RIM BlackBerry 8300 Curve

(Review) - Only a few short months after the launch of the BlackBerry 8800, RIM has reacted well to the demands of business users and revealed a revamped version of its highly popular smartphone, the BlackBerry 8300 Curve. Since there is little difference between the 8800 and 8300 in terms of features, we'll skip the regurgitation from our 8800 review and direct you to read all about RIM's 8000 series there. With that said, let's get started.

RIM's uniquely named BlackBerry 8300 sports a sporty and seemingly more durable design than the original 8800. While the 8800 is more on the delicate side, with the 8300, you will feel more at ease throwing it around on your office desk or in your pockets. Although the 8800 may just be as durable as the 8800, the 8300 Curve certainly gives off a solid vibe. Considering that, you do lose the sleek, shiny and sophisticated appeal of the 8800, which could be a bummer for a lot of you. However, if you are willing to put your feelings aside for the device's outer appeal, you will be impressed with the updated keyboard layout. One of the key flaws that we noted with the 8800 was its slippery and cramped keys. Thankfully, that has changed, and RIM listened to its user community in a timely manner. The keyboard layout is much like the 8700g with a good amount of space between the keys and much welcomed tactile feedback. Personally, even after using the 8800 excessively for the past few months, we immensely enjoyed working with the 8300 Curve solely for its keyboard.

RIM BlackBerry 8800 Review

Going back to the sporty design, the device is available in a combination of silver and white, which isn't as pleasing as the dark blue combination of the 8800, but it'll do. It's also smaller than the 8800 in terms of physical size and has rubberized edges for an easy grip. That definitely made working with the device a breeze, especially for long conversations.

In addition to the design overall, the 8300 Curve packs a 2.0-megapixel camera with three resolutions (1600x1200, 1024x768 and 640x480), 5x digital zoom with built-in flash and the option to work with white balance and color effects. You can also pick from superfine, fine and good photo quality options. Although we appreciate the camera function, it performed terribly in our photo quality tests. The photos were lackluster at best with faded colors with a cloudy hue. On top of that, the camera doesn't record live video.

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