BlackBerry 8820 review

Multimedia support on a device without a camera is perhaps not a priority, although the 8820's media player works well enough and sports an easy-to-use interface.

The single earbud headset, although of good quality, is hardly suitable for listening to songs, however, making a stereo or Bluetooth headset an attractive upgrade. Call quality is good, however, and the speakerphone mode works especially well. Voice dialing is another neat function.

If you are in the market for a smartphone with a full-sized keyboard and are not worried about 3G support the 8820 is worthy of consideration, as long as the features of the BlackBerry Internet Service meet your needs.

For business users who already have a full BlackBerry email system in place, this smartphone is a useful upgrade, especially if you can make use of UMA services such as Orange's Unique.

But for small businesses and consumers who want quick and easy access to "push" email, BlackBerry is no longer the only fruit, and the 8820's other features such as its media player, GPS and Wi-Fi support may not be enough to compensate for limitations of BIS, no camera, and slow mobile access to the web.

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