Manage updates with the Download AppBlackBerry Curve 8530 - black (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: BlackBerry Part number: Curve 8530 in Black
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- While we're not huge fans of the design, the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a good choice for first-time smartphone buyers and offers more than its GSM counterpart.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
BlackBerry Curve 8530 - black (Verizon Wireless) price range: $142.55
- Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha
- Reviewed on: 12/04/2009
The good: The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 has 3G and GPS support, which the T-Mobile version did not. The compact smartphone also offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel camera.
The bad: The smartphone feels a bit cheap in the hand and has a low-resolution screen. You can only save apps to the phone's main memory.
The bottom line: While we're not huge fans of the design, the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a good choice for first-time smartphone buyers and offers more than its GSM counterpart.
User reviews
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Really good first smartphone
by smoke_green on September 14, 2010
Pros: the design, wifi, decent display, call quality, app world, email, bbm and of course a GREAT keyboard
Cons: no camera flash, battery can drain quick when running multiple apps, and no mms on telus/koodo in Canada, some problems with txt when service is low
Summary: Overall this is a great smartphone. Ive had it for just over a month now, i bought it at first because i got an amazing deal on it, and i ...
Summary: Overall this is a great smartphone. Ive had it for just over a month now, i bought it at first because i got an amazing deal on it, and i dont regret my decision. I payed 50$ at futureshop, on a 150 koodo tab. The tab works out to be about a 1.5 year commitment, but with no early cancellation fees, and this phone is usually around 50$ on a 3 yr on other carriers in canada.
This phone is a great messaging device. It syncs up my facebook easily, and the apps works great. I LOVE the keyboard. The internet is decently quick, though as this is a cdma phone, it is not as fast as the bold, new curve, or especially iphone, but its still quiet fast. The battery is OK, i usually charge it at night, sometimes i dont have to, though other times, usually after using as a gps for a while, i need to plug it in for an hour during the day.
The app store is not on the same level as iphone or android in terms of variety, and sometimes speed. it ran nicely all the time on app store 1.0, but after upgrading to 2.0, i found about 40% of the time when not on wifi, even with full bars, nothing besides the apps on the home screen will load. Thats somewhat annoying, but i usually download most apps on wifi anyways, so its not that much of a problem. There are still a lot of apps available though.
My only beef with this phone is that when your trying to txt in low service (my house and work have horrible reception 80% of the time) your msg will sometimes fail. When this happens you get a message on your bb saying "mobile equipment status failed blah blah blah" I just resend the message, and it usually goes out the second time. BUT when you look at your convo, your sent msg will be in a "received" area of your convo, not sent. When this happens if you close your convo, you cant re open that thread, even once your person replies. you have to restart your phone to open, and sometimes, more often than not, just delete the whole thread to open it again. I have friends with the same BB and they all have that problem. so far the best solution i have found is to not close the convo if you see that happening. once the person replies, your good to go. in the mean time to get to the home screen or wherever your going you need to use the "switch applications".
My last little beef is more with the provider, Telus. they DO NOT SUPPORT MMS on cdma blackberrys. so you cant picture txt. i dont know why buts a fact. with hspda mainstream now, i dont see them changing that anytime either. keep in mind that Bell, Koodo, Solo, and virgin all use telus's towers, so its the same problem with all of them. of course you can still send images and i think videos, though ive never tried, through email and bbm, so your as long as the person your sending your picture too has a smart phone, your good.
But overall i love this smartphone, you can find it for low prices about now, and it is so worth it because this really is a simple, well made smart phone. -
Not what I expected.
by kitycake on September 14, 2010
Pros: Love the trackpad, lighter weight is nice to carry.
Cons: Seems cheaply made and not up to the standards of other BlackBerrys that I've had.
Summary: I came into this phone unexpectedly. My husband got my old 8330 when I upgraded to a Storm. He recently lost his 8330 and I replaced it via the insurance. ...
Summary: I came into this phone unexpectedly. My husband got my old 8330 when I upgraded to a Storm. He recently lost his 8330 and I replaced it via the insurance. He decided the next day, prior to the 8530s arrival, to go back to his basic LG flip phone. Since I'd already spent the money on his replacement phone and I was loathing my Storm, I activated it myself.
