BlackBerry Curve 8330 User Reviews

This was my first BB and I absolutely loved it. This phone made me want to get another BB. I love BlackBerry and they make the best phones ever. Everything about this phone was incredible. However, as with any phone, they get extremely slow and sluggish after "x" amount of months. I had this phone for a year and two months and after a year and one month, it got extremely slow, but other than that, the rest of the time it was amazing. Had to replace the trackball once, but the newer trackpads are better. Thumbs up to RIM for being pioneers in every way possible

I've had this phone for 10 months now, and as it's on its way to getting replaced, I think I'm comfortable enough to give a solid review.In some ways, this phone is nearly perfect.  This along with the Bold/Tour series have the absolute best keyboards on the market--independent keys whose combined width is still narrow enough to make typing with one hand feasible...I can type more quickly on this phone than any other.  It has an excellent feel to it.  It is the perfect width to feel comfortable in any hand, as well as to accommodate a nice landscape screen.  The phone looks sleek, and certainly more professional than the current, cheap-looking 8500 series.  Blackberry makes, perhaps, the easiest-to-navigate interface I've used.  While diving into various folders and technical information can be deep and daunting, flipping between the browser, camera, contacts and other similar tasks is a breeze, it's like the phone knows what I want it to do.  Oh, most importantly to many, e-mail is seamless, as with any Blackberry.On to some its shortcomings, however.  Remember to take this with a grain of salt, as we're now a good 2.5 years from this phone's release date.  The 2.0mp camera is acceptable, but is dismal compared to the 3.2 on most other Blackberrys and the 5.0s seen elsewhere.  Internet browsing is pretty good, certainly for an intro-smartphone.  But there is a lot in regards to loading webpages that it struggles with or simply cannot load--I often find the 3rd-party Bolt browser to be better in these regards.  Also, Blackberry's AppWorld, compared to today's Apple and Android offerings, is abysmal.  Last, and perhaps most important, is that after the first 3-4 months, the trackball will become the biggest pain your ass, second to your wife! But seriously, even the slightest grit or sweat/moisture on your fingers will render this absolutely useless.  It's a great concept, certainly compared to the simple left-right-up-down clicks of most phones.  Its unresponsiveness over time, however, is just too much to bear.Oh, and this phone can take the beating of a lifetime.  Between keeping it unprotected, dropping it, and shamelessly throwing it out of anger during video games, I've had no issues.  I'm glad I've had this phone for the better part of the last year, but I'm looking forward to moving on.  HTC Incredible, here I come!

Ive had the phone for almost a year and despite the size of the screen, its a good starter SmartPhone. i like the camera and the blackberry has become more app friendly with BlackBerry App World. The problem i have with BlackBerry is the call quality. Either its the Sprint coverage in my area (Saint Louis, MO) or the phone itself, but i get dropped calls when im in a certain area within my house. I'd offer this phone to anyone that wants a starter SmartPhone. the texting on this phone is nice, but the phone is 2 small for me to use. The internet is slow and like I said the screen is 2 small for me to use

First time BB owner.  Had it for almost two months and so far pretty happy with the phone.

I've had the device for a couple of days and I love it! I used to have Pearl and this is a nice step up from that. The keys are small, but usable. The call quality and battery life are pretty good. I'm on mine all day and get home at six and still have one battery bar left. I have the pink one, not crazy about the silver.I would definetly reccomend this phone!

