RIM BlackBerry Style Review

Introduction:

When a cell phone manufacturer needs to reinvent itself it needs to address both key elements of the industry: hardware and software. In the face of dwindling sales numbers and declining market share, RIM introduced BlackBerry OS 6 earlier this year, then launched it with an all-new form factor in the Torch, a touchscreen slider. Their second OS 6 device is again breaking new design grounds for the Canadian company. The BlackBerry Style 9670 is a flip phone in the Bold vein. It features a full QWERTY keyboard, 2.7” display and a 5 megapixel camera with flash to go along with the new OS. Included with the Style you’ll find an 8GB microSD card, stereo headphones and a microUSB cable with AC adapter.

Design:

RIM has breached the flip form factor before with the Pearl Flip, but the Style 9670 is their first attempt at keeping a full keyboard. In many ways the Style is new, but at the same time familiar. It’s got a short, squat design (think a less square LG Lotus) but isn’t awkward in the hand. The Pearl Flip was very long, but the Style manages to be a lot more compact. When you flip it open it is almost as if RIM took a Bold 9650 and distorted it; the Style is just as wide but the form factor forces it to be longer.



You can compare the RIM BlackBerry Style with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

RIM touts both displays as “high resolution,” but in reality the outer display is a mere QVGA and the inner is 360x480. Both of them only support 65K colors, though in fairness they both look pretty sharp and crisp. The inside display is a decent size at 2.7” but still a far cry from the superphones of today and their 3.7”+ screens. They are both easily readable in most lighting conditions.


The keyboard is similar to the one found on the Bold 9650 but has a slightly harder feel to it. Likewise, the trackpad is a bit different as well though only noticeable to the well-trained thumb; it is a hair less responsive than what we recently found on Sprint’s Curve 3G. Despite the difference the QWERTY keyboard remains one of the best on the market. The RIM BlackBerry Style 9670 is 2mm narrower than the Bold and this is noticed when using the far left or right column of keys as your fingers tend to feel the edge more. It is not a major gripe, but something we noticed right away.


The 5MP camera sits in the traditional RIM camera position, though with such a short phone this presents a problem as we often found our fingers making their way into pictures. We won’t go as far as to say it is uncomfortable to hold when snapping photos, but hand placement is definitely something you have to be aware of the whole time the camera is running. The battery door appears to be brushed aluminum, which would have been a nice touch, but instead is plastic. It does not feel cheap however, and in fact the device feels very well constructed all around.


The left side of the BlackBerry Style 9670 has an exposed 3.5mm headset jack and microUSB port, along with a covered microSD slot. The right side has a rubberized volume rocker and the convenience key. Like the Torch the Style only has one convenience key, a trend that we don’t like. Both devices have plenty room for the traditional left and right convenience keys and frankly we miss the extra personalization.


The flip mechanism is very solid, and we have to admit that in a smartphone landscape dominated by bar phones and sliders there is something reassuring about having a flip. It just feels right to end a call and shut the clamshell, or to whip it out of your pocket and flip it open. That said, for the messaging nuts having to constantly open and shut the device becomes a major inconvenience. For the more casual users we can see the RIM BlackBerry Style 9670 striking the right chord, but those likely to suffer from BlackBerry thumb should probably stick with the Bold or Curve 3G.

Interface and Functionality:

We covered the BlackBerry OS 6 interface in our Torch review, but this is the first time we’ve seen it on a non-touch device. The main elements of course carry over, but having to use the touchpad for all of your navigation does change things a bit. The homescreen is slightly different in that it has a persistent bar of apps down at the bottom. You can still scroll through the All, Favorites, Media, Downloads and Frequent categories. Each category has only one bar of apps, but clicking on it slides opens the tray to reveal the full list. This can also be accomplished by swiping down on the trackpad, a method we find more natural, but it is very inconsistent and often takes a few swipes to open the drawer.


The notification area is worlds better than previous OS iterations. When you click on the bar it brings down a list of all your Messages, Texts, Facebook, Twitter, etc. updates. The new universal search feature is great as well (stolen directly from Palm, name and all) and allows you to quickly search your device by just typing. All the smartphone OS’s incorporate some form of this, but Palm does it best and by extension, RIM, since they use the exact same implementation.


The Setup and Options menus have been reworked so everything isn’t quite where you’re used to it being, but at the same time a rework was in order. Setup is especially improved; everything from email to Wi-Fi to social networks are all on one screen for quick and easy log-in to all of your services. We initially had some issues signing into our Gmail account and getting contact sync up and running and flat out couldn’t log into Facebook and Twitter, but a full wipe of the device cleared up those issues.


