CNET Editor's rating: 8.3 out of 10
Reviewed by
Bonnie Cha
Review date: 11/02/07
The good: The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310 adds GPS capabilities to the already impressive and sleek messaging smartphone. You also get a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and good call quality.
The bad: The Curve 8310 doesn't offer Wi-Fi or 3G support. The Web browser isn't the sleekest, and the camera lacks video-recording capabilities. Also, unlike the T-Mobile version, you get only the proprietary BlackBerry Messenger IM client.
The bottom line: Still offering an attractive design and excellent messaging capabilities, the addition of GPS makes the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310 an even more attractive choice for road warriors.
Editor's note: This review has been updated to include the results of our battery drain testing.
Back in May, we fell in love with the original RIM BlackBerry Curve, but a recent refresh of the smartphone has our hearts pitter pattering all over again. The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310 keeps the same sleek design and robust messaging capabilities of its predecessor, but then adds GPS capabilities. The ability to use your smartphone as a navigation device is particularly useful for mobile professionals who are constantly on the road, running to meetings or traveling for business trips. And we found it to be quite the capable navigator during our road tests using the TeleNav GPS Navigator service. The tradeoff is that for the GPS, you give up integrated Wi-Fi, which is what T-Mobile opted for in the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320 (we know--we want both, too) and there's no 3G support yet. For this review, we chose to concentrate on the features and performance of the device; for more details on the phone's design, please check our review of the original Curve. The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310 is available now from AT&T for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates, in either red or titanium.
Features
The biggest difference between the original Curve and the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310 is the addition of GPS. With this feature, you can use Curve as a handheld navigation device with the addition of a location-based service (LBS) or navigation software, such as Google Maps for Mobile. AT&T offers its own LBS called TeleNav GPS Navigator, which includes color maps and text- and voice-guided driving directions, and local search. You can find out more about the add-on service in our full review of TeleNav, and be aware that the service costs $9.99 per month for unlimited trips or $5.99 for up to 10 trips. Check out the Performance section to see how the Curve fared as a navigator.
Other wireless radios on the Curve 8310 include Bluetooth and EDGE. Bluetooth allows you to connect to wireless headsets, Bluetooth stereo headsets, and hands-free kits. In addition, there's support for object exchange and dial-up networking so you can use the device as a wireless modem for your laptop. Unlike T-Mobile's Curve, however, this version doesn't have integrated Wi-Fi, so you'll have to surf the Web via AT&T's EDGE network. As we've said many times before, we know EDGE isn't that slow, but after using other 3G-enabled phones, the EDGE data transfer speeds tested our patience a bit.
As for voice features, the Curve is a quad-band world phone and offers a speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, and speed dial. The phone features advanced audio technology that's supposed to cancel out background noise and echoes and will automatically increase the volume when you're in a noisy environment. In addition, the smartphone supports AT&T's push-to-talk service, allowing you to instantly see the availability of your contacts before calling them and make individual or group PTT calls. PTT plans start at $9.99 per month. The BlackBerry 8310's phonebook is limited only by the available memory--the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts--with room in each entry for eight phone numbers, e-mail addresses, work and home addresses, job title, and more. For caller ID purposes, you can assign a photo to a contact as well a group category--business or personal--or one of 45 polyphonic ringtones. The Curve also supports MP3 and MIDI ringtones.
With a spacious full QWERTY keyboard, the BlackBerry Curve is an awesome messaging machine.
And what's a BlackBerry without e-mail? Like other models, the Curve 8310 is compatible with your company's BlackBerry Enterprise server with support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise to deliver corporate e-mail in real time. In total, the device can support as many as 10 accounts, including POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts, and there is an e-mail wizard on the device to guide you through the setup process. The recently added spell-check feature will look for any spelling errors in your messages before they're sent and offer alternatives to misspelled words. And while it's available for e-mails and memos, unfortunately it's not available for text messages. An attachment viewer is also onboard to open popular file formats such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect, PDFs, JPEG, GIF, and more, and we were able to receive and open all files. Other messaging options include text, multimedia, and instant messaging, although the latter is limited to the proprietary BlackBerry Messenger client.
One-upping the BlackBerry Pearl, the Curve boasts a 2-megapixel camera (vs. 1.3 megapixels) with a 5x zoom and a built-in flash, but unfortunately, still no video-recording capabilities. You do get three picture sizes (1,600x1,200; 1,024x768; and 640x480) and three quality options (superfine, fine, and normal). You can also tweak the white balance and add color effects. Picture quality was decent. Images were sharp, and though we wish the colors were a bit brighter, the quality was better than a number of other camera-equipped smartphones we've tested recently.
