RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 User Reviews

dakota1202 posted on 01 Mar 2012, 17:34

Excellent 10

Love It

dakota1202 has owned it for less then month before publishing this review

I have always been a blackberry person the 8330 curve was my first smartphone when i was a bit younger. but then i got a job as a cell phone salesman and i ended up getting a new droid charge loved it and then hated it, traded it for the LG revolution loved that for awhile but the touch screen grew old on me and i found texting not as fast as i can be on the physical keyboard. just recently caved in and decided to buy a 8350 from a used cellphone shop and bought a new screen and full housing with a nice case and i am never going to be able to switch back to a touch screen (unless it is the bold touch)

Build quality 10/10
yes it feels somewhat cheap but i do like how light it is and the the comfort i feel with it in my hands.

Reception 10/10
a great phone on a great service plan makes for the reception to be phenomenal zero dropped calls zero data connection lost and i live in a small farm town in Iowa and i still get great coverage.

Call quality 8/10
the call quality was okay it might be a problem with my ear piece in the phone but when i was talking bout tax forms on the phone i could not make out the letters E and Z they sounded blurry.

Internet 10/10
this is 10 times faster than what my droid charge and my lg revolution could ever be combined i am so pleased when i surf the web and loading facebook takes a matter of seconds to do where on my charge and revolution it would take minutes at the least

Multimedia 10/10
I am a music man i love listening to music and i love singing so when i can easily access my music on the phone it is perfect.

Camera 8/10
there is alot to be desired with the camera but it does not affect me as much considering i dont use it much

UI speed 10/10
i have had zero problems with lag i can easily navigate to any given application or folder without any problems

Everyday usage 10/10
I am always on my phone. it never leaves my hand and i am on facebook, browsing the web, texting, making calls, the works and i can do it all in a breeze with this phone

Text input 10/10
BlackBerry has never failed me with the text input this phone by far has to be my fastest keyboard yet it is very easy to memorize where the symbols i need are at and it is a very comfortable fit to the fingers. they are not to raised as well so it is easy to slide fingers across keys without getting them caught or hitting the wrong key

Display 10/10
very clear crisp display, everything is easy to read and there is always the option to increase the font size and a zooming option on the browser as well.

Battery 10/10
fantastic. compared to my LG revolution which had am acclaimed battery life (according to this site) of 7.5 hours and with moderate use, no browsing no facebook, no calls, just a little texting i would be lucky if the dang thing would last 5 hours so this phone is a complete turn around it makes it from early in the morning to late late at night with heavy use!

Pros

• Keyboard
• Display
• Build of Phone
• Fast Browsing
• UI Is Great
• Battery Life
• Music / Media

Cons

• Camera (Low Resolution / No Flash)
• The Earpiece Is Not That Great (Could Just Be My Phone)

RedblackG posted on 11 Dec 2011, 15:08

Good 7

Terrible Phone

RedblackG has owned it for more then one year before publishing this review

I had the curve 8330 from Alltel and I loved that phone. Very few problems with it and it ran very smoothly. The processor in the 8530 is far too small for what I use the phone for. I rarely use my browser because it is so slow and I try not to use the camera because of the poor lens quality.

Build quality 8/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 7/10

Internet 4/10
The BB browser is way too slow to do anything productive.

Multimedia 6/10

Camera 4/10

UI speed 5/10
Constant lag with the browser, very slow to load off of the SD card, very slow to download from the app world

Everyday usage 7/10
The interface is more streamlined than my previous BB but still too heavy of an operating system for everyday use.

Text input 10/10
I love the blackberry keyboard! This is the redeeming quality of this phone

Display 6/10
Most of the time it is too small and the resolution isn't very good on this model.

Battery 6/10
Even when I'm not using my bluetooth I only get a day out of my battery

Pros

• Keyboard

Cons

• Picture quality
• Browser speed
• Processor

hltechie posted on 18 Oct 2011, 11:51

Excellent 10

Good solid BlackBerry

hltechie has owned it for less then 3 months before publishing this review

I really upgraded to this phone because I had never had a BlackBerry before and wanted to give it a try. It was a great decision! I loved this phone from day one out of the box. Everything was easy to understand, organizing my work and social life became much easier. The keyboard was great! The build quality seems kinda cheap but it held up to being dropped on occasion. Over all this is a solid phone and really is a work horse in an office work place.