At first I was impressed with the lighter weight of the new Curve, the new trackpad over the old trackball, and the way the convenience buttons are more integrated into the phone's design. But not 24 hours later, I find myself very disappointed with this flimsy phone. It's entirely made of plastic, and seems to be the cheapest BB RIM has ever made. I mourn the loss of the flash for the camera that the Storm had. I can't comment on battery life yet as it's pretty new. The keyboard seems smaller than my previous Curve, and the drawback, the ONLY drawback, of the trackpad is it must remain clean or it doesn't work well. That means don't put lotion on your hands prior to picking up your BB or you'll find yourself cleaning both your hands and the trackball. The screen, menu button, escape key, call and end buttons are no longer actual "buttons" but plastic. I find myself worrying about cracking them with too much pressure. I haven't noticed a difference in call quality yet.
Another complaint about the phone, and it's just an annoyance really, is that for some reason all of my contacts are set to "custom" ringtone. I utilized the Backup Assistant from Verizon, and I don't know if that caused it, but after setting my ringtone under "Sounds>Normal Profile" that wasn't what I heard when my phone rang. For some reason all calls were coming in under "Classic". I spent a good chunk of time looking for a fix online, and somehow stumbled across setting the ringer under "Media" instead. Simply go to "Media", select the song or ringtone that you want, and then make sure you choose "All Active Profiles". Why this was necessary is beyond me, since no one was set to "Custom" at any time.
I'm looking forward to getting away from BlackBerry and getting an Android instead. This does not seem to be a great step forward for RIM. Rather, it seems like a giant leap backwards. -
HORRIBLE PHONE!!!!!!
by jessigrisham on September 10, 2010
Pros: there aren't any pros to it!
Cons: Horrible battery life, camera was grainy, no flash, the phone would heat up after only 30 minutes of charging it would get so hot you couldn't hold it. call quality sucked. wouldn't receive all of my messages. wifi was near impossible to set up.
Summary: Altogether this phone was a mess and a huge disappointment from blackberry. I went through three actual phones and two loaner phones(one didn't even make it out of ...
Summary: Altogether this phone was a mess and a huge disappointment from blackberry. I went through three actual phones and two loaner phones(one didn't even make it out of the store) through us cellular. They offered to replace it. I absolutely loved my Curve 8330 but this 8530 made me completely steer away from getting another blackberry. i Really wish Blackberry wouldn't have cut so many corners because they just lost a customer that had the Crackberry syndrome.
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Poor performance - Battery degraded after 5 months
by jfigura on September 4, 2010
Pros: The keyboard, wifi, and independent GPS are the biggest pros of this phone.
Cons: Battery life is horrible. Phone constantly "pauses" or "hangs" a bit while in operation.
Summary: The battery life is terrible. Even when making sure no extra apps are running. I turned off push services for a couple weeks and ran my phone as just that, ...
Summary: The battery life is terrible. Even when making sure no extra apps are running. I turned off push services for a couple weeks and ran my phone as just that, a phone. It consistently drains itself in 24-26 hours, even when not using it.
My first phone paused and hanged quite frequently along with randomly rebooting. My second one doesn't randomly reboot, but still pauses and hangs briefly while in operation. Almost as if you are asking it to do too much.
Overall I love the Blackberry concept, and I love the features of this phone, but the crappy battery life makes it impossible for me to use any other features consistently for worry or fear I will drain the battery to much. -
great phone
by trhill1185 on September 4, 2010
Pros: easy to use trackpad. easy to figure out OS. speedy internet.
Cons: battery isnt the greatest.
Summary: this is a great phone for someone like me who has never had a nice smartphone before i have had the treo 700wx for the past month and i love ...
Summary: this is a great phone for someone like me who has never had a nice smartphone before i have had the treo 700wx for the past month and i love my 8530
and i dont miss my treo at all trust me
Updated on Sep 4, 2010 -
Very Good Phone For individual/ small businesses
by black10berry on September 1, 2010
Pros: Very responsive and light in the hands. Decent camera, internet, call quality, and very simple user interface. Very wide spectrum of customizability!