The Curve's 2-megapixel camera produced some fair photos with sharp definition and decent color quality.
For more entertainment, there's also a media player onboard that supports MP3, AAC, MIDI, and WAV music files and AVI, MP4, MOV, and 3GP video formats. There's 64MB of flash memory, but you should store multimedia files on a microSD card since they tend to be memory hogs. The music player is pretty rudimentary, but it displays some track information such as title, artist, and album art, and you can create playlists as well as shuffle and repeat songs. You can have music play in the background as you use the device's other apps, and if there's an incoming call, the Curve will pause the music, then pick up where you left off after you hang up. One notable improvement to the video player is the support for full-screen mode, so you can take advantage of the entire screen's real estate. The 3.5mm headset jack is also a boost, since it gives you the ability to plug in a better set of headphones or earbuds.
Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE) RIM BlackBerry Curve in San Francisco using AT&T service, and call quality was just OK. We had no problems hearing our callers or interacting with our bank's automated voice response system, but we did notice a slight background hiss. Speakerphone quality was good, and we were able to connect to the BlackBerry with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset.
General performance was fairly responsive. Occasionally, we had to watch the hourglass twirl but we didn't run into too many delays when opening or working in various apps. Web-browsing definitely could have used a speed boost, and the BlackBerry Web browser isn't the sleekest, so the Curve isn't exactly a standout in this category. Music playback through the device's speakers was good for a cell phone, with plenty of volume and good balance. Video clips were smooth with synchronized audio and images, but as expected, there was some pixelation of the picture during action sequences.
As for the GPS capabilities, it took the Curve about 10 minutes to acquire the necessary satellites to get a fix on our position and we also noticed that it took a while for the maps images to fully load. However, once locked on, the Curve did a good job of tracking our location and providing us with directions. We entered a trip from the Marina district of San Francisco to CNET's downtown headquarters, and the TeleNav service quickly returned with accurate directions. We were also impressed that the app offers text-to-speech functionality, so it speaks actual street names, allowing you to pay more attention to the road rather than looking at the phone's screen. That said, maps looked sharp and vibrant on the Curve's display.
The BlackBerry Curve is rated for 4 hours of talk time and as long as 17 days of standby time. In our battery drain tests, we were able to beat the rated talk time by an hour with 5 hours on a single charge. According to FCC radiation tests, the BlackBerry Curve 8310 has a digital SAR rating of 1.51 watts per kilogram.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular I'm in love with this phone
I moved from VZW and 4 Winblowz Mobile devices. 3 died (Moto Q's) and the battery guzzling brick known ...
I moved from VZW and 4 Winblowz Mobile devices. 3 died (Moto Q's) and the battery guzzling brick known as a Treo 700wx. I'm a road warrior traveling for business so I'm just absolutely in love with this phone. AT&T coverage has been surprisingly good, customer service for me has been fantasic (not that I needed it). I've read so much negative about Cingular/ATT but I'm getting terrific reception and signal during this trip with one so-so area inside part of the building I work in. Email is awesome as expected, form factor is damned near perfect IMHO. No 3G or wi-fi isn't a big deal for me - EDGE works acceptably well and I'll take the extra battery life personally. Call quality is good/very good and I've had literally ONE dropped call this past week (in above mentioned crappy coverage zone). I love the built in GPS (one less thing to carry, loose, charge, whatever). Some gripe about having to pay for TeleNav when Google Maps is free along with Yahoo! Well, my limited experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive with TeleNav. Turn by turn, good routing, text to speech is great, route/recalculate speed has been 10X better than my Garmin i3 at home. Turn off BT unless you're using it and get a BB holster with a magnet for automatic standby functionality and you've got a email/messaging/telephone powerhouse that will get you through an entire day of wailing on all of it for business use (I'm a traveling consultant) and then find a good bar for happy hour afterwards and get you there door to door straight from the browser. Plus a semi-decent camera to always have with you. Best phone I've ever owned and hands down the best business tool I use daily. Instant crackberry addiction in my case.........
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by volsfan0911 (see profile) -
October 25, 2007
8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 out of 10 - Mediocre Could be great, but has serious issues
I have long been a TREO user. My 680 had many issues, features that should have worked but didn't. ...
I have long been a TREO user. My 680 had many issues, features that should have worked but didn't. I threw in the towel and bought a 8310 and found many of the "normal" features that my TREOs had were missing! No touchscreen...I really miss it, makes navigation so much easier.
No email folders (I can't create 5 user folders to store emails in for future use, just one "saved items" folder is suggested), No sent items folder either. No deleted items folder, once you delete email it is gone forever...unbelievable.
