Does the BlackBerry Torch 9860 Hold a Flame to iPhones and Android?

BlackBerry Torch 9860 deals

With the BlackBerry Torch 9860 a bold move has been made away from the traditional BlackBerry design. You will find no Qwerty keyboard, in fact no physical keyboard of any kind. There are a few buttons at the bottom of the phone, and there's still an optical trackpad too, but this is very much a touchscreen phone. So, is it a contender to the iPhone and Android platforms? What will BlackBerry fans think? Let's investigate.

The Basics

Let's start with the basics and say that, basically, this is a very nice phone. The design is sleek and slender, and although at 12mm thick it's more bulky than most out there, it really doesn't feel it. In contrast to the straight lines and hard edges of the iPhone, BlackBerry have gone for curves and rounded edges, making it a pleasure to hold.

Okay, how about the operating system? It comes with BlackBerry OS 7, which is a vast improvement on previous incarnations. It's responsive and well designed, with different compartments for different functions, making it easy to find what you want in a hurry, and easy to customise as well. With a single-core 1.2 GHz processor it's plenty smooth as long as you're only doing one thing at a time, but try doing much more than that and expect the phone to slow down. There's also 2.5GB of internal storage (which is a lot), but doesn't come with a microSD card so if you intend to download music and watch videos, that's going to have to be a quick addition.

The screen is clear and crisp, and stands up well to the best Android and iPhone offerings. With a resolution of only 400 x 800 pixels (compared to the iPhone 4's 640 x 960) you might not think it would, but it really does. The screen is bright and the colours are nice and bold. The 3.7 inch screen is plenty big enough as well. So, is it really a contender with iPhones and Androids?

BlackBerry v Android v iPhone

Eeeehhhh, well... it depends. One of the best things about the Android and iPhone are the massive and ever expanding app stores, in effect allowing you the chance of a minor upgrade every time a new app comes out that you like. Or to totally overhaul the way you use your phone. And while the BlackBerry Torch 9860 comes with pre-installed apps, allowing you to do things like listen to music and watch videos, and there is an app store (called BlackBerry App World) it really doesn't compare to the Android or iPhone library and it probably never will.

That, in effect, is the major downfall for the BlackBerry Torch 9860, and it's a shame because otherwise it would be a truly excellent phone. It is, if you don't need copious amounts of apps. If you're a BlackBerry fan and you're really not bothered about being able to play the latest game on your phone then it's definitely worth a look.

BlackBerry for Business

BlackBerry made its name, of course, by being a business friendly phone. That little keyboard makes emailing easy and fast for a lot of people. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 doesn't have that of course, so is it servicing the core BlackBerry fan base?

Well, not if you really want that keyboard. However there's still the BlackBerry Messenger service which is fast and reliable. Plus you have a little LED above the display which flashes when you've received a message, useful for if you are in a business meeting and have to have your phone on silent.

The full specs for the BlackBerry Torch 9860 can be found at BlackBerry's website.

Summing Up

With the big screen there's plenty of room for an on-screen keyboard to be just as good as the physical keys, but if you really want that Qwerty keyboard then this isn't the phone for you. And if you need the vast and ever-increasing library of apps available from an Android or an iPhone then it would be better to check out something like SamsungGalaxy S II deals or iPhone deals.

On the other hand if you love what BlackBerrys have to offer and can do without the physical keyboard and vast arrays of apps, it's definitely worth having a look at BlackBerry Torch 9860 contract deals to see if you can be tempted by the impressively low priced phone deals on offer for a device of unquestionable quality.