Build quality 9/10
Feels cheap but held up to most everything

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 8/10
web browser seems dated

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 9/10
could be better

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 9/10

Battery 10/10
I can go days with out charging!!

Pros

• battery life
• great OS
• easy to use

Cons

• feels cheap
• camera could be better

leviwarfel posted on 14 Oct 2011, 10:44

Excellent 9

A great overall phone!

leviwarfel has owned it for less then 3 months before publishing this review

I had used this phone on Virgin Mobile USA services. I only had this phone for about 2 1/2 months because I switched to AT&T. The phone was too business oriented for a teenager like me, being 16 years old. There weren't that many apps to chose from, besides social networking applications. I thought it would take a while to get used to the tiny keyboard, but it didn't take long at all. I actaually loved the keyboard and found I could type much faster on it! The trackpad can at times be very sensitive but I got used to it. The only thing I could say bad about it is the battery life, which barely would last half a day with just average usage.

Build quality 9/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 8/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 7/10

Text input 10/10

Display 7/10

Battery 5/10

Pros

• Keyboard
• Camera
• Music Player
• Music keys on top of phone

Cons

• Not very many applications
• Battery life

kdeltoro26 posted on 25 Sep 2011, 22:49

Good 7

good phone

kdeltoro26 has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

i being having these phone for about 5 months now, it hasnt dropped any calls, it works with my email n internet accounts, it sometimes gets frozen on the main screen, when u zoom the picture or the video looks blurry and nasty also no flash

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 7/10
sometimes slow

Multimedia 7/10
no flash n when u zoom it looks nasty

Camera 5/10
not a good zoom, no flash, videos look weird

UI speed 6/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 8/10
sometimes it takes time to type

Display 7/10

Battery 6/10
it sometimes dies on me

Pros

• nice phone
• great with emails
• plays music loud

Cons

• not enough apps or games
• no flash
• needs more accessories

Bionikman posted on 24 Sep 2011, 15:06

Excellent 9

Excellent for a basic Blackberry

Bionikman has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

This BB has its up and down sides: it has Best keyboard ever!!, nice 2 mp camera (too bad doesn't have flash), awesome for playing music, excellent speakerphone, outstanding call quality, but internet is really basic and cannot install all the apps in BB app world, very good as a phone but kind of limited as a smartphone, it does freezes out sometimes so that you have to reboot, if you use two batteries be patient it takes 4 minutes to reboot when you take battery out, this is one of most practical phones, if you just talk and do lots of BBM messages, email, text and social networks this is a very nice choice

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 8/10
basic internet, cheap graphics

Multimedia 8/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 10/10

Display 10/10

Battery 9/10
Just 1150 mAh doesn't last much

Pros

• Best keyboard ever!!, nice 2 mp camera, awesome for playing music, excellent speakerphone, outstanding call quality, best phone for social networks, text, email and talk

Cons

• cheap graphics, limited apps, freezes out sometimes

mgunter93 posted on 25 Jun 2011, 22:52

Average 5

CHEAP PHONE - STAY AWAY

mgunter93 has owned it for more then one year before publishing this review

My screen went out four times and on the fourth time Sprint refused to replace it. It always locks up and lags. I hate it. It was the biggest disappointment for a phone that I have ever seen. The battery life was decent but it would constant drop calls even if you had signal.

Build quality 1/10
Built Very Cheaply

Reception 8/10

Call quality 6/10

Internet 4/10

Multimedia 8/10

Camera 4/10

UI speed 2/10

Everyday usage 6/10

Text input 8/10

Display 4/10

Battery 5/10

Pros

Cons

• Quality

tiz posted on 13 May 2011, 03:07

Excellent 10

tiz

tiz has owned it for more then one year before publishing this review

awsome phone and the best phone i every had and will always keep and i am never going to give up on it serious you should have one it will be the one you choose so go and buy a one and use it and you will see what i mean about it. buy one now and see the diffence between it and your other phone.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 10/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 10/10

Battery 10/10

nottoohappy posted on 02 May 2011, 20:24

Good 7

Great for most

nottoohappy has owned it for less then 3 months before publishing this review

I love this phone but the casing around the phone bubbled up with out any reason. I didn't pick at it or drop it. I put it in safe places. I love it for most reasons except the battery and quality of manufactering. ITS A GOOOOOD phone I would not recomend getting this phone. i recomend the bold. my dad has it and has dropped it down stairs and its fine.

