RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 – smart BlackBerry with updated features

For:

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has an updated operating system, supports cards up to 32GB, includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The latest electronic SurePress touch-screen and rotating QWERTY keyboard allows multi-touch, key rollover and more precision. The Storm 2 supports BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 for remote file sharing. It has full support for POP3/IMAP4/SMTP, Microsoft Exchange, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, IBM Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise.

Against:

The BlackBerry browser still needs improvement as compared to the browsers of other smartphones. The touch-screen still takes some acclimation.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 supports GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / CDMA 800/1900 (Dual Band) / HSDPA 2100. The service provider is Verizon Wireless. The basic features of the phone include a calculator, a voice recorder, a memo pad, a task list and a calendar.

2-inch diagonal display has a half-VGA 480×360 pixel resolution that supports over 65,000 colors. RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has a 3.2-megapixel camera, which has features of flash, white-balance settings, image stabilization, 2x digital zoom and auto-focus. The Storm 2 has a 256MB of Flash Memory and 2GB of onboard media memory. The microSD card slot supports card up to 32GB.  For navigation, there is electronic SurePress based touch screen buttons. The Storm 2 has on-screen QWERTY keyboard, which works in both portrait and landscape mode.

The Storm 2 has 3.5mm port for headse. The inbuilt media player supports audio of format eAAC+, AAC+, AAC, ProPlus, WMA and MP3, and supports the videos of format of H.264, WMV and MPEG4.

The supported wireless interfaces are Bluetooth v2.1+EDR1 and IEEE 802.11 b/g/d/i. The inbuilt operating system is BlackBerry OS 5.0. The Storm 2 has inbuilt messengers which include BlackBerry Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. It also support for POP3/IMAP4/SMTP, Microsoft Exchange, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, IBM Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise.

The smartphone has inbuilt DataVz Documents To Go Standard Edition to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. There is inbuilt BlackBerry Browser that supports Adobe Flash Player, CSS Rendering and JavaScript. For GPS, BlackBerry Maps comes preloaded with the phone and access to Verizon VZ Navigator is available on extra cost. The Application Center allows downloading of links for social networking website.

1400 mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 12.7 days of standby time and 5 hours of talk time on GPS. Whereas, the battery life is 11.2 days of standby time and 5.5 hours of talk time on CDMA.

The included accessories in the package are software disc, a stereo headset, a USB cable and AC adapter. The Verizon is the service provider for the smartphone.

Razzle Dazzle:

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 looks similar to its predecessors. The Storm 2 has exact same design as the original Storm. The Storm 2 measures 4.4-inch tall, 2.4-inch wide and 0.5-inch deep and weighs 5.6 ounces. The two phones look similar but you will notice the difference if you look closely. Storm 2 has shaded chrome ring around the edges. The side controls has a soft-touch finish similar to the controls on RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520.

Inside Dope:

RIM’s first touch-screen smartphone was not a great success. RIM BlackBerry Storm had various performance issues and bugs, which were resolved later by installing latest software updates. However, the original Storm still had numerous issues which remain unattended. Research in Motion (RIM) has launched the successor to Storm, which is RIM BlackBerry Storm 2. We agree that the BlackBerry has made a lot of changes to make it a better phone than the previous Storm. It offers a SurePress touch-screen with inbuilt BlackBerry OS 5.0 to provide better user experience. The additional features include Wi-Fi, more memory, enhanced core functions and a more stable system. RIM still falls behind in the areas of internet browsing and usability. Storm 2 has to face tough competition from Verizon’s other touch-screen phones including Motorola Droid and Samsung Omnia 2. The RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 is available for $179.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Storm 2 is the first CDMA BlackBerry to offer Wi-Fi with 3G support. Wi-Fi provides faster speed, you can use it in areas which don’t have 3G coverage.

