BlackBerry Curve 8310 and 8320

That leaves browsing. You can connect to pretty much any 802.11b or g hotspot; we had no problems with WPA, WPA 2 and pay-for hotspots (if you need to sign in on a Web site rather than with the BlackBerry utility, turn off your mobile network and load any bookmark to be redirected as on a PC). The Wi-Fi utility scans for available networks but you can fill in network details manually if you're not broadcasting an SSID.

Using Wi-Fi cuts down the battery life more than GPS if you're loading Web sites, but just being connected to a hotspot doesn't have much impact; after a couple of hours surfing you'll be down to 85 per cent battery so much the same as using GPS. That means about an hour of daily surfing on Wi-Fi reduces the Curve's four day battery life to two days. Again, RIM's experience in power management makes a difference here, although this may be the reason why the Wi-Fi connection occasionally disconnected without warning (though we were always able to reconnect immediately). Other online applications didn't always work over Wi-Fi, like the Facebook application Orange includes on the 8310 - and the data connection over Wi-Fi doesn't have the same level of security as the usual wireless connection.

Pick a radio, any radio

If you like the design of the Curve 8300, you'll like the design of either model. You're getting a full QWERTY keyboard and trackball, a bright and clear screen that adjusts to ambient lighting, built-in spell checking and the best multimedia options RIM has managed (a simple media player, a two megapixel camera that doesn't record video, a microSD slot and a 3.5mm headphone socket). Both models have Bluetooth, so if you want both Wi-Fi and GPS you can pair the 8320 with a Bluetooth GPS receiver; if you're going to do that, look for something better than the BlackBerry Maps application.

Without UMA, GPS in the 8310 is probably more useful than Wi-Fi in the 8320. If you're holding out for a model with both, wait for a mobile operator to come up with a plan that makes Wi-Fi worthwhile.

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