3G. One of the major disadvantages of lack of 3G is that, you will be limited to the speeds of the GPRS and so, at times web surfing can be horribly slow.
Camera and memory:
A smart phone without a decent camera and memory card slot is sure to fail. The other Blackberry models that were designed without camera keeping in mind the security concerns, but since the Curve is consumer oriented, this feature cannot be neglected.
2 MP camera:
And so RIM has taken a wise decision to include a 2 mega pixel camera and a multimedia card slot to impress its consumer market. Though the fact that the resolution is just 2 mega pixels might limit the definition of the images, but the images taken have strong and natural looking colours. Photos you take can be saved and used as caller ID images. These images can be displayed on any external display of up to 1,600 x 1,200 pixels resolution. Flash is available and you will be able to zoom 200 percent. The flash that is provided is one of the brightest LED photo lights that we would have ever seen and hence taking snaps in low light areas is never going to be an issue. Micro mirror is available for you to take self portraits. In addition, you can also give interesting colour effects to your images.
Memory:
About 64MB of internal flash memory is available and the microSD card slot accepts cards of up to 2GB in capacity. You will definitely need to make you of the slot if you want to make use of the multimedia applications.
Email:
Our review is not complete if we do not list you systems and protocols that this mailing and messaging specialist has. Though, RIM is no longer having the virtual monopoly over the push email services, this device stands tall, unbeatable when it comes to messaging. The email application is very straightforward. It has the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise. It also integrates with an existing enterprise email account, personal email account and new device account. It also has the support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BES.
Battery:
Most of the smartphones in the current market have very poor battery lives. But thankfully, Curve gives you a good four hours of talk time and two and a half weeks of stand-by time. The satellite navigation feature drains off the battery of the Blackberry Curve like nobody’s business.
Availability:
Blackberry Curve 8310 smartphone is being sold exclusively with Vodafone in UK and the combo of GPS makes the smart phone complete. You will get a full year of Vodafone sat nav service with updates that are quarterly, which is included within the contract of the handset.
The Blackberry Curve 8310 comes with one year limited warranty.
Verdict:
RIM has done a great job with the Curve 8310. The Palm Treo 600v is a heavy competitor to the Blackberry Curve. The 8310 retains the core features that made BlackBerry into a household name and indispensable business tool, full keypad and push email. It also adds some new features that make the Curve more like a multimedia smartphone, a camera, media player and GPS satellite navigation.
Having solid built quality and adequate features why would not we recommend it. The Curve 8310 is an excellent value for money too.
Check Reviews of Latest Blackberry Phones, Blackberry Pearl Series reviews in this website.
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RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310 - Technical Specification Details
| Manufacturer | RIM |
| Model Name | BlackBerry Curve 8310 |
| Product Series | Curve Series |
| Form factor | Candy-bar |
| Screen size | 2.5 inch |
| Colours supported | 16 bits (65,536 colours) |
| Screen resolution | 320 x 240 Pixels |
| Dimensions | 107 x 60 x 15 mm |
| Weight | 111 grams |
| Colours available | Grey, red |
| On-board memory | 64MB |
| Memory card type | microSD |
| Memory expansion | Yes |
| Ringtones | Polyphonic, Real music |
| Camera resolution | 2 megapixels |
| LED photo light | Yes |
| Video recording | Yes |
| Music playback | Yes |
| Supported formats | MP3, AAC, WMA |
| FM radio | No |
| Headphone socket | 3.5mm |
| Messaging | Short Messaging Service Multimedia Messaging Service Internet browser WAP protocol supported 2.0 E-mail client Java |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, USB, GPS receiver |
| Operating system | RIM BlackBerry |
| Synchronisation software | Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry |
| Desktop software | Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry |
| System requirements | Browser and Internet connection |
| Handwriting recognition | No |
| Security features | Password protection and keyboard lock Support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BlackBerry Enterprise Server FIPS 140-2 Validated (FIPS Validation) Optional support for S/MIME |
| Accessories Included | USB cable Wall charger |
| Warranty | One year |
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