The staples like email, messaging, calendar and other PIM functions remain relatively unchanged. Everything runs relatively well on the 624MHz processor, but there were times when lag was noticeable, whereas OS 5 on the 9330 was nearly flawless. Overall we like where RIM is going with BlackBerry OS 6, but feel it is better suited to touchscreens and even still is about two years behind the time. OS 5 was simply a new coat of paint on OS 4; at least OS 6 is a new color but when you get down to it, this is still a BlackBerry, just like our old 7xxx devices. Sure, it has gotten sleeker and found a way to incorporate social networking, but there just isn’t anything really compelling that would make us choose BlackBerry these days outside of the Enterprise Server.



Connectivity and Data:

The RIM BlackBerry Style 9670 is an EVDO Rev A device with support for Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Though sharing the 96xx model number, the Style is not a global device as were the Tour 9630 and Bold 9650. While this may disappoint some people, the Bold is still very much alive in Sprint’s lineup and the Style falls squarely between it and the Curve 3G in terms of hierarchy. The BlackBerry Style has half a gig of internal memory and ships with an 8GB microSD card with support for 32GB.

One of the main features touted in BlackBerry 6 is the WebKit browser, but honestly we weren’t impressed. It was better than the Curve 3G, sure, but pages still took way too long to load over both 3G and Wi-Fi. Our homepage, for example, took minutes to fully load over a 25Mbps Wi-Fi connection. It still very much feels like the BlackBerry browser of old, not like the modern browsers found on the iPhone and Android devices.


Included software is virtually not installed, meaning the icons are really links to download the real program, and pretty standard. In addition to the Sprint software suite you’ll find standards like Docs To Go, BrickBreaker and BlackBerry App World.

Camera and Multimedia:

Like the Torch, the BlackBerry Style features a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash. Judging from the results they share the exact hardware. Indoor images, even in excellent lighting conditions, were grainy and low light images looked pretty bad. Outdoor shots in bright sunlight still seemed to be overcast and at full resolution grain was evident as well. While the background and less vibrant colors have a haze to them, bright tones were oversaturated which produces an unnatural contrast. The camera interface is the same as the Torch, which is to say the same as the Storm 2. It offers no manual adjustments and a handful of preset scene modes, like sports, party, face detection, etc.



Video recording is nothing spectacular. For starters, the BlackBerry Style 9670 can record at the now modest 640x480 pixels resolution. The results were as you’d expect from a VGA recording. Video was generally smooth enough but there was some jaggedness and overall it’s passable as YouTube quality at best. Options are even sparser as you can simply turn the flash and autofocus on and off.

RIM BlackBerry Style Sample Video:



We’ve always been pretty fond of the BlackBerry music interface and the Style 9670 is no exception. It is simple, yet easy to use with all the basic features you’d want. The included stereo headphones were predictably mediocre. The video player was able to handle MPEG4 videos up to 800x480 just fine, but could not recognize any higher than that. This is slightly better than what we experienced with the Torch, which struggled to play files even at 640x480. We wish RIM had utilized the front screen better for media. The music player can be quasi-controlled with the Style closed; while the album art isn’t displayed, generally the volume keys will temporarily bring it up as the sound is adjusted, and the convenience key serves as a play/pause button. There is no way to skip tracks though, which is a disappointment. Capacitive front buttons would have been a nice addition. Videos (including SprintTV) are simply paused when the flip is closed, they cannot be viewed on the front at all.

Performance:

The RIM BlackBerry Style 9670 does the BlackBerry name proud with above average call quality, though it was not quite as good as the Curve 3G 9330 we recently tested. Callers said we were clear and crisp, but there was a slight “in the cave” tone to our voices. Still they were impressed overall and rated us an 8.5/10. To us they sounded pretty clear, but that cave effect was also present. We could also hear ourselves in the earpiece a bit, but we’d still rate it an 8/10.

The battery is rated at 5 hours of talk time and 13 days of standby. There once was a day when BlackBerry devices ruled the smartphone battery realm, but sadly this is over. While it should be enough to get the user through a day of heavy use- which is a fine accomplishment for a smartphone and something we rarely see with Android or webOS- the device will definitely need to be charged overnight, unlike the Curves of days gone by.

Conclusion:

After some time with the device, Style really is a good name for the 9670. As is often the case with stylish, things they usually lack in substance, and the BlackBerry Style 9670 is no exception. For those more concerned with a cute, flip phone, the Style is a very good, functional option. For the heavy users the constant opening and closing will wear on them, and for the tech savvy BlackBerry OS 6 doesn’t do much to bridge the growing gap between BlackBerry and Android/iOS. Still, there is a definite market for those wanting a phone like this, and while RIM is losing out on the edge of technology, BlackBerry devices are still well put together, easy to use and in general hassle-free. The BlackBerry Style may be lacking in many areas, but for the less demanding smartphone user it is definitely worth a look.

RIM BlackBerry Style Video Review:



Software version of the reviewed unit: 6.0.0.248