BlackBerry Storm 9530
Phone Scoop Review
Nov 20, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
RIM's first touch-screen BlackBerry finally hits the market. Find out if RIM's Storm lives up to the hype. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
READ THIS if your UNSURE!
Okay, This is HONEST review here. You could if you have the desire look at the DARE reviews and see that I reviewed the DARE a couple weeks ago stating I returned my storm for the Dare. Mostly because the Storm was "Too Buggy". Well, after traveling this past weekend I learned more than ever I missed my Storm and all that it can do while traveling. So, I talked to the store and this week I got my storm back in my hand. The point is.... Yes this phone still has a couple (NOT MAJOR) bugs to work out, but with software updates it is just fine. The camera is the only bummer and it seems to be moody, sometimes it works fine and sometimes it is way lagging.... Anyway, If your a current BB user you may find the Storm a little different to type on but once you have had it for more than a day or two you too will "GET IT". It works great and now I love the sure type. Everything else that is a little buggy will be fixed.. DO NOT for any reason listen to someone's dumb review that they made because they went to the store and "Tried it out" That is just Insane people.... You would not rate owning a car based on a drive in your friends make and model would ya? The storms in the store usually have all their applications running, dirty, and who knows what else might be going on with them. Take it from me. This phones capabilities are amazing....Do not listen to the morons who do not even have nor can afford one.
Pros: Top 5:
Screen is simply stunning.
Media player
BB interface is cool
Customization
CALL CLARITY IS STUNNING TOO.
Cons:
Camera needs an update.
Battery life is pretty good but not the absolute best.
Little heavy but I like the feel in my hand more than any other phone I have had.
Great Device.... Amazingly addictive....
I GAVE IT THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT
Purchased on day 1, I've had a roller coaster ride. Initially, I disliked the product, having read the pundits and detractor opinions. I found the gliches frustrating. I deciding to return the phone, previewing the Samsung Omnia and the HTC Touch Pro. However, both of these phones could not compete with the stability, and quality feel of the Storm. They have a plastic composition, smaller screen and conventional construction similar to run of the mill devices. I stayed with the Storm and gave it a chance As a phone, the Storm performs perfectly. The keypad is large and impressive. The email recall is fabulous and it connected seamlessly to my car via Bluetooth. For me, those two aspects are most important. The visits to the Internet are done in spot instances. I really can't see the logic of staring into a 3" device for website navigation. Don't mostly people navigate the Internet with a laptop or desktop screen. A 3" could blind you!
In summary, I downloaded the upgrade, put a Splenda wrapper underneath the battery (the corners are much more responsive), gave the device the benefit of the learning curve, and find myself to be very impressed by this phone. Consequently I've grown to be an advocate.
Pros: Built quite well
Best Screen & Visuals of any PDA
By default the screen size makes it
more pleasing than any other Black
berry.
Silicone "glove" gives it a non-slip
feel.
Cons: Complicated 0S but somewhat user
intuitive
Dust potential in sides of screen
(I dealt with this with adhesive auto
pinstriping. Just apply stripe and cut
to size (its less than 1/8" thick),fits
perfectly and solves the concern.
Typing takes some time, unlike the
a phone like the Voyager...Requires
some practice.
In summary: Subjective attraction for most. I like this phone and recommend it to those who appreciate quality and convenience...
Die-Hard Blackberry fan but Im Being Honest
So... 3.5 for now.. I finally got my storm. Really a tough phone to get used to. I have been a blackberry fan for years.. Of the recent models Ive had the pearl and curve... dont love the suretype keyboard so really loved the curve. But how can me being a die-hard fan not get the best blackberry there is out there (even though I don't really love touch-screen phones and have been against the iphone since its been out-yeah i know its not an iphone just saying that bec of the touch screen). I just had to get it!
Bottom line.. 2 Major CONS:
Ive only had it for a day.. definitely true that it has some issues and bugs where its a drop sluggish and freezes once in a blue.. when the screen switches there is a delay.. and depending what screen your in it might take longer some times.
Other then that.. the keyboard takes a lot of time to get used to. Given the fact that i hate suretype and only like qwerty i have to turn the phone on a consistent basis. And when you do turn it the keyboard takes most of the screen.