I've had my 8330 Curve for about a month now and overall I'm very pleased with what it can do.  I'll start with the cons I've encountered with this phone.  I'm on the Sprint 3G network (Tri-State area) and I usually enjoy the fast browsing speeds although I think it should perform better but it's probably due to the network quality in my area.  This is one of my biggest gripes but again it's most likely due to the Sprint network area I'm in cause there are times when my phone signal will be at 5 full bars and then it'll drop down to 1 or revert to 1xRTT while I'm in the middle of browsing or surfing.  One time I was at the mall on route 1 in a business district and I could only get a roaming signal.  Also this phone lacks WiFi support.  Another drawback to this phone the keyboard.  The keys are quite small and plastic with a slippery feel to them which makes the unit look kind of cheap and toylike.  I don't have very big hands and I find myself having trouble typing and texting on them.  Your fingers can easily slip or press an extra key by accident since there's not much space in between the small keys.  The trackball works very nice however and allows for easy maneuvering of the cursor on the screen back and forth in between menus.  Another feature I really disliked is the ambient light sensor that's built in.  What this does is sense the amount of direct light on the screen and adjusts the brightness of the screen how it chooses to on its own.  Let me emphasize that you have no control over this sensor.  Turning off the auto dim backlight feature only works with applications or using the phone, it does not affect how this sensor functions.  In bright direct light such as sunlight it will brighten the screen to its fullest whereas in darkened areas it will dim the screen to about 60% or so.  It's kind of irritating if the light conditions in the area you're in keep changing since the screen will keep brightening and dimming back and forth and I've read numerous other BlackBerry users complain of this feature as well.  I prefer to just have a fully brightened screen while I'm actively using the phone all the time regardless if it will save me a few minutes of battery time or not.  Another negative aspect I had with this phone was the voice call quality was not as good.  Most of the callers I spoke to said I seemed muffled or like I was talking from cardboard box so voice quality was not as clear as I hoped for.  The phone also feels sluggish at times like the processor is always playing catchup with what you're trying to do.  Sometimes applications can take up to 5 seconds to start but usually they start in about 2 to 3 seconds.  If the phone hangs you can do an instant soft restart with alt+right capslock+del.  The boot up time of this phone seems way to long though.  It normally takes 2 to 2.5 minutes to reach the main screen from the time you reset or turn on the phone.  My computer boots up faster than that.  I try to leave about 30 MB of ram free and I notice my applications run a lot smoother so the point is to try to not install too much stuff on it, only what you need.  The other features of the phone are superb though.  I love the Sprint Navigation.  I used it while driving 12 hrs. one way back and forth to Toronto through 3 states and while in Toronto it gave me spot on directions to where I needed to go.  The music and video player are more than adequate.  You can watch full movies saved to your SD card in MP4 with decent quality like say if you're on the plane or waiting for something.  BlackBerry users also enjoy excellent application support.  There are thousands of applications to choose from.  Overall despite the nuances, it's a solid performing phone if you want to do it all such as surf the web in 3G, call, text, email, listen to music, watch videos, etc.  It will definitely get you by and at a very affordable price it's one of the best values out there right now.

phone is great everything about it phone internet spearker. Highley recomend it.

Everyone I know that has a Curve has cracked the face of it...it's cheap!!!  I like some of the features, like not being interupted by an incoming text while writing a text, but it is not as easy to manipulate like a Palm Treo.  I also am not very fond of the way it stores the messages by date.  Treo has them store in a chat format that was much nicer and easier to follow conversations.  I have had several gliches with this phone locking up and at one time I couldn't type an "s" in a text...my phone isn't even 30 days old since activation!!!  I am really debating on going back to the Palm Treo.

SERIOUSLY BEST PHONE IVE EVER HAD! HAD IT 3 WEEKS NOW AND YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING ON HERE! IM HARDLY ON MY COMPUTER NOW BECAUSE I GOT THIS PHONE! IT IS AMAZING AND I LOVEEE IT!!

I LOVE this phone, I've had it a week, and have only good things to say about it.  I absolutley HATED my husband's Palm Treo a few years back and was hesitant to get the blackberry because of that, but this phone is AWESOME and you can't pry it out of my hands now, LOL.  The trackball is awesome, it has a great camera with flash, mp3 player, but the email and messaging are outstanding.  No crashing or freezing at all and very quick to receive, compose and send.  My husband now has the Voyageur and he really wants a Blackberry Curve instead!  One more thing is awesome about this phone, you don't have to sign up for a subscription monthly fee (like Verizon's Voyageur)  to get MP3's onto your phone, just download them from your computer, you can put anything you have on it for free!  the internal memory is quite big-  but you can add a card and get even more memory  :)  You can add different themes to personalize your phone if you want.

