BlackBerry Storm 9500 vs BlackBerry Storm 9520

The Storm2, on the other hand, still boasts a depressing screen, but it's much more subtle in how it responds to user commands, thanks to four electrical actuators under the hood.

Although, some may argue, the Storm2 is so responsive that you may find yourself accidentally pressing buttons and letters you didn't intend to.

Vital statistics

The twin-like status continues when you take into account the main vital statistics of each handset. Both sport a 3.25in (360x480 pixels resolution) display that serve up the reddest reds and the blackest blacks you can imagine.

Both handsets measure in at 62.2mmx13.95mmx112.5mm (WDH). Interestingly, there's a slight weight difference between the two with the Storm2 5g heavier than its older sibling at 160g.

The real difference emerges when you look at connectivity options. While the Storm boasted HSDPA, A-GPS and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi was notable by its absence. Thankfully, this makes a late, but much needed, appearance at the party in the form of the Storm2.

The two siblings also share the same tastes when it comes to camera ratings, with 3.2 megapixels a piece with flash, auto focus and 2x digital zoom. When it comes to memory, however, the Storm2 gains a lead again with 256MB of Flash memory to the original Storm's 128MB. The former also comes bundled with a 2GB microSD card, while the Storm comes with just a 1GB version.

When it comes to battery life, there's a slight different between the two siblings. Both claim to offer six hours of standby, but they differ when it comes to talk time. Much of this can be put down to the addition of Wi-Fi in the Storm2, as that's likely to consume quite a bit of juice if you're a regular user.

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.