BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review

RIM's all new BlackBerry Torch 9800 for AT&T capitalizes on BlackBerry's historical strength by including awesome keyboard and killer email while featuring a plethora of new features including a proper touchscreen, upgraded camera and the highly anticipated BlackBerry 6 operating system. It will be available August 12th for $199.99 after contract.

You thought sliders were played out? Well think again. Research In Motion may not have invented the slider, but by working hand in hand with AT&T on its development since the project took root in late 2008, they have come very close to perfecting it. With some major upgrades and many subtle refinements throughout the user interface and under the hood, BB6 plays catch up in the smartphone wars. With the Torch, it now delivers to BlackBerry users a modern feeling experience that takes messaging and social media to a new level while placing much more emphasis on traditional media (photos, music, video, podcasts, etc.). The best news of all is the new WebKit rendering engine, which is the same web browser technology behind the iPhone, Android, webOS, and Nokia phones. You can finally enjoy browsing webpages on a BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Hardware Impressions

 

When the first prerelease photos of a sliderberry surfaced in our forums back in early March, I have to admit I was a little skeptical and not all that excited - mainly because I have not liked slider devices in the past. Some, like the HTC Tilt or the Motorola Droid had wide keyboards that felt unwieldy; others, like the Palm Pre were too small and felt cramped (and couldn't make it past 4pm on a battery).
With all those slider disappointments behind me, a week spent on the BlackBerry Torch 9800 has me sold on RIM's implementation of the vertical sliding form factor. With the Torch, RIM 'right-sized' the components for an expansive experience in a relatively tight form factor.

The combination of touchscreen, optical trackpad and full qwerty keyboard simply fit the BlackBerry experience more than I would have ever imagined. I've owned and used every BlackBerry device model for the past five years (since the BlackBerry 7290), and I can easily say the Torch is my favorite to date. Even the Bold 9700 feels old-hat by comparison.

The Torch's physical keyboard and trackpad maintain the one-handed ease of use that traditional BlackBerry users value but adds a large touchscreen display that makes the experience more engaging and intuitive all around. Not only can you see more on the display, but you can tap pretty much everything on the touchscreen. You don't have to think about how to use or hold the Torch. You just use it. The device really does feel natural to use whether the slider is open or closed, portrait or landscape. Even the software touch keyboard works well. Adding to the overall experience is another characteristic that is a bit of a novelty to BlackBerry devices - it's fun to use! It could be a case of simple things pleasing simple minds, but I literally could sit there all day just sliding the Torch open and closed.

As you can tell, I really am sold on the BlackBerry Torch. It is the best BlackBerry to date. But that doesn't mean it is perfect. While I believe both longtime and new BlackBerry owners who buy the Torch 9800 will be very satisfied with the overall experience, there are a few areas on both the hardware and software side where RIM has left room for improvement.

Chipset / Processor

Under the battery door cover, the Torch 9800 is built upon the same Marvell chipset as in the Pearl 3G, with the processor clocking in at 624MHz. I know some of the smartphone fanboys out there reading this are going to be saying "No 1GHz Snapdragon processor? #Fail!" and the response to that is simply maybe one day, but not yet. The RIM perspective on this is that it's not about MHz but rather it's about user experience. To power an Android device smoothly, you are required to have a fast processor - the OS is demanding. 624MHz in an Android device means you're in for a really sluggish experience. That same CPU speed in the Torch delivers a mainly snappy BlackBerry 6 user experience. More MHz typically means worse battery life, so from the perspective of a mobile user the ideal situation is really to have the minimum amount of MHz that deliver a satisfactory level of performance. Is 624MHz in the Torch enough?  My honest answer is officially yes no maybe. In using the device so far, the only time where I've really felt a faster processor is necessary is in re-rendering photos after you zoom in on them - it takes a few moments longer than you'd think should be necessary for those pixels to smooth out. I also think the new web browser, which is much faster, would be even faster if there were more MHz under the hood. These situations are pretty specific, so I haven't been feeling that the Torch 9800 is slow. But at the same time I realize I'm not the average consumer - I tend to run my device fairly clean, closing apps I don't use and never running too many data pulling apps in the background at once (the habit of a long-time BlackBerry user). BlackBerry 6 is evolutionary, which while it's greatly been optimized means it's still susceptible to things that can happen in OS 5. In other words, if you run every app and never close them, you can slow things down a bit. That all said, I do think we'll see RIM up the MHz down the road as the OS and apps being run by it demand it and they continue to progress through their hardware upgrade cycle.