I have had this phone for almost a year now and I have to say that I still love it! My first pda was the HTC 6800 and where I loved the phone itself I did not like Windows Mobile at all so I went to the Curve. There were many things that I never could get working right with Windows Mobile. My battery lasts much longer on this phone than on the 6800. I don't talk much on the phone, I mostly use Blackberry Messenger, text & the web which tends to use battery life quicker and I can go 2 days without charging my battery, 3 if I don't use it much. I love that I was able to download my own browser instead of using the Blackberry browser. I like being able to download themes. And I find everything much easier to find. The keyboard and trackball did take a little getting used to but I like it now.

OK OK  I'VE HAD MY SHARE OF PHONES AND AFTER TAKING MY HTC TOUCH SCREEN BACK CUZ ALL THAT PHONE HAD GOING FOR IN WAS HIPE (THUMB MASTERBATION) NOT TO USER FRINDLY. SO I NOW HAVE THIS NEW BLACKBERRY 8330 PHONE AND FIND IT USER FRIENDLY WITH EASY FUNCTIONALITY. GREAT WORK PHONE.     

I love this phone, ignore most people.
its hard to get used to at first, because the keys are small, and stuck together.
the trackball is hard to get rolled to the right spot, but it all gets easier the more you get used to it.

im not pleased with this phone at all! I have had it for about 2 weeks and it is just not working for me and i dont see how people deal with the screen going blank and then the phone restarting constantly because that is what this phone keeps doing. Also the battery life is just not good at all. The screen is NOT bright enough sometimes when using it outside you cant even see the screen its to dim. I was lloking foward to getting this phone but iam here to tell you, DNT GET THIS. its not a good phone at all oh and the enternet browser sucks because it cannot handle complicated pages.

I'm somewhat of a phone junkie, always have to upgrade within a year and carry 2 with me at all times plus a broadband card for the laptop so I consider myself pretty well versed.  This is my first Blackberry.
What I like about this phone:

Does not crash nearly as much as the Windows Mobile based phones (my old vx6700 crashed 2 to 3 times daily, this one has crashed twice since I got it in early August).
Excellent battery time, even after 4 months and when accessing the internet (bluetooth headphones tend to drain it a bit faster).
Love the instant delivery of email and ability to support multiple accounts.
Great music player with bluetooth stereo support and ability to maintain multiple playlists.
Use any song for a ring tone.
Customizable ring profiles that support different rings/volumes when in the pouch.
Very good quality pictures from a cell phone.
Feels solid and has held up with no scratches... yet.
Good charge time.
Email supports appointment invitations.

What I don't like about this phone:

Email doesn't support HTML.  Just upgraded to the 4.5 OS that has limited HTML support but won't show external images.  I've tried some 3rd party apps.  For now I just wait until I'm near a computer to view those emails.
Verizon disabled 3rd party apps from accessing the GPS.  This means great programs like Garmin and Google maps are useless on this phone.  Verizon is the only carrier to do this.  Your option is to go with VZNavigator, which I have, but the maps are very slow to download so it seems you're always waiting for a map to download rather than watching where you are or need to be on the map.  This is my biggest gripe and only applies to the Verizon version.
Cannot really customize home screen, you're stuck with the "L", Zen, Today or Icon layouts.
Not as many 3rd party apps available as on the Windows phones.
Hard to find the volume switch while in a call (minor irritation, not a big gripe).
Tiny keys make it tough for my fat fingers to dial.
Occaisional glitches in the music player show songs as an unrecognized format (going back to them a 2nd or sometimes 3rd time allows them to play).
Desktop software crashes my laptop on shutdown, have tried several different versions.

Overall, this is a keeper.  There is no "perfect" phone and this one has enough good to outweigh the bad.  With the exception of Verizon's GPS deal, all my complaints are pretty minor.

okay i got rid of my motorokr and got this phone and wow it was a big difference between the phones

So, i;v ebeen able to upgrade for a little bit now, and i was wondering which blackberry model i should get. i love the curve, but the problem there is that its either been in lindsay lohans hands already (basically i see it everywhere!) but i still really like it. its so amazing. but i cant decide which to actually get between the curve and storm. i had the iPhone and that was junk, but they say that this touchscreen would be TOTALLY different which im not sure im ready to get used to. but i know things like that take time. im not very good@ pros and cons, so i guess what im sayin is, does someone wanna help me out with the options?

so i had the samsung instinct for the past couple weeks and didn't really like it so i decided to get the 8330 because it had the same features and them some. IT DOES EVERYTHING, the scroll ball completely makes up for the touch screen and you can switch between programs without having to re-do what you've already been working on. Plus i'll never have to buy another ringtone again! Just download the music on the computer, switch it to the phone and set it as your rington. It's a must buy and WELL worth the cash. Plu

It was time for me to upgrade (LOOONG OVERDUE).  I was hesitant because I really liked my Treo and I was concerened that I would find the touch screen capability and other features that I came to love about the Treo.  I tried a few phones before the Curve. One of which was the Voyager which wasn't for me at all.
In a nutshell, what I like about the CURVE is:

Sound Quality (Crystal clear, speaker phone or no)
Great PDA functions, (Calendars, tasks)
Trackball. Because of the trackball, I don't even miss the touch screen. Very easy to use
Great syncing capabilities. I sync with Yahoo!!
I got mine in PINK!
Yahoo/MSN/AOL messenger
many, many more features.

I now know why it is called a crackberry :o(.
I have nothing bad to say about this phone. 
 

This is one of the best devices that I have ever purchased. I spent over a month playing with device just to verify it would fill every need... and it does!!! From the programs available for it to the gps... multi tasks better than any other pda!! u wanna send a txt message while listening to music and using the map for directions... oh good cuz u can do all of that at the same time!!!

I've had the same problems as well..I was so pumped to get this phone and I actually brought it the next day after it came out. I had the muffled voice on the speaker phone, speaker phone sucks, earpiece volume sucks, dropped calls, people call me or I call someone and they can't hear me, come to find out about a month ago there's a glitch with this phone. so to make a long story short on this phone, I sold it on ebay last week bcuz the plan is too high and I was so disappointed with this phone that I had to get rid of it.

I was soo looking forward to getting the new Curve after all the hype that has been made about it, but after using it for a few weeks I've been less than impressed. Out of 4 people in my office (who got the phone the same day) I must be struck with bad luck...it constantly cuts out and drops my calls. I'm a fast talker, which has never been a problem on my Motorolas, but now I'm finding many people are asking me to repeat myself because the speaker muffles my voice and I sound like I have marbles in my mouth.

I'm on my second handset in two weeks and am wondering if anyone else has experienced the same problems.

This is my second smartphone. My first one was motorola q9m. blackberry 8330 (verizon) is way better phone than q9m in most and every way. its much faster, signal strength is great, getting email is so simple fast. browser is way better and faster. This phone doesnt freeze like q9m. I downloaded google maps and search applicatios which works great and google maps show your approx. location which is great. I think this phone is even better than my friends treo way better. watching you tube is just so great function on this phone. highly recomended.

I was a Treo user, went through 4 of them in one year due to there very faulty design...lock ups, missing phone calls, ect...Since I have been on the Blackberry Curve, it has been great. my only negative remark is that you can not sync emails unless you have a BES. There are some great software for this and I have a custom main Screen I made through Pazmic. Some people want Wi-Fi but I am not sure why, as long as you have the unlimited wireless service. Since Desktop manager 4.5 you can do the Bluetooth Sync, which is great. Would love to try the BlackBerry Bold but, I know Verizon...it will be awhile...Thumbs up HERE !!!!

This phone is so unbelievable., super fast with navigation, and internet download. scroll wheel is awsome.
I only have one hand and this pda phone is by far the easiest I have ever used.
The message center is my favorite feature compared to other pda phones I have had. No need to sign in all the time, you r messages from all your email or text messeges are one click away.