Overall the Curve 8530 encompasses a fashion-forward style aimed toward a younger shopper audience. rather than a chrome bezel and pronounced convenience keys that you just notice on the Tour, you will find a rubber strip round the facet with convenience keys that appear to bulge out of its sides. On the highest of the device you discover a group of media-control keys.
The front of the phone shows off what's maybe its best feature -- the trackpad in place of the standard trackball. whether or not you are a seasoned BB veteran or a newcomer, you will appreciate the intuitive, simple to use reliable performance of the trackpad. This one feature alone could be enough to knock the Tour out of competition.
The keys on the keyboard are a "chicklet" holdover from the previous generation.
The Talk, End, come back and Menu keys are redesigned as if they're a part of the screen -- not a style selection i am significantly keen on.
The screen itself pales as compared to the gorgeous show on the Tour, however there's nothing outright wrong with it. there is nothing to complain concerning, however if you were to carry your Curve up to a Tour, you'd notice the distinction.
The biggest annoyance, design-wise, is that the LED indicator lightweight. On an everyday BlackBerry there is no method you are going to miss a message. you'll not be distracted by the LED lightweight on the Curve 8530, the indicator that is simply barely larger than the tip of a ballpoint pen, and its lightweight is... understated, to place it kindly.
Size and Weight
The Curve 8530 overall is smaller than the Tour, and feels lighter, though it still encompasses a terribly sold and composed feeling to it. you will not hate yourself for dropping this phone -- it looks like it will take a beating that is refreshing compared to a number of today's delicate phones.
PERFORMANCE
I've already mentioned that the Curve encompasses a huge leg-up over its brethren by having a touchpad rather than the trackball. The facet where the 8530 extremely hits it out of the park is with its operating system. The Curve 8530 options BlackBerry OS five.0, currently thereforele} device on the Sprint lineup to try to to so.
The 5.0 operating system is not revolutionary, however offers nice several very little enhancements, like wirelessly syncing of contacts with bound email suppliers, the power to flag messages for follow up, higher application permission management, and vastly improved ability to manage ringing profile settings.
The processor on the Curve 8530 is a smaller amount powerful than a number of its contemporaries, as well as the Tour, and typically it might droop. for many of what you are doing most of the time, however, you will not notice this lack of power. Power users, on the opposite hand, ought to think about a additional powerful device.
Voice Quality
Generally the 8530 could be a solid performer, however its decision quality simply|is barely} just average.
There was to a small degree background static sometimesn|every now and then} and the sound itself was somewhat hollow. Not a deal breaker, however you get the distinct sense that you are employing a cellular phone when creating calls on this device.
Wireless information
This BlackBerry boasts a 3G Sprint antenna, GPS, Bluetooth, and better of all Wi-Fi. The latter of those isn't out there on the Tour -- another purpose in favor for the Curve.
Though Sprint's 3G coverage is not as in depth as AT&T or Verizon in my space, wherever I did have coverage there have been no hiccups to be found.
Additional Software
Of course, this smartphone includes the now-standard BlackBerry apps: the DataViz DocumentsToGo workplace suite, Pandora, BlackBerry Maps, and a slew of social networking apps.
Sprint's version of this BlackBerry conjointly comes preloaded with a number of Sprint-specific apps, as well as Sprint Navigation, Sprint NASCAR, NFL, TV and music apps. though these apps sound promising, I had a tough time obtaining them to perform reliably and typically could not get them to launch in any respect. this could be a draw back of giving constant apps across all of its phones.
Camera
The built-in camera on new generation Curve does not have a flash, that could be a step backward for BlackBerry. Its two megapixel camera conjointly lacks auto-focus and encompasses a lower resolution that the cameras found on alternative models (Bold 9700, Tour, Storm). Given these issues but the camera still performs quite well.
CONCLUSION
On alternative carriers, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 is stripped down and created to suit nicely into place in its product line. For Sprint but, this can be not the case. You get the most recent operating system, the most recent hardware with the track pad, Wi-Fi, all stuff you will not see on alternative Sprint BlackBerrys... at the simplest value.
The Curve 8530 can fall short in bound aspects, though -- it's less powerful than the Tour, its keyboard is not as slick because it may be, its camera does not hit the benchmark of three.2 megapixel with auto focus, and also the screen is not as spectacular.
On balance, however, unless you are a world-traveling power user, the Curve could be a far better deal than the other BlackBerry for Sprint straight away.
Pros:
Trackpad
Updated styling
Battery life outperforms alternative BlackBerrys
Smaller than the Tour
Cons:
Just average decision quality
Small LED indicator
Low-resolution camera
Smaller than the Tour - less screen property
GENERAL
2G Network CDMA 800 / 1900
3G Network CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
Announced 2009, November
Status Available. Released 2009, December
BODY
Dimensions 109 x 60 x 13.9 mm
Weight 106 g
Keyboard QWERTY
DISPLAY
Type TFT, 65K colors
Size 320 x 240 pixels, 2.46 inches (~163 ppi pixel density)
- Touch-sensitive optical trackpad
SOUND
Alert types Vibration; Polyphonic(32), MP3 ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
- Dedicated music keys
MEMORY
Card slot microSD, up to 32GB
Internal 256 MB ROM
DATA
GPRS No
EDGE No
Speed Rev. 0, up to 153.2 Kbps
WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP
USB Yes, microUSB
CAMERA
Primary 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels
Features Geo-tagging
Video Yes
Secondary No
FEATURES OS
BlackBerry OS 5.0
CPU 528 MHz
Messaging SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, IM
Browser HTML
Radio No
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support
Java No
Colors Black, Purple
- BlackBerry maps
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player
- MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
- Organizer
- Document viewer
- Voice memo/dial/commands
- Predictive text input
BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1150 mAh
Stand-by Up to 252 h
Talk time Up to 4 h 30 min
