BlackBerry Curve 8320 Phone, Titanium (T-Mobile)

One giant leap for BlackBerry fans September 28, 2007

Reviewer:  G. Frank  (New York, NY, USA) -

The feature that differentiates this from other Blackberries is UMA - unlicensed mobile access. In contrast to the AT&T Blackberry 8820, this T-mobile 8320 allows one to SPEAK over wifi. The 8820 can only use wifi for data.

It roams seamlessly between wifi networks and EDGE/GSM networks without dropping the call. I started a call from a Starbucks wifi network and walked out of its range. The phone switched over to the GSM network without dropping the call - no problem. I then walked into my office where there is wifi, and the phone switched over to wifi.

A few interesting points:

- Calls made over UMA (ie. wifi) are much clearer. They sound like an landline phone, not a walkie talkie.

- T-mobile bills you according to where you *initiate* the call. So if you start a call at home over your wifi and then walk out, you still don't get minutes deducted from your plan.

- The UMA HotSpot@Home add-on to your T-mo contract ($20/mo unlimited UMA talking for all lines on my family plan) also includes access to Hotspots at all Starbucks Cafes and airports. I didn't need to do a thing. As soon as I get near a Starbucks, the phone finds its Hotspot wireless network and latches on.

- I have significantly decreased the amount I spend monthly on voicetime by using a MyFaves family plan ($59/mo for 1000 whenever minutes) because all calls over UMA and all calls on to my 5 selected MyFaves numbers are not deducted from that plan's minutes.

- Tmobile gave me a free wifi router ($50 with a $50 rebate) that has been optimized for UMA voice. It firmware has been set up so that the UMA (VOIP traffic) is prioritized.

- I am SO dumping my Vonage line now. Vonage's voice clarity and reliability is nowhere close, and Tmobile's customer service is fabulous in comparison.

- I live in NYC and I recall when the cell networks went down on 9/11 due to overload. One comforting thought is that this phone will not die in times of network overload that since it can work on a completely different network (ie. wifi routers connecting to regular ISPs, which kept working on 9/11).

I'm a believer.

Solid all around performer September 26, 2007

Reviewer:  Wayne Schulz "mas90 accounting software guru"  (Glastonbury, CT USA) -

The Blackberry 8320 builds upon the popular Curve with the addition of WIFI and the ability to use both data and voice over WIFI. This is a bonus for those of us located slightly outside of the optimal coverage range for T-Mobile.

In addition, if you travel overseas and are within range of a WIFI hotspot, you'll be able to user your 8320 without any extra roaming or International fees (International fees always apply if you call International numbers - however you could use this phone overseas to call home without any added costs).

Some of the things I like about this phone:

1. The camera takes nice pictures and I've used it as a substitute for my regular digital camera. As with all cell phone cameras, the best quality is when you take a picture in direct sunlight. I upload the photos via email to my flikr account.

2. RSS reader built into the web browser

3. Spell checker now built into OS (just remember to correct any mis-spellings before you holster the device or the next time you look at your Blackberry you may see it reporting a spelling error and asking if you want to still send the email -- which you thought you sent hours ago)

Some of the things I dislike:

1. Blackberry devices still do not have the ability to display fully formatted html emails

2. The Blackberry devices are now being trickled out with selective features. For example, this model doesn't have GPS but does have WIFI. It's as if Blackberry is milking the product line for all it's worth -- and trying to get people to make small incremental upgrades to handsets as features are trickled out.

3. I've had problems on the media player when I used an 8300 (From ATT). I haven't fully tested this one yet. On my other Curve, the media player would not recognize all the mp3 songs I loaded. Now you might suggest this is a problem with song tags (and maybe you're right) - but the Curve was the only device which could not read the mp3 information (Tip: If your Curve exhibits the same behavior - browse for data files instead of using the search by artist/title/etc.)

Overall this is a very solid device. Battery life has been about a day which I find quite acceptable.

How Wi-Fi Works with 8320 November 2, 2007

Reviewer:  Matthew J. Rygelski  (St. Louis, MO USA) -

First off, this is a great BlackBerry device that compares with any other BlackBerry device. Let's be honest: What you are interested in is how this phone works with VoIP over Wi-Fi. Okay, T-Mobile does offer the add-on "Hotspot@Home" service that allows unlimited calling when you choose to talk through the Wi-Fi network, but this is purely an option. This phone will still use Wi-Fi (or UMA), at the places you can access Wi-Fi, instead of using the T-Mobile cellular network... you'll just be using your plan minutes if you don't add on that unlimited option.

