The BlackBerry Torch 9850 is an exercise in risk taking. BlackBerrys have always been known for their excellent keyboards, but now Research in Motion (RIM) is switching up its game. The new Torch is one of the first BlackBerrys without a physical QWERTY keyboard and instead features only a handful of physical buttons to supplement an otherwise all touch-based control scheme.
It's a bold move on RIM's part to ditch one of the best aspects of its previous phones in favor of a more traditional smartphone build that's akin to the iPhone and many Android handsets. I got to spend some time with both the Sprint and Verizon Wireless versions of the BlackBerry Torch 9850, so I was able to determine how that decision panned out.
BUILD & DESIGN
I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something about the Torch 9850's shape that I just don't find particularly attractive. Its design comes off as a little awkward, as the top and bottom of the phone are both sloped downwards, giving it an almost trapezoidal profile when viewed from the side. It's not something that people are used to seeing and feeling -- especially not on a slate-like, touchscreen-only phone -- and it doesn't come off as a particularly graceful design. The Torch also has rounded edges, compounding the bizarreness of a shape that is both unappealing to hold and to look at.
I can, however, appreciate the chrome finish on the phone's trim, as well as the matte finish on the back panel. And overall, this is probably one of the more portable BlackBerrys on account of its more traditional smartphone design. Eschewing a physical keyboard, the Torch has a much smaller profile and fits comfortably in my pocket.
Screen
Sporting the largest display ever featured on a BlackBerry smartphone, the Torch 9850 has a roomy, 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen. The 800 x 480 (WVGA), 253 ppi resolution is crisp and bright, and the screen's sensitivity is great, as all taps and gestures register well. The touchscreen controls of BlackBerry OS 7 work much better with the extra screen room here; it was nice to have a touchscreen on the Bold 9930, but with less real estate, that model wasn't nearly as comfortable to use. With the Torch, I can use my thumb and not have it take up nearly half the screen.
Given this new, touchscreen-only format, the ability to reorient the screen to landscape mode is a first for BlackBerrys, and it's a refreshing change. With all other BlackBerrys, thanks to the keyboard, you're restricted to a portrait-only orientation (and on a generally much smaller screen, for that matter), which can be awkward for web browsing and viewing/taking photos. But with the Torch 9850, I love being able to flip the phone sideways to view webpages or horizontally-oriented images and videos.
Keyboard
As I mentioned, in a drastic shift from the BlackBerry norm, the Torch does not have a physical keyboard of any kind. On one hand that's a real shame, because BlackBerry keyboards are among the best in the business, and I always prefer physical keyboards over virtual keyboards. But on the other hand, it's nice to see RIM trying out something new and finally giving BlackBerry users a full-sized screen, especially in light of the touchscreen controls, as I mentioned.
That being said, the virtual keyboard is serviceable, especially thanks to the ample amount of screen space. I also like that the auto-complete options appear up next to the typed word as opposed to directly above the keyboard. It's a nice change from the norm that gives me a little more breathing room and results in far less accidental selections of auto-completed words.
Other Buttons & Controls
Despite the fact that the keyboard got ditched, there are still a few physical buttons and controls that RIM held onto for the Torch 9850, and I'm glad that they did. First and foremost, the trackpad is still here and presents the same benefits I described in my Bold 9930 review: when used in tandem with the touchscreen controls, navigation and on-screen selections go exceptionally smoothly.
Also lining the bottom of the phone are physical keys for call and end call (which is also used as the power button), as well as the BlackBerry "option" button and a back button. I'm of the firm belief that even entirely touchscreen-based phones should still have a few physical buttons to help with navigation, and that proves to be a comfortable choice here. I just wish that the back button wouldn't kick me out of the browser when I hit it in an attempt to go to the previous page.
Beyond that, there's the lock button up top as usual, as well as the volume rocker (with a mute button in the middle) located on the right side below a headphone jack. As I complained about with the Bold 9930, however, the rocker does absolutely nothing unless you're actually in the middle of a call, in which case it adjusts the earpiece volume.
Below that is the convenience key, which can be programmed to launch any app you desire, though the camera function is the default setting. It actually has a two-stage press to it, something I didn't realize for a while because you have to press down surprisingly hard to reach that second click (which is what causes it to register). It has so much resistance and requires such an uncharacteristically hard press that, for a while, I thought the key was just broken since my presses were not launching the camera app.
