Smartphone Reviews: Blackberry Curve 8520

Posted by Geronimo Boosh on March 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Blackberry is usually on the forefront of the mobile news and they have another winner on their hands with the Blackberry Curve 8520. What makes their phones so successful ? Take a look here at a short message on the features of yet another great offering from Research In Motion.

The Blackberry family of phones has a slight variation in appearance but basically they all look pretty much the same. The Curve 8520 maintains the same basic configuration. The screen is above and the manual keyboard underneath. This makes the 8520 easy to use with one hand, espcially since it also provides an optical trackpad to navigate with.

The screen is the important part of this and any other smartphone. The Curve 8520 has a 2.46 inch display with 320 by 240 pixels of resolution. That is okay for a display that small. The number of colors available to see on this Blackberry unit come to a total of 65,000. Is it clear ? For basic use yes, but for using online it could use a bit more clarity. This is an inexpensive phone and you will not be getting high-performance use out of the display. To get better display performance you should choose the Blackberry 8900.

The connectivity part of the Blackberry Curve 8520 is the largest part of owning this phone. The ability to send email, SMS, MMS, talk to your freinds and family on Internet Messenger and connect to a myriad of data services is a mission this phone accomplishes with ease. Sure, phones are for talking, but also do much more these days. If you like games the Curve 8520 can download those also.

The hardware on the Blackberry Curve 8520 allows you to swing through programs quickly. The processor on the Curve runs at 512 megahertz, which is quite fast for a phone with a light digital footprint. The internal memory is 256 megabytes in size and you can increase that to a gigantic 32 gigabytes ( with a “g” )with a MicroSD card. That is a dump-truck load of songs or video. The camera takes photos at two megapixels. That is another result of the entry-level price of this smartphone. The good news about the camera is that it can also take video.

You are able to access ( talk on ) GSM networks at four different levels with the Blackberry Curve. They are the 2G levels of 850, 900 1800, and 1900 megahertz. The data transmissions are more varied. There is everything except 3G networks and EVDO for transferring information. Yes, you get Wi-Fi, but in the slower “B” and “G” modes. Hopefully smartphone manufacturers will get us connected to the faster “N” modes soon.

How is the music on the Blackberry Curve 8520 ? You have the massive memory for storage of thousands of songs. But the Curve also comes with dedicated music buttons, rather than a lock button. This makes it almost like a “music player” experience with “next” and “previous” buttons for songs.

A negative point is the finish of the phone. The battery door on the back is a bit loose. It is not a big problem, but one that could use a tweak for a better fit. You get a decent battery, one that will give you around 4.5 hours of talk time. It is rated at 1150 mAh of power. You can get this phone at Wal-Mart if you are in the United States for $48.88. Not bad for all the things you will be getting. Take a closer look at it if you are in the market for an inexpensive new phone that can do more than your last one.