While I'll defend the speed of the Torch's processor to a point, what I find completely unacceptable (it's sort of embarrassing quite frankly) is the lack of Open GL support for 3D graphics. The Marvell chipset used in the Bold 9000/9700/ and upgraded for the Pearl 3G and now used in the Torch 9800 still lacks a dedicated GPU and therefore doesn't get the Open GL support found in the latest CDMA BlackBerry devices which utilize a Qualcomm chipset, including the Bold 9650, Storm2 and Curve 8530. In layman's terms, this means that the Torch cannot support 3D games and other graphically intensive apps. This is totally bogus considering the Torch has a big display that makes you want to experience 3D apps and games.

Is this enough to make somebody thinking about the Torch not buy it? In all honesty it should be, but really is not. To date we haven't seen that many BlackBerry apps or games take advantage of 3D graphics. With the Torch, you will be missing out on a few of the 3D games available on other BlackBerry devices like PBA Bowling 3D, Need for Speed Shift 3D, and Tank Recon 3D, but it's not as if there is (yet) a massive library of 3D games available. Once there are more BlackBerry devices with 3D graphics capabilities in the market I'm sure we'll see developers ramping up their efforts here.

Yes, that's a 'chicken or egg' excuse, but it's the truth. I do get the feeling RIM is working on their next generation of GSM chipsets though, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a Torch refresh hit sooner rather than later that brings more MHz and along with it a dedicated GPU.

A redeeming benefit of the current GSM chipset is that RIM invested a lot of time and effort into writing their own 3G stack (radio code), which gives them very granular control and delivers great worldwide connectivity - ever notice when the plane lands and everybody turns their cells back on its typically the BlackBerry users who are on the network and getting their messages first? Coupled with this, RIM puts a lot of work into their battery management, which as most GSM BlackBerry owners will attest to results in solid battery life as compared to other smartphones (more on battery life below).

Memory

Like the BlackBerry Bold 9650, the Torch 9800 gets a bump in internal device memory, from the 256MB found in the previous generation of devices up to 512MB. In addition to providing more room for app space, the 512MB helps smoothly power BlackBerry 6.

RIM has also included 4GB of built-in (non-removable) storage space for files such as pictures, music, movies and podcasts and a 4GB microSD card is included bringing the storage space out of the box up to 8GB (hence when you plug the Torch 9800 into a computer two drives pop up). The external memory is expandable so if you need more memory you can swap out the 4GB card for a larger one, right up to 32GB. There's no limitation from BlackBerry on this one, so if they ever make a bigger than 32GB card in the microSD format it will work on the Torch. The microSD card can be found under the battery door and is hot swappable - you can easily insert and remove the memory card while the device is running (no need to remove the battery first).

Battery Life

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 gets its power from the new F-S1 1270mAh battery. [note: I've noticed some tech sheets have also labeled this as 1300mAh, but the battery itself says 1270mAh right on it. Apparently it is a 1300mAh rated battery, but they put 1270mAh on it as the lowest side of the tolerance + or - scale). The F-S1 is smaller than the M-S1 1550mAh battery found in the Bold 9700 and D-X1 1400mAh battery found in devices like the Bold 9650 and Storm2. RIM rates the Torch's battery life at the following:

• GSM Talk Time: 5.5 hours, GSM Standby: 17 day
• UMTS Talk Time: 5.8 hours, UMTS Standby: 13 days
• Audio Playback: 29.8 hrs
• Video Playback: 6 hrs

I was a little concerned the F-S1 wouldn't have the juice to power the Torch through the day, but after a week of decent use and fairly long days with the phone off the charger at 6am and back on after midnight (with a new device like this and in review mode I'm using it more than I typically would) I've only hit the red a couple times. In short, it gets me through a full day of fairly heavy usage and so I don't think it will be a problem for most people under normal conditions. It's not an all-weekend phone like the Bold 9700, but it still outclasses many comparable touchscreen Android or webOS devices by a country mile. It seems in BlackBerry 6 RIM has reduced the low battery warning a bit - I noticed now it seems to kick in just at 10% battery and go straight to the red zone vs. kicking in sooner with yellow then red.I **think** this is the case anyways - I honestly wasn't paying attention to this and just noticed it the other night. Either way, if this is the case it tricks you into thinking your battery life is longer, by going a longer time before entering the low battery zone. Definitely sneaky.

