- 3G-enabled BlackBerry smartphone with full QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive optical trackpad; access all your email and messaging as well as social networking
- Sprint Mobile Broadband Network via EV-DO connectivity; Sprint TV and Sprint Music Store enabled; GPS turn-by-turn directions via Sprint Navigation
- 2-megapixel camera/camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music; microSD memory expansion; digital audio player syncs with iTunes and Windows Media Player
- Up to 5.4 hours of talk time
- What’s in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 2 GB microSD card, USB cable, quick start guide, user manual
Amazon.com Product Description
The slim, affordable BlackBerry Curve 8530 for Sprint is perfect for those who need to be connected to work, friends and family while on the go. It provides easy mobile access to e-mail, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and popular social networking sites (including Facebook and MySpace), as well as features a highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard for comfortable, accurate typing. You’ll be able to access BlackBerry App World to download applications from a broad a… More >>
This is such a nice change after having had the Blackberry 8830 (World edition) for 2 years. At first I was a bit worried about complaints I’ve read online – cheap, plasticky feel, like a toy, poor battery life, battery door hard to open, which is why I made sure to see the phone in person before buying it. It did not disappoint at all. The design is stylish, sleek and not cheap looking at all. It’s very lightweight, trackpad is an awesome change from constantly having to clean a dirty trackball, OS is faster and gives the interface a much more sophisticated look to it. Battery life is obviously relative to the amount of time you spend on the phone and amount of stuff you have going on, so if you’re a heavy user you’d probably need to have an extra battery or have the charger with you all the time. As for the battery door, I did not have trouble with opening it for the first time.
Great great phone! They say it’s entry-level but I definitely consider it as an upgrade!
Rating: 5 / 5
I have been with Sprint for quite some time now and have found their service to be fairly solid. Prior to the 8530, I had the Blackberry Curve 8330. This phone is a major step forward (see below); however, there are certain features from the old Curve that do not appear on this one. For instance, I was dismayed to find that the phone does not have a flash for the camera anymore. It’s not clear why they removed it, as the old Curve had a flash. In addition, could the battery have gotten worse?? I realize this phone has many more features, some of which drain the batter life (i.e. WiFi), but they have to continue to make improvements to the battery to keep up with these improvements.
PROS
*Clearer Screen – I’m not sure if the screen was replaced or upgraded, but it looks much clearer to me than my old Curve. The colors are much more vibrant and the resolution seems better.
*Much faster processor – Sifting through emails or menus is much quicker on this phone than on the old Curve
*Media processing – I’m able to sort through music, pictures, and videos much quicker and easier than with the old Curve. If you’re like me and store a lot of media on the phone, you know how bogged down it can become. I have an 8gb memory chip in this phone and it has not noticeably slowed the phone down. Loading new music on here is much quicker than it was before.
*WiFi – I use the WiFi almost exclusively now to browse the internet. I get download speeds of upwards of 150 kb/sec on my phone!
CONS
*No Flash for the camera
*Construction – This phone feels even cheaper made than the old Curve, which is saying a lot. Each time I drop the phone, I think it will be the last time it will work. Should you get this phone, but INSURANCE just in case. The battery cover is a case in point. The old Curve battery cover clasped into the phone and there was a button to release it. The battery cover on this phone snaps in and pops out fairly easily. I’ve only had the phone for a month, so I can’t say whether this will become a problem in the future.
*Battery life – If you turn off WiFi, battery life improves; however, then you lose one of the best features of this phone.
*No GSM capability – This is NOT a world phone. I guess with Blackberry, you have to pick and choose which features you really want. It’s sort of like buying a house, you can’t get everything you wanted. With Blackberry, if you want both a world phone and WiFi capability, to my knowledge, it does not exist (at least on Sprint).
*Keyboard – The keyboard is slightly smaller than the old Curve. So if you are upgrading, this phone may take some getting used to. Otherwise, even if you have bigger fingers, this phone is easy to type on.
OVERALL
If you’re looking to switch to the Blackberry family, or upgrade, I’d recommend upgrading to one of the other Blackberries. The Curve is the entry-level Blackberry. The Tour and Bold have faster processors and are much more sturdy in construction. In addition, they have a flash in the back for the camera.
Rating: 3 / 5
Just upgraded to the 8530 last week and wow I love this unit! Nice design, very fast processor, crisp graphics and resolution, and the touch pad is a welcome upgrade from the trackball. The not so perfect – battery life is anemic. It seems to eat a lot of juice. The unit is power intensive with it’s graphic interface and media features so it’s safe to say it’s underpowered. You can buy a more powerful battery but it seems if that exists it should have been pre-installed on the 8530 to begin with. A minor peeve is the keyboard size. Although it has a Qwerty style keyboard the buttons are too small. Easy to hit the wrong ones when typing. But that’s a minor thing and I found the more I use it the more I get used to it. The camera feature is so far the best I have had although there is no flash. Other complaints I’ve read about a cheap design and flimsy battery cover may be based on experiences with previous BB models but I don’t see it. I see nothing cheap about this unit. I do think it’s stylish, reliable, quick, compact, and a lot of fun. I recommend it.
Rating: 4 / 5