The BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 is the latest model in the hugely popular Curve series. Key improvements of the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 over its predecessor (the 8520) are 3G support making internet browsing much faster. It also has integrated GPS and BlackBerry Maps. It also has an improved battery life of 5.5 hours talk time, an hour or so more than the 8520.
BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300, Mix of 100 minutes to any network or 100 texts. 500MB mobile internet per month.
Tariff Name: Talk 100 £9 (24m), Network 3 Mobile, 24 Month Contract, 100 Anytime Minutes, 100 Free Text Messages, BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300, Phone Price 181, Total Cost After Discounts £397
The chasis of the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 looks almost exactly the same as the 8520 and bold 9700, which is no bad thing as it is a robust, tried and tested design. The quality of these handsets is good. They are easy to use featuring the track pad seen in earlier models, which works very well. The QWERTY keyboard is easy to use, and works much better than one would think given its compact size. BlackBerry currently produce the best manual keyboards (as opposed to touch screen) on the market, and they really do speed up the process of text messaging and email, which has long been BlackBerry’s selling point.
The BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 features WiFi support for Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, so, adding “n” support for increased range (if you have an “n” enabled router) , Blutooth, instant messaging, voice recording for taking notes on the move. It also features a Micro USB port for connecting your phone to a computer.
The BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 has an integrated MP3/MP4 allowing music and video to be played on demand with dedicated media keys. the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 is also equipped with a 2 megapixel camera (still infefior to the BlackBerry Bold 9700) which doubles as a QVGA quality video recorder.
The BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 has a 2.46 inch TFT screen supporting up to 65,000 colours and comes with a selection of pre-installed games with many more downloadable through its 3G/HSDPA Internet connection.
The BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 runs BlackBerry’s latest operating system, OS 6.0, which was first seen on the BlackBerry Torch 9800. BlackBerry OS 6.0 has a really slick interface and provies an improved user experience. OS 6.0 also features an improved web browser which is renders better than its predecessor, this coupled with 3G connectivity make this a viable “Internet Phone”, which is increasingly important.
The BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 also includes social networking apps for Twitter, Facebook and Flicr, furthermore, more downloadable applications should be compatible with this handset then the older 8520. I know from experience that a number of apps will not run on my own 8520 which can be quite annoying.
BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 has already become one of the best sellers in the UK and looks set to become just as big a seller as the 8520 and Bold 9700 were before it.
The technical specification of the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 is as follows:
Connectivity: 2G, 3G HDSPA, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Blutooth, microUSB v2.0.
Camera: 2 Mega Pixels 1600×1200 Pixels, Video.
Messaging: Email, Push Email, BlackBerry Instant Messaging, MMS, SMS
Browser: Full HTML Browser standard with BlackBerry OS 6.0
Battery Life: Up to 456 hours standby and 5.5 hours talk time.
Memory 256MB, microSD expandable to 32GB
Media: SpeakerPhone, dedicated music keys, standard 3.5mm audio jack, MP3, MP4, Voice Memo
Alerts VIbration, Polyphonic, MP3 Ring Tones
Large Address Book, Touch Screen Optical Track Pad
Below is a video review of the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 from CrackBerry.com which gives a good overview of the handset and contrasts it with the cheaper 8520, and the more expensive Bold 9700, as well as the Pearl 3G 9105: