BlackBerry Curve 8900 or 8520: Worth spending Rs 5000 extra on 8900?

This is the first piece in what aims to be a regular weekly column on everything related to BlackBerry–the smartphone of choice for Enterprises. While this column won’t do in-depth reviews, it aims to offer insights into long-term user experience with particular models; applications for BlackBerry, tips and tricks and more. The aim is clear–to help BlackBerry users make the most of their powerful smartphones and the deep BlackBerry ecosystem.

This week, my experiences with the BlackBerry 8900 and the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and my recommendation if you’re wondering which device to pick between the two. I know, I know–both aren’t exactly spanking new, but the reason behind writing this is that both are not too far from each other in price; the difference being just around Rs 5000, and I’ve had potential buyers asking me which device is a better bet. So is a better camera and display on the 8900 worth the money or are there other factors that you need to consider.

I’ve used the 8900 for over 6 months and it’s a solidly built phone. I used the Bold 9000 before that and one small example is the chrome ring around the smartphone–while the Bold 9000 was superbly built, the chrome ring the one on the Bold 9000 got dents at the smallest fall. RIM has learnt from that and the Curve 8900 takes most minor spills with ease–no dents, unless you throw the phone hard. Another extreme example–by sheer chance the review smartphone was on my bed and my infant son was without a diaper for a minute and in one of those incidents where you realise you’ve just come up with a new Murphy’s Law, he literally peed on the smartphone. The device started flickering, was soaking wet and I was scratching my head to come up with words needed to break the news to RIM, when I decided on a whim to use a hair dryer for a few minutes on the smartphone. Incredibly, the device came back to life, the keys acted up for an hour or so and then went right back to normal. My respect for RIM’s build quality on the 8900 zoomed after that.

While the 8520 is well built too, in the time I’ve used it, I’ve not had the same confidence–it has a plasticky feel to it, though the soft-touch finish around the outer edge gives the user great grip. But, on build quality, I’d go for the 8900 any day.

But where the 8520 scores is the trackpad. While the trackball was a great idea, in a dusty, hot and humid country like India, it’s a recipe for a visit to the service centre every few months. While I finally managed to keep the trackball on my 8900 rolling without a trip to the service centre (more on that in the next instalment of this column), it’s been frustrating as my cleaning method requires some ingredients you can’t exactly carry around with you. The trackpad on the 8520 seems like a dream and quite frankly the only downside I notice is that BrickBreaker, the iconic BlackBerry game and my favourite stress buster, seems to work better with the trackball.

While the hearts of both smartphones are powered by 512MHz processors, with identical onboard memory, the 8520 does ‘seem’ a tad faster. But frankly, if power is your drug, then avoid both these and go straight for the Bolds. Both the 8520 and the 8900 are prone to delivering users frequent bouts of hourglass gazing while you grit your teeth and wish the phone would work faster.

Then there’s the display which is a no-brainer. With a 480x360 pixel display, the 8900 is miles ahead of the 8520 with its 320x240 pixel display. Ditto with the camera–the 3.2 MP one on the 8900 is superior to the 2 MP one on the 8520. And there’s no LED flash on the 8520.

One make-or-break difference is the lack of in-built GPS on the 8520. Trust me, you may not use GPS everyday, but when you face a traffic nightmare on a road leading to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and you enter one of the side roads with no signs, you can be sure of being right on track if you’ve got GPS. And of course, it doesn’t hurt to have GPS for today’s location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla.

Though battery ratings differ, in my experience both ran out of battery within a day of regular use.

So, verdict? I’d say the 8900 is well worth the Rs 5000 extra, with a better camera, display and GPS and in my opinion, better build quality, though I wish it came with a trackpad. On the flip side, if you just want to experience RIM’s legendary e-mail capabilities and don’t want any frills, the 8520 is almost as good looking and does the e-mail job just as well as the 8900. And on days when the trackball acts up (in typical fashion, this always happens when I need the smartphone the most–Murphy’s Law, what else?!), I’d shell out Rs 5000 more for the 8520.

For an official comparison, visit: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/compare/product-attr-compare.jsp?products=1686&products=1528