PROS: Everything else.. the phone has such potential.. it has every feature the typical blackberry has and more.. I cannot go thru each feature would take to long.. ill mention a few:
BRIGHT SCREEN
LARGE SCREEN
CLICK SCREEN - once you get used to it then it becomes very functional and 2nd nature
INTERNET - great on it (again large screen)
Blackberrys apps, games, password keeper, etc.
Word and Excel Mobile
Copy & Paste... etc... etc.. etc.
I think this phone has a lot a lot of potential and in a few months will work perfectly.. I am not going to compare this to an iphone because it isn't an iphone.. there is no such think like an iphone nore is there something like a blackberry... they are unique in their own.
It is definitely definitely HARD to adjust to thr touchscreen in general because it isn't the typical touchscreen. But once you do I think you will like it. Give it 2 weeks.. dont retrn it right away if you dont like it and then decide.
Shibby phone
Absolutely love this phone. The first one i got was a defective model and i started to think all my faith in Blackberry and my lack of faith in personal phone reviews were for naught. Then i exchanged it and I realized that Blackberry still knows what they are doing and that no phone should have consumer reviews for at least 2 months or 2 patch updates...whichever comes first.
First of all the screen is absolutely beautiful. It already has some pretty coll applications avaliable such as Weatherbug and an over the air youtube application which runs with little to no lag (have to google it off of the phone's browser). Vlingo which very accurately inputs your speech into text form great for text messaging! Tiltris which is a free tetris game which utilizes the accelerometer. And many many more.
Once you delete all the extra languages and applications that you know you will never use the phones interface lag is almost nonexistant although i was satisfied with it before deleting these programs. The camera takes very alive looking pictures, it even looks better than the Dare's pictures even though they both utilize a 3.2 MP camera.
The phone also seems to be pretty durable. i drive a Jeep Wrangler and have a nasty habit of getting out of my car with the phone still on my lap and it falls to the ground but no break yet or cracks.
The one problem i see with the phone is about 10% of the time when i turn it to the qwerty keyboard it might freeze up but if i rotate it back once it will adjust instantly
The speakers on this phone are incredibly loud. once when i was showing it to a customer and turned the babylon trailer on she asked me to turn it off because she could not hear me and I was standing right in front of her. (she was semi-old)
All in all I think this is one of the best phones i have ever played with or owned. The few minor glitches do not hinder your use at all when using the phone and will be addressed in a patch im sure if i know RIM
Great phone but not if you've never owned a BlackBerry before
I think this phone is absolutely excellent. The revolutionary SurePress technology RIM developed is brilliant and device response is great. The initial software was a mess, I will admit, but VZW should have heeded RIM's warning and waited until the new software was available. Here are my Pros and Cons:
PROS:
Excellent screen
Great Camera
SurePress technology is awesome
Great response (since software update)
Signal is excellent
Sturdy without being fat
Accelerometer is pretty cool
Music player is nice and loud
Unlocked GPS (VZW allowed this?)
Browser is surprisingly useful
Full duplex speakerphone is loud and clear and the mic rocks.
CONS:
Reboots (rarely but randomly)
Picture review real slow (known issue on all Blackberries)
Screen (whole phone, really) is print magnet
Dust gets in between touchscreen and inner screen
Lack of themes and apps
Honestly, the cons don't bother me too much. I got a case for the phone and screen protector so it's not a big deal and I never really screwed around with the themes. As far as the reboots, I reboot it myself once a week so if it does it for me, then hey. I cannot recommend the Storm for first-time Blackberry users. If you don't know how to navigate through the OS, the Storm will drive you nuts especially if you don't understand that RIM is always coming up with updates to improve usability. I was patient and waited for the OS update and it was a godsend. I can't wait to see what kind of goodies the next OS update will have.
Great Phone
by stayevowe
âi personally like the phone not love it but like it. i have to say at first it was slow but i have a tech friend that informed me about some options on the phone. there is a setting in the phone to change the response time to make it faster to do so just follow this:
Open the BB menu by pressing the BB Menu button.
Scroll down to 'Options', select by pressing the icon.
