BlackBerry Storm: Five hidden flaws

October 8, 2008, 11:08 am by Caramel Quin 20 comments

Filed under Mobile phones Tags: Blackberry, flaws, iPhone, RIM, storm

It’s new. It’s got a stonking new clickable touch screen. You can expand its memory. And RIM’s email service is the best in the biz. But there are some not-so-silver linings to the BlackBerry Storm’s cloud.

Storm? Intermittent showers more like…

1. No Wi-Fi - With the iPhone 3G, you can surf at home, countless free hotspots (McDonalds anyone?), or take advantage of an O2 tariff with all-you-can-eat Wi-Fi. Sadly there’s no such option on the Storm.

2. Networks in control of apps - The good news is that the new BlackBerry Apps Centre is more consumer-focussed than ever. The bad news? While Apple keeps a tight grip on the reins of its store, RIM has handed over control to network operators. Operators can boycott applications that use too much bandwidth.

3. It’s a chunky beast - While the Storm’s 112.5mm height and 62.2mm width are from practically the same cookie cutter as the iPhone 3G, it’s 13.95mm depth is tad more than the Apple’s 12.3mm. Just enough to make it feel like a bit of a chunky monkey. And at 155g, compared with the iPhone’s 133g, it weighs 15% more.

4. Touch screen typing - Yes it’s a very natty, iPhone-trumping touch screen that clicks when you press it down. But it’s still a touch screen. Other BlackBerrys are the best in the business for speedy two-thumb emailing. We’ll grab our Bold and give you and your Storm an email-banging-out race any time.

5. Sluggish 3G - The Storm supports 7.2mbps HSDPA… but Vodafone’s only rolled that out in a handful of cities so far. So if you live outside a major town, it’ll suck.

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry

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Reader Comments

Praneeth

10-8-2008

The last two points here are just made up with no thought put into it. You could say the same about any other touch screen phone, or any other 3g phone.

James Holland

10-8-2008

Praneeth: Except not all 3G phones are limited to using Vodafone exclusively. If you live outside London, Manchester or Birmingham it’s unlikely you’ll see the benefit of having 7.2mbps under the hood. I know - I’ve tried!

Rizzo

10-13-2008

I get HSDPA speeds up in Edinburgh, Scotland on my Tytn2. T-mobile have the best mobile internet services in the UK.

Denny

10-14-2008

#5 is completely ridiculous. If you’re not in a 3.5G area, you’ll get the same speed as a non-HSDPA phone would. If you are, you’ll get a better speed than a non-HSDPA phone. How is that a flaw? You may as well call a Ferrari sluggish because it’s in a 30mph area.

No wifi is definitely a huge weak spot though. Of course, the iPhone has other flaws - crippled Bluetooth implementation for a start.

Is the Storm OSK better/faster than the iPhone OSK? That would be more useful information than comparing it to a physical keyboard.

Denny

10-14-2008

“Please Note: Comment Moderation Maybe Active So There is No Need To Resubmit Your Comments”

Please note that capitalising the first letter of every word is incorrect English. So is using ‘maybe’ when you mean ‘may be’.

James Holland

10-14-2008

Thanks for spotting that Denny - all fixed now! And you’re right about iPhone’s Bluetooth. It’s incredibly frustrating not being able to swap pictures without asking for my friends / handing over my own e-mail address every time…

jbc

10-14-2008

Isn’t the (unwritten) sluggish point that the G1 will have better 3.5G coverage, as T-Mobile’s mobile Internet is considerably better than Vodafone’s?

PS: Thanks for pointing out our designer’s ‘orrible bastardisation of the English language. He is now on the dole and the comment moderation line is now fixed.

Christoph

10-14-2008

No WiFi means it’s a complete waste of time. I’ve played with a friend’s iPhone, and the apps are all complete crap unless you’re in a Wi-Fi zone. It’s too slow, especially when they have to load pictures too. Also, I used to have a Vodafone mobile broadband stick from work. It was awful. No way these apps will work well if it has to rely on their flaky coverage

Christoph

10-14-2008

Oh, and it looks massive too!!

Keron Calame

11-10-2008

And i was really planning on getting one of these, but no wi-fi makes me sad.

BUGLER

11-11-2008

DOES STORM HAVE SKY HOOK?

Ash

11-13-2008

Replies to your points:-

1. Who Cares
2. Who Cares
3. Who Cares
4. Who Cares
5. Who Cares

Sorry mate, I don’t think your reasoning is that solid. A lot of your points arnt that important or technically valid, well, possibly the WiFi one.

dannyg888

11-15-2008

complete crap
1. a load of bollocks
2. wtf
3. nit picking only a fraction bigger, compared to the iphone it doesn’t feel like it going to snap if you accidentally sit on it, if its in you back pocket
4. actually quite useful, ive use a few touch screens before and i find it good that you have to press down (click) to access or type something. (does take a while getting use to).
5. what a load of rubbish