New BlackBerry Torch 9800

The BlackBerry Torch has been in the office for a couple of weeks now and we’ve had a long time to think about some of the intricacies of using this device for both business and pleasure. The Torch is the first BlackBerry to feature BlackBerry 6, a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard and RIM employees have been quoted saying it’s the best BlackBerry to date. Touchscreen devices are likely a sensitive issue with RIM as the company has had a lot of negative press over the BlackBerry Storm. The Torch has a touchscreen that has dropped the infamous SurePress technology and there is a lot of buzz about this device given the heated consumer smartphone competition. Have these improvements made it the best BlackBerry to date? Lets take a long, hard look at this device (that’s what she said).
Initial Impressions
Unboxing
Unboxing the BlackBerry Torch is a much better experience than with previous BlackBerry devices. RIM has done a great job of updating their device packaging so it isn’t stuffed with manuals, CDs and giant chargers that take up space. The new BlackBerry packaging is about half the size and doesn’t come with a case like they used to. It’s a little lame to not get a case but it makes a lot of sense not to include it anymore. By not giving the user a free case, RIM has really opened up the third party case market. One accessory RIM did include in the box was a “BlackBerry Polishing Cloth”. As you would expect, the Torch touchscreen finds itself covered in smudges. This is standard with any touchscreen and it’s awesome that RIM included a cloth to help keep your device nice and shiny. Another great update to the standard BlackBerry accessories is the charger. The new charger is just a little socket piece that a USB cable plugs into. This new charger saves a lot of space and is great to include with the Torch. Now, if only the standard BlackBerry earbuds could be updated.
Size, Weight and Feel

When you first pick up a BlackBerry Torch, you immediately realize that it’s a big device, especially when compared to the Bold 9700 or the Curve 8900. If you’re a Storm2 user, it will probably feel pretty natural in your hands because they’re similar in size and weight. Personally, I enjoy a large smartphone and think the Torch’s size is more of an advantage for smartphone power users that want a large screen and ample finger space. At the same time, I can imagine a lot of users that are very particular about the device’s size being turned off by such a boat of a BlackBerry.

Accelerometer

One of the first things I wanted to try when I powered up the Torch was the accelerometer. On the Storm and Storm2, the accelerometer is pretty weak and the device takes about a second to realize that it needs to change from portrait to landscape. On the Torch, changing from portrait to landscape is very fast and consistent. One thing to note about the accelerometer is that when the keyboard is lout, the display is locked in portrait mode. This makes sense because you don’t want to be composing an email with the keyboard slide out and accidentally find yourself in landscape mode.
The downsides to the slider form factor is that it takes some getting used to and I find myself accidentally pressing the screen constantly. There are really two ways you can open your Torch: by sliding the device open from the touchscreen with your thumb, or pushing it open from the bottom of the screen near the trackpad. In both of these instances, I find myself accidentally pressing buttons. I have seen other phone manufacturers get around this scenario by adding an ergonomic groove near the bottom of the screen to help you push up the slider without pressing any buttons. Perhaps RIM could have used a something like this.

When sliding the device open and closed, you can feel that the quality of the device is pretty solid, but there is a little bit of a “wiggle”. When you slide the device open, you can feel the screen being pushed by a mechanical force and locked in place once it’s fully opened. On the other hand, with the device fully open, you can feel it wiggle side to side a little, which worries me that this problem would be seriously exacerbated over time. Closing the slider gives a similar feeling of satisfaction as closing a clamshell phone, except for the fact that you don’t end the call.

Something that needs to be addressed with the Torch and BlackBerry 6 is the lock mechanism. With BlackBerry 6, RIM separated out the Lock and Password Lock functionality. The Lock button on the top of the device locks the unit, so there are no accidental key/screen presses, while Password Lock and Timeout requires users to enter their password. Unless my device was locked with a password, I found the Torch would often do some strange things in my pocket such as open applications, send accidental emails or turn the music on when the mute button was pressed. This frustration may be more of a BlackBerry 6 issue, and less to do with the Torch.