But, how does it actually work? Think of your home Wi-Fi router becoming another cellular tower. All cell phones "hand off" your call from one tower to the next as you drive down the highway. But with a UMA phone like this one, your home (or work) Wi-Fi becomes yet another available "tower" for your call to be handed to and from. So, start a call on Wi-Fi and walk out to the door, your call is automatically handed off to the T-Mobile tower without you noticing a thing. Started a call in your car on the way home? As soon as you walk in your front door, the call is automatically handed off to your Wi-Fi router seamlessly. As far as the phone and T-Mobile is concerned, it is no different than just driving further down the road to the next cellular tower. Yes, the phone easily connects even if your Wi-Fi requires a login (like most hotels) or the Wi-Fi signal requires WEP or WPA authentication.

I've been using my new phone for about one week and I've already burned through 250 minutes of my unlimited "Hotspot@Home" voice time through Wi-Fi, which before would have counted against my available plan minutes. You can't argue with the bottom line: this phone pays for itself almost overnight!

The Best BlackBerry October 9, 2007

Reviewer:  D. Golden  (Savannah, GA United States) -

It has been a very long time since I have had so much fun with a smartphone. In fact I would include Palms, Jornadas, and the much missed and lamented Newton to the mix The BlackBerry 8320 was amazingly easy to get up and running with PocketMac. This isn't always the case with some other BB's. I was particularly pleased to discover that OperaMini installed and performed flawlessly. There has been much talk on various boards claiming that T-Mobile has deliberately set their phones so that they won't run third party apps. My experience says otherwise.

The fact that the 8320 has WiFi was a huge selling point for me. Our house is located in what may very will be the most cell signal challenged spot in the county. This BB instantly located our AirPort signal and I was finally able to to make calls from home, via the UMA feature. Emails load very quickly, and it performs like a real champ when it's time to send a SMS or MMS. The screen is very bright and clear. It does a reasonably good job in direct sunlight, but then I have yet to find a phone whose screen delivers as promised in that area. It is also very sharp and easy to see. That's quite an accomplishment considering my poor eyesight. The 2.0 megapixel camera is pretty useful with it's zoom and flash abilities. Under the right set of circumstances it's capable of producing some pretty good photos. It also has a SD card slot so that you can store larger media files, or whatever else your heart desires. The web browsing experience is better than you you might expect. It also features voice dialing. I was impressed liked the phone's search function. I don't know if it is typical of other BlackBerries, but I found it to be extremely fast and very useful.

The reception is better than other phones that I have owned in the past. It it also very good looking and feels solidly made. The rubberized sides give the 8320 an extra secure grip. Finally, the real QWERTY keyboard is (for me at last) a huge improvement over the Pearl's Sure Type system. The keys are raised and separated just enough to make typing quickly possible, and this from a serious klutz. It also has spell check as part of it's core programming. That is something I desperately need.

When the iPhone first hit the scene I felt left out of the party because T-Mobile wouldn't be a seller. But I have had nothing other than positive experiences with T-Mobile. I don't work for or have any financial interest in the company, so I can honestly state that T-Mobile tech support ranks right up there with Apple. So why should I surrender that comfort level to try someone new? Also, I have read many, many bad things about AT&T customer service.

The release of the BlackBerry 8320 has taken the sting out the iPhone's release, and has provided me with a wonderfully functional, enjoyable & reliable prosumer's dream of a BlackBerry.

Great Blackberry, crippled only by T-mobile October 27, 2007

Reviewer:  I. Alam  (Alexandria, VA USA) -

This review is for the Blackberry 8320 Curve by T-Mobile. A device is only as good as its service provider - in this case unfortunately T-mobile is a poor one. I received this BB only a few days ago with much excitement. It permits you to pull corporate mail, connect to a wi-fi router to make VOIP based calls and other great features - too many to list.

