With a sleek new look and the Pearl's eponymous trackball, the BlackBerry 8800 is still all work, with very little play. Should BlackBerry addicts rush to upgrade?
Review summary of the RIM BlackBerry 8800:
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 When thinking about the problems with the BlackBerry 8800, we're tempted to paraphrase James Carville by saying: "It's the interface, stupid." The BlackBerry 8800 has a great feature set, including the well-designed trackball, GPS-navigation, an excellent microphone and speaker for calling, as well as a bright, clear screen. Still, the interface holds the phone back in almost every way. Even worse than the lack of 3G networking, a feature most true business users won't miss, is the poor interface design, which hasn't changed noticeably from monochromatic days of BlackBerrys past. With Windows Mobile 6 on the near-horizon, and Apple's magical iPhone interface not too far off, RIM needs to redesign the interface from the ground up to remain competitive. The device does a great job with e-mail and calling, admittedly its primary functions, but should be a much more pleasant phone to use. Release: February 2007. Price: $300.
Pros: Excellent calling capabilities; best-in-class battery; slim design; trackball is great for navigation.
Cons: Dated interface; lacks 3G connectivity; creaky construction; multimedia could be better.
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Full RIM BlackBerry 8800 Review:
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Design
The BlackBerry 8800 looks like a larger version of the BlackBerry Pearl, which is not a bad thing. Besides the obvious trackball, it also comes with chrome bumbers and the same general shape as the Pearl, only wider, as opposed to the more stout-looking BlackBerry 8700 series. We like the trackball very much, we think it’s a great improvement over the old clickwheel, and was much less taxing on our thumbs. The keyboard took some getting used to. The letters are contiguous, rather than individually placed, as on previous BlackBerry devices. Each key has its own slope, which made typing a little nerve-wracking at first, but after a few long e-mails, we found our fingers had no trouble finding the keys without keeping our eyes on them.
The phone doesn't feel solid. Our review unit creaked a bit when we held it, feeling like the plastic and metal had tiny gaps. Unlike, say, a first-generation iPod nano, whose gaps are so tight that you can't feel them, the BlackBerry device feels more loosely put together and, dare we say, cheap. Also, the user interface, while slightly improved since the Pearl thanks to its larger screen and, hence, larger icons, is mostly unchanged. It is an all-business affair, with long, textual menus, and little color or graphical flourish. Though the screen is nice and clear, a 2.4-inch, 65,000-color QVGA display, it seems almost wasted on this phone's barren interface.
Calling - Excellent
You couldn't ask a better phone than the BlackBerry when it comes to calling options. The phone sounds crisp and clean. We're not sure to what extent the "noise cancellation" is affecting the quality, but the phone sounds as good as any smartphone we've used. The phone features all the calling capabilities we like, including Bluetooth, a good speakerphone, speaker-independent voice dialing and three-way calling. Setting up customized ring tones was easy, and the phone allows you to use MP3 files as rings. The contact list may be a bit bare to look at, but it's all business, and it features more fields than we could possibly ask for. What's more, you can dial a number or name directly into the dialing interface, and the phone searches for your contacts while you type. Setting up backups locally, with BlackBerry Desktop was easy, and we had no problem accessing our Exchange server for our address book. We don't have any friends with AT&T's push to talk feature, but it's available on the BlackBerry 8800 if you need it (for a subscription fee).
Our favorite: We're big fans of speaker-independent voice dialing
Our request: Would it hurt to make the contact list a bit prettier?
Messaging - Very good
Push e-mail fanatics will be completely satisfied with the BlackBerry 8800's messaging capabilities, since it does well what BlackBerrys do best. Here, the lack of 3G isn't bothersome, as even attachments seem to load as quickly as on our EV-DO-enabled Palm Treo devices. The BlackBerry can handle a wide variety of e-mail options, as well, including support for up to 10 e-mail addresses. Unfortunately, many of these options rely on redirection software, which we find a bit obtrusive on our PCs. We prefer a more direct connection, but the redirector and Internet e-mail setups can handle Exchange, Lotus Notes and IBM domino servers well, which should make business users, the 8800's primary audience, happy. There are no instant message services preloaded beyond the proprietary BlackBerry messenger. And, with no camera, MMS messages are pretty much out as well. The keyboard was not as easy to use from the get-go as BlackBerry's 8700 series, which has a wider keyboard and discreet keys. Still, the keyboard felt solid, unlike the rickety keys on the Pearl (though we never had a problem with the SureType layout). The default font is a bit skinny for our taste, reinforcing the all-business attitude of the 8800, and even with font smoothing turned on, it isn't exactly a pleasing look. Still, you can cram literally hundreds of characters on screen at once.