Build quality 6/10
My casing around it bubbled up by it self. I have never dropped it or picked at it.

Reception 10/10
My friends and I all have this Blackberry and once we were in a poor service area. I had full service

Call quality 9/10

Internet 5/10
It's really slow.

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 8/10

UI speed 2/10
I don't know what that is :s

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 10/10

Display 7/10

Battery 2/10
My battery lasted three and a half hours once.

CrocadileUT posted on 24 Mar 2012, 04:20

Good 8

Great phone, limited features

CrocadileUT has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

Great SmartPhone overall, ideal for email and texting, EXCELLENT for music because of the media buttons, but the camera and web surfing are terrible. I'd recommend this SmartPhone to any business user who only cares about email, need a good battery, and listen to music during your commute. But if your priorities are games and web experience then stay away from this model.

Build quality 7/10
It's fine aside from the fact I had mine replaced twice for defects. Get a good case too because this phone is all plastic.

Reception 10/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 2/10
Terrible browser, but still better than WM6.5

Multimedia 10/10
Love the MP3 functionality because of the media keys

Camera 1/10
TERRIBLE QUALITY CAMERA, no flash either

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 10/10

Display 6/10
Uninspiring, small screen, low resolution

Battery 10/10
Best I've seen of smartphones

Pros

• keyboard
• media keys
• lightweight
• battery
• easy to use

Cons

• web browser
• camera
• display

CrocadileUT alternatives:

Motorola DROID 2 Global

ShawnIAm posted on 11 Dec 2010, 14:47

Good 8

Worth every extra penny with Virgin Mobile

ShawnIAm has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

I picked this up a few months after Virgin Mobile released it. While there was some MMS issues with this device, they were fixed within a month of me getting the device (PROTIP: if MMS issues still persist, re-provision your device). A solid performer for the price, and is no-contract thanks to Virgin Mobile.

The battery is horrible, though, but it seems to be expected, and the build quality is not the best it could be, but other than that (and no flash on my camera), I have few complants

Build quality 3/10
Feels quite cheap. The front is wearing out along the left-side

Reception 10/10
Great reception in my area (with only one exception that is due to the construction of the building)

Call quality 10/10
Quality is superb in my area.

Internet 9/10
Loses 1 point in this area for a lack of Flash or HTML5 support.

Multimedia 10/10
Works as a Mass-Storage device and as a "Works with Windows Vista"/PlaysForSure MTP device. Supports MP4/AVI/WMV9/MP3/AAC/etc.

Camera 8/10
Adequate picture quality in decent light. Loses 1 point for lack of flash.

UI speed 9/10
A lot of people would gripe about this, but BBOS5 is fast enough not to need that 1GHz Cortex A8, running quite fine on its 500MHz Qualcomm chip.

Everyday usage 9/10
Day-to-day usage is reasonably easy, though the number pad is a bit cramped.

Text input 8/10
The Curve's QWERTY keypad is not for those with fat fingers.

Display 10/10
Display quality is decent enough for what it does. Text is easy to see, and movies come in clear enough, even subtitled ones.

Battery 3/10
6 hours on a full charge???

Pros

• Support for Windows Media, MP4, h.264, (e)AAC(+), and others
• Decent reception and call quality
• Good speed on the internet (despite no Flash support)
• BBOS 5

Cons

• Poor stock battery
• Build quality needs improvement
• No flash on camera
• Keypad not for the fat-fingered

pedalfasternow posted on 28 Oct 2010, 07:31

Good 7

I like it but had to make one adjustment.

pedalfasternow has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

I really like this phone. Initially had a problem with the battery life but found an after market 3000 milli-amp-hour hour battery and it lasts me about 3 days without having to recharge! AND it allowed me to block unwanted texts (via the security options/firewall settings) and unwanted calls via an app (call blocker pro). Finally a phone that can grow with me!
I admit I got this phone SPECIFICALLY to keep an ex-girlfriend from texting and calling me!

Build quality 8/10
I admit - I have dropped it many times without a case on it and it has survived me!

Reception 8/10
Works in places my old Motorola and LG phones have not!

