THE REVIEW!
I bought this torch for RM1900 via mudah.my on Nov 3rd. it doesnt have warranty... and I actually don’t care if its AP or water set or original, doesn’t matter to me. cuz I bought this strictly just to test the housings to see if it fits and all. So the warranty will be void anyways. But regardless, the condition was quite good. The person who sold it to me was also using a torch, perhaps a newer one….. rich people these days…..
Anyways, the package didn’t come with much. No mandatory pouch that comes with it. So Im gonna have to source some that fits well and not bad of a quality.
Okay back to the phone. Well, when u hold a torch, u cant deny the fact that this piece of technology is the best blackberry there is. But it is biggest and heaviest out of any of the blackberry I’ve held.
But from what I’ve experienced for the past week, I actually love this phone, in many ways. Which I’ll get into details in a bit. But ya, when I got the phone, the transition to the new pin took like a good few hours to figure out, due to lack of experience lol. But I did manage to move all my 1200+ contacts on bbm, and phonebook contacts and everything else too after a little of fiddling around.
After that, it took a good day or 2 of using it to get used to the OS 6 and its platform. I downloaded all the 3rd party apps again, and more. The phone actually lagged for the most of the day of transition. Im guessing its due to the fact that it had to retrieve 1200+ bbm profile pics and updates, installing new apps and all. But now the phone is running smoothly. It does have its lag though from time to time. (This is the part where the comparision of iphone would come in, iphone just does it better due to faster processor. )
I thought that having a touch screen, keypad, AND a trackpad was a bit of a over kill. But after a week of usage, I’ve come to realize that I will only maximize the usage of the torch is by using all 3.
The screen is so big now, that I really really love it. just to clarify, the touch screen is like the iphone one, IT DOES NOT HAVE THE "SUREPRESS" technology like the Storms. It is so much easier to interact with my phone now on demand/command so quickly, its amazing. It even has a built in youtube app u can just stream. And for browsing and surfing, it can now replicate the iphone’s input style, click, touch, pinch, slide etc etc. but here is the kicker! When u wanna type something on an iphone, or a storm, it has a touchscreen keypad, and actually minimize the view area of the screen. This actually sucks, cuz I cant type on touchscreen, and I hate to have what im viewing be blocked. With the Torch, you can just slide out the keypad, and BAM! You can type as though u are using a 9700, how fucking awesome is that?! It makes bbm-ing so much more fun and easier, cuz u can see more than just 3-4 lines, (same with twitter) u can touch the person’s pic! Haha no more menu, view contact profile, scroll up, click on pic. Like wtf. Aannnd, going online with the torch is so much better (this is coming from a previous owner of 9700), I no longer dread to wait for load time, and using the stupid trackpad to surf. Sigh. +1 point!!
But one minor adjustment I have to deal with is that with the keypad slide out, typing it on bbm over a time, u can actually feel that it is heavier on the top side due to the screen being there. As well as typing upside down when ur lying on ur bed. Not to say its bad thing, but just a slight adjustment, depending on how u hold the phone when you type. And also, the keypad somewhat is obstructed by the top slider, and the bottom bezel as well, this is different from all the other blackberry, where as the keypad is part of the body line and doesn’t have a feeling like u need to dig ur thumb in a hole to type. (maybe a bit of an exaggeration….)
So, the trackpad, often times, I actually don’t, and wont use the trackpad on the torch. But I would use it if I don’t want to Enter the app, I just want to select. Another thing that comes useful is that im so used to copy and pasting, that the touchscreen alone to do this job is really pissing me off. So I opt to use the same way as the 9700, trackpad. It can precisely select each alphabet as fast or as slow as you wish. The touch screen is supposed to be a step up for input selection, but when push comes to shove, u can always have a fall back of what ur used to, in my case, the 9700 trackpad. (I also think this is why theyre putting trackpad on the storm 3) +1 point!! =D
Another small thing is that it doesn’t have a convenient button on the left side of the phone. I have accustomed to having my memopad there for quick copy&paste msgs. But now have to move to the camera button, and the camera have to be manually searched in the menu.
WIFI – the wifi on the torch is the BEST to date. It connects just as fast as an iphone. And not like before, where u ALWAYS have trouble connecting to some wifi sources. So this is +1 point!! (but please turn it off when not using, to conserve battery)
A big change that im definitely going to use, is the Calendar. As some of you already know, I have a lot of appointments a day, and I need to really keep it organize, that’s why I carry around a physical notepad and actually write it down with a pen. That way, I can see it, I can touch it, and I can cross it out, write something in it, blah blah blah. With a 9700, you cant do it, cuz you know why? U got a trackpad, and a keypad. You don’t get to touch. This is why I love the torch as well, the appoinments I can actually touch on the time slot, slide it, scroll it, and change view. Soo much easier and organized. (although, a hot female personal assistant would be a good alternative, but its probably gonna cost me more than this torch =P) I think this calendar is one of the selling point for me! I love it!!! +1 point!! =D
UP NEXT IS THE CAMERA!!
