The Blackberry Torch 9800 has killer looks and it comes with a slider. It has got the same business class feel that we have come to expect from Blackberries, but the slider feature makes it look even cooler. The shape and size of Torch 9800 is very similar to the Bold 9700.

It’s the only slider Blackberry, so if you like slider phones; this one is made for you. It is also the first Blackberry that has the right kind of touch screen, kinda like an iPhone. Plus it’s the first Blackberry that has a 5MP camera. This says a lot about this phone. If you are looking for the best Blackberry, then Torch 9800 should be it.

Blackberry Torch 9800 Design

The Torch 9800 has an excellent and innovative design. Its touch screen slider and QWERTY keyboard allow the user to use it in both modes, open or closed. When open, the weight of the screen is balanced neatly on the keyboard and it doesn’t wobble as you type.

When RIM launched the Storm series, it got lukewarm response to touch screen, which made us believe that Blackberries and touch screens don’t go together, but Torch proved us wrong. With the right screen sensitivity, working on its touch screen is a breeze. Also, with HVGA pixel resolution and portrait orientation, it has decent vertical and horizontal viewing angles.

If you feel that RIM has cut back on key space by providing slimmer keys, don’t worry. There is also a virtual keyboard. And if you want to experience how Apple and Android users work, just type in a message while the slider is closed. It will bring to you a virtual keyboard and you can tap in the message using on-screen keys.

The layout of on-screen keyboard is different than the traditional Blackberry QWERTY keyboard, so you’ll have bigger keys there. The remaining portion of the phone is quite similar to the Bold 9700, with LED flash and 3.5 mm socket for headphones (but you’ll find it on the right this time). You’ll also find the same lock and mute buttons on the top, along with a micro SD card slot on the side.

Difference

A slider and a touch screen say it all. While all the Blackberries look classy, this one is a notch above all of them. It comes with Blackberry OS 5.0 and can be upgraded to 6.0.

Apart from the looks, there is a lot of difference in the feel of the phone. The home screen shortcuts of this phone are more customizable. While in earlier models, there were just a couple of predefined shortcut rows, now you can select 0, 1, or 2 rows by pulling the menu drawer up/down.

And you can let it sit on the screen at whichever position you want to. Plus there are different shortcut collections this time: All, Media, Favorites, Frequent, and Downloads. The default would be All, and your most used programs would be found under Frequent.

There is also a significant difference in the browser. Previous Blackberry browsers haven’t been great, but with Torch 9800, RIM has launched a new browser that has better in-page navigation. There are options like pinch-and-zoom, and smooth scrolling.

The limitations are that there is still a little lag while the desired data is returned after passing through Blackberry servers, and they don’t offer Flash support. But all-in-all, it’s much better than the previous browsers.

Performance

The phone doesn’t show lag, and the applications don’t crash much (unless you have a faulty app). The power off and booting speeds are much better than the previous versions. In fact, if you have worked on any Blackberry before, you’ll experience a noticeable speed difference with its flawless processing.

Just like other Blackberries, Torch 9800 also supports multitasking. There is just a slight bit of problem here. Since the phone allows multitasking, you can open a lot of apps, and thus run down the processing speed of the phone to the ground. But here is what you can do to avoid it: when you have to quit from an app, instead of pressing the End Call button, press the Escape button. The End Call button will simply bring you to the home screen without closing the app, while the Escape key will close the app and save processing power.

Another important feature of this phone is the quality of its 5MP camera. Though RIM doesn’t speak much about its camera, the 5MP clicker on this phone is really fast. The average time between shutter closing and picture processing is about 200ms. While in other phones you have to wait for the image to appear, with Torch 9800, you can click and see the results immediately.

The LED flashlight is a bit too bright and thus the images might look somewhat washed out, but the focus of the camera is sharp and covers all important details.

Battery

Though the battery of Blackberry isn’t exactly what it used to be, Torch 9800 offers much better battery life than its elder brothers. It doesn’t eat up a lot of power and gives a decent talk time.

If you use your phone too much - checking your mails, talking to clients, and generally using the phone a lot- you should be able to use it the entire day if you charge it during night time. And if you also listen to music on it and keep texting all day, you probably should carry a portable charger with you.

Let’s discuss some specs here:

Display Technology	TFT
Display Resolution	360px X 480px
Input	QWERTY Keyboard
Standby Time	432 hrs
Talk Time	5.5 hrs
Positioning System	Integrated GPS
WLAN	Wi-Fi, UMA
Bluetooth	v 2.0
USB	v 2.0
EDGE	Class 10
GPRS	Class 10
Java	MIDP 2
Operating System	BlackBerry OS
Major Software	Blackberry Connectivity
RAM	512MB
Processor Speed	624MHz
Internal Memory	4GB
External Memory	micro SD
Camera Resolution	5 MP
Sensors	Proximity Sensor
Battery	1300mAh
Camera Flash	LED
Weight	161g
Dimensions	111 x 62 x 14.6mm
Form Factor	Slide
BlackBerryRocks Rating

Our Conclusion on The Blackberry Torch 9800

The Torch 9800 certainly creates a fine line between Blackberries and its competitors. If you want to switch from iPhone/Android to Blackberry, then Torch 9800 should be it. You’ll feel relieved to have a better battery life along with two keyboards at your service. The slider of the phone makes it look really cool, and it is a great addition to the otherwise normal Blackberries. If you are into touch and play gaming, this is the best Blackberry for you.

While it might not be enough to attract people away from iPhone/Android, the QWERTY keyboard is the main reason people choose Blackberries. And of course there are business functionalities as well. If you were to select one Blackberry this season, which one would you select?

Where Can You Buy The Blackberry Torch 9800?

The cheapest place we found for an unlocked version of the Blackberry Torch 9800 is Amazon.

Click here to order one now at 60% OFF or contact your phone carrier.