I had chosen the $19.99 Blackberry Internet Service plan for 10 ISP based emails (POP3/IMAP), Internet browsing (though mainly WAP, not true HTML - BB's proxy servers strip out rich content) and Instant Messaging clients (AIM, Yahoo, Gtalk, ICQ, Windows Live messenger). Though you need to spring another $10 to pull corporate mail from your company's BES server, you still can pull work mail if your company permits browser based email access. By this I mean Outlook Web Access (i.e. https://mail.yourcompany.com/exchange). The extra $10 does buy you instant 'push' email, whereas OWA access does have a 10-15 minute delay. If you can live with this small setback, then you should be fine with the $19.99 BIS plan.

Once I received my BB 8320, I realized that reception was very poor inside my house (1-2 bars, fluctuating quite a bit as well). The purpose of T-mobile providing three types of UMA (unlicensed mobile access) based phones to subscribers is that they know their network has poor performance, especially inside buildings. Signing up for their $19.99 Hotspot@home service allows you to connect to your home router (provided by T-mobile) and any of their 8000 Hotspot locations in Starbucks nation wide. I myself did not sign up for the Hotspot@home service, but just connected to my own home wi-fi router. This seemed to work well, but was intermittent and in the end unreliable. I noticed that connecting to my home wi-fi router caused alot of connection failures for my laptops and desktops. The phone is smart enough to figure out when to switch out of GSM/GPRS and onto wi-fi where available.

My main gripe with T-mobile is that their network does not have good coverage within buildings. Not all buildings that I happen to be in a given day have open wifi access points - this unfortunately makes the UMA feature unusable. The fact that T-mobile's network is solely on the 1900mhz GSM spectrum, and not also 850mhz is likely the reason why building penetration is poor. On a few occasions where I had full bars, I was unable to make an outgoing call up until my 3rd attempt. Also, while standing in line at Potbelly's where I had full bars - I was unable to make an outgoing call to a friend's cell phone (got the 'circuits busy' message). As a paying wireless subscriber, I feel that my $70/mth plan should amount to some sort of guarantee that I will be able to place a call when needed.

On the positive side, I did have good coverage in most of the DC metropolitan area including my Washington, D.C. office. Even though their signal seems strong in a good amount of areas, not having a reliable signal at home really does drive one crazy. I really like the phone itself. It is very light and easy to use - OS performance is quick and reactive. Keyboard feedback is also very good, didn't take me too long to adjust from a regular phone to typing on this BB. As mentioned earlier there is a multitude of applications already installed and further on there are alot of 3rd party applications that are available online for free. The speaker phone was very clear and audible. Having the myFaves deal is great if you speak to specific friends/loved ones alot - keep in mind that you are limited to 5 people and that you can update these numbers only once every billing cycle. Setup of email was quick and painless, everything gets pushed immediately except for my corporate email (as mentioned above).

In the end I feel that my 3 star rating for this product is justified due to the fact that the BB device is great, but falls short of strong performance due to its marriage to T-mobile. I used to have a T-mobile Sidekick (only data, no voice plan) 4 years ago and it was plagued by poor reception at my college. Thought maybe 4 long years was enough for T-mobile to get their act together....should have known better.

You could do a lot worse April 9, 2008

Reviewer:  Miwii  (BROOKLYN, NY USA) -

The title is a joke; right now I love my phone.

Okay so let's start with the confession: I'm a serial gadget lover but I don't need to be the first or own the most expensive thing out there. A phone is a just a tool, not a social or fashion statement.

I felt the Berrys were overpriced and was quite hesitant to go lemming and buy one. However, I wanted to retire my prepaid Sidekick and my contract Nokia 5300, the latter mostly because while I could hear people if I strained - missing every nuance of their tone, sometimes to my deep detriment - they often complained about not being able to hear me. That's just annoying and really unnecessary.

Most of the phones I see in the stores are overpriced cheap plastic things that will not stand the test of time. The Curve keys are pure plastic but the unit itself felt solid and the screen is bright and lovely. I was kind of boxed in on that front because I want a browser I can actually see, not a teeny square to squint at. Please.

I was all for the Pearl (so small and pretty! and on sale!) but the swervy keyboard gave me motion sickness and I didn't even want to try Suretype. I have enough stress in my life, thank you very much. I want a real keyboard, like my Sidekick has.

Enter the Curve. Handset is darn expensive if you are re-upping BUT T-Mobile's great service and really friendly 24/7 customer service is really hard to beat so I am staying with them for now. Tried out the Curve keyboard in the store - easy peasy, even with my redeculous long nails - and finally gave it a go.