Cons: Cheap feel, and finger-print magnet.
Summary: To be honest, this is a very good phone. Though the blackberry bold is a better buy, I've been content with the Curve. I actually have mine on Virgin ...
Summary: To be honest, this is a very good phone. Though the blackberry bold is a better buy, I've been content with the Curve. I actually have mine on Virgin mobile which is a branch of sprint. However, The phone itself is nice. The trackpadd is responsive, the screen is bright and vivid, and the blackberry apps are very helpful. If you are a normal person, or if you own a small business, a blackberry curve is all you need. The Bold and the Tour are for big business people. But a blackberry is a blackberry all the same. Trackpads rule!!!!
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Poor Call Quality, Very Sort Battery Life
by darkguy64 on August 29, 2010
Pros: Good for first time SmartPhone user, easy to use and navigate
Cons: Battery life is extremely short and call quality is not good
Summary: Being my first SmartPhone, I was excited to get this Blackberry Curve. I like the size, the ease of use and the mouse pad vs. the little roller ball on ...
Summary: Being my first SmartPhone, I was excited to get this Blackberry Curve. I like the size, the ease of use and the mouse pad vs. the little roller ball on some of the older models my friends have. It has a very good array of features, the screen is large and clear. The sound qulaity of the phone is pretty bad. I keep trying to turn the volume up but it already at max volume. THe life of the battery is way too short. After using it for only a couple of hours during the day, I left it on overnight and it was almost dead in the morning. Good thing I bought the car charger and have one in my house as well.
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Nice graphics undone by poor battery life, call clarity
by seekingvalue on July 29, 2010
Pros: Improved graphics, thinner design, new touch pad replacing trackball, easy mute button on top, decent picture quality, Wifi and GPS enabled.
Cons: Below standard battery life-talk time 2 hrs, poor internet access frequently cannot view pages, slow processor,decent corporate email but delays email,poor call audio, bluetooth car connection poor call quality, no camera flash, GPS slow
Summary: Good looks, good graphics and nice touch-pad, but short battery life, poor call audio, slow processor, unreliable internet interface, and email delays prove too costly if you are looking for ...
Summary: Good looks, good graphics and nice touch-pad, but short battery life, poor call audio, slow processor, unreliable internet interface, and email delays prove too costly if you are looking for a capable smartphone for business use. My previous model 8310 had much longer battery life and better Buletooth connections and the data seemed to load faster. Model 8530 may be okay for a casual user, but will not work if you rely on your phone for more than two hours of talk time.
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Great phone for an introduction to smart phones
by gagolar on July 17, 2010
Pros: I love the size of my Blackberry, easy to manage, battery life its not the best but its decent. I'm on the phone making and receiving calls for an average of 4hrs and it holds the battery for the whole day. I only need to charge it at nigth.
Cons: Better camera with flash. Missing that from my previos blackberry.
Summary: I love my blackberry good phone to start with a smart, Im not an application guy and all the apps that I have work perfect like Pandora, Flixster and Google ...
Summary: I love my blackberry good phone to start with a smart, Im not an application guy and all the apps that I have work perfect like Pandora, Flixster and Google Maps. I also use Skype and works really clear and I'm able to do international phone calls without paying extra on my plan.
The only thing that i feel needs to improve is the camera quality and add the flash on. Everything else I love it.
And also their is no perfect phone outhere. Take care of any phone and it will work good for you. -
Not as good as other smartphones
by SasoriSoren on July 14, 2010
Pros: Call Quality, though not as good as some other phones, is better than most other phones, especially the iPhone and Droid Lineup
Keyboard is amazing and does not feel cheap compared to the Bold or TourCons: The rubber at the top and bottom feels cheap, leather would have been preferable. The plastic feels kind of cheap too.
Summary: The phone performs great and regardless of the lower-res screen does what you need it to do as a phone and as a blackberry. All the needed features exist. WiFi ...
