Blackberry Torch 9800

The Torch is a different BlackBerry than anything you've seen. Its developer, Research in Motion, has clearly put a great deal of thought into the device design, operation, and even its packaging.
This smartphone boasts a touchscreen, optical trackpad, and slide-out QWERTY keyboard giving it a unique form factor. It also features a revamped operating system complete with new browser designed to be more
social media centric.
At $200 on AT&T's 3G network, the BlackBerry Torch is designed to be RIM's flagship device.


Build & Design
The Torch is a touchscreen slider with a full keyboard and optical trackpad, a design that Research in Motion has never used before.
Like all of the newest harvest of BlackBerrys, there is plenty of faux chrome finish to go around. Also like the current generation of BlackBerrys, the styling becomes boring after approximately one second of looking at it.
This is RIM's first slider, and the company has done a fairly good job with this design. The sliding mechanism is smooth with the right amount of resistance. But there are a couple of issues: the device lacks a designated touch point to slide open the device, resulting in thumb smudges on the screen, and using the mute/lock rocker button on the top is awkward when the screen is extended.
Despite these minor detractions, RIM's designers did a good job of allocating enough space above the top-row of the keyboard with the slider open, which has been an issue on other sliders.
Overall the Torch feels well built, and is about as heavy as the competition. With the slider closed, it's 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.6 (111 x 62 x 15 mm).


Screen
The 480x360 3.2-inch touchscreen is lacking in both size and resolution. It's about par for the course compared to other BlackBerrys, but compared to Android OS devices and the iPhone 4 the quality of the screen seems almost an afterthought. If there were one deal breaker about the Torch, it might be the screen.
The touch aspect is comfortable. It is not as responsive or as smooth as the iPhone 4, but it proves usable for any application. Unlike RIM's failed attempts at touchscreens with the Storm and Storm 2, the device is more responsive when shifting from landscape to portrait, and is otherwise reliable and predictable.


Keyboards
The portrait-oriented sliding QWERTY keyboard is reminiscent of one on the the BlackBerry Bold 9700 -- it's a joy to use, and has almost no learning curve. Typing speed and accuracy is phenomenal compared to the virtual keyboard of other devices, like the iPhone.
Its virtual keyboard, on the other hand, is less impressive than other devices'. Despite offering interesting customizations such as AZERTY, QWERTY, QWERTZ layouts and predictive, corrective, and direct input modes, the Torch's on-screen keyboard's typing speed and accuracy pales in comparison to the competition. Still this isn't as big a deal as you might think -- beyond the occasional website or email address, I found myself switching the physical keyboard for almost all of my typing.


Performance
One of the things that sets the BlackBerry Torch apart from the others is the new OS 6.0 operating system. This takes the Torch's hardware advances and wraps them in a new user-friendly user interface.
Current BlackBerry users may find some of the menu layouts and options settings to be confusing. To overcome this issue OS 6.0 boasts a search bar that allows users to quickly find what they're looking for. There are a slew of new sounds, and editing ring profiles is easier than ever.
Where the OS really shines is in its interfaces. Users can just as easily manipulate the phone via the keyboard and trackpad as they can the touch screen.
There are now several homescreens that users can swipe between (or toggle between with the trackpad). Tapping a screen will enlarge it and reveal all of its contents.



Specifications

• Size:111mm x 62mm x 14.6mm (closed) 148mm x 62mm x 14.6mm (open)
• Weight: 5.68 ounces (161.1 grams)
• Processor: Marvell PXA940 running at 624 Mhz[2]
• Image System Processor (ISP): STmicroelectronics STV0987[12][12]
• Display: 3.2 inch HVGA+(480x360) Synaptics controlled touch screen[13]
• Camera: 5.0 MP camera (JPEG encoding) with flash, 2x digital zoom, image stabilization and auto-focus
• Video recorder: up to 480p resolution[1]
• Battery: 1300 mAhr removable/rechargeable lithium-ion cell[14]
• Battery life: 18 days (GSM) or 14 days (UMTS) standby; 5.5 hours (GSM) or 5.8 hours (UMTS) talk
• GPS using A-GPS with extended ephemeris and maps
• Input: trackpad, touch screen with on-screen keyboard (QWERTY and SureType), slide-out backlit QWERTY keyboard
• Video format support: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV3
• Audio format support: MP3, AMR-NB, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMV, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis
• Ringtones: MIDI, MP3
• Connectivity: 3G; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR; 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi; 3.5mm stereo headset, Micro-USB
• Networks:
• Tri-band 3G UMTS/HSDPA networks: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz