Research in Motion has released onto AT&T's 3G network a new smart phone called the BlackBerry Torch 9800.
The Torch is RIM's first portrait touchscreen slider and comes with an updated operating system and a new modern Web browser.
Hardware-wise, the Torch looks much like other BlackBerry devices.
The phone feels very solid and well-made, although it also feels a little squat and bulky.
The phone's design is due for an update.
It looks old compared to the current crop of smart phones.
The screen slides along an invisible track, and the action feels smooth and solid. Sliding the screen up reveals the much-loved BlackBerry keyboard.
The Torch's keyboard is the typical BlackBerry affair and is a joy to use.
The front of the phone is dominated by a 480 x 360 pixel touchscreen. The screen's colors are vibrant, but the screen is already a generation behind other smart phones when it comes to resolution and pixel density.
Touch sensitivity is mediocre. The phone sometimes has trouble tracking fingers accurately, such as misinterpreting swipes as taps or pinches as swipes.
This can lead to strange visual glitches and cause things to jump across the screen. It is possible that a future software update could improve the touch experience.
Text rendering was mediocre, with smaller text appearing blocky and hard to read. A higher resolution screen would have helped improve text legibility.
Inside, the Torch comes with 4 GB of storage space in the form of a microSD card, which can be replaced with up to 32 GB of storage. The phone also comes with 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS support.
RIM chose a 624 megahertz CPU.
That's slow compared to most current generation smart phones, which have at least a 1 gigahertz CPU (there are 1024 MHz in 1 GHz). That's almost 40 percent faster. The phone sometimes felt slow, although it is difficult to know whether that is a fault of the slow processor or the software.
If it is the latter, a free software update could fix the problem.
The Torch has a 5 megapixel camera and LED flash. The camera app is easy to use, and the picture quality is good.
The phone can shoot video up to 640 x 480, which doesn't compare to the 720p (1280 x 720) video that most current top smart phones can shoot.
The call quality was generally good. Calls were crisp and clear on both ends, although some callers on the other end reported that voices came across sounding slightly unnatural.
Occasionally, a slight metallic ring came through the ear piece.
The Torch comes with BlackBerry OS 6, RIM's new operating system. OS 6 is arguably the biggest selling point of the Torch.
RIM has taken some radical steps to solve the problems that have plagued past BlackBerry smart phones. Changes include a modern Web browser, a new e-mail framework, universal search and social networking tools.
There are some notable differences from BlackBerry OS 5. RIM has significantly cleaned up and smoothed out the user interface, and it now feels more polished and cohesive.
One of the biggest changes is the revamped home screen. The new home screen provides quick access to messages, sound profiles, network settings and an all-new universal search.
The new home screen also contains a drawer that slides up from the bottom of the screen, containing all of the phone's apps. The drawer is separated into different categories that can be swiped left or right.
Navigating the phone can be somewhat confusing. You can use the touchscreen or trackpad, and the phone often utilizes long presses, but it is not always clear where.
The user interface generally feels snappy, but there are occasional slowdowns, and sometimes the phone will appear to freeze without giving any indication that something is happening.
The new universal search, accessed from typing the name of anything on the home screen, is easy to use and works well. It searches through almost everything on the phone, and makes finding what you're looking for a snap.
One of the BlackBerry's greatest selling points is its e-mail support. If you use Enterprise-email, your experience should match that of previous BlackBerry's. If you use third-party e-mail, the phone presents you with two inboxes: one for your specific e-mail address, and another unified inbox. Both inboxes give you different sets of functionality for the same email messages, and you must jump between them to perform different tasks. It is confusing and clunky.
The unified inbox also contains SMS and MMS messages. This can be a plus, but it can also become cluttered and confusing.
The new Web browser on the Torch works very well. The Web browsing experience is much better than on any other BlackBerry. Web pages display correctly and load relatively quickly. You can pinch or double tap to zoom, and the browser includes tabs and a cursor (a major plus). The Torch's slow processor holds it back. The browsing experience is slow and the phone stutters while scrolling, zooming and loading new Web pages.
Most old BlackBerry apps will not be compatible with the Torch. Most new apps run fine, but games can run extremely slowly. This is not a gaming phone.
The battery life of the Torch is very good. It can go days between charges, and the battery is replaceable.
The phone feels physically solid, calls sound crisp and clear, and it has a good Web browser, but overall, I was left wanting.
The Torch looks and feels dated. It is slow, and I feel that the operating system needed more than a fresh coat of paint. RIM needed to radically redesign the BlackBerry operating system and hardware. Instead, they have taken a small evolutionary step in the right direction. The BlackBerry Torch would have been a solid phone had it come out a year ago, but it pales in comparison to today's top smart phones that run Palm's WebOS, Apple's iOS, or Google's Android operating systems.
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