Touchscreen makes Storm2 top BlackBerry

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - When it was released in 2008, the original BlackBerry Storm was one of the first phones to be labeled an "iPhone killer." The Storm was also the first touchscreen phone Research In Motion (RIM) produced. It was not released to rave reviews, and the "iPhone killer" label was taken off. When I reviewed it, I loved it, calling it "one of the best phones Verizon offers."  While others lambasted the touchscreen keyboard, I said "it made me want to steal (it) onto my own phone."

More than a year later, I've finally gotten to review its successor, the BlackBerry Storm 2. Verizon has since upgraded its lineup of phones with the Motorola Droid running Android 2.0, the HTC Droid Eris running and it will soon add Palm's Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to its lineup (I reviewed the original Palm Pre and Pixi when they were released on the Sprint network). Those are all fantastic phones, so where does the BlackBerry Storm2 fit in? Somewhere in the middle.

Comparing two Storms, RIM made some nice upgrades to the unit. They made a subtle change to the touchscreen keyboard. You still physically press in the touchscreen on the Storm2, but now if your phone is locked it will lock the touchscreen as well. It's a nice little touch. I'll talk more about the actual typing process in just a bit. It also ships with a 16GB microSD card, which can be swapped out if needed. Battery life is rated at 5.5 hours of talk time and 11.2 days of standby time. I never ran into a problem with the battery.

It measures 4.43" x 2.45" by 0.55" and weighs 5.64 ounces, compared to the 5.5 ounces of the original Storm. The 3.25" screen sports a 480 x 360 display, smaller than the iPhone 3GS, but with more pixels.

I liked typing on the original Storm so much, I wrote "If you want a phone that’s a phenomenal typer for email and messaging, the Storm is it." I feel much the same way about the Storm2. They didn't try to fix something that wasn't broken. I still prefer typing in landscape mode with the full QWERTY keyboard to the vertical "SurePress" mode. Some people I've talked to loved SurePress. SurePress pairs up most letters on the keyboard with another letter, q&w, e&r and so on. The technology automatically recognizes which words you’re trying to type, and I found that it was right on. Even still, it was not my preferred method of typing.

There's a certain level of polish to the Storm2. It feels sturdy in the hand and definitely not cheap. The phone's back plate is a polished metal that is nice to the touch and hides the removable battery and microSD card slot. The outside of the phone has a number of buttons, a rocker for volume, a camera button and a voice dialing button. Additional it has four touch buttons on the touchscreen, the BlackBerry menu button, two call buttons and a back button. There's also a lock button and a mute button.

One thing I wasn't a fan of on the Storm2, is something that's plagued almost every BlackBerry phone I've used: the browser. The touchscreen is nice for scrolling around the screen, but the HTML rendering engine just doesn't have a tremendous amount of speed to it. Additionally, zooming in is kind of a pain because the main way to do so is by clicking the screen, but that's also the same way you click on a link. If you're just a little bit off on clicking a link, the phone will zoom in instead of navigating to the link you wanted to click. It's a bit frustrating to click to zoom, I'd much rather use a multitouch gesture like pinching the screen but that's not an option. Speed in most cases isn't a problem though, because of Verizon's 3G network and the Storm2's Wi-Fi capabilities. That being said, the speed is wasted because the browser is less than stellar. When compared to the mobile browser offerings from Apple, Palm, Google and even Opera, the BlackBerry browser is in dire need of an overhaul.

Even with a subpar browser, the Storm2 excels for communication. Email is fantastic on the device and BlackBerry remains the easiest device to setup email with. Even with my security-laden work account, all I had to do was punch it my password and address. The Storm2 figured everything else out. If you're a Gmail user, there's an additional benefit to having BlackBerry phones now. There's an enhanced Gmail plug-in that provides a nice number of features. You can archive messages, report spam and even apply labels and stars to your messages. Importing contacts is pretty easy as well if you have a Google account. It automatically pulled in my address book when I linked up my email. The wide landscape keyboard makes for a great communication device. I really had no problems with it for typing.

Text messaging and apps are just as nice as email. The keyboard still works great, and a myriad of IM apps are available. The only drawback for running Google Chat constantly on your phone is the battery drain. I didn't run into problems myself, but I also didn't run the IM apps constantly. Picture and video messaging also available on the Storm 2 thanks to the included 3.2MP camera. There's also a flash on the phone, which isn't a guarantee on smartphones but is certainly nice to have. The camera's 3.2MP sensor is standard fare and is about the average size of most smartphone cameras now, but it still takes decent enough pictures for a phone. It won't replace your Flip cam or digital camera, but for sending quick updates to friends and family, it works.

Social networking is also pretty nice on the Storm2. The BlackBerry App World had both Facebook and Twitter apps available for download. The Facebook app is pretty rounded, giving you notifications and the ability to do almost anything you can do from a computer. Likewise the I found UberTwitter to be a worthwhile Twitter app. It's bolstered by it's lengthy feature list, but could use some fine polish on the interface. It's no where near as nice to look at as the apps available in the App Store, or even in Palm's App Catalog.

As a media player, the Storm2 falls into that trap where it's capable, but not amazingly intuitive. It is certainly not going to replace your iPod, but if you want to toss your music and movies on the included microSD card, it'll work. Additionally, a must download app is Pandora, the Internet radio station. Paired with network, you'll be able to stream music until either your heart's content or you run in to the streaming limit put in place by Pandora. (A quick explainer about Pandora: You type in a song title or band name and it plays music that it defines to be similar. It's a great little service available right now at www.pandora.com on your computer and on most smartphones.)

As a phone, there are zero complaints.  I found the speaker on the phone to be clear and perfectly loud and the speakerphone was suitable.  I had decent Verizon coverage during my testing, but it's worth noting that if you're going to pick up a phone you should check the coverage areas in all of the places where you spend time.  If you have a summer cottage, use the trial period to test out your coverage there, to make sure it's good.  If you go there in four months and you can't make a call, you won't be able to cancel your plan without paying a steep penalty.

BlackBerry's App World still leaves a little bit to be desired. There are some good free apps to download, but in terms of games there are mainly demos. I'm not sure how many developers have flocked to make their own apps, but it seems a bit thin.

Overall, I'm a fan of the Storm2, but it's tough to recommend unless you have to have a BlackBerry. Verizon is starting to get an impressive compliment of smartphones and while the Storm2 is nice, it's just not on the same level to me as the Droid or the forthcoming upgraded Palm Pre Plus. When it comes to BlackBerry smartphones though, the Storm2 and its sharp touchscreen make it my favorite.

Have any questions or comments? Shoot me an email. For shorter, more frequent updates follow me at twitter.com/mattschuler.