Call quality 6/10
Sometimes I pickup other garbled conversations - not sure if this is due to its wireless bluetooth implementation or what.

Internet 4/10
Slow - even on wifi - but works.

Multimedia 5/10
Won't play wmv files. Are we just being anti-MicroSoft or what?

Camera 3/10
No flash - digital zoom stinks - it essentially just crops the pic. Needs some form of optical zoom instead of digital zoom.

UI speed 4/10
Sometimes the UI locks up.

Everyday usage 7/10
Overall - its a good sturdy plugger with lots of room to grow (i.e. apps.....)

Text input 5/10
Keys need to be BIGGER.

Display 9/10
Is good - not much more to add.

Battery 5/10
Comes with a poor battery for the phone's power consumption - but this is easily solved via after market batteries.

Pros

• Flexibility
• Able to block unwanted texts without using phone company
• Able to block unwanted calls without phone company via APP

Cons

• Camera
• Battery
• Browser slow - even on wifi

Michael G. posted on 16 Oct 2010, 15:11

Average 5.7

RIM Blackberry Curve 8530 Review [SPRINT]

DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE! I WARN YOU!I upgraded my cell phone in March of 2010. This phone is my first Blackberry and I fell in love with it. The internet browser is slow on both Sprint and Wifi. This phone lags heavily sometimes. It is wears VERY EASILY. I had this phone exactly 7 months and the screen went out, luckily it was still under warranty and got it fixed free of charge. Although, I love this Blackberry, I am currently looking for another phone that is reliable and can multitask. Good luck to you all who buy this phone. BE AWARE!

Pros

• *Easy To Use
• *Full QWERTY Keyboard
• *Great Speakerphone
• *Operating System
• *Super Light
• *Threaded SMS Messaging
• *Track Pad

Cons

• *Feels Cheap
• *LCD Screen Went Out At Exactly Seven Months
• *No Camera Flash
• *No Group Contacts
• *Poor Battery Life
• *Screen/Case Wears Easy
• *Slow/Lags
• *Wifi doesn't work properly

Daniel Gomilar posted on 18 Sep 2010, 09:51

Good 8.3

Curve 8530

I have had a BB for many many years going back to the 7130 with a side track roller.  This phone is a great improvement over the original curve with the track pad, expanded memory and improved OS.  I did struggle with the battery life at first but have found that if you close out of your applications rather than just ending them with the end call button the battery life increases tenfold.  This is a great phone and I would recommend it for anyone that is interested in an upgrade or first time smart phone.

Pros

• Design, optical track pad, expanded memory, upgraded OS, applications,

Cons

Anonymous posted on 31 Aug 2010, 00:49

Good 8.3

i love this phone i love it love it love it love it my cons tho r battery life camera i switched from the omnia tht phones awful i recommend this phone cuz its from a good company bb and its not to expesive its my 2nd smart phone so yet again i wud say to only get it if its ur first or second smartphone

Pros

• track pad
• easy to use
• wifi
• fast internet

Cons

• awful battery life
• bad camera

Anonymous posted on 30 Aug 2010, 01:00

Terrible 1

 I WISH I GOT THE TOUR 2 CUZ THIS PHONE IS GOOD BUT IT FEELLS LIKE A MCDONALDS TOY OR SUMTHIN THE CAMERA SUX WEB IS IIGHT KEYBOARD IS DECENT I WUD RECOMEND THIS FONE ONLY IF U WANT AN AWFUL PHONE ITS A NICE PHONE FO A FIRST PHONE MAYBE. if i were u tho i wud not get this phone 

Pros

• DESIGN is good wifi

Cons

• everything else

Anonymous posted on 29 Aug 2010, 23:53

Terrible 1

ive had this phone fo 6 months its fallin apart 
my silicone case i the only thing holding my phone together its a good phone for text and internet tho but if u do get this phone be careful i liked it when i got it and then like a month ago it start to break alil

Pros

• good for messaging and utube

Cons

• everything else

Jennifer L Bruecker posted on 17 Aug 2010, 16:57

Excellent 9.3

love my 8530 curve

I love this phone, the track pad is awesome.  The only down fall is that their is no flash-stupid thing to get rid of but definitely was not a deal breaker.  Call quality is excellent, battery life is good- heavy use it will last the day, unless using gps to travel for an hour or two.  However you must shut down your apps as you get out of them or you will suck alot of battery up and slow down everything.  Very glad I purchased this phone- previously had the Motorola Renegade, biggest piece of crap out their.