Display

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has a 3.2-inch diagonal display having 480×360 pixel resolution. The glass capacitive touch-screen has inbuilt accelerometer and a proximity sensor that works for locking the phone while on a call to prevent accidental presses. Power/Lock button and a mute button are located on the top edge whereas Micro-USB port is on the left spine. Standard 3.5mm headphone jack is located on the right edge. The microSD slot and SIM card are located behind the battery cover.

Navigation Array and Touch Screen

The biggest change in RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 is that the manufacturer has modified the SurePress technology to replace the mechanical suspension controls with new electronic activators. These side controls are located beneath the screen. This change results in various advantages over the previous SurePress screen. It simulates the feel of a click across the screen. The electronic SurePress Technology allows for key roll over and pressing two keys at once. For example, if you want to capitalize a letter then you can hold Shift Key and then press the alphabet key.

The SurePress based navigation controls are Talk key, BlackBerry Menu button, back button and End key. The BlackBerry Menu button brings up the application switcher.  The RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 supports multi-touch for copy/paste, you can press multiple buttons at a time using your fingers. Its user interface includes more animated transitions, updated spin boxes for calendar, date, clock and scrolling with snap back.

Keyboard

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 a full QWERTY touch-screen keyboard that works both in portrait and landscape mode. This QWERTY keyboard works more accurate and easier than previous Storm’s. We tried to type messages with it but still had a few mishits. However, you will get used to it eventually. The Storm 2 offers auto-correction and predictive text for accuracy.

New electronic SurePress interface still does not match the features of other touch-screen smartphones. We tried to select some items from the list but ended up selecting something else.

Phonebook and other features

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has a phone book that is only limited by the memory. Each contact entry can save multiple numbers, work and home address, job title, e-mail addresses and more. The contacts can be paired with photo, group ID and custom ring tone.

The advanced feature set includes speed dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, text and multimedia messaging, voice-activated dialing and a speakerphone. The smartphone has inbuilt DataVz Documents To Go Standard Edition to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. However, if you want to create the new office documents then you have to upgrade to Premium Edition on extra cost. The basic features of the phone include a calculator, a voice recorder, a memo pad, a task list and a calendar.

The Storm 2 has a 256MB of Flash Memory and 2GB of onboard media memory. The microSD expansion card slot supports card up to 32GB. Our test model of Storm 2 came with a 16GB SD card.

Camera

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has a 3.2-megapixel camera with video-recording feature. The camera offers variable resolutions and qualities, white-balance settings, image stabilization, geo-tagging capabilities, flash and more. The captured image quality was good. The colors were rich and nice; however, the image quality could have been a bit sharper.

Media Player

The inbuilt media player supports audio of formats of eAAC+, AAC+, AAC, ProPlus, WMA and MP3, whereas the video of formats of H.264, WMV and MPEG4 are supported. The features of media player include a search function, shuffle and repeat modes, play-list creation and full screen view mode for video playback. You can purchase and download songs over air through V Cast Music. The media player enables streaming music from various websites. The software CD has a copy of Roxio Easy Media Creator for transferring MP3 songs from CDs and adding audio tags.

Operating System and Web Browser

The inbuilt operating system is BlackBerry OS 5.0. The operating system has several improvements to BlackBerry browser, but there is no WebKit version. The browser renders the pages quickly and has speed improvements due to faster CSS and JavaScript processing. JavaScript is enabled by default. The browser has support for BlackBerry widgets and Google Gears. RIM has joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project that brings the Flash Player to its BlackBerry browser.  The browser supports real time streaming protocol to watch streaming videos from websites like mobile YouTube.com. The OS 5.0 does not have the tabbed browsing.

Network

The BlackBerry Storm 2 is a world phone and comes with a SIM card. The dual-mode functionality allows switching from Verizon’s dual CDMA network in United States to international quad-band GSM networks. It means that you can still send/receive data and make calls while traveling. In United States, you must use Verizon’s network while overseas the Storm 2 uses the Verizon’s roaming partners, which can increase the call charges. Verizon call rate is ranging from 69 cents to $4.99 per minute in some areas. In addition to it, the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 supports 3G band. You will get voice coverage in 220 countries and data coverage (internet and email) in 175 countries.

