Blackberry Curve 8520

Blackberry is usually a name associated with boring business phones, but having apparently got their phones into every office in the world, the company has recently been looking enviously at home users too.

You can’t blame it – Apple has been hoovering up users with its iPhone and even Google and HTC have been getting in on the act with their Android operating system phones.

Following the none-too-impressive Blackberry Storm - click here to see our video review of that model - the company’s latest model is the Curve 8520. This is a much more impressive model than the flawed Storm, its most impressive feature being the price.

Pay as you go users can pick it up for £200, and on a £25-a-month contract there will be no extra charge for the handset. That’s at least £10 a month cheaper than the iPhone, but then the 8520 is no iPhone.

It lacks the fast 3G data connection and it has no GPS so you can’t use it for accurate mapping. It can connect to wireless networks, though.

There’s no touch-screen: instead there’s a full keyboard below the screen, which itself is very impressive. Although it’s small, video looks extremely good on it.
Instead of the familiar Blackberry trackball, you can navigate the menus using this touch-sensitive pad.

Although this phone lacks some features, it’s good at what it does.

Look out for our full review of the Curve 8520 soon.