Introduction

Having a phone with multiple Internet, email, message and entertainment features is good. Being able to use them simultaneously is better.

RIM BlackBerry Tour (9630)

Your Price: $29.99 with service

Marketed as a "global phone," the BlackBerry Tour can access high-speed 3G service worldwide. Users can check messages from up to 10 email addresses without opening a Web browser and view and edit Microsoft Office documents on the handset.

The handset also has a 3.2-megapixel camera, music player, instant messaging, and a microSD slot that, combined with the internal memory, leaves the phone with more than 2GB of storage space.

The Tour offers similar multimedia features on the BlackBerry Curve and has an even better screen than the BlackBerry Bold. While most main screens have half the resolution, the Tour offers 480 x 320 px clarity.

Both Sprint and Verizon have released the phone. The one reviewed here is the Verizon version.

Design

The Tour is slick to the touch, fits in the palm of the average-sized hand, and is slightly chubby, but has about average thickness for a smartphone. It's not the most pocket-friendly phone, which means the swivel holster that comes with the phone should come in handy. The handset is 112mm tall, 62mm wide and 14mm thick and weighs 130g.

Metallic piping frames the black design, allowing the screen stand out. Below the display is a horizontal bar containing, from left to right, call and menu keys, a trackball for navigating the screen, and return and end/power off keys.

The QWERTY keyboard is arranged in a slight downward arc. The keys are backlit, raised, and curve slightly in one corner to help avoid hitting a neighboring key when typing.

The back of the Tour is soft with a subtle ribbing in the center -- with its camera lens tucked in the top left.

The left side has a speaker and convenient voice command key. The right side has, from top to bottom, a headset jack, volume keys, a convenience key for opening a particular application and a micro-USB port. Lock and mute keys are located on top of the phone.

The Tour's size is average for a smartphone. The color is predictable but effective and the slight curve on the keys helps keep typing accurate. Still, devices like the Snap and the Dash, both from HTC, plus other larger BlackBerry models have benefited from going skinny and adding height to make more screen and keypad room.

Out of the box, the RIM BlackBerry Tour comes with a handsfree 3.5mm stereo headset, travel charger with international adaptor clips, 2GB microSD memory card (pre-installed), USB data cable, swivel holster, documentation kit, user guide, quick reference guide, VZAccess (for mobile broadband connection) Manager CD-ROM and a pre-installed SIM card

Next >

This article is Copyright 2002-2009 Mobiledia Corp. and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from Mobiledia. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact us.