The Torch 9850 does support microSD cards, but they have to be mounted in the back beneath the battery, so the slot is not in the most convenient location. Speaking of which -- and this is a very minor complaint -- the buttons and ports on the sides of the phone seem to be placed oddly, making me question the decisions made regarding the ergonomics. Why is the Micro-USB port on the left side smack in the middle? Why is the volume rocker on the right side so low, also putting it very close to middle? It's not that big of a deal, but it's just not where you're used to finding these things and it may take you a while to get used to it.
PERFORMANCE
The BlackBerry Torch 9850 is one of the handsets that runs the new BlackBerry OS 7 which, as I stated in my review of the BlackBerry Bold 9930, is fine, but not much of a change. It does a good job of integrating the touchscreen controls and improves the main menu layout in the form of a collapsible list of applications, but other than that it features few notable upgrades.
The device packs a powerful 1.2 GHz Qualcomm 8655 processor and 768 MB of RAM, which makes for slick performance on paper, but in practice things are not quite as smooth. I found that multitasking in any capacity -- usually when downloading updates in the background, something I would have thought would only slow down my internet connection -- would really gum things up. Simple navigation through the menus would slow down greatly and sometimes even come to a halt all together whenever I was trying to do more than one thing at once.
The 4 GB of onboard storage is a bit disappointing as well, especially in this day and age when some phones come with up to 32 GB of storage in the form of an included microSD card. The Torch 9850 is expandable up 32 GB more storage via a microSD card, but you will have to buy your own.
Communication
Calls came through crystal clear on the Torch and I never experienced any dropped calls during my time with it. Connecting to Wi-Fi was painless and I got decent service from both the Sprint and Verizon data networks. However, the speeds of Verizon's network were considerably better, but that was to be expected.
But the poor network speeds from Sprint compounded the issues with the already-slow BlackBerry OS 7 browser. Though the new operating system's browser is a vast improvement over past iterations, it's still a painfully slow experience in the grand scheme of things, especially when using it on Sprint's network.
What the Torch 9850 and BlackBerry OS 7 lack in browser functionality, they more than make up for in e-mail and messaging capabilities. The phone is great for email and messaging -- which is par for the course for BlackBerrys -- and all messages (be they texts, chats, emails, voicemails, social networking notifications, etc.) are consolidated to a convenient notification tab on the home screen.
When you receive messages, they are indicated on the tab, informing you of the number and type of unread messages you have. One you tap the notifications tab, all of the unread messages are sorted by type in a drop down menu and are selectable so you can view them in greater detail. It's good to see that the excellent organization, connectivity, and email experience that is associated with BlackBerrys has not been lost in the transition to OS 7.
And the phone also comes preloaded with a handful of key social networking apps, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a consolidated "Social Feeds" app. That being said, using Facebook on a BlackBerry is still a generally unpleasant experience that lacks many features from the desktop version, but at least the clunky interface is somewhat easier to navigate thanks to the new touch controls. There are also popular messaging apps, including Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger. So basically, no matter what services you use for social interaction, the Torch has you covered.
Productivity
Since BlackBerrys are generally targeted towards the business-oriented folks, they're usually well equipped for productivity, and the Torch 9850 is no exception. As mentioned, its email capabilities are exceptional, and it's especially convenient that you can sync it with multiple email addresses, which include both personal and enterprise accounts. The contacts and calendar apps are also well organized and easy to navigate. The device also comes with password keeper and BlackBerry Protect software, which can protect (and even wipe) the device remotely.
And the Sprint version shipped with a nice earbud headset, complete with microphone and volume controls. It's always nice to have a handsfree option, especially for you business types, who are almost always on the go, right?
As for Office documents, the Torch can handle both editing and viewing of files (including PDFs) thanks to the included DataViz Documents To Go software. That being said, I wouldn't recommend doing much editing on your Torch; it can be a real chore, especially without a physical QWERTY keyboard.
One of the major downfalls that was carried over to the new OS 7 is the BlackBerry maps software. It is awful, and from what I hear from users that are still on BlackBerry OS 6 or older, this isn't really a change of pace. One would think that RIM would use this as an opportunity to make the program a little more user-friendly and not so awkward to navigate, but one would apparently be wrong.