This one has a 5.0mp!! sooo , SOOO much better. See, im a person that loves to take pics out of random things, and to tweet up about the phone I just did for someone. So this is definitely another huge selling point for me. I love the auto-focus it has though, even for macro. And its not that bad for a camera phone. (although, it is still not as good as iphone, but it is a huge step up for blackberry!) the video camera is also a lot better, not as choppy/laggy as the last one. It has geo taggin!! (whatever that is, I don’t use it…) but it now has 10 “Scene Modes” you can choose from to assist you to take the pics! Pretty sweet stuff =D
(pic taken by Torch, outside my window, trying out the night shot)
The downside of the camera? I did find one. Is that it lags when you take a pic, and u wanna view it right away, even though the icon is there, but it just lags to open up the folder and get to the pic. But its no big deal… just a 5-7 secs wait… -.-
(pic taken with Torch)
BATTERY LIFE!!!
Now whoever told you the batt life on torch is really good is probably bullshitting, or theyre not using the phone at all (I know this is subjective to how u use ur phone…). I cant really tell you how good or whatever it is, b/c I don’t really time myself on 9700, and on this. And I always have a charger with/near me due to my work. So its good. But I can tell you it is almost as good as the bold 9000 on the battery life. Which is, not that good. Im guessing a huge part of it is due to the screen size.
And just the other day, I was at zouk. Before entering, my torch has 65%+ on the battery bar. I was like, cheh, no problem!! 9700 would last me til I get home with 20% left! FOR TORCH?! It was dying before I step out of the club. Arghh! Maybe I shouldn’t use my phone so much inside -.-
Conclusion? batt life is a downer for torch =( so, you should off the 3G, dim the back light, set the auto screen off to 10secs, and carry around another battery or charger of some sort if ur a heavy user. Hahaha =P
ON TO THE OS UPDATE!
Okay let me tell you, the OS that came with the phone, I forgot what version, 6.0.0.124 or something. That one really REALLY suckssss!!! I almost threw my phone like a few times due to laggggggg. But a few days ago, I updated to 6.0.0.246 and it is SOOO MUCH BETTER. Please update ur phone if u have a torch. Plug it into ur newest desktop manager, and it will auto detect!!
Oh, and here is a trivial thing, START UP TIME!! The first time I booted the phone, when it is brand new, it took ALL OF, OHHHH 1 MINUTE FLAT!! (red led light, to after security test 100%)
But after all the contacts restored, and 3rd apps installed, now the boot up time is still kicking ass!! 3 min and 20 secs. (red led light, to after security test 100%) But I did notice that after you boot up, it takes bout 5 mins til it iron itself out and the lag goes away.
lastly, mine was an AT&T set, so it has a stupid logo at the bottom. i thought i had to change the bezel, but turns out, a metal ruler works just as good. haha i just scraped off the logo, its not etched in, or engraved. just printed on onlyyyy! thank godd!! 
CONCLUSION?
for me, i think the amount of people i BBM per day probably exceeds the total BBM contacts for most of you out there -.- so the stress really comes down when we're talking bout usability. the 9700 is really an awesome platform and its very stable. the 9800 torch right now with its first update, its already looking great! its handling my usage really well, just as well as the 9700. and im a HEAVY user i would say. the only down side i find is the battery life =( i really have to resort to carrying around an extra battery just to be safe. and originally i thought the size would play a big part, but you get used to it, much like how i got used to the 9000, and learned to love it. as for the weight, yes it is heavier. but it actually makes u aware that you have a phone in ur hand, and careful when ur handling it!!! VS with a lighter phone, u just forgot that its in ur hand, or ur armpit, or between ur neck, then accidently drop it.... -.- zzzzz
originally i bought this phone just for testing housing purposes. then i would sell it as the 9780 comes out, and get that one. but after using it for the past week, i actually am gonna keep this phone cuz i like it. so much better. =D i recommend it to anyone!
well i hope my review has give u some insight if u are on the fence on this phone. but i think u should go and try it out though! see yaa!!
(my dog alfie says hi =P, pic taken with the Torch)
*p.s. msg me if u are interested to buy a torch! brand new, below market value for sure. limited time & stock offer only *
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