After the Storm… Sort of feels like before the Storm
So, I was pretty excited about the release of the BlackBerry Storm last week. A touchscreen BlackBerry seems like something to get excited about. I saw the commercials, read what other bloggers and tech pundits were saying, and actually became somewhat giddy about this gadget. Well, I came to find out this weekend what the Storm was all about.
Laggy
I own a BlackBerry Pearl and in the last six months of owning it have wanted to get a different phone because of it’s lack of speed and how it hangs and “hour-glasses” constantly. I seriously thought that my phone was annoying. Well, when I drove up to my local, neighborhood Verizon Wireless I was rudely awakened to the newest, laggiest gadget on the block; the Storm. First off, the “improved HTML browser” is very nice once it loads, but seriously, even to load Google took around 15 seconds. That is poor.
I understand that the data connection has nothing or little to do with the speed of the OS but this was just terrible.
The next thing that was terribly laggy was the accelerometer. I would turn the phone in landscape to type with the full QWERTY keyboard and it wouldn’t shift to landscape. I would sort of “shake” the phone to get it to view in landscape and it would finally budge. Annoying. Compated to the iPhone’s, the Storms accelerometer needs some serious work.
I wanted to try the Media part of the phone, but it wouldn’t even load and actually bricked the phone.
Ugly
Personally, I do not really like the look of the UI on this phone. I hoped that maybe, just maybe, that RIM would try and get away from the whole iPhone killer mantra and try something new. I thought and hoped that maybe this would set them apart from the iPhone allowing them to actually compete. I was wrong. The UI is very similar to the iPhone, but with less usability and more annoyances. Options that you may want to use frequently are still buried under two or three clicks.
The device itself is somewhat attractive actually. The only qualm that I have about the hardware is the unusual gap between the huge screen and the actual phone. There is definitely enough space between the screen and phone that dirt and particulates could see their way under the “clicky” touch screen.
Overall: FAIL
So, my dreams of becoming a touchscreen phone owner were extremely shortlived this weekend. Considering I’m stuck right now with Verizon and all of their touchscreens phones except the Storm lack actual web, I will not be upgrading any time soon. I believe that if they fix this phone it could be good but it will definitely not compete with the iPhone. This thing is just not sexy enough and like I’ve said before, doesn’t have an “i” in front of it. Maybe RIM should have named it the iStorm or gave Obama a test model to show off for the press.
Added 11/28/08
I also want to make sure that everyone knows that this is in no way a “unbiased review” of this phone. I am just giving my initial impressions of the phone. If you want a real review of this phone please go to the people that do that the best. I’ll post some links below.
BlackBerry Storm Review (Engadget)
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Filed under: BlackBerry
This is really not a very fair accessment for someone who only LOOKED at the product and not actually used it for a while. This thing is getting some pretty great reviews from some fo the nations top Guru’s. If you are running a Pearl, then that may explain some of your pain. Should have gone for the Curve.
Yes, I should have definitely went with the Curve!
Also, I may have been a little harsh on the Storm, but I based my opinion on what I saw and how I reacted to this hyped up phone. It may be a great phone, but from my experience, albeit brief, I can not say that I am overly impressed.
I’ll wait for the others to be guinea pigs on this release and possibly pick it up when I feel it’s “safe”.
it’s been awhile since i’ve visited, what up? and happy holidays!
on this blackberry storm thing, do the software writers and hardware designers/builders actually talk to each other?
so far, nobody can beat apple’s software to hardware interlocking tightness. either that, or nobody else is doing it.
anyway, i think your review of the phone is honest based on the trial conditions you’ve stated. i’ve checked it out myself, and in a brief trial, it does not impress. maybe if you get one and you’re stuck with it via contract, you tell yourself that it’s a good phone.
What up?!
Nice to see ya drop by.
Anywho, today I went to an AT&T store and played with the iPhone 3G (again). Yes; the iPhone works beautifully! No lag, the accelerometer actually works, and the interface is intuitive. Funny though, still no copy and paste! What the hell!
Anyways, happy holidays, man!