As always for the heavy users out there you can remove the battery from the BlackBerry Torch, so keeping a charged spare handy is a viable option.

Camera and Video Recording

A few photos snapped with the BlackBerry Torch 9800's 5 megapixel camera 

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is the first BlackBerry to make the jump up to RIM's new five megapixel camera that features continuous autofocus, face detection and geotagging. While market research shows that the majority of the photos people take on their phones tend to stay on their phones, RIM's goal for the new and improved camera is to capture photos of a high enough quality and accuracy that they will look great while printed. As most of us now realize, more megapixels doesn't guarantee better photos, and that's why you don't see RIM simply trying to cram as many megapixels into the device as they can.

The new camera is a welcome upgrade to BlackBerry. For the most part you'll be able to simply leave the camera in Autofocus mode and take good pictures, but spending some time getting to know the different scene modes will help you take better pictures. I did find switching between camera scene modes can make a big impact to the photo - so it's obviously doing something magical to adjust for specific conditions. Also fitting to the Torch name, the camera flash is incredibly bright.

While the 5 megapixel camera captures images with a resolution of up to 2592 x 1944 pixels, unfortunately the video camera recording caps out at only 640 x 480 resolution. I have a hunch the actual camera hardware is capable of recording in higher resolutions (I bet it can do HD), but again this is a limitation of the current chipset used in the Torch. Case in point, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G with its 3.2 megapixel camera also records at 640 x 480 pixels. Comparatively, the Bold 9700, which lacks the n WiFi that the Pearl 3G and Torch 9800 have, only supports 480 x 360 resolution for video recording. Obviously it's not all about camera hardware here for determining video recording resolution. It could be that this is all the current board can handle. I definitely wish the Torch had HD video recording capabilities and will anxiously wait for the day we see it available on a BlackBerry device.

Other Internals: WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, Speakers

The rest of the BlackBerry Torch's internals are on par with the usual high standard expected of BlackBerry devices.

WiFi - Like the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, the BlackBerry Torch adds the n standard to b and g and as we observed on the Pearl 3G, it definitely offers an improved WiFi experience compared to devices like the Bold 9700 and 9650 which don't have the updated WiFi. No ability to create mobile hotspots yet either, but we've seen that this should be coming to the Odin (Storm2) refresh later this year. Hopefully that's a sign most BlackBerry device models will offer it in the future.

GPS - The GPS performance on the BlackBerry Torch 9800 seems up to par with other devices. RIM has been putting a lot of work into improving the BlackBerry platform for location-based services. They're using more cellular tower data to augment the GPS experience, and have made the cell site / geolocation api available to developers. The useful estimated time of arrival module is supported. While cell tower location is fast and pretty accurate (depending where you are), it still takes longer than I'd like for GPS location to hone in. It's not bad, but I'd love for that to be instant.

Bluetooth - There's no real need to mention this one, but just like other BlackBerry Smartphones today the Torch is Bluetooth 2.1 compliant. You should be good to go for using it with most Bluetooth headsets, speakerphones or other Bluetooth accessories you want to pair the Torch to.

Speakers - It could be in my head, or ears rather, but I don't think any new BlackBerry has quite matched the BlackBerry Bold 9000 for speaker loudness and clarity. Not having a Bold 9000 handy to compare to as I type this but rather a Bold 9700, I can definitely say the Torch 9800's built-in speakers trump those in the Bold 9700. With the volume cranked, the Bold 9700's speakers tend to get a little tinny/twangy on the higher notes which forces you to turn the volume down, but the Torch 9800 seems to always keep the sound in check even with the volume turned to max. In other words, you won't get annoyed listening to the Torch if you sit it on your desk for an afternoon and play some background tunes for everyone in the office.

Source : http://crackberry.com/blackberry-torch-9800-review