When writing emails you often need to go back a line and insert/alter text, there are no navigation keys for this you MUST use the trackball which is a large pain. I also miss the quick menu bar that was easy to navigate through.
I also found synch options with the Blackberry were poor when compared to the TREO
I have sent the TREO 680 for repairs, when it returns I will go back to using the TREO, and put the 8310 up for sale, the TREO has faults but still much easier to use than the Blackberry
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by Knightow1 (see profile) -
December 22, 2007
9 out of 10 - Spectacular A feminine phone of class and elegance
I have been lurking the review boards for the ideal smartphone with full keyboard, i'm not fond of the ...
I have been lurking the review boards for the ideal smartphone with full keyboard, i'm not fond of the intuitive textin'.
I have had an E62 for a year now and while it was a beautiful phone, it was manly.
Since I picked up the curve less then a week ago, I have fallen in love. The size of the phone is a drastic difference to N62 as well as the weight.
It doesn't have wifi, but neither did my 62 and until I can get an E61i up here, wifi is not a big loss.
The overall plus of this curve is the feeling of working with a classy phone that feels like females were taken into account at the design stage of this.
I downloaded google talk, so I am still able to chat with my friends while on the go. I have yet to try MSN on this yet, I will wait abit before I try that.
Truly a worthwhile purchase for any female looking for a smartphone with that wow factor!
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by ladyslm (see profile) -
November 20, 2007
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
6 out of 10 - Good A very old feeling smartphone
I own a blackjack 2, and now work has given me a blackberry. What's interesting is that before the ...
I own a blackjack 2, and now work has given me a blackberry. What's interesting is that before the blackberry, I wasn't thrilled with the blackjack. But after a month of owning both -- I have come to appreceiate the blackjack far more.
Let's get to the essence of this phone -- it is soley for hooking up to blackberry email servers. If you get the phone for any other reason, you'll be dissapointed -- the phone is crippled without the service. If work is paying for that service, then fine. But if it isn't, I recommend going to Blackjack2 which can synchs up to any pop and exchange server with the most basic data plan and without the monthly toll from Research In Motion's servers.
The phone's screen is bright, but washed out. The keyboard is cramped and relies on shortcuts for frequently used punctionation. It is a big step back from the blackjack2 which is my favorite keyboard to date. But I do love blackberry's track ball. At work, the failure rate for this track ball has been rather high, but this is a new model and maybe the kinks are worked out.
Call quality is ok, but not great. But once I plug in my bluetooth headset, call quality improves dramatically. There isn't a dedicated mute button - this is an awful phone to use while in a car. Blackjack 2 offers a much better call experience.
The memory card slot is behind the battery -- normally I don't mind that -- I mean how many times do you need to access the slot. But on the blackberry, removing the battery is akin to a hard reset, and the bootup time takes *forever*.
The blackberry OS feels & looks so so dated. The fonts look awful. If you have multiple email accounts the system for navigating email folders is klutzy.
If you have choice at work for smartphones, I would recommend looking elsewhere. Windows Mobile 6 is a much better experience, and their email synching ability now keeps up with blackberry services without the blackberry cost.
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by seespottype (see profile) -
July 6, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Professionals can have fun, too
I upgraded to the 8310 from an 8700c (and a Palm Treo 650). The 8310 does away with the side ...
I upgraded to the 8310 from an 8700c (and a Palm Treo 650). The 8310 does away with the side scroll wheel (which broke on my 8700 after about 2 years) and put in place a trackball. This Blackberry also did away with plastic holster (which caused me to frequently drop my 8700) and provides a fake-leather protective carrying case allowing you to finally carry your Blackberry in your pocket (without scratching it up).
Unlike the 8700, RIM finally answered consumer cries and added a 2.0 megapixel digital camera. It's no Cannon Powershot or EOS, but its sure a whole lot better than the camera on the Palm Treo 650.
This 8310 also comes with a TeleNav GPS feature (monthly charges apply if you choose to activate), voice dialing, music & games download capability and the same email, in depth address/contact book, the addictive 'BrickBreaker' game and calendar/ organizer that I have become so dependant on for work.
RIM Blackberry went from the "all work, no play" mentality of the 8700's to the "you CAN have your cake and eat it, too" of the 8310's. Hats off to RIM for making a great phone so much better.
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by michaelmiller77 (see profile) -
May 23, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Close to perfect, only a few problems
The feel of this phone is tops for any full qwerty smart phone. It is light and slim and easy ...
