RIM BlackBerry Storm2 9550 Review
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Like the Storm 9530, the Storm2 9550 is a global device and has a European partner in the 9520. The 9550 is CDMA focused, but supports quad-band GSM and EDGE. High speed cellular data is handled in the States via Verizon’s EVDO Rev A network and overseas using UMTS at 2100MHz.
Locally the Storm2 supports Wi-Fi b/g, a welcome-but-not-as-important-as-everyone-is-making-it-out-to-be-change from the Storm. On America’s GSM carriers it’s one thing, but on the CDMA side there is an abundance of 3G coverage. Still, those without it will appreciate the addition. It also supports Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and the HSP, HSF,PBAP, SPP, A2DP/AVCRP and DUN profiles.
The browser has been reworked to give faster load times, and we did notice a difference, but why multi-touch is used for items like copy and paste but not for the browser is beyond us. This is virtually the same browser found on the Storm, just a bit faster, so all-in-all it’s very good. It still is not up there with the iPhone and Pre, or even Android just yet.
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The browser of the RIM BlackBerry Storm2 9550 has been reworked to give faster load times | ||
BlackBerry Desktop Manager handles desktop sync as always. It is used to manage calendar, tasks, contacts and email synchronization with your desktop. You can also use the data cable to load media onto the memory card, and Media Sync will allow for iTunes syncing of non-DRM files.
Multimedia and camera:
Multimedia is still an area where the Storm2 excels, though there haven’t been any notable changes. Like we’ve seen recently the Media Player has been broken up and is now visualized as a folder with each individual component as an independent app. Everything still works the same though; videos look great and the music interface is clean and intuitive. The Storm2 supports Verizon’s VCast Music with Rhapsody service.
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The 3.2-megapixel camera performed much better than the one on the original, but still wasn’t great. For the most part colors were reproduced much better, though it still had issues with some of the fall colors. For example, in our picture of the flowering bush the redish leafs and purple flowers are very distinct in real life, but blended together in the picture. Detail was somewhat better but images still had some graining to them. Setup time has been halved, and you can launch the app and snap a picture in just under 5 seconds now. The interface has been reworked slightly and the entire image field is now displayed on-screen, unlike the Storm where the bottom was cut off by the controls which could lead to stray fingers in some pictures.
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Outdoor camera samples made with the RIM BlackBerry Storm2 9550 | |||
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Strong light | Meduim light | ||
Indoor pictures | |||
Software:
Memory has been doubled on the Storm2 which now features 2GB of on-board media storage and 256MB ROM. The Storm2 comes with a 16GB microSD card, which you can always replace with a 32GB one. This is expandable by up to 32GB thanks to the microSD slot, which thankfully can be accessed without removing the battery.
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10 Comments
1. secondcor517 posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:55 0 0
i think it's slightly moronic to make one of your cons that "It works now, but we’re still not sold on the whole clickable touchscreen idea". This is supposed to be a review of the phone, it should be impartial. the fact that you included a feeling as a pro or con, clearly shows that your review is anything but impartial. if it didn't work, then that would be a con. leave your personal beliefs out of the equation so that we as the reader have a chance to decide for ourselves.
9. Iphone User (unregistered) posted on 19 Sep 2010, 07:52 0 0
IS A SHIT PHONE, BOUGHT IT OFF EBAY AND IT STARTED GIVING ME PROBLEMS FROM THE START. TELL YOU THE TRUTH THE WORLD'S ISN'T READY FOR A TOUCH PHONE.....NOT FROM BLACKBERRY ATLEAST
2. shgam2 posted on 29 Oct 2009, 11:15 0 0
Most of the phones have the threaded messaging.. so nothing special about it
3. DF334 posted on 29 Oct 2009, 11:18 0 0
I own the 1st Storm and I could always use the screen. I think that a lot of people that used the phone saying that it was unusable is a very subjective statement. I have gotten to use the Storm2 and it is a HUGE improvement. I do agree with the comment above from secondcor517, because saying that the clicking part of the phone IS working, and then saying it is a con is a personal opinion. Great Review otherwise! OH....5.0 is really good by the way!!!
4. krusenkevin posted on 29 Oct 2009, 12:30 0 0
It's a minor point, I know, but... the schizophrenia when stating dimensions and weight in reviews (Phone Arena and elsewhere) drives me n-u-t-s. Sometimes it's stated in metric terms, other times in Imperial terms. Can't we get it BOTH ways? 5 grams means nothing to me.
6. koustik posted on 02 Nov 2009, 21:13 0 0
This may be hard to take in all at one time but.............Your not the only person in the world. JKLOL I would like to see both dimensions too.
5. narley posted on 29 Oct 2009, 16:44 0 0
there is no way to classify how much better this phone is in words.... you HAVE to try it in person to fully appreciate how much better it is.
7. theo14461 posted on 04 Nov 2009, 23:04 0 0
I've been using the Storm 2 for about a week. In the past, I've owned a BB Bold, Curve, and a Tour. I'll take the Storm 2, over them all. The camera has a very slight lag, but the pictures look great. I would like to be able to see the characters above my finger, as I type. Display is bright, and looks good, not too sensitive. Very pleased with this phone.
8. corymcnutt posted on 23 Nov 2009, 11:08 0 0
Just for the record...in the PHONE area, the Storm2 DOES locate contacts by starting to type the name of the contact on the line; you just have to push the contact icon on the dial screen. You can also click on the Inc/Out calls icon and simply highlight a recent call and push dial. If you have the Phone icon pushed, you can only type a phone number in. The way they organized that phone area is very nice; I just wish RIM would allow a larger contact photo...we have a large screen, so why use a photo as small as the Pearl uses?
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