Entertainment
As usual, this BlackBerry puts up a weak showing in the entertainment department. But let's be honest, entertainment isn't really one of the primary reasons people pick up BlackBerrys. Like the Bold 9930, it only comes with two games (Brick Breaker and Word Mole) and has the standard media suite of music, image, podcast, and video players.
Sprint attempts to tag on a few of its own apps to help boost the entertainment appeal behind the Torch 9850, but, like with many of the apps listed on the main menu, they're not actually preloaded; they're just links to download the app. Seeing as there are some decent programs listed -- like Sprint Radio, Sprint TV and Movies, and Sprint Football Live -- I was ready to go through the trouble of individually downloading and installing each of the apps, and found they work quite well; I thought the football app was especially useful now that the season has started up.
Camera
At 5 megapixels, the camera on the Torch 9850 is pretty standard and won't blow anyone away with its image quality and scene modes, but I do appreciate the inclusion of geo-tagging. I also like that, thanks to Torch's ability to orient the screen in landscape mode when held sideways, I can hold the phone like an actual camera. It's a small detail, but it makes taking pictures a little more comfortable than usual with a BlackBerry and it feels more natural.
One other quick side note: despite the camera/convenience key's two-stage press, it does not function as an auto-focus trigger, which I found odd. I suppose it isn't really a criticism, as the focus is just handled on its own and prioritizes on whatever you put inside the guide box; I just found it a little unusual. Other phones that have those kinds of camera buttons usually the first press to focus with the secondary press triggering the actual shot.
Battery Life
The battery life I got out of the Verizon Wireless Torch unit was fairly solid, but the Sprint one that I received had a defective battery; its ability to hold a charge degraded over time until it was basically unusable unless plugged into its charger. I'm sure that's not indicative of the battery quality of all of the units that RIM supplied to Sprint, but it's still worth noting that the one I received was a lemon.
Assuming the other unit was a better example of the average battery life you will get out of this handset, you will probably be satisfied with the phone's longevity. I managed to get about two days out of a single charge, during which I made a couple of hour-long phone calls, surfed the Web here and there, texted, kept email on push, and downloaded some apps. Not too shabby. And it recharges relatively quickly, taking about two and a half to three hours to gain a full charge.
But while its battery life impressed me with moderate to heavy usage, I was a little disappointed by how quickly (at least comparatively) the Torch died when it was just resting in standby. At one point, I had roughly half of my battery life left and it died within two days without any other use at all. All other smartphones that I've used before barely use up any battery life when in standby, but this thing drains like a tub.
I also find it annoying that when the Torch 9850 officially hits "low battery" status, it automatically shuts off all radios. It's a setting that cannot be adjusted, and it seems like a pointless function that basically renders the phone useless before it's even dead. I can see the initial logic behind it, but ultimately it's counterintuitive. Yes, you're saving what little battery life you have remaining, but for what? You can't use your phone for anything at that point.
CONCLUSION
I would not call RIM's decision to leave the physical QWERTY keyboard out of the design of the BlackBerry Torch 9850 a bad idea. It's a serviceable device and the touch controls are relatively well implemented in the new BlackBerry OS 7 interface. Plus, there's still the good old trackpad for some of the more precise on-screen selections that sometimes prove difficult to hit with your fingers.
But without the typical excellent BlackBerry keyboard, what we're left with is a decidedly average piece of hardware. Although this is a huge departure for BlackBerrys, the Torch 9850 falls into line with just about every other smartphone on the market that has a touchscreen-only design.
So with unexceptional hardware, our attention turns to the software and the thing is... there's nothing special about the operating system, which is has proven to only be a modest upgrade at the very best. Therefore, there isn't too much that sets the Torch 9850 apart from other smartphones that sport better operating systems and better software. I mean, if you're already a fan of the BlackBerry OS in general then you'll probably be satisfied since there aren't that many changes. But if you're looking for vast improvements and changes, they won't be found here.
That's not to say that this is a useless device. Per the BlackBerry standard, it still has excellent email and communication capabilities, and some aspects of the new OS 7 interface are a step up from OS 6 and previous iterations. But I said this about the Bold 9930 and I'll say it about every other BlackBerry OS 7 device: you're better off waiting until RIM's QNX OS-based BlackBerrys hit the market. Then, I suspect, you'll be in for something new and different.
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Bottom Line:
A generally serviceable device, and the touch controls are relatively well implemented in the new BlackBerry OS 7 interface, but there's no stand-out features.
