BlackBerry Storm2 9520 review

Does the second generation Storm help us forget any hard feelings about BlackBerry's first touchscreen foray? We review the Storm2 9520 to find out.

BlackBerry Storm2

HSDPA and Wi-Fi are both supported, with the Storm2 quickly and easily locking onto our wireless network with ease. Surfing the web and viewing pages is much enhanced, thanks not only to the screen but also better support for CSS and Javascript.

App World also finds a home on the device, as you'd expect, offering up a world of opportunity for business users to access even more tools not already included out-of-the-box.

It would seem that the Storm2 has got it sussed when it comes to serving up the features and functionality demanded by business users. That said, it can also hold its own in terms of multimedia functionality.

A 3.5mm headphone jack is flushed within the casing, the speaker offers great audio quality and video is in its prime on the large screen, whether viewing from YouTube or elsewhere. There are also bundled games like Brickbreaker and Word Mole to amuse you.

The 3.2 megapixel camera is not award-winning but it does the job nonetheless and serves up average to good images as a result.

We always hope that future generations of phones build on the solid, or rocky, foundations created by their predecessors, but that's not always the case.

Thankfully, RIM has done business users proud with the Storm2 and we're happy to recommend it. The only trade off being, at present, much like its older sibling, the Storm2 is a Vodafone-only exclusive.

Click here to see what business deals Vodafone has to offer on the BlackBerry Storm2 (9520).

Verdict

The see-saw like depressing screen has gone in favour of a much better and more responsive way of entering text and commands. And, it’s this and such other enhanced usability features that are likely to make the Storm2 a firm favourite among business users. We liked the first-generation Storm as we thought it was innovative, but it wasn’t without kinks and we’re glad that these have been ironed out in the second generation.

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.