Our favorite: Have we had 10 e-mail addresses in our entire lives?
Our request: More pre-loaded IM services, like you'll find on the Pearl.
Scheduling - Good
No where does the RIM BlackBerry interface need a makeover more than the calendar and scheduling app. Though business users may be satisfied with the bare, heavily textual scheduling fields and the grey calendar, RIM certainly won't be winning any beauty contests with the UI which is now, by our calculation, two or maybe three generations old. Sure, the BlackBerry offers more flexibility and options than Windows Mobile phones, but when the options come in a long, insipid list, it is much harder to sort through them. With this new generation of BlackBerry, so much of the exterior has changed that the interface seems even more dated. Of course, it works well, undoubtedly. Contacts synchronized easily between Outlook and the 8800, and the phone makes up for a lack of touch screen with good navigation using the trackball, and easy cut/copy/paste options. Still, the poor interface makes the whole experience less than pleasant.
Our favorite: Plenty of options for meetings and appointments
Our request: The interface seems very 1991, like you'd find on an old UNIX server
Productivity - Mediocre
There is still no editing available for Office documents on the BlackBerry device. Though this might not have been a problem for the last generation of BlackBerrys, now that Windows Mobile 6 will bring editing capabilities to even the slimmest of smartphones, like the BlackJack and the Dash, we're wondering when RIM will catch up. Documents are legible, but aren't displayed as accurately as you'd see them on your PC. PDF viewing was a disaster. We loaded a large PDF file, The New York Times ethical journalism guide, and layout and text were a complete mess. No page came through accurately, and sentences were cut in strange places. The BlackBerry 8800 should be used for Office document viewing in an emergency only, because the entire experience felt slapped-together and unsatisfying. To it's credit, the 8800's trackball made panning across long spreadsheets and documents a bit easier, but this didn't help the already mediocre implementation enough to impress us.
Our favorite: The trackball makes for better navigating than the clickwheel
Our request: A real Office editor, if not the official Microsoft version, than DataViz Documents To Go
Laptop sidekick - Good
In a pinch, EDGE connectivity is not your worst option. It certainly beats 56kbps dial-up, but it doesn't qualify as high-speed anymore. The lack of 3G networking is a serious mistake, especially considering all of the 8800's competitors have it. The BlackJack has HSDPA, and the older BlackBerry 8700-series is available with EV-DO. Even the Dash, which lacks 3G networking, has Wi-Fi, though we definitely prefer 3G to Wi-Fi on the road. The BlackBerry does charge via USB, and uses a standard mini-USB cable, which are helpful in cutting down clutter. Still, the lack of HSDPA means this device won't win over customers who want more than e-mail on their business device.
Our favorite: Using standard cords for charging and USB is a good thing.
Our request: 3G connectivity. Not Wi-Fi, full HSDPA 3G.
Multimedia and GPS - Mediocre
On paper, the BlackBerry 8800 seems to have a wealth of multimedia options. It can play WMV and MP4 videos. It can handle WMA, MP3 and AAC music files. GPS-navigation comes standard (though you'll pay about $10 a month for TeleNav service), and there is a rumor that A2DP support could be an upgrade with a forthcoming firmware update. Still, The entire experience is quite average. The media transfer software is as bare as it gets, relying on folder trees to move files to and from the device. Songs sound good, and videos look okay, but not great, with some pixelation and stuttering. EDGE means there are no streaming or over-the-air download options, and the phone lacks any DRM support. Also, we understand the lack of a camera for sensitive business environments, but many manufacturers omit the camera as an option, not as a standard "feature."
GPS was disappointing as well. The sensor had trouble finding our location in Manhattan, and navigating our commute home on the New Jersey highways, our signal dropped off about once every 10 minutes. Maps downloaded slowly over the EDGE connection, as well. We do like the fact that the address book links directly to TeleNav, so you can find a contact and then use the "Drive To" option to get directions to their address. Still, this didn't make up for poor GPS performance.
Our favorite: Integrating the address book with the navigation app makes sense
Our request: More multimedia, including some DRM support and better transfer software
Battery life - Excellent
We don't usually devote a section to battery life, but the BlackBerry 8800 does have extraordinary power management. We managed a phone call that was fifteen minutes shy of nine hours, which is much more than the already-impressive five hours that RIM claims. We've never seen such performance from a smartphone battery. Here, the lack of HSDPA support probably helps greatly, as 3G capabilities do drain batteries quicker.
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