So far the Curve seems worth the investment. In the past, when I've switched phones, along with the painful learning curve was a period of mostly using the old phone while figuring out the new one and feeling, um, slow. This meant two phones for two weeks. This time, it took ... exactly one day. And I never cracked the manual. That's just not for me. (If I can't figure most things out on my own, I don't need the phone.)

The calls are clear and I can make them LOUD. I can hear the enthusiasm or the hesitancy, not just the words. The speakerphone is simply phenomenal. I don't need a bluetooth hedset in my car because I just mute the radio and use that and leave the phone in the console. No pairing. No fiddling. No drug dealer ear jewelry. Perfect.

I wanted a Wi-Fi phone this time. The Wi-Fi connections are blazing fast for surfing, erm, I mean, checking a site. Bing, the page is up. Edge surfing is fine too ... but of course not as fast. However, you can get to what you need to.

I won't talk about e-mail; it's been done to death, except to say it is too easy to set up and you get it all, right on your phone. Ugh. As many as ten accounts, if you are a dedicated masochist. (I stopped at five. Enough.) So now I am thoroughly in touch, for better or worse. Do note that the phone DOES NOT show you your HTML mail with picture links; just the mail and gibberish links you must visit, and you are on your own after that. Thank goodness.

The music player sounds as good as my Nokia Music express.
Pretty impressive. Photo storage is only limited by your memory.
The camera takes decent shots, at least on the screen.

Again, note: There is a learning curve, no pun intended, and there are MANY MANY menus and submenus. Bring stale popcorn if you have it. The pound key is NOWHERE NEAR where it should be, and all of the keys are Lilliputian. You will lose your way in the beginning. But this is why the device is small and light in your pocket, and I think the tradeoff is more than worth it. Also, the ringtones are quite lame, but you can use any song you like so that's not a deal breaker.

I'm not a gamer especially on a mobile so don't go there because I just don't know. I do know that this is one of the few phones you can use with Hotspot at Home, and also as a modem for your laptop, although I do not use this feature.

I don't miss my old phones and that's a very strange thing for me. I have moved on, happily. Take a look; it may work for you, too. Check out the bright, clear widescreen display. Niiice!

Wifi capability abroad, synch to macs, os system February 2, 2008

Reviewer:  Chromosome  (California) -

I have had a T-Mobile Curve for about three months and I am very happy. Everything works perfectly, even though with a couple of things I had to find or get help on line. Mmh, I might have been happier with an iPhone but I did not want to move to ATT. T-mobile is a good company. I have been with them for several years and found that they are reasonable, helpful and professional (e.g. they will unlock your phone so that you can use a different SIM card abroad -- try that with ATT). Here are some unique or particularly strong points of the Curve:

1. The UMA function (=connect to T-mobile network via wifi) works even if you do not buy the "hotspot at home" service. Your wifi calls count toward your plan instead of being free. So, this is good if your home reception is poor. If you are a big caller buy Hotspot and you will save $. But, the big advantage is abroad: once you log into a wifi station, you "are" back in the US T-mobile network as indicated by your connection manager. Your calls and internet are now on your regular plan. Hard to believe but true! ... and it works without signing on to Hotspot.

2. I synch with a macbook using the Missing Synch and it works well, also synching music, photos etc.

3. Lacks GPS function, but Google Maps provides "your location" from antennas info without draining your battery.

4. Screen and ringtone customization are fantastic. Plus, you can make or download many ringtones for free (see http://www.bbgeeks.com/).

4. The Blackberry browser is functional. If you need "real" page display use Opera mini (free).

5. I love the standard headphones: they provide great sound quality (I am getting hard of hearing).

6. The operating system is a bit spartan but works very well. The email, messaging, calendar, address book, integration is very robust and effective. This little thing really works as an office-on-the-road.

Any drawback? Minor stuff:
* I wish it would synch over bluetooth (why does it not Blackberry?).
* The Blackberry email provided by T-mobile is functional but it has very little storage. I get a lot of attachments and if I do not empty the mailbox regularly it gets full and mail bounces. This is not a bad problem since my main mailbox is a Gmail account set to IMAP and that forwards to my tmobile mailbox. So, all the mail stays in Gmail. I have GoogleMail on the Curve and it works great.