Scroll to 'Screen/Keyboard' and select.
Scroll to 'Touchscreen'.
Increase the Tap Interval to 500.
Increase the Hover Period to 1000.
Increase the Swipe Sensitivity to High (6).
Key Rate to Fast. â
Excellent write up by stavevoweâdo thing and the new upgrade will make this phone as fast or faster than my previous i-phone 3G.
I love the new BB stormâExcellent battery life and very clear call quality.
Email is a breeze.
Conâweb browser could be better.
SUPER BLACKBERRY!!!
Great phone, but it involves a lot of patience. Shoot, what do you expect on the very first touch screen blackberry! Every phone has it flaws, and you know it! Biggest thing on this phone is to, GET USE TO IT!
Buying a cell phone, is like hooking up with a new girl. It involves of getting the one that works most for you. Dont get the one thats most expensive or its too much..no matter how fine she is.. Even if you can afford it or it goes on sale for a buy one get one, the question is, do you need it?? or how bad do you want to learn it.. Right? right... Now lets go on about this phone..
Pros:
Speaker phone, you cannot compare any phone to this..well of what ive experienced. Battery life is great, but if your streaming movies or videos all day, prepare to charge this phone or any phone. Touch click technology should be on EVERY touch screen phone period. Ability to hit a icon on a touch screen, feels like buttons?? check...everyone knows verizon is the best reception out there, well in california that is. 3g speeds, I will never complain. VZ navigator??, say goodbye to your indash navigator or your garmin..GPS on cell phones will put you out of your company..thats why garmin is jumping on the bandwagon to make phones. Blackberrys are always great on emails. Calender, good enough..Texting/Emailing?? takes time to get use to it, but i found it better than the texting on a iphone or dare.
Cons:
Lags, but blackberry is a developing company that i know is going to fix every problem and soon will overtake this apple scheme.
My suggestion to you shopping customers, if you are a kid wanting this phone, i believe you should go buy a xbox360. Your strickly business customer that needs a mini computer on the go?? get this phone
Glad I finally got the Storm!
I have waited and did all my research and there are just too many impatient people and who put up reviews just to be idiots. glad It didnt take the bad reviews to sway my decision. Give it time and it works like a charm and is going to get better! Absolutely stunning screen! Touch screen works like no other I have tried, easy to navigate through and lots of fun. Call sound quality is second to none and that is the main selling point of a cell phone, calls are equally great with a bluetooth headset and texting is a breeze. Don't put to much into the negative reviews on here, glad I didn't! Works awesome in California and Verizon is the best carrier to date....
the storm is good
The storm is a very good phone. I have had the storm for around 1 week. Currently upgraded to the leaked OS4.7.0.75 firmware.
pros:
+ great call clarity
+ Crisp, clear screen
+ So far, no dropped calls
+ Accelerator responds quickly
+ easy to use, even for someone who has never used a blackberry
Touchscreen responsive
+ 3.5mm headphone jack
+ takes nice pictures
Cons:
- slight movement of touchscreen.
- occasional typing errors(can be corrected by keeping your typing thumbs on their respective sides)
- No wifi
- could have more apps available
- slow camera
this phone would be even better if verizon didn't lock out AGPS. google maps doesn't work as well as it should because agps is locked out.
I don't know that this phone would be any better than any other type of blackberry for business users, but i found that i type slightly slower using the touch screen.
The media player is ok, nothing special but it gets the job done.
The battery life seems pretty reasonable.
Overall i would say the the phone is pretty good, and i would recommend it to just about anyone. The phone just gets better with every OS upgrade, but i would have been nice to have a better OS to begin with. As time goes on the availability of apps will increase as well.
STORM
If you dont have patience for a touch screen, this phone is not for you, please be aware, there are many solutions to the problems with this phone, despite all the cons people say, they just have an iphone and want to compare it to that, which you cannot, get a life people.
-turn on memory cleaning in security options, it will delete all those unnecessary applications running.
turn up the rate speed to 6
hover to 1000
and finally please keep up to date with the software, there is leaked .086 which is much better than the .075 verizon has, verizon is slow on receiving their updates, go to crackberry.com, it will show you all the updates and new information on any blackberry.