Overall, the slider mechanism was fairly well implemented and while the accidental button pressing is a setback, the benefits of having essentially two phones outweighs the small frustrations.

blackberry torch

Keyboard (Physical)

The keyboard on the Torch looks to be about the same size as the Bold 9700, but with a very different feel to it. Maybe it’s because the device is a slider, but it feels like the keys on the Torch are a little recessed, perhaps to allow a screen to roll over it. The slider form factor has a significant impact on the way the keyboard feels as well. When you use the keyboard, you obviously have to open the slider which changes the weight balance of the device. While this doesn’t necessarily make for a bad typing experience, it takes some getting used to. A downside of the Torch keyboard is that the top row of keys are a little too close to the bottom of the touchscreen. Personally, I find that big thumbs feel a little cramped when using the top row, but it’s nothing too significant. Overall, the keyboard on the Torch is just slightly less efficient than my Bold 9700, which in the end makes it a really solid keyboard.






Touchscreen

For the longest time RIM has been trying to reinvent the touchscreen and stick it to Apple. They did this by creating a new technology they called SurePress, which is implemented on the Storm series devices. While a lot of users are really happy with the Storm, I personally wasn’t a fan of SurePress. While the typing experience was a little more confident than on an iPhone, it was still difficult to send out emails at anywhere near an acceptable speed. The touchscreen on the Torch is more like an iPhone and it makes you wonder if RIM is ditching SurePress altogether.

Using the touchscreen on the Torch is a very refreshing experience. The touchscreen really revolutionizes the way you navigate around your device and makes the experience not only faster, but much more fun. Browsing through homescreen tabs is a smooth experience, albeit some lag, and the touchscreen lets you have more control over the experience with the swipe and pinch gestures.

In terms of resolution, the Torch’s 480×360 display is nothing new but not necessarily anything to kvetch about. While the iPhone 4 may have a 960×640 display, I’ve seen it myself and there is no discernible difference between the iPhone 3Gs. Watching videos on a 480×360 display looks very clean and even browsing the web, I’ve never come across a situation where I was looking for more pixels. Higher resolution display seems like one of these features that looks great on a spec sheet, but doesn’t do much for your eyes when actually viewing it.
Keyboard (Virtual)

Typing on the Storm’s virtual keyboard wasn’t great and I’m inclined to say that the Torch isn’t better or worse, but equally bad. The keys on the virtual keyboard are cramped and the interpretive text isn’t great. If you’re going to be writing any colloquialisms, they’re not going to come through on the virtual keyboard. Also, the key layout is stagnant on the Torch’s virtual keyboard. When you’re entering data into an email field vs a web field, you’re looking at the same keyboard layout. This issue has been addressed ages ago on other smartphones and I’m surprised RIM didn’t realize you need a different key layout depending on what information you’ll be entering. Another strange thing about the virtual keyboard is that there is a button dedicated to changing the input language. Did RIM really think that Torch users would be changing languages so much that they needed to take up precious keyboard space with a language shortcut key? Users would have clearly preferred a shortcut to the ‘@’ symbol. Perhaps this is something they can change with a Torch OS update.

blackberry torch trackpad

Trackpad

There isn’t too much to say about the trackpad as it’s the same as any other BlackBerry trackpad. One thing that is interesting is the fact that there are three input methods (more on that below). With the trackpad, there are specific functions that make a lot of sense to use the trackpad for, but it takes a while to realize this. For example, when you’re composing a message, you may be inclined to use the touchscreen for cut and paste – don’t. The trackpad makes cut and paste much easier as you have more control over the selection process. Cut and paste on the touchscreen is the same as with the Storm and it’s just too fickle and uncoordinated.
General Impressions on Torch Input

There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to managing multiple input methods but it actually works quite well. When we first heard about the fact that the Torch would have multiple input methods, the first thing that came to mind was “that’s too bad, you’re giving developers additional porting work which could affect the content available.” From a user standpoint, having several input methods actually makes for a better overall experience so it’s probably better in the long run. Here is an example of the scenarios where you would use each input method:

Touchscreen: Navigating the homescreen tabs is easier with touchscreen gestures.
Trackpad: The trackpad is perfect for anything that requires precision. Copy and paste as well as navigating text to make an edit is best with the trackpad.
Physical keyboard: The BlackBerry keyboard is well respected for banging out emails. With the slider, you feel like you’ll be able to send timely messages.
Virtual keyboard: phone calls are faster with the virtual keyboard. You don’t have to open the slider to make a call and the virtual keyboard has nice big numbers to dial from.

Also worth mentioning is the lack of a second convenience key. The convenience key is placed on the lower portion of the right side of the device and can be set using in the options menu. Two convenience keys has always been important to me and I’m not elated about only having one, slightly awkwardly placed convenience key.

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