The BlackBerry Torch: First impressions count and the 9800 makes a great one

August 13, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke

Yesterday, I was one of the many (okay, tens of people) that arrived early at my local AT&T Store to purchase the much-anticipated BlackBerry Torch 9800. The official unveiling by RIM, hosted in New York, on August 3, 2010, gave the world a glimpse of what the 9800 and the all-new OS 6 had to offer. Truthfully, though, the event didn’t come close to doing the Torch justice.

Even RIM’s packaging of the device hinted at things to come. Packaged in a slim-downed, black box, the first impression I got was that this is definitely not your father’s BlackBerry. Of course, it didn’t stay in the package for very long. Within an hour of purchasing it, the 9800 was plugged in via USB and undergoing a device switch procedure from my Bold 9700. Anyone who has used both the 9700 and its predecessor, the 9000, will tell you that the two devices are world’s apart in terms of performance and feel. Having said that, I can say with 100% certainty that the 9800 takes the BlackBerry experience to the next level.

The form factor and aesthetics of the 9800 are unequaled when you compare it to both previous BlackBerries, as well as many other smartphones, in general. Initially, I was hesitant about how the slider would feel. Would it feel cheap and delicate? Luckily, this isn’t the case. When you slide the device open, it doesn’t really slide. It seems to glide. While the addition of a QWERTY keyboard may make it slightly thicker than the iPhone, any hesitation regarding the device’s potential bulkiness was quickly erased, once it was powered on and put through the tests. Immediately, one cannot help but notice the clarity and brightness of the display. From the first swipe of the touchscreen, I was convinced that, unlike so many other promising products, the BlackBerry Torch truly lives up to the hype it received from pre-release reviews.

What’s so great about the 9800? While 24-hours is too short a time to gather the necessary data to do a full review of the noticeable changes from OS 5 to OS 6, we can give you some first impressions.

Touch Interface – The touch screen is very responsive. Set by default to 100, some may have to actually tweak back the sensitivity. Unlike the Android OS (up through version 1.6), it doesn’t feel clunky. When you swipe it moves. When you tap it responds.

OS 6 Performance – The OS as a whole presents enough material for its own article. When RIM says things were completely redesigned, they aren’t kidding. Every aspect of use has demonstrated smoothness, acute responsiveness to touch gestures, and stability. There hasn’t been a single instance where an application, menu, or option hasn’t responded immediately to input.

Web Browsing – For the past several months, I’ve personally used a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and an iPhone 3GS, concurrently. Anyone else who has is sure to agree that the BlackBerry Browser has never been fast at opening anything and has, thusly, been inherently inferior to the iPhone’s Safari browser. With the 9800, those days are just a distant memory. For most normal users, it really doesn’t matter what the experts at RIM did to make it faster. The important thing is that it is. As long as your AT&T 3G signal is solid, when you tap a link, it opens immediately. There hasn’t been a single instance of the previously seen messages of “Opened 0 of 6″. Of course, the fact that pinch-to-zoom

Tabbed Browsing – This technically falls under web browsing, but the addition of this feature is so significant that it warrants its own headline. When you click on Java-scripted links designed to open a new window, it actually works. If you want to open a new tab, you can tap the icon at the top, right-hand corner of the Browser app and do so manually. This will also show you the tabs you currently have open in your browser session. Users can toggle between them, close them, or open a new one. Alternatively, users can also tap and hold on a link within a page. This will open the soft-key options menu, which includes an option to open the link in a new tab. Additionally and similar to Google’s Chrome browser, you can also do searches by typing your query into the address bar and tapping the return key.

The Today Screen and Notifications – While this isn’t the technical name for it, it describes the function it serves. The bar running across the top of the screen displays icons notifying of the emails, voicemails, tweets, etc. that are pending. Tapping on it causes a drop-down to open where email messages, the day’s calendar events, and other notifications are grouped in an organized manner. What was before a theme dependent function has now become a handy tool that is at the disposal of all BlackBerry Torch users (and hopefully OS 6 users on other, current devices when it’s released).

Social Feeds – The OS 6 running on the Torch also has a useful new icon labeled Social Feeds. Herein, users can configure Facebook, Twitter, AIM, BlackBerry Messenger and other social-related accounts, so that they aggregate to one common place. This doesn’t mean they’re all jumbled together, though. Each feed displays on its own screen when Social Feeds is opened. The user then swipes left and right to view updates from each account. It also has the ability to configure RSS feeds, which means that the days of relying on a third-party app like Viigio and other similar ones are over. Notification that there are new Social Feed events also displays in the standard notification bar at the top of the Home screen.

Landscape and Portrait Modes – Anyone who has regularly used an iPhone or iPod Touch will tell you that the lack of consistency between switching from portrait to landscape mode is annoying. Some apps have the functionality, while others don’t. Additionally, the iPhone won’t rotate to landscape when on the Home screen or during calls. In the case of the 9800, though, everything goes landscape. When a call is incoming and you pick up the phone and rotate it slightly, the mode shifts. When you’re browsing your Home screen, you’re met with the same results. This may be a small detail from some people, but it really shows that function was at the forefront of the design process.

QWERTY and Soft Keyboard – When you first use the touch-screen interface, you almost forget that there is an optical trackpad. It’s still there, though. You might also forget that you have a QWERTY keyboard under the glossy new touch-screen. It, too, is still there. The soft keyboard input does take a little getting used to. Its design is more like that of the Android OS than the iPhone. Thusly, if you’re an iPhone or iPod Touch user, it will take a few hours of use to get the feel of the keys. Once you get the feel of them, though, and remember that you have the optical trackpad at your disposal, navigation and use becomes quick and intuitive. If you’re planning on writing something longer than a few sentences, simply sliding up the front of the device will automatically shift you into manual input mode.

Is there more to say about the BlackBerry 9800? Of course, there is. There are a myriad of other new features that really require detailed review and highlighting. Honestly, I didn’t expect the Torch to be as great. I thought it would be a solid product from a trusted smartphone manufacturer. My expectations, though, have been surpassed within 24-hours of owning it. I look forward to having the time to go through each menu, app, and option to really see what other great things the Torch can do. Ultimately, I have no doubt that my list of likes will continue to grow.

To sum it all up, earlier in the day, someone on Twitter asked me how I would describe the 9800. I had to do it in 140-characters or less. My response said exactly what many people have waited to hear for several years: “The 9800 combines the QWERTY/stability love you had for BB w/ the touch screen lust you feel for the iPhone.” – As odd as it may sound, I said it, and, yes, I really meant it.