The Blackberry Torch 9860 is the latest smartphone from RIM. It measures 120 x 62 x 11.5 mm and weighs 135 g, which is average for a smartphone. It is remarkable for having the largest touchscreen ever made by RIM: its TFT capacitive touchscreen measures 3.7-inch diagonally, and supports a resolution of 480×800 pixels.
The Torch 9860 runs on the latest version of the Blackberry OS, the Blackberry OS 7, which has a number of new features and apps. The Blackberry OS 7 supports Liquid Graphics™, with the result that the phone has almost instantaneous response time, and more fluid animations. With the largest screen on a Blackberry phone ever, the 9860 arguably has the best-looking graphics for a blackberry phone, as can be seen in the following video:
Other features and apps include the new Blackberry browser, which supports seamless zooming and panning, and works 40% faster than the previous version. The phone supports HTML5 video format, which allows you to check your friends Facebook videos easily. The phone comes preinstalled with the WikiTude World Browser, which is an Augmented Reality Browser that allows you to integrate the real world with the online world in real time, and on your screen.
With its 5 Megapixel camera installed on its back, the phone supports HD video recording at 720p. Apart from video, the phone can also take beautiful photographs, especially when used with its 4x optical zoom. The camera comes installed with a powerful LED flash to take pictures in the dark.
One of the features that will save a lot of time for the users of the phone is Voice-activated Universal Search: it is a speech-to-text translation engine, which allows you to search for any email, file, music or other content by using just your voice. Without typing a letter, you can search the phone as well as the web.
The Blackberry 9860 supports Near Field Communication (NFC), which is protocol that allows different devices to connect with each other when in close proximity. Most Blackberry phones and accessories, as well as many phone models from other manufacturers, support NFC.
There are five buttons at the bottom of the screen: Call, Menu, Select, Escape and End button. The End button also serves as power on and off button. Even though the phone has a touchscreen, the Select button also serves as a trackpad. The trackpad is useful when you want more precision while interacting with your apps.
One disadvantages of this phone is that the screen is too small for typing when the phone is held straight. You have to tilt the phone in landscape mode to be able to type comfortably. It is cumbersome to hold the phone sideways just to send a message.
Another issue with the torch 9860 is the prices as it is not the cheapest phone of its kind on the market, however if you want one you can save money by using sites like http://blackberrycontracts.co.uk which allow you to compare prices for these phones. Although expensive, these are very good quality phones and are worth the price.
The phone has a single core CPU that runs at 1.2 GHz, and comes with on-board memory storage of 4 GB that can be enhanced using a MicroSD card of up to 32 GB. The battery can easily outlast a 10 hour workday; however under heavy load it does not last more than 8.5 hours.
Overall, the Blackberry 9860 is a well-designed phone with no significant drawbacks. As RIM’s first serious attempt at a smartphone, it does not disappoint. Though it cannot be called the best phone in its category, it is definitely one of the best choices if you want a RIM smartphone.