An iPhone killer? October 13, 2007

Reviewer:  Larry Levine "Larry"  (Studio City, CA United States) -

OK - this phone is not perfect. But I am very happy I added two years to my sentence with TMO and upgraded to the curve. Not only has RIM improved on the blackberry interface but the ability to add a microSD card (I added 4gigs) makes it a great media player. Now, I know it does not come close to the interface of an iPod, but seriously who cares! Using Missing Sync I was able to sync a playlist directly from iTunes and a photo book directly from iPhoto! It supports stereo bluetooth (something the iPhone doesn't) and it has an actual keyboard which is something that comes in handy if you type a lot of SMS, emails or use the internet on your phone.
At home the curve connects to my home network and gets me off that painful EDGE network for data and VoIP. This has also come in handy in office buildings where reception on TMO's network was not adequate.

The only thing that really bugs me is that the camera is very slow taking pictures.

I highly recommend this device!

Best Blackberry yet October 7, 2007

Reviewer:  Kayli  (North Carolina) -

I was never a blackberry believer until now. I have had both a sidekick II (i'm telling my early 20's age) and a MDA and loved both, but I always need a step up to swtch phones. The blackberry really is a step up from my MDA. I usethis phone for both work and pleasure.

The Camera: Best I've ever had on a cell phone. It takes decent pictures when you are trying to capture the moment, though it does need a lot of light because the flash doesn't do much.

THe phone: the call quatlity is great, especially on the wifi. It's about like calling at home.

The email: unmatched, I guess this is why the blackberry is so well known, the email is litereally instant.

IM: Instant messaging was great, though I was suprised by the size of the keyboard, I am used to a spacious keyboard because of my time with the sidekick and the mda. It took a little getting used to and even though I am a woman with small hands, I still make mistakes which I didn't do on my other two phones.

The only problems I have is that the included memory is extremely small, I have to take pictures off of the camera to make room for new pictures, and t does not have space for even one mp3 so I cannot test that feature until my memory card comes in. I also wish that the phone would come with GPS. I miss that when I am following directions, but the blackberry maps will do. If you r are considering buying, try wirelessbuy.com. It's be free after rebates with 50 dollars out of pocket.

Best Ever Used!!!!! February 19, 2008

Reviewer:  T. Wilson 

So far I've used the Audiovox SMT5600, Treo 650, Cingular 8125 and most recently the AT&T 8525 and the Curve is hands down the best of all of them. I've never used Blackberry before and its astonishing how simple and ingenious the OS is compared to Windows. Like me, most of us gravitate towards WM because we're used to using Windows on our PCs, but its mind boggling how much more efficient the Blackberry OS is. I wonder if the Mac OS is this much superior to Windows?????

Anyway, its smaller than all the phones above, has better sound and types easier. I was a little concerned about no touchscreen, but in my opinion it actually makes the phone more efficient - instead of always having to reach up to tap the screen you quickly get used to using keyboard shortcuts. The trackball took about 30 minutes to get used to but now its like second nature. Its also much faster between screens than the WM devices, probably because its not bogged down by such a GUI intense OS.

One of the most useful items is the All-in-One inbox - you can view your messages in the program that received them like in windows (ie go into outlook for email, SMS for texts, MMS for picture messages, etc), or use the more paowerful everything inbox that shows every message you receive in a single inbox - Text, MMS, IM, email from all your accounts and even voicemails. And the inbox is activated by the default button on the side so with one press I can see, read, and respond to every message I have received through any service.

The other thing I love is the type from homescreen. I'm not sure what they call it, but from your homescreen you can start typing any number or name and it will automatically look up the contact from your address book or dial if its a new number. The OS automatically decides if it should be numberic or alpha so you don't have to shift to use the number keys on the keyboard or go into your address book to look someone up. Then from there you can call, text, IM, etc. the person.

They've also incorporated a lot of what should be obvious typing features, like recognizing when you're typing a number versus a letter and automatically doing it instead of you having to press the ALT key. Or recognizing you are typing an email address and it does the same thing with the @ symbol so you don't have to look it up. It even has spellcheck for messages. I know these sound like "no-brainers", but the other devices lacked this simplicity.

Email was ridiculously easy to set up and has workied flawlessly from day one. Compared to WM a child could set up their email on this phone!

I saw that some reviews said the camera quality wasn't that great, but mine seems to take great pics, better than my 8525.

I've never written a review before but I'm so excited about this phone I had to speak up. Good luck!