BlackBerry 8800 Cell Phone Review
By Mark Brezinski
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
August 26, 2007
The BlackBerry 8800 is standard BlackBerry excellence. It has all the features that have made BlackBerries so popular, such as outstanding e-mail support, and a slew of new features, like an improved keyboard and the new trackball control, all things that make it worth considering. If you're not familiar with BlackBerry devices, then learning to use one certainly won't take long. The BlackBerry OS is one of the easiest to learn. The 8800 is available on T-Mobile for $349.99 and AT&T for $299.99, both with a two-year contract. While your money certainly isn't being spent on beauty or multimedia support, it does buy you a fistful of business functionality.
The 8800 is the quick-draw of smart phones; it only takes an average of 6.5 seconds to turn it on and make a call. Most smart phones, especially those running Windows Mobile OS, take more than a minute to boot up, and require more navigation to actually make a call. Storing contacts is also a breeze, as the 8800's interface provides a good searching options and a number of fields to organize contacts. The rest of the organizational software is all you could ever ask for, and is most likely the reason you'd buy a BlackBerry. The interface is well laid out so you don't get lost in labyrinthine menus, and the trackball feels perfect for navigating through it. Every area, from tasks to calendar appointments, features a plethora of fields to edit. Again, BlackBerry is great for fast and thorough task-managing. The keyboard is also excellent; we were able to type 39.3 words per minute with its large, well-defined keys; a very decent speed that would make the 8800 fine for typing out longer e-mails.
The 8800 falls a bit short in audio quality, however. In our tests, we found that lower frequencies were muted with incoming calls, while higher frequencies were overemphasized. Outgoing calls were the opposite, with low- to mid-range sounds overemphasized and higher pitches suppressed. This could cause the person on the other end of the line to sound a little hissy, while your voice might sound a bit bassy and boomy. But these aren't serious problems; voices are clear and understandable, if not completely accurate.
BlackBerry devices have never been built for multimedia performance. BlackBerry is starting to include such capabilities, but the 8800 simply can't compete with the iPhones of the world. For starters, the 8800 doesn't have a camera. There is a photo album, but it only offers the most basic functionality, and the basic music player doesn't support playlists. Video management has it worst of all, however, as it doesn't include any of the organizational tools available for music. It's fine for playing a few tunes to amuse you in the airport, but if you're looking for a multimedia phone, the 8800 is most definitely not for you; get an iPhone instead.
If you're looking for a phone that can handle e-mail, though, then you're looking for the 8800. It has an incredibly simple interface for e-mail, a QWERTY keyboard for fast typing, and push e-mail, so your phone will let you know the second you have a new message. We would've liked HTML support in our e-mail, but most phones don't offer this, either. MMS and SMS aren't carried out as well as the e-mail, but they are still decent and easy to use. The one falter is the 8800's inability to turn a SMS message into an MMS. The 8800 more than makes up for this little divot with its other software, however. The operating system is easy to use and incredibly responsive, with a great browser. Also, the 8800 supports many third-party programs. On the hardware side, the 8800 has a built-in GPS receiver and can, with a subscription of $5.99 (for up to 10 routes a month) or $9.99 (for unlimited routes), provide turn-by-turn spoken directions.
BlackBerry devices traditionally have great battery life, and the 8800 is no exception. In our talk time test it lasted 8 hours and 50 minutes, which is well above average. Only a few phones we've tested lasted longer (such as the T-Mobile Wing, which lasted an incredible 14 hours and 15 minutes). It did slightly worse for music playback, clocking 9 hours and 47 minutes. This isn't as long as multimedia-focused handsets, such as the Chocolate VX8550's almost 14 hours, but it's more than adequate. Most phones tend to last to the 6 to 8-hour range before giving up the ghost. For browsing, it has one of our best test scores, managing 9 hours and 3 minutes before the battery ran out.
If you're a business user who wants to keep on top of your e-mail on the road, a BlackBerry should always be one of your top choices. If you want a cell phone that can play music, there are many better options out there. As for choosing the 8800 over another business device, it mainly depends on OS preference. If you or your IS department is used to PDAs, a Palm Treo of some sort might be more up your alley. If you like Windows, perhaps the HTC Mogul or other Windows Mobile phone is more for you. If you have no preference, we'd recommend the 8800, as it has one of the most user-friendly OS systems and excellent e-mail support.
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