Bluetooth and GPS

Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard and supports dial-up networking, serial port, phone book access, hands-free kits, stereo Bluetooth (A2DP/AVCRP) and wireless headsets. Dial-up networking allows us to use Storm 2 as wireless modem for our computer. However for the same, the user has to sign up for Verizon’s Mobile Broadband Connect plan ranges from $39.99 per month for 250MB data up to $59.99 for 5GB data.

The smartphone has GPS/A-GPS and comes with already stored BlackBerry Maps, where you can get maps, text-based turn-by-turn instructions and search for local businesses. BlackBerry OS 5.0 improves the Maps applications a bit. We still found BlackBerry Maps a bit frustrating to use because the maps redrew slowly. We recommend the Verizon’s VZ Navigator service to use as it provides real-time voice guided directions. However, this service costs $9.99 per month additionally.

Messaging and Email

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has modified the messaging features. With BlackBerry OS 5.0, Text messages have threaded chat view and inbuilt emoticons. The Storm 2 supports Visual Voice Mail, which requires additional service charges of $2.99 per month. The Storm 2 has inbuilt messengers which include BlackBerry Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 can synchronize with your company’s BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server). It also has support for Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise and IBM Lotus Domino to facilitate corporate email in real time. With BES 5.0, you will be able to get more email functionality as you can access remote file share, manage e-mail folders, forward and view calendar appointments, and more.

BlackBerry Internet Service allows access for 10 POP3/IMAP4 and SMTP based accounts. The another feature is the attachment viewer for viewing attachments of Corel Word Perfecth, PDF, JPEG, GIF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more.

Personalization

BlackBerry App World has a catalog from which you can download more applications. This catalog has easy to use interface and it features comprehensive database of applications. The catalog can be arranged by top downloads, category and featured items.

Testing

We made some calls from dual-band RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 using Verizon Wireless service. The resulting call quality was good. The voice and audio was clear and rich with minimum background noise. We did not get any problem while using bank’s voice automated system. There were no dropped calls during test period. However, the callers did not enjoy the same good quality at their end. They reported that our voice sounded distorted sometimes and the speakerphone gave muffled sound. We got nice call quality after pairing both Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones and Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth Headset with Storm 2.

We tried to load some websites like Google.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com using Verizon’s network. The websites took about 10-11 seconds to load. Meanwhile, a 3MB song from V Cast Music took 25 seconds to download. The BlackBerry browser is a bit faster and easier to navigate than previous versions. However, it still did not match the performance of browsers on HTC Hero, Palm Pre and iPhone.

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has the same processor as its predecessor. However, the smartphone felt snappier with updated software and increased memory. The accelerometer was fast to change orientation on rotating the phone. We did not get any problems while using applications except Bing. The Storm 2 shuts down and resets itself twice on trying to use Bing. However, we were informed that the Bing was a beta version. We did not get any other performance issues except this on.

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2’s GPS found our location on BlackBerry Maps and VZ Navigator in 30 seconds. The BlackBerry Maps redrew the maps slowly, so we tried VZ Navigator. The Navigator was fast to calculate the route and we got the accurate list of turn-by-turn directions. Even on the road, the phone’s GPS tracked the position and provided clear voice-guided directions. It also showed traffic incidents real time on our route. The route recalculation rate was a little slower than we hoped. VZ Navigator gave last-minute instruction right before the turn, but it always got us back on track.

Battery life

1400mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 5.5 hours talk time and 11.2 days of idle standby time.

Verdict:

RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 has some great additions like updated operating system, Wi-Fi, touch screen and better user interface. It will face tough competition with Verizon’s upcoming touch-screen smartphones. If you are a fan of BlackBerry and need a touch screen phone then Storm 2 is the finest choice.