Pros

• blackberry app world
• very easy to use

Cons

• no flash

Anonymous posted on 19 Jul 2010, 12:40

Good 8.3

 Ive had this phone for a while now and its not a bad phone it could be betterwhat i don't like is that it doesn't have a flash on it like the previous curve but i over looked that once i saw how good the pics do come out using this phonebut all in all i think its a pretty decent phone 

Pros

• track-pad , good display screen

Cons

• no flash, keyboard is cheap feeling

lovethisphone posted on 14 Apr 2010, 20:36

Excellent 10

awesome

wow what a great phone. i multitask on it and the media keys are great  for going through songs while doing tons of things. its so slim i can hold it easily. its easy for texting on and does not feel cheap. the wifi helps a lot at most of the time with verizon it has 3G sometimes it has 1X but nothing less.

Pros

• everything

Cons

• nothing

SG posted on 01 Apr 2010, 11:12

Terrible 1.3

What a terrible experience!

This is my first "smart" phone.  I bought it eight days ago.  I am on my second one and this one is going back.  My first one fried within the first 48 hours.  I clicked "accept" when asked if I wanted to download the software update.  I was alerted the update would take approximately 30 minutes.  I put the phone in a gym locker.  45 minutes later when I went back to the locker I picked up the phone it felt like it was 150 degrees.  The screen was black and I could not get it to do anything.  I immediately went back to the Verizon store, they told me this has never happened before with this phone and they gave me a new phone.  Now, six days later, I am experiencing a terrible problem with dropped calls with the new phone.  The phone does not keep a call more than 90 seconds while I'm driving (Using bluetooth of course).  I will be making a second trip to the store since the original purchase and get a different phone.  Fool me once, shame on me...............

Pros

• 30 day return if not satisfied!!!!

Cons

• See review.

personwiththisphone posted on 23 Mar 2010, 16:10

Excellent 9.3

great phone-must get

most of the things people say is wrong with the phone besides no flash and the battery life you can change in the options menu. and for the people who complain about the battery life I am pretty sure that you can go to a store and buy a stronger battery. the trackpad can't break like the trackball can. the keypad isn't that hard to see on the purple one without the backlight and when you get used to it you'll know where all of the keys are. the media keys help a lot. the phone does not feel cheap but if it seems like it does just get a case for it.

Pros

• everything

Cons

• no flash for camera

Kacy posted on 01 Mar 2010, 16:36

Average 5.3

I don't think I'm keeping it

I had the blackberry curve 8330 and loved it. It had everything I wanted but I had to get a new phone so I got this new curve and figured it would be twice as great. I do love the trackpad. It actually works really well and I don't have any problems with it. I was excited to see it had wifi which was definately a plus but other than that, it had no new features. I was so mad when I noticed it didn't have a flash on the camera! Who even makes a phone now without a flash? I am also having problems with dropped calls and SLOW internet but idk if the phone is to blame for that. I am thinking of trading it in for the Samsung Moment. I think I'll probably like it better. Oh and battery life is horrible!!! My other curve lasted a day and a half and with this, I'm lucky to get through the day.

Pros

• Trackpad
• Wifi

Cons

• No flash!
• Battery life

courage0829 posted on 21 Feb 2010, 22:06

Excellent 9.7

Great phone

I do not have to say anything about this phone. It is just great. It is better than my 8330. When I got this phone I thought it was a joke. As time went by the phone showed me its qualities. It is a good phone.

 

Pros

• Wifi
• Trackpad
• faster processor than 8330

Cons

• battery

Robbie G posted on 09 Feb 2010, 15:15

Excellent 8.7

curve 8530

 I had the Sprint 8330 and recently switched to the 8530.  I loved the the 8330 and was hesitant to switch.  Things I love about this phone:new OS is great, much faster, smoother and up to date. Wifi connectivity is awesome, track pad is major upgrade over rollerball, messaging and email is better.  Things I dont like: definitely feels cheaper, keyboard is smaller, camera has no flash, battery cover is cheap and flimsy.  Overall  I would stll take this phone over the 8330 .

Pros

• trackpad
• wifi
• New OS rules

Cons

• camera sucks, no flash
• battery life
• cheap feeling