Following in the footsteps of the BlackBerry Curve 9330 from two years ago comes the new BlackBerry Curve 9310, available from Verizon Wireless for $49 with a 2-year contract. There really isn’t anything inspiring on the new model, but the low price is sure to attract budget conscious consumers that are looking for a BlackBerry.
Included in the retail package is the BlackBerry Curve 9310 smartphone, 1450 mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.
Design:
The BlackBerry Curve 9310 closely resembles other BlackBerry devices, but is relatively compact at 4.29” H x 2.36” W x 0.5” D and is lightweight at only 3.66 oz. Because of this, it fits quite comfortably in the hand, and can inconspicuously be placed in your pocket. The black and gray metallic combination looks nice, and we like the texture on the back of the phone that provides a firm grip.
Faithful to its siblings, we find the optical trackpad and BlackBerry buttons located below the display. For the most part, we felt at home typing on them, but the QWERTY keypad can be cramped at times as we occasionally would press two keys at once. The keyboard is a far cry from larger one on the Bold 9930, which is the standard in the BlackBerry line-up.
On the left side of the device is the microUSB port and dedicated BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) button. Up on top is a 3.5mm headset jack and lock key, and on the right side is the volume keys and camera button. The 3.2 MP camera and LED flash are on the back, and removing the battery cover will allow access to the microSD memory card slot.
Display:
There isn’t anything too interesting about the display, as it comes in at 2.44” with a QVGA resolution of 320x240 pixels. Due to its lower resolution, you can clearly see jagged edges when looking at text or images, which is not present on the higher resolution display on the BlackBerry Curve 9370. Still, for the price, the display on the BlackBerry Curve 9310 isn’t bad, just not as good as we would like.
RIM BlackBerry Curve 9310 360-degrees View:
Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard
Space to zoom in/out.
Drag the picture in the desired orientation to rotate the phone.
Interface:
The BlackBerry Curve 9310 comes with the BlackBerry 7.1 OS, making it easy to use for new users and for those that have owned a BlackBerry before. Granted that it is functional and organized, but the entire experience is now feeling out-of-date versus competing Android and Apple smartphones. Even more, the user experience tends to feel tedious than its touchscreen enabled siblings, as we’re spending more time trying to navigate with the trackpad.
Verizon touts the BlackBerry 9310 as a “social messaging ready” smartphone. That is because in addition to the standard RIM apps, it includes some social media ones like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, as well as messaging apps for Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo! Messenger. Verizon also includes their apps for VZ Navigator and VZW Tones. Productivity users will enjoy that the handset is preloaded with Documents To Go, which quickly allows us to create and edit Microsoft Office files.
The phonebook, organizer and other PIM functionality remain virtually unchanged, so anyone who has used a BlackBerry before will feel right at home. For first time users you can store just about anything you want about a contact and the full-featured calendar allows you to customize reminders, recurrence options and much more. Other basic PIM functionality, like tasks, memo and a calculator are available, and voice dialing is handled by Nuance.
Processor:
With only an 800MHz processor and 512MB RAM on board, you may think the device would be slow, but we didn’t have any issues loading and using the included programs. In fact, the device only takes about 5 seconds to power on.
Internet and Connectivity:
The BlackBerry Curve 9310 is a dual-band device that operates on Verizon’s CDMA 800/1900MHz network. Data is provided through their 3G EVDO Rev 0 network, sorry- no 4G LTE, but the device can also use local Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connections.
The web browser worked fine and was able to load up complex web pages without any problems, though we didn’t care for using the trackpad to scroll around the page, and found the zoom to be pain to use. Not only that, but the small 2.44” display discourages prolonged internet use.
Camera:
One area of disappointment is with the included 3.2 MP camera. First off, it still lacks autofocus, which most of the competition now includes. Images that we took outside have a tendency to be over exposed, almost “white” looking, and colors are dull and lifeless, while fine detail is missing. As one can expect, interior images didn’t look too hot either, as there was noticeable grain throughout the pictures, and the LED isn’t really bright enough for dark environments. Video recording on the device is limited to 640x480 VGA, which is mostly an embarrassment, as other smartphones can record in 720p or 1080p HD.
RIM BlackBerry Curve 9310 Sample Video:
Multimedia:
There also isn’t anything new with the music and video player. It was able to handle H.264 and MPEG-4video formats, but could only play them at a maximum resolution of 640x480. We can’t imagine too many people watching full-length movies on the tiny 2.44” display, so this isn’t a big hit against the device.
Call Quality:
Just like its fellow Curve brothers, the 9310 produces good call quality, with voices sounding clear and natural on our end. People that we called also said that we sounded clear on their end, but voices were a bit “hollow” and not full-sounding. The speakerphone also does an excellent job, as it produces clear voices and can get quite loud without too much speaker distortion. Signal reception was also adequate, as we got 3-4 bars in our area and didn’t drop any calls.
Battery:
With the included 1450 mAh battery, we were able to get 7 hours of continuous talk time on a full charge, or about one day worth of mixed usage.
Conclusion:
The most attractive aspect of the BlackBerry Curve 9310 is its low $49 contract price. But for the same amount, you can get an Android smartphone, such as the LG Lucid, which is capable of a lot more and can run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. At this point, we don’t see much interest in the BlackBerry Curve 9310, as it just doesn’t stand up to the competition, except for those individuals specifically looking for a low priced BlackBerry.
Software on tested device: 7.1 Bundle 1663 (v7.1.0.539, Platform 5.1.0.385)
Sam Earley, is a former reviews and news writer at PhoneArena. His incredibly productive run included numerous reviews and comparison articles of breakthrough products, such as the Motorola DROID X, Verizon Pre 2, HTC Thunderbolt and many others.
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