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RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520 Review

Reviews icon RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520 Review

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520 Review

Published on: 25 June, 2009 by PhoneArena Team

Keywords:
T-Mobile
RIM
QWERTY

Review index:

Performance and Conclusion:

Callers were pleased with sound quality on the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520, giving us an 8/10 rating. On our end they were noticeably worse; there was a ton of background static, they sounded very distant and hollow and in general we had a hard time understanding them. Battery life has not been rated yet, but given RIM’s history and especially from an EDGE device we’d expect a generous talk time.

Overall the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is a fine device for what it is. It may not be the finest in fit and finish, but it brings the best Blackberry features to a low-end device. The size and weight are good, the display is ample and the optical trackpad brings a bit of innovation. RIM has some work to do on the Curve’s performance, but if they fix that we don’t see why this device won’t be very popular.

The review unit was provided by Negri Electronics.com

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520 Video Review:

Pros

Best in class keyboard
Good size and feel
Optical trackpad is good after you get used to it

Cons

Sound quality on our end was awful
Plastic components may not stand up to time as well

PA rating

Design 8.5
Display 8.5
Camera 5.5
Sound Quality 7
Connectivity 7
Multimedia 8
Organizer 10

Good

out of 10

How do we rate?

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User comments

0
1.

behold--me @ 25 June, 2009 11:32:49 AM

optical trackball adds something different than that stupid normal one

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2.

martycota @ 25 June, 2009 01:56:04 PM

Nice use of some Andrew Bird on the media player!!!

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3.

Arielnyc2006 @ 25 June, 2009 02:35:00 PM

When does this come to Tmobile?

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4.

legionsreturn @ 27 June, 2009 01:00:03 PM

Why are you guys reviewing a PROTOTYPE unit as the final product????????? How could you possibly hope to have an objective or accurate review when the device HASN'T EVEN BEEN ANNOUNCED???????

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7.

mjpower4 @ 27 October, 2009 04:27:39 AM

Looks plastic. Feels plastic. Rim what are you doing? Waiting on the new Bold 9700 and hoping for better multimedia handling as this may be my future handset depends on how it shapes eager for that review Phonearena..... Also looking at E72 which if it goes like a previous handset in the E71 it should be a long term winner

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