Tech Comp Review

Touted as the thinnest and smallest full QWERTY BlackBerry available, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a svelte and attractive smart phone, and it’s certainly more pocket-friendly than the larger (but more luxurious) BlackBerry Bold. For $199 with a two-year T-Mobile contract, you won’t get 3G data speeds, but you will get a premium device that offers first-rate e-mail and messaging capabilities, a spectacular design, comfortable keyboard, and an excellent user interface.

Design and Features

The Curve 8900 recalls the comfortable smaller form factor of the original 8300 series Curve. At 4.3 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches, this device is both taller and thinner than its predecessors, though not by much. (The original 8300 series device measured 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches.)

The 8900 echoes the style of the premium BlackBerry Bold and has silver accents reminiscent of the Nokia E71. We love its glossy black keyboard with red accents, its 2.4-inch display (with a high resolution of 480 x 360 pixels) and overall elegant design. By comparison, the BlackBerry Bold has a 2.8-inch display but with a lesser 480 x 320-pixel resolution.

Under the hood, enhancements include a zippy 512-MHz processor, 802.11b/g wireless, and 256MB of onboard memory. That’s a large improvement over the 8300 series Curve, which had just a 312-MHz processor and 64MB of onboard memory.

Buttons and Keyboard

The new trackball on the Curve 8900 is recessed, much like those found on the Pearl Flip and Bold, and we love its chrome-colored border, which matches the left quick-launch key; the volume controls and second quick-launch button are on the right side. The lock button, on the top left corner of the device, is a useful design piece taken from the BlackBerry Storm (and absent on the Bold). A mute button on the top right of the Curve 8900 makes for quick phone silencing.

As is typical, the Berry key and call button are to the left of the trackball, while the Return key and End button are to the right. The gray plastic rear of the device is home to a 3.2-MP camera with flash. Finally, the Curve 8900 has a 3.5mm headphone jack and comes with its own headset.

The separated keyboard on the Curve 8900 is similar to that on the original Curve, which we liked, but this one feels a bit cushier. We found it very easy to type on and had no complaints throughout our review period.