The feel of this phone is tops for any full qwerty smart phone. It is light and slim and easy to hold. The battery life is phenomenal, and it's easy to learn to use. I like the trackball since I do a lot of blogging from my phone. It allows me to quickly scan text and make corrections without scrolling one letter at a time. I particularly like the holster for the phone which puts the unit on standby disabling the keyboard while it is holstered. This saves battery life and keeps you from making accidental "pocket calls". I don't like belt clip phone holsters anyway, so this leather pouch is perfect for the pocket. This phone also gets a good signal. The screen auto dims in low light to save battery, when the lights are too bright to see the screen well, it brightens up automatically. Unfortunately, there is no 3G data connectivity, no video capture, yahoo mobile is not supported (so you have to buy jive talk application), and you cannot have streaming media like youtube. One other thing I have noticed is that I have to leave java scripts disabled or my phone will freeze up or bog down. It's really close to being a perfect smart phone, especially for texting, emailing, messaging, and blogging.
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by CitizenCane (see profile) -
April 26, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Packs a huge punch for it's size!
This phone is by far the best phone I have ever purchased. The GPS is phenomenal and it is extremely ...
This phone is by far the best phone I have ever purchased. The GPS is phenomenal and it is extremely lightweight. Much easier to use versus the IPhone and HP's Ipaq due to the elevated buttons as opposed to a touch screen. Battery life is great and charge time is less than two hours. The GPS unit alone is worth the purchase price. Great job Cingular and I look forward to becomming a loyal Blackberry user!!!!
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by jasonturnage2 (see profile) -
November 12, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Blackberry isnt just for the business world anymore!
I have been a life long Palm user, and after wandering into my AT&T store and seeing the ...
I have been a life long Palm user, and after wandering into my AT&T store and seeing the new Curve, I decided to give it a spin. I have a BB for work, so I figured why not. I am tired of Palm's old OS, instability and lack of creative devices. I was anti BB for a long time, but am impressed with where they have come - being strictly an email client for the business world, to now being very user friendly. The device is fast for accessing information. I tried the free 30 day trial for telenav, and must admit - its pretty slick. The call quality is top notch, as well as the keyboard. I have average size hands but the touch on the qwerty keyboard is AWESOME! I miss my touch screen from my Treo 680, but the trackball makes it quite easy. I wish AT&T would quit trying to push their OZ messenger software and let us utilize Yahoo, AIM, etc. Overall this is a great device and Palm better get their act together and release their Linux based products SOON - if BB keeps putting out products like this - Palm will lose a large loyal customer base!
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by firefinder24 (see profile) -
November 11, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great phone & top class emailing features
Phone quality is excellent and the speakerphone is clear and loud. Its Size is smaller than my 8700c model so ...
Phone quality is excellent and the speakerphone is clear and loud. Its Size is smaller than my 8700c model so it fits much better in my hand. It lacks 3G & WIFI but has GPS. Its built-in GPS also works great with free Google Maps however if you want voice guided turn by turn direction you will have to buy TeleNav Service from ATT. Blackberry 8310 Curve delivers the legendary BlackBerry email experience. With BlackBerry push technology, you don't need to retrieve your email. Your phone will discreetly notify you as new email arrives. 8310 curve also supports AT&T's Push-to-Talk (PTT) service. Battery is rated for 4 hours of talk time but in reality it is more like 3. Bluetooth worsk great with stereo headset. The device is compatible with a wide variety of file formats, including MP3, WMA and AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ audio and WMV, MPEG4 and H.263 video. Voice-Activated Dialing (VAD) works only in quiet environments. QWERTY keyboard is good but small for most men. 8310 curve has a glossy plastic feel, which is obviously breakable and less sturdy than my older 8700c. I highly recommend you buy Protective Gel case to prevent accidental bumps and scratches. Web browser is very limited and is a joke compared to browsers on iPhone and other current Windows mobile devices. Its a shame that AT&T does not include popular messengers clients like YAHOO, AOL, ICQ MSN and GOOGLE TALK messengers on 8310 curve. If you want to chat using any of these messengers then you may have to buy JiveTalk or imPlus. These third-party chat clients allows you to chat in MSN / Windows Live Messenger, AOL / iChat, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber and Google Talk from your mobile.
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by moonnyc (see profile) -
November 3, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great features, poor GPS hardware
Quite amazed at the speed it takes the phone to boot up, go through the menus, etc... Very quick. The ...
Quite amazed at the speed it takes the phone to boot up, go through the menus, etc... Very quick. The GPS requires a clear-view to obtain satellite information. Once satellite is locked, then you must remain in the outdoors to continue receiving the GPS signal. A little disappointing, since other GPS devices work much better, even if in-doors and near a window. All other features of the device are pretty cool. Browser is not so fancy... a few sites crash.
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by apereymer (see profile) -
November 11, 2007
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