0 BlackBerry Curve 9220

If you just have to get a BlackBerry device because of their BBM and Email goodness, want something with the latest OS, and can only budget for about Rs 10,000, this has to be the device you buy. If all you want is BBM and you aren't app crazy, stick with the Curve 8520. If you want GPS and 3G on a budget, get the Curve 3G 9300. You will have to spend a little over Rs. 17,000 on the Curve 9360 if you want BB OS 7 and the latest features

As someone using it after a Curve 9360, it’s certainly a step backwards – it’s irritatingly fatter, but not 9K worth of irritation, which is how much cheaper it is than the 9360. The BlackBerry Curve 9220 is a tiny bit slimmer than the 8520 and 9300, and has actual buttons for Call, Menu, Return and End Call keys, but that’s about it in the looks department.

The only immediate difference you will notice is on the top of the phone, where the media keys are now replaced with a single key to lock the phone. Now, I know many people will think, “Wow, no shortcut to media, or quick pause function, that sucks”. Believe me, as someone who comes from a family of 8520/9300 owners, those stupid rubber keys on the top just crumble and break after about a year or two of use, and then you find yourself running back and forth trying to get them replaced. This is a step up if you ask me, and if you happen to be one of the 6 people on Earth who bought a BlackBerry solely for music and media, just change what the side keys do through the OS, under the Convenience Keys setting.

The convenience key on the left actually proclaims “BBM”, but don’t worry you can change it to something else. You won’t, of course, because that’s exactly what you’d buy this phone for, but it’s good to know that it can be done.

Only when you open the battery cover do you realise the differences from the 8520 and 9300. To start with, just when you’ve gotten used to one way of prying a Curve open (just lift the cover at the notch provided), RIM goes and changes it to a slide downwards to open motion – a very minor irritant that disappears as soon as you see that big beautiful battery underneath. The battery takes up the whole space in the back, and thus the memory card slot is moved from beside the battery (all previous Curves) to above it near the camera. It’s angled slightly outwards as well, so as to aid in easy removal. More about that beautiful battery to come...