Blackberry Torch: Hands On Impressions

August 3, 2010 By Stewart Wolpin

Will the BlackBerry Torch 9800 carry on the company’s fading flame, or flicker out entirely?

So, is the new BlackBerry Torch, officially the BlackBerry 9800, an iPhone killer?

Uh, no. That’s something the lamestream media would ask. A more informed question is, will the Torch staunch BlackBerry’s bleeding?

While still the smartphone leader, BlackBerry has dropped 12 percent in market share, first to iPhone and most recently to Android, according to Nielsen. Worse, Nielsen reports a whopping 58 percent of survey respondents say they plan on switching from BlackBerry to some – any other – smartphone OS.

First Impressions of BlackBerry OS 6

Thanks mainly to the new BlackBerry 6 OS, the Torch, available Aug. 12 for $200 from AT&T, should help blunt that switching desire. BB OS 6 looks and acts more like iPhone or Android, but adds two compelling improvements: universal search, and fully customizable app home screens that make Torch far easier to use for BlackBerry neophytes.

Universal search is truly universal. Just slide down the vertical QWERTY and start typing; search results appear immediately and possibilities narrow as you continue to type. You can then further narrow your search by tapping an application icon. For instance, if you’re searching for “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, as you type in “Poker…” you can then tap the music player or Slacker or YouTube to narrow your search to that app, or if you’re looking for poker games, tap the BlackBerry Marketplace app.

It’s also easier to find an app buried in multiple home screens filled with icons. First, each screen has an Android-like slide-up vertical window of apps, so you can hide or show all the apps on that screen. Second, apps are grouped into logical categories (favorites, media, social, downloads, etc.), that you swipe through horizontally. Like Android, BB OS 6 offers top-line notification updates, but the drop down notification menu gives you more of a preview of each individual incoming item.

Other functionality niceties include multi-tasking, an RSS aggregating app, photo geotagging (file names are the city in which the photo is taken and a number), wireless Wi-Fi syncing, and best of all, an app that aggregates social networks, e-mail, updates and messages. When you tap an incoming message, you’re taken instantly to the page on the source application; in other words, if you tap on an incoming Facebook update, you’re taken directly to that Facebook page without having to open a separate Facebook app.

Missed Opportunities

That’s the good news for current and potential BlackBerry users. The bad news is the Torch itself. Given the recent flood of superphones, the Torch is hardly a dying ember.

The Torch has a slide out vertical keyboard under a full multitouch capacitive touchscreen, which seems like two missed opportunities. First, even though the Torch’s whole front is a touch screen, it’s just a 3.2-inch display with just 360 x 480 pixels – that’s around half the pixels arrayed on iPhone 4′s Retina screen.

Second, BlackBerry’s QWERTY keyboards necessarily have been compressed affairs. A slideout keyboard affords the opportunity to spread out horizontally – but RIM opted for yet another compressed QWERTY.

BlackBerry’s Band-Aid

The Torch falls short compared to iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S, Motorola Droid X, Sprint’s Evo 4G, and all their contemporaries in nearly all other hardware capabilities. It’s powered by a 624MHz processor, rather than the suddenly de rigueur 1GHz engine on all other recent superphones. There’s a 5-megapixel camera with a flash, but only a VGA rather than HD video recorder, not to mention just 4GB of built in memory rather than 8GB or even 16GB, and Bluetooth 2.1 instead of 3.0.

Considering all its competitors offer a lot more for the same price or less, Torch is hardly the breakthrough AT&T and RIM hope it will be.

Showing 11 comments

LJS at 11:26am 24th December 2010 I am looking for a Blackberry Torch... haven't had a Blackberry before, but I have used both the BB Torch and BB Bold and iPhone4 - I must say, I do like the iPhone 4, but it is not my first choice though. I prefer the Torch. I don't really care about the music and space, it's not as if I'm gonna use my phone for music or movies, yet, I don't play games on phone devices either. I prefer to do the social networking thing on the Torch and use BBM most of the time and I'll be browsing the net almost always. So, to me the Torch is more valuable than the other phones and very user-friendly. Plus, the browser is best on the market and BB is the first to create multi-tasking on phones. [:
EstimatedProphet at 5:15pm 7th December 2010 Can't wait till the Torch comes to T mobile. touch phones geared toward social networking are for kids. I want a keypad and solid performance, ease of use. tried google G2, samsung galaxy. Hated both. If you don't care about how fast youtube videos load (who watches youtube on their phone other than kids??) then blackberry is very attractive. Torch looks like a great step forward for BB. once they up the specs a bit adn the screen they'll take back a ton of market share.
DeDe at 5:08pm 6th December 2010 Choosing a phone is based on individual desires and needs. 10 people can look at the same phone and have totally different views about the phone. What you have to determine is what is most important to you. Is productivity...being able to text and send emails with ease important for you, or is being able to play the latest games and veiw movies and videos important? I read so many negative reviews regarding the BB Torch. I got a brand new Torch about 2 weeks ago and I really love it. All the negative reveiws I read don't even apply. The browsing experience is great, the touch screen is wonderful. Having the option of using the touchpad, keyboard or touchscreen is a BIG plus on the BB Torch. Being able to text and email are my priority, while games and apps are secondary...that's why I chose the BB. I had a BB Bold 9000 previous to the Torch and I loved it.
Nancy Bout at 2:55pm 10th November 2010 I have a blackberry and I loved it,but now I am just dissapointed:( granted I have EDGE but I am switching to probably the samsung Galaxy
Buddy at 10:17pm 4th August 2010 have a blackberry storm and like it, but won't buy another one. there are simply better phones available... and more coming along all the time.
JJ1990 at 9:46pm 4th August 2010 Around half the pixels of iPhone 4? Try less than a third!
Pesky Jim at 9:41pm 4th August 2010 Ahem - it's "stanch", not "staunch".
1. Herrfrage at 9:53pm 4th August 2010 Either is acceptable.
meiis at 9:13pm 4th August 2010 Phone looks like a PALM PRE, and RIM looks like PALM... going off into the history books.
pat at 9:08pm 4th August 2010 But how does the Torch handle phone calls? Is the reception superior to the Iphone?
Dimitri at 11:33am 4th August 2010 It looks like they couldn't make up their minds between a traditional blackberry (i.e. pure business tool, attractive mainly to their installed base) and a touch screen phone to compete in the consumer space. After their abortive attempts with blackberry storm (good hardware, terrible software) failed to win business users over to touch screens, now they seem to flounder between the two. This kind of product is condemned to failure from inception, like all halfway solutions.