Summary: The phone performs great and regardless of the lower-res screen does what you need it to do as a phone and as a blackberry. All the needed features exist. WiFi works great but is not necessary as the 3G is usually fast and dependable. The Apps are limited, but as this is a business centric phone the mass apps that Apple and Android have are kind of moot to the phones purpose. Facebook and Twitter exist and so do some games and internet radio apps. Aside that there isn't much more you need to have available, if you need that stuff at all.
The phone is sturdy and feels like it would survive a sizeable drop, but I suggest getting an OtterBox case for the phone regardless because these things are spendy to replace.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: BlackBerry
- Part number: Curve 8530 in Black
- Description: BlackBerry Curve 8500 series smartphones neatly fit in your hand. Comfortably send messages with the full QWERTY keyboard. The bright 320 x 240 pixel screen displays over 65,000 colors, and delivers a great viewing experience. Know where you stand - and where you're going. GPS on your BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone works with BlackBerry Maps. Pinpoint your location and get turn-by-turn directions to your destination.
General
- Packaged Quantity 1
- Product Type Smartphone
- Form Factor Full keyboard
- Phone Design PDA
- Integrated Components Digital camera,
Digital player,
Voice recorder - Width 2.36 in
- Depth 0.55 in
- Height 4.29 in
- Weight 3.7 oz
- Body Color Black
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X
- Band CDMA2000 1X 1900/800
- Service Provider Verizon Wireless
- Operating System BlackBerry Handheld Software
- Input Device(s) QWERTY keyboard
- Phone Navigation Buttons Trackball
Messaging & Internet
- Cellular Messaging Services MMS,
SMS - Instant Messaging Services RIM BlackBerry VM Client
- Messaging & Data Features Text messages,
Multimedia messages (MMS),
Instant messages,
E-Mail - Mobile Services VCAST
Communications
- Data Transmission EV-DO
- Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11b/g,
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR - Bluetooth Profiles Serial Port Profile (SPP),
Object Push Profile (OPP),
Hands Free Profile (HFP),
Headset Profile (HSP),
Dial-up Networking Profile (DUN),
Phonebook Access Profile (PBAP),
Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP),
Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) - Communication Features Internet browser,
Mobile Email client Phone Features
- Phone Functions Call timer,
Conference call,
Speakerphone,
Vibrating alert - Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Polyphonic Ring Tone Voice Qty 32
- Ring Tone Formats MP3,
MIDI - Additional Features GPS,
Trackpad,
Voice dialing,
microSD card slot Organizer
- Personal Information Management Calendar,
Calculator,
Reminder,
Alarm clock Media Player
- Supported Digital Audio Standards eAAC+,
AAC +,
MP3,
WMA,
AAC,
AMR - Supported Digital Video Standards MPEG-4,
H.263,
H.264
Memory
- RAM 128 MB
- ROM 256 MB - Flash
- Supported Flash Memory Cards microSDHC
Digital Camera
- Sensor Resolution 2 megapixels
- Focus Adjustment Focus free
- Digital Zoom 5
- Video Recorder Resolutions 176 x 144 (QCIF),
320 x 240 (QVGA) Navigation System
- GPS Navigation A-GPS receiver
- Navigation Software & Services VZ Navigator
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT Transmissive
- Diagonal Size 2.5 in
- Display Resolution 320 x 240 pixels
- Color Depth 16-bit (65000 colors)
Battery
- Technology Lithium ion
- Capacity 1150 mAh
- Run Time Details Talk - up to 270 min,
Standby - up to 252 hour(s) Miscellaneous
- Compliant Standards HAC(Hearing Aid Compatible)
- Included Accessories Power adapter , Power adapter
Product series
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BlackBerry Curve 8530 - black (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: BlackBerry
Specs: Verizon Wireless,
CDMA2000 1X,
With digital camera / digital player,
3.7 oz,
2 megapixels,
2.5 in -
BlackBerry Curve 8530 - smoky violet (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: BlackBerry
Specs: Verizon Wireless,
CDMA2000 1X,
Up to 270 min,
With digital camera / digital player,
3.7 oz,
2 megapixels,
2.5 in
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse BlackBerry products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:BlackBerry
- Address:
295 Phillip Street, Waterloo, ON N2L 3W8 - Phone: 1-519-888-7465
- Email: webinfo@rim.net
- Fax: 1-519-888-7884
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