The Blackberry Torch 9860 introduces the company’s first full touch screen experience to Blackberry users. Quick and responsive thanks to its 1.2GHz processor and Blackberry’s Liquid Graphics UI running on top of their new OS 7. The Torch has a large screen resolution at 800 x 480 pixels on the 3.7 inch smart phone touch screen. The mobile does retain the optical trackpad and raised control buttons Blackberry fans are so familiar with. With its candybar form, the Blackberry Torch 9860 mobile has a nice little heft to it but is quite comfortable in one or both hands. The Blackberry App World is where you will find apps for just about anything, both free and paid. Since the Torch ships with a 1.2GHz core processor it completely accelerates the touch experience providing a great transition for Blackberry users.
BlackBerry Torch 9860, 50 minutes to any network and 250 texts.
Tariff Name: O2 50 (24m), Network o2, 24 Month Contract, 50 Anytime Minutes, 250 Free Text Messages, BlackBerry Torch 9860, Phone Price 210, Total Cost After Discounts £462
Overview
The Blackberry Torch 9860 is completely hardware accelerated by the 1.2GHz core processor and 768MB RAM. All touch screen operations are smooth and fluid. RIM did not take any half steps with the Torch 9860. Still filled with enterprise class applications and security through the Blackberry network, this mobile can do double duty as a business device or multimedia hand held. With a solid, metal body, this mobile sports a 3.7 inch screen with bright vivid colours at 800 x 480 pixels. The Torch fits the hand very well and you hardly notice its 135 gram weight. Connectivity is superior with access to the quad-band GSM, 3G, HSDPA, HSUPA and EDGE as well as WiFi and Bluetooth.
The Blackberry Torch 9860 has extremely smooth touch screen action thanks to Blackberry’s Liquid Graphics UI interface which is highly responsive to all the standard touch gestures like double tap and pinch to zoom. You can stay connected with the provided social apps for Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry Messenger. The mobile’s fluid screen swipes and flips are smooth and render quickly. The browser renders pages without noticeable pixilation. The redesigned touch screen keyboard is easy to use in landscape and the phone is easy to manipulate two-handed in that orientation.
The Torch’s 5 MP camera with LED flash features auto focus, image stabilization, face detection and geo tagging. Sharp colourful images with this camera are the norm, ready to share with mates and family. The only way the mobile’s camcorder could be improved is by shooting full 1080p, but its 720p High Def renderings are a hands down improvement over any other Blackberry. No frame lag and clear sound from speaker or ear buds during video playback. You get lots of storage room with the built in 4GB memory for video, picture and music files which is expandable to 32GB with a microSD card.
RIM has a clear winner with the Blackberry Torch 9860. Stylish curves on the frame set it apart from the usual touch screen device and that optical trackpad, proudly resting amongst the main feature buttons, still gives this mobile its distinctive Blackberry family look. Blackberry users no longer need to look elsewhere when they can experience the speed and convenience of an optimized touch environment with the Blackberry 7 OS on the Torch 9860.
Features
Band: Quad-band GSM support, 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Memory: 768 MB RAM; 4GB Storage; expandable microSD card up to 32 GB
Connections: Bluetooth 2.1, microUSB port; Wi-Fi: Yes, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA
Display: 3.7-inch 16M-colours, TFT
Camera: 5.0 megapixel
Dimensions: 120 x 62 x 11.5 mm
Weight: 135 grams
Battery: Li-ion battery
Battery Life in Stand-by Mode: Up to 324 hours (3G)
Battery Life in Talk Time: Up to 6.8 hours (3G)
Pros
Blackberry OS 7
Network support
